House of the Dragon Episode 7

In a House of the Dragon episode with Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) coming Dance of the Dragons, and exploring how Laenor ...

[the royal children](https://www.polygon.com/23368925/house-of-the-dragon-kids-who-rhaenyra-alicent-daemon-jace-joffrey-aegon) that goes from bad to worse in — ahem — the blink of an eye. It’s enough to make [Viserys’ (Paddy Considine)](https://www.polygon.com/23328660/house-dragon-viserys-iron-throne-cut) plea for a return to the family’s status quo seem almost comically out of touch, a referee trying to stop World War II with a whistle. Again the episode chooses a ritual — the most elementally basic, the literally Biblical tradition of an eye for an eye — as the focus of its conflict. Through the ritualistic demand we get a glimpse of the real Alicent, a confused and frightened woman left in a permanent state of panic by her father’s abuse. Rhaenyra’s secret marriage to her [uncle Daemon (Matt Smith)](https://www.polygon.com/e/23144854) serves to inflate her reputation as a ruthless power player, and sir Laenor’s duel with his lover Qarl (Arty Froushan) provides cover for their bittersweet escape from the bloody power games of the royal court. The scene is lit and shot like something out of Neil Marshall’s [The Descent](https://www.polygon.com/hulu/2020/4/18/21224924/best-horror-movies-on-hulu), torchlight flickering over the faces of the young heirs to the Targaryen dynasty as their childish squabble rapidly turns bloody, fists and feet giving way to rocks and knives. While [House of the Dragon](https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516586&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2Fseries%2Fhouse-of-the-dragon%3Foffer_id%3D5%26transaction_id%3D102c87c7%255B%25E2%2580%25A6%255D4ed39326beedc6012ca%26utm_source%3DVox%2BMedia%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate&referrer=polygon.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2F23383650%2Fhouse-dragon-episode-7-review-laenor)’s seventh episode does a great deal to show Westeros sliding uncontrollably toward what will surely prove a calamitously bloody war, its own body count is comparatively modest by [the series](https://www.polygon.com/house-of-the-dragon)’ standards. From the somber but politically charged opening funeral scene to the darkly majestic and disturbing claiming of [the dragon Vhagar](https://www.polygon.com/e/23145224) by the young prince Aemond (Leo Ashton), “Driftmark” moves at an effortless clip. [Miguel Sapochnik](https://www.polygon.com/23331775/house-of-the-dragon-miguel-sapochnik-leaving-showrunner-alan-taylor) and writer Sara Hess pull it off with aplomb. His delight at her evident unwellness is perhaps the episode’s most sickening sight, a further deception concealed behind his somber façade and the arcane traditions of the royal court. [fake Ser Laenor’s (John Macmillan) death](https://www.polygon.com/e/23144583), is a case study in the episode’s preoccupation with social rituals as a means of concealing and revealing truth. Laena’s funeral provides her uncle with a chance to launch a veiled barb at Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) over the parentage of her sons.

Kids, they grow up so fast. After last week's discombobulating decade-long time jump on House of the Dragon, the Targaryen and Velaryon broods have gone ...

It devotes the final five minutes of the episode to advancing the plot in leaps and bounds. And then House of the Dragon does what it seems to do a lot. With Rhaenyra and Daemon united, a quick mid-season death is the most you could hope for. She wants an eye for an eye, and when that is denied, draws the knife herself. “The Kingsguard have never had to defend princes from princes!” wails wet blanket Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) as the fallout from the nocturnal enucleation begins. The only ones that matter are the cocky eldest Targaryen Aegon (Ty Tennant), creepy middle Targaryen Aemond (Leo Ashton) and Rhaenyra and Laenor’s ill-defined Velaryon blob Jacaerys (Leo Hart). [House of the Dragon](/topic/house-of-the-dragon), the Targaryen and Velaryon broods have gone from mere babes (or glints in the eye) to rambunctious children. In the red corner, we have the blonde bombshells: Aegon, Aemond and Daeron, repping for the Hightower/Targaryen match-up. [Game of Thrones](/topic/game-of-thrones)). [Paddy Considine](/topic/paddy-considine)) says to his brother, Daemon ( [Matt Smith](/topic/matt-smith)). At the heart of this episode is the question of patrimony, put succinctly by Steve Toussaint’s Lord Corlys. In the blue corner are the brown-haired bastards: Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey; sons of Rhaenyra and Laenor, though looking an awful lot like the late Harwin Strong.

