All of King’s Landing is booming right now in House Of The Dragon Episode 5. Episode 1 laid the foundation for the Dance of the Dragons, the devastating Targaryen civil war that is currently in progress. Episode 5 marked the beginning of the conflict: Queen Alicent is prepared to fight because she believes Viserys and Rhaenyra have betrayed her. Rhaenyra married Laenor Velaryon in the meantime, but she seemed more fond of her uncle Daemon Targaryen.
“We Light the Way,” the fifth episode and midpoint of the first season of House of the Dragon, features a devastating ending that, in many significant ways, is directly taken from the pages of George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood. The way several important moments are portrayed also differs significantly from the book, as shown by Ser Criston Cole murdering Ser Joffrey Lonmouth at the end of the wedding feast and Queen Alicent shouting about her Hightower pride. Based on how they appear on the page, let’s go over some of the most significant events and Easter eggs from the episode.
Here are all the House Of The Dragon Episode 5 Easter Eggs:
Daemon Doesn’t Kill Rhea in The Books
We saw in the opening scene of House of the Dragon that Daemon (maybe) turned Rhea’s Horse which made the horse fall on top of her and paralyzed her. Then Daemon grabbed a rock to kill her. Although she died under similar circumstances, the show has significantly modified the events from the source material, and Daemon was not involved in it. Rhea was out hunting when she fell off her horse and hit her head on a rock, breaking her skull.
She remained alive, nevertheless, for the following nine days while she tried to heal while lying in bed. After finally getting out of bed, she briefly started to explore before collapsing and passing away an hour later. She simply has her head bashed in, and it is obvious that Daemon is doing this to seize control. In the books, after finding out about her passing, he took off for Bloodstone and made an attempt to reclaim his inheritance. Here in the show, this happens during the wedding ceremony, although in the book, it is Lady Jeyne Arryn, not her cousin, who rejects him.
Rhaenyra Loosing Her V Card In Books
In the books, Otto visited the kingdom along with his wife and Alicent, who took care of King Jaherys. She used to read him stories in his chamber when she was 15; however, as he later got engaged to her in the book, the events here have been mixed with Viscerys. Otto continues to think that Rhaenyra slept with Daemon, and in the book, the two did so over the course of several nights.
Daemon seemed to be teaching her how to woo Ser Criston Cole, who in the original text had turned down her advances. But in the show, he didn’t, and when she chose to wed into the Valeryon family, it causes a lot of problems. In the book, however, this was also changed, and she reportedly lost her Maidenhead to Lyonel Strong’s kid. He was mentioned to the King on Aegon’s birthday, and he did appear last week.
Similar to what happened in the book, Harwin was the Soldier Rhae ran into. She apparently fled into the night after being rejected by Criston, where she eventually ran into him. Even though something didn’t occur in the episode, it’s still important to remember. The source material consists of a number of second-hand stories discussing events similar to this one, but since I haven’t discussed that one yet, I figured I’d mention it now.
Viserys’ Disease
Rhaenys welcomes her cousin inside the castle, making the King shake in pain as she takes his hand. He had his fingers amputated, as we noted in an earlier recap, and it’s probable that the infection is spreading and making his other fingers painful as well. Now, we have been guessing about the illness for weeks that is hurting King Viscerys. There have been several theories, including that he may have diabetes, rust in his blood, and many others.
The sickness’ name was never mentioned in the books, but Paddy Considine (Viserys) has clarified this in a recent interview. Although the episode 5 trailer even gave a hint that it might be Grayscale at first, we now know the reality.
He said, “Actually, he has a leprosy-like condition. His bones are decaying, as is the rest of his body. He isn’t old at all. There, he’s still a young man. He simply has something that has unfortunately seized control of his body. The stress and pressure of being king, as well as the effects it has on your bodily and mental health, are metaphorically represented by this.”
I really like this explanation because it supports the notion that those who are unsuited to rule will be removed by the throne. This was heavily discussed in the books, and although I appreciated that they left it open-ended, Paddy simply ruined it. It’s interesting to note that prolonged exposure to someone can readily transfer the leprosy virus, meaning Alicent may get it as well. This isn’t discussed in the books, as was already mentioned, but the show might be changing it to make that the case.
The Peace That Backfired
Rhaenys had, of course, witnessed this firsthand, and even though she was almost crowned queen, Jaeherys very much preferred her cousin over his daughter since it was the best way to maintain peace. This was emphasized in this episode once more. The book describes how Jaeherys made decisions like these, which led to one of the most peaceful reigns ever experienced in the realm.
