House of the Dragon' Episode 5

As a visual document, the TV series must depict certain moments onscreen almost by definition. It must show something rather than leaving it to the annals of ...

Even the betrothed’s respective families get in on the deal-making spirit as Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) come to a successional compromise that makes sense to them. Laenor is similarly acting as a rational actor and behaving in his best interests in the realm’s. Ultimately, House of the Dragon opts to pick a side in two events that could have been left up to interpretation. The middle portion of “We Light the Way” features many moments that choose a storytelling lane and ultimately enrich it by doing so. Not to harp on the books once again (though harping is kind of my default state) but in Martin’s continuity, Ser Criston kills Ser Joffrey Lonmouth at a tourney to celebrate Ser Laenor and Princess Rhaenyra’s wedding. The scenes in which Rhaenyra and Laenor come to an understanding are immensely satisfying – not only because Rhaenyra breaks down the complexities of human sexuality to preferring roast duck over goose – but because they feature two characters properly playing the game of thrones. Speaking of myths, the other disappointing aspect of “We Light the Way” is its treatment of Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel) and how it clarifies the myth of his role in these historical events. That’s not to say the episode is a disaster, far from it really. “We Light the Way” puts events onscreen that were “offscreen” in Martin’s world and the way it chooses to depict them ends up putting its viewers’ imagination to waste. This marks our first trip to the Vale in quite some time within the Game of Thrones universe. That’s what makes House of the Dragon such a challenging proposition as an adaptation. That’s by design as the book is written as a historical document from the perspective of multiple conflicting sources.

Milly Alcock, Fabien Frankel in 'House of the Dragon.' Ollie Upton/HBO. Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers about the fifth episode of “House ...

How that story unfolds could potentially offset or soften this latest turn of events in the eyes of those who would criticize it. When the event chaotically erupts in violence a short while later, Criston is on top of Joffrey, brutally pounding him to death during the melee. Still, introducing the relationship between Laenor and Joffrey only to dispatch the latter so quickly and horribly almost immediately prompted questions on Twitter on Sunday night about whether the “Bury Your Gays” trope applies here. Rhaenyra, meanwhile, had been dallying with a knight of her own, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). (The series plays on HBO, which, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Given that, the “Game of Thrones” prequel potentially waded into controversy with its most recent episode, subtitled “We Light the Way,” which again demonstrated, among other things, that in Westeros not much good ever happens at weddings.