Episode 7 of House of the Dragon starts with Laena's funeral. Everyone mourns her death, with Velaryon and Targareyn alike joining to pay their respects.

Daemon and Rhaenyra’s wedding is likely to cause shockwaves across the realm. The ending certainly throws up a lovely twist with Laenor actually still alive and getting what he always wanted – an escape. And when the scene cuts from their fight to Lord Colys showing up in the hall, they find their remaining son burning in the fire… A clever reveal shows a bald Laenor still alive and smuggled out the building by Ser Qarl. As for Rhaenyra, she’s patched up by the Maester and speaks to Laenor. “That is insufficient.” Alicent says, and decides that a just punishment should be taking one of Rhaenyra’s children’s eyes as payment for the debt caused. At the center of this are Alicent and Rhaenyra, who go back and forth like two mums in a school playground. Laenor decides to double his efforts though and stay devoted to her as a husband. and Lord Corlys arrives just as Viserys demands everyone be silenced in the hall together. And with that, the pair have sex. After Laena’s coffin is pushed into the sea via ropes, Rhaenyra speaks to her son and reminds him where he is – and how powerful House Velaryon is. Rhaenyra bemoans Daemon for abandoning her and here, with the waves lapping gently up onto the beach, the pair kiss.

House of the Dragon fans have complained after 'straining their eyes' to see dark scenes in episode 7: 'I literally couldn't see a thing.'

The dimmed lighting of this scene was an intentional creative decision.’ [How does Laena Velaryon die in House of the Dragon and how does her death differ in George RR Martin’s book Fire & Blood?](https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/27/house-of-the-dragon-what-happens-to-laena-velaryon-in-the-book-17461281/?ico=more_text_links) [House of the Dragon episode 7’s shock twist ending is completely different to the book – and fans over the moon](https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/03/house-of-the-dragon-episode-7-recap-shock-twist-ending-in-book-change-17491500/?ico=more_text_links) [plagued by the same complaints from viewers](https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/29/game-thrones-season-8-episode-3-dark-scenes-raise-complaints-cant-see-anything-9333394/). HBO Max, the streaming platform that airs House of the Dragon in the US, responded to some of the complaints to explain that the dark lighting was a ‘creative decision’. [House of the Dragon](https://metro.co.uk/tag/house-of-the-dragon/?ico=auto_link_entertainment_P1_LNK1) episode 7.

From the betrothal of Aegon Tagaryen (Ty Tennant) and Helaena Targaryen (Evie Allen) to that awkward moment Viserys called Alicent “Aemma” by accident, here are ...

When Rhaenyra arrives in King’s Landing on Syrax in Episode 1, one of the Dragonpit workers says “Dohaeris, Syrax,” to calm the dragon down. The first thing Aemond says to Vhagar is “Dohaeris,” the High Valyrian word for serve. Vaemond is clearly pissed about the idea that Rhaenyra’s sons could inherit his family’s seat and the after Laenor’s “death,” Corlys’s direct heir is one of Laena’s little girls. Lucerys (Harvey Sadler) tearfully tells Corlys that he doesn’t want to be the Lord of Driftmark. Either Viserys is deteriorating to the point where he mentally can’t keep Aemma (Sian Brooke) and Alicent straight in his mind or Alicent isn’t as loved by her husband as she thought. Keep in mind, Viserys says this at the funeral of a woman who died in a similar way to Aemma — due to stalled birth — and after attempting to use the shared grief of being a widower to reconnect with Daemon. So it’s possible that the Velaryons adopted worship of the Merling King and made up this story to help anchor their claim to the seat. Clearly he is a god of the water, but who is the Merling King and why does House Velaryon worship him? The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Harrold Westerling (Graham McTavish) quickly attempts to come to his king’s rescue. Last week, Rhaenyra suggested marrying Jaecerys (Leo Hart) to Helaena in an effort to heal the breach between the Blacks and Greens and strengthen House Targaryen. The Merling King is an ancient demi-god who seemingly ruled over the waters and islands in the Narrow Sea. But in between the fireworks on the beach and those rowdy kids almost killing each other, there were also a lot of quiet, subtle moments in House of the Dragon Episode 7.

