‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 7: A Funeral, Sex, Death, and a Wedding
House of The Dragon Episode 7 ups the ante with the family drama.
Building on the last episode, we get some more from the ten-year mid-season time jump. This episode is chock full of family drama worthy of any daytime soap. It also moves to set up the final sides before all hell breaks us. Let’s take a look.
***BEWARE, HERE BE SPOILERS***
We Only See Each Other at Funerals
In House of The Dragon Episode 7, everyone who’s anyone has gathered on Driftmark for the funeral of Laena Velaryon, Daemon Targaryen‘s wife. It’s an emotional time for everyone and pretty charged. Daemon is meeting up with most of his family for the first time in 10 years, since Rhanerya’s wedding. Rhanerya and her kids are also secretly morning the death of Harwin Strong. All the various families have something to grieve for. Even Alicent seems in a kind of shock from the deaths carried out in the last episode in her name. It’s a long, beautiful, and awkward scene.
People Find Their Loves in House of The Dragon Episode 7
The real drama starts after the funeral. Rhanerya and Daemon go for a long walk on the beach after night. There, they discuss their feelings for each other and Rhanerya’s feelings of abandonment. At long last, the two hook up, in a shipwreck. She tells him she did try with Laenor, but they couldn’t have kids together. Maybe Daemon can do better.
At the same time little Aemond Targaryen, Alicent’s dragon-less son, also ends up on the beach. He’s searching for his true love, a dragon of his own. Aemond finds Laena’s dragon Vhagar, the oldest and largest of the beasts. He manages to claim the dragon and goes for a fun night ride.
An Eye For an Eye
When he gets back to the castle however Aemond is confronted by Laena’s daughters and Rhanerya’s two sons. The daughters are upset that Aemond stole their mother’s dragon. A fight breaks out and Aemond goes ham on the four younger kids and almost seems set to kill one. Calling them bastards really sets them off, however, and Aemond ends up getting stabbed and loses an eye. The fight brings everyone together again for interrogation and argument. Aemond admits to calling them bastards and says he heard it from his brother, though it’s clear from his looks his mother is the one who said it.
Aegon for his part says it’s obvious and the king loses it. Alicent has also lost it at this point. She demands an eye for an eye. She wants an eye from Luke, Rhanerya’s son. No one is willing to go along with this. She even orders Criston Cole to do it. She tries to take matters into her own hands, grabbing the king’s dagger and going after the kid. Rhanerya however stops her, getting cut in the process. The move really undermines Alicent, and people start to wonder if she’s gone mad.
A Twist Ending
The fight really seemed to crystallize the rivalry between the two women. Their children are in danger now after all. Laenor says he also sees how bad things are and will recommit himself to Rhanerya, giving up on his own happiness. But Rhanerya wants Daemon. She goes to him and purposes marriage. Together the two of them will be a real power couple and hang onto the throne. Daemon points out that she has a husband already.
The two then hatch a pretty evil plan to have Laenor’s lover kill him. This would free up Rhanerya to marry Daemon. It’s straight-up evil and seems to work perfectly. Laenor is killed and his body is dumped in a fire. Daemon and Rhanerya get married. However, in a twist, the last scene of House of The Dragon Episode 7 shows the Laenor is alive in fact. He’s faked his death and is able to run off to Essos to live freely. It’s a contrast to Rhanerya, who refused to run from her responsibilities.
Some Thoughts on House of The Dragon Episode 7
I like the twist of Laenor not dying. It’s a nice change and frees up Rhanerya without making her kill her husband. It also avoids the Bury Your Gays trope. On the other hand… Rhanerya and Daemon still killed an innocent man to pull off their plan. That makes them pretty evil, honestly. I wish they had found a criminal or something to use as the body.
Did the show forget about Seasmoke, Laenor’s dragon? How will he sneak off with the dragon? Later on, Saesmoke is pretty important and has another rider… but dragons aren’t supposed to have other riders unless one dies. It’s a little odd.
Why was Criston Cole allowed to come to this funeral? The Velaryons should hate him for ruining their son’s wedding and punching the son. Not to mention killing one of their bannermen. Feels like he should have been banned.
The Kingsguard suck. How do they not break up and stop the fight between Rhanerya and Alicent? None of them interfere? How is Criston Cole, a murderer, allowed to be on the Kingsguard still? I mean two of the Kingsguard had to go hold him back from helping Alicent. He should be gone.
Also, Alicent really stabbed the heir to the throne in front of the whole court and will suffer no repercussions? Kind of mad.
Truthfully, the one big issue I have with the episode is how rushed this season has been. The kid stuff is dramatic, but we’ve really just met these characters. I wish more time had been spent on getting to know them.
Let us know what you thought about this episode, down in the comments!