House Of The Dragon episode seven is full of jaw-dropping moments itself but it's laying the groundwork for one epic series ending – these are the main ...

The King shouts at them all reminding them of the fact that they’re supposed to be a family. In order to get married, Rhaenyra acknowledges the fact that Laenor has to die. But surprise surprise, it isn’t and it’s just the first plan of Rhaenyra and Daemon’s that underlines how much power these two possess. The whole affair is taken to the King and Queen, where Rhaenyra states that calling her children bastards is “the highest of treasons”. Although the King attempts to quell her anger, she continues: “If the King will not seek justice, the Queen will. It’s unfortunate to see that rumours (however rightful they seem) have circulated in and among the children. Alicent is clearly annoyed by the fact that Viserys chooses to ignore the true paternity of Rhaenyra’s children, but in this episode, the feud takes a more sinister turn. Rhaenyra’s children, the princes Jacaerys and Lucerys, come to their defence but the fight not only grows bloody, but it also gets increasingly personal. This has, of course, led to tension between the King and Queen, which seems to be rearing its ugly head in this episode. [episode six](https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/tv/house-of-the-dragon-hbo-dysfunctional-tv-families/711591) – not to mention the fiery death of Laena Velaryon – episode seven picks up in the same dramatic vein. “Maybe your cousins can find you a pig to ride,” he snarls before the children get into a physical fight. While we would’ve loved to believe that her childhood friendship with Rhaenyra could have been upheld in her journey to becoming Rhaenyra’s stepmother, it seems like it’s only getting worse by the episode.

In the book, Aemond Targaryen claims Vhagar at Laenor's funeral, not Laena's, so slightly later than on the show. The brawl between the children goes down a ...

Rhaenyra chose to free Laenor of the shackles of their marriage, of having to deny his identity to perform his duty to society. There is only one thing that still makes me sad, but it constitutes a spoiler for next season, so skip on if you haven’t read Fire & Blood: Laenor will still die young, in the next decade, because Rhaenyra and Daemon might fool their children and Laenor’s parents, but they can’t fool Seasmoke. When that happens, Rhaenyra will realize that Laenor is truly gone, and I hope the show can spare a few seconds to dedicate to Rhaenyra’s grief for her first husband, who was a loyal friend and ally. Hopefully Laenor will have died happy, free, perhaps in battle, reaching the adrenaline and glory he longed for in the decade he spent trapped in a lie in King’s Landing. Seeing Laenor — his head shaved of his Valyrian white hair — laugh in the boat with Qarl was the best way to see him for the last time. In the book it’s limited to words, but in House of the Dragon things get physical when Alicent grabs a dagger and tries to stab stab of Luke’s eye herself. In the book, Qarl Correy, Laenor’s lover, kills him at a fair in Spicetown. House of the Dragon went with the official version, and then provided a concealed truth: that, in agreement with Rhaenyra, Daemon paid Qarl to only pretend to kill Laenor, and then arranged for them to run away together. While much of the dialogue in this scene is pulled from the book, Alicent and Rhaenyra’s knifepoint exchange is new, violent and visceral. On the show, Laenor’s death the final twist instead of its inciting incident. Another change is that, in the book, Lord Lyonel and Ser Harwin Strong are both still alive. The brawl between the children goes down a little differently on the page.

One of my (few) complaints about House of the Dragon was that ultimately, I wasn't wild about the decision-making they did with the time jump mid-season.

And she now has the biggest dragon in the world, thanks to one of those children. I get that people change over a decade, but I did not love this new version of her until last night, and now I think things are fully back on track. They plant a corpse in the fire, he shaves his head of his signature Velaryon locks and heads out to fight in the Stepstones with his boyfriend, pretending to be dead. After goading Alicent into making a spectacle of herself when she literally tries to knife the prince as vengeance for her maimed son, Rhaenyra reconnects with Daemon. Despite still being heir to the throne, she shies away from conflict and tries to make peace with Alicent, who is now acting more like old Rhaenyra used to. Granted, I know this follows the source material, and the overall tale being told here happens over a span of something like 30 years, but not only was it a bummer to lose a standout actress like Milly Alcock, young Rhaneyra, but new Rhaenyra felt like a different character entirely.

Welcome to "House of the Dragon MVP", our series highlighting each episode's Most Valuable Player in the game before the "Game of Thrones".

She's grown so much since then, and the stakes for her are substantially higher going into [Laena Velaryon's funeral](https://mashable.com/article/house-of-the-dragon-laena-velaryon-death-explainer) on Driftmark. It's a risky gambit that pays off, as the court witnesses the lie morph into a legal and dangerous "truth" before their eyes. [Rhaenyra won MVP](https://mashable.com/article/house-of-the-dragon-rhaenyra-targaryen-daemon) she was played by Milly Alcock and it was for knocking her uncle Prince Daemon down a peg and retrieving a dragon egg. Meanwhile, Queen Alicent is at her wit's end with the constant gaslighting, especially since the acceptance of Rhaenyra's bastard sons puts her own childrens' lives in danger. Every episode is a different game, and it wasn’t until episode 7 "Driftmark" that those games culminated with a set-ending showdown in favor of this week's MVP, Princess Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy. The smaller daily battles that recruit allies, collect secrets, and establish perceived dominance are the games.

This episode of House of the Dragon could very well be titled 'Breaking Bad' as several characters take one heck of a turn and things heat up.

[particular episode of HoD](https://gamerant.com/house-of-the-dragon-honorable-characters/) does is to make sure that the audience who thought a person was one way was actually another. [House of the Dragon wouldn't suffer from CGI issues](https://gamerant.com/house-of-the-dragon-hbo-correct-viral-cgi-blunder/). That's one of the nice touches that this show was able to do with all the focus on the main characters. If not for half the episode being so dark that it was hard to see, this might be one of the best episodes of either show. As it is, it continues to make this HBO Max spinoff one of the best programs of the year. There was also the music that was definitely supposed to be romantic that made this one of the most One of the things this But it doesn't make up for all the rest of the scenes where it's incredibly hard to see what's going on or why the viewers should care. There is something to be said for the darkness when it comes to one particular scene and that's when Aegon decides to ride his aunt's former dragon. It also seems that there's plenty that took place that's going to impact the rest of the Daemon's wife has died, after it became clear that she wasn't going to survive childbirth and that the baby wasn't surviving either, she ordered her dragon to burn her alive. One of the interesting things this episode does, especially in the first half of the show, is to show quite a bit of the scenes in the nighttime, without much light at all.

Tensions between House Targaryen and House Velaryon boil to a bursting point, and a violent scuffle leads to a nasty — but spectacular — fight.

This is House Targaryen having the moment afforded to Lannisters, Starks, and more in “ This is the promised “Succession” with dragons, the full-tilt family war promised in George R.R. Alicent is the only one talking sense at this point, and the collective gaslighting of no one immediately taking her side starts to take a toll. From her trembling voice to her brimming eyes and the hand clutching that massive knife, Cooke has full command of this character who she has only played for two episodes. She cannot bear that Rhaenyra lives free of this oppression, and that she still manages to resent Alicent through it all. Alicent has never asked Viserys to choose between his wife and daughter, or between his sons and grandsons, but she is desperate throughout this scene for him to do so, just once, in her favor. The lengthy scene is otherwise filled with dialogue neither too dull nor too flowery, and watching it culminate with such well-chosen and potent words works wonders. The hall is filled out by Rhaenys (Eve Best), Corlys (Steve Toussaint), Rhaenyra, and Daemon (Matt Smith), all of them concerned for the injured children. Rhaenyra’s sons reveal that they were called bastards, and the shots that follow are exquisite. After the funeral of Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell), Rhaenyra’s son Jacaerys (Leo Hart) slashes the eye of Alicent’s son Aemond (Leo Ashton), which leads to the series’ most outstanding scene — not the child knife fight that ends with the stabbing, but the quarrel that follows. “Her son is responsible.” King Viserys (Paddy Considine) demanding to know what happened, and despite various ailments and growing age, his fury is palpable.

Looking to stream House of the Dragon episode 7? Read on to learn where to tune in to catch the latest episode of the Game of Thrones spin-off.

The second destination you can find House of the Dragon is over on NOW. Looking to stream House of the Dragon episode 7 here in the UK? To put this into a timeline for Game of Thrones fans, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of George R. However, there are actually two ways to watch the show. How to watch House of the Dragon episode 7 How to watch House of the Dragon episode 7 free in the UK

Those who watched the hour know that it ended with the wedding of Rhaenyra Targaryen to her uncle, Daemon Targaryen, a moment that I think we're supposed to ...

* As the holidays season gets underway (an easy fast to those who observe this week), I’m going to go into my family’s gatherings channeling Daemon in the Hall of Nine scene, in which Alicent demands that Luke lose an eye. Mainly because the show’s decision to skip through Westerosi history in Season 1 feels like it has hollowed Rhaenyra and Daemon’s relationship — or, at least, leaned too hard on viewers’ imaginations to fill in the gaps. And if Rhaenyra has made peace with their history — aka that the last time she saw him, when she was a teenager,

We were finally treated to some riveting dialogue revealing the deeper reasons for Alicent's almost pathological hatred of her ex-best friend Rhaenyra.

( [Daemon](https://twitter.com/siriuslyshania/status/1576753431259230208), apparently, can excuse killing his first wife, but I almost respect that he draws the line at homophobia!) Methinks quite a few people will be displeased with this news—and Alicent sits atop this list. It’s clear at this point that Alicent doesn’t just despise Rhaenyra because she’s convinced that Rhaenyra’s ascent to the throne would be the death of her two sons. The dialogue the women share, all while Alicent holds a knife roughly an inch from Rhaenyra’s eye, is highly revealing of the roots of Alicent’s almost pathological hatred of Rhaenyra. When Viserys shuts down the idea, Alicent grabs a dagger, lunges, and attacks Rhaenyra instead of Luke, sparking a medieval girl fight. Shortly after, the whole family convenes for something akin to a high-stakes Red Table Talk session, in which King Viserys—finally forced to parent—issues a stern warning to his family to not speak ill of Rhaenyra’s kids. Alicent’s obsession with policing her former friend and current stepdaughter’s sexuality has only grown through the show’s recent 10-year time-jump, taking a turn for the dangerous when she suspects Rhaenyra’s three children with her not-so-secretly gay husband Laenor Velaryon are actually bastards fathered by the late knight Harwin Strong.

All the major players were there—the late Laena's husband, Prince Daemon, not exactly grieving himself, their children Baela and Rhaena, King Viserys, Queen ...

Kathryn VanArendonk is a critic who writes about TV and comedy. She gets mad when people say TV is a ten-hour movie. The night scenes in “Driftmark” were shot ...