However, the beginning of the chapter, which is focused on the events this show is based on, sets the tone for what is to come. It states that “the seeds of war are frequently sown in times of calm,” which is exactly what happened to the family. Due to the Targaryens’ ability to prosper as a result of the absence of conflict, they had so many offspring that there were actually 14 legitimate claims to the throne. They all turned on each other as a result of the fact that many of them wanted to take it for themselves.
Many of these children would not have been born if there had been wars and deaths; therefore, the peace actually caused a lot of wars. Viscerys was reluctant to take part in the fight with Crabfeeder since he was certain that he would maintain peace as well. He greatly admired Jaeherys and wished to carry on his legacy, but his inactivity allowed for the rise of a great number of enemies. Because Viscerys left so many questions unanswered, this episode focuses a lot on how the couple’s inevitable doom is reflected in their marriage.
Rhaenyra And Ser Criston Cole Didn’t Sleep In The Book
Once you move over to the Rhaenyra sailing home, you might note that the Royal cabin shares a lot of similarities with the chariots’ horse-cart cabins in terms of design. Criston is Rhae’s partner, and they do change the storyline somewhat from the book. So, based on the rumors spread by the gossip mushroom, Rhae proposed to Criston, but he flatly rejected her since he wanted to have his cake and eat it too.
Soon later, preparations for the wedding began, and from this point on, different stories about what truly happened surface. According to the book, Criston eventually snuck into her bedroom and suggested that they leave everything behind because they would both be secure in the Free Cities. Rhaenyra rejected this, saying that she wanted to be more than just the sellsword’s wife—which is essentially the Game of Thrones term for a mercenary. The source material doesn’t actually discuss their sleeping together, so we can’t say for sure which of these is true.
Dance Of The Dragon
I had strong Dance of the Dragon vibes when Corlys and his fleet landed because, in case you don’t know, the phrase “Dance of the Dragons” carries a lot of weight. We get a little bit of drama since the series sort of flips some events around from the book. We had a wedding at work, and a huge tournament was held to celebrate.
At this moment, Daemon returns with the small Kingdom of the Narrow Sea and the Stepstones, which he turns over. Additionally, the tournament is where Ser Criston’s activities and the Green and Black rivalry are established. According to the book’s explanation, everyone who supports Alicent and Aegon has begun to wear green. On the flip side of this, those who support Rhaenyra wear the traditional Targaryen red and black, thus the name Greens and Blacks.
The Tournament During The Wedding
As we discussed previously, Harwin Strong was the person who took Rhaenyra’s Maidenhead, and in the tournament from the book, Criston attacks him. He ended up punching Harwin so hard that both his elbow and collarbone were completely broken. The attack on Joffrey, which is similar to what we see here, was what sparked the uproar that brought him to Alicent, but it was okay because it was within the bounds of the tournament rules.
Joffrey Lonmouth, known as the Knight of Kisses, was Leanor’s secret lover. In the tournament, Criston absolutely destroyed him and hit him with Morningstar so hard that he broke his head open. Joffrey passed away six days later without waking up, and everyone in the kingdom abandoned Criston, with the exception of Alicent.
The tournament here is reduced to just a battle as Criston crashes a wedding and snaps at something about Rhaenyra. Joffrey seems to be trying to make fun of him while simultaneously saying, “We all have to keep each other secrets,” and because Criston took a vow, he doesn’t want the information about Rhaenyra to leak at all. This is just another reason he loses it and behaves in the way that he does.
Criston Tries Seppuku
The phrase “seppuku,” which initially appeared in Japan after Samurai sliced into their own stomachs and disemboweled themselves, is used to describe what Criston does next to the weirwood tree. It was mostly used when Samurai chose to commit suicide rather than being captured by the enemy when hidden behind enemy lines.
However, it was also shown to be used by those that broke the honor code, which is specifically the case with Ser Criston. Knights all took vows to make sure that this wasn’t the case because they weren’t supposed to be seen sleeping with Princesses. In the book, one of Rhaenyra’s worries about marrying Criston is that he broke his vows, and she believes that he will do the same with those for marriage as well.
Ser Harwin Strong
When Rhaenyra and Laenor are enjoying the royal celebration of their forthcoming wedding, they suddenly find that they are dancing with different people. Naturally, Laenor frequently appears with Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, his devoted guardian and secret lover. Just before Daemon appears and addresses Rhaenyra, she dances with Ser Harwin Strong.
Harwin is the same person who, in earlier episodes, saw a bloodied Rhaenyra returning to Kingswood and sighted the princess while making his getaway to King’s Landing with Daemon. He and Rhaenyra can be seen dancing in this episode.
Ser Harwin is frequently shown with the princess for a reason. All of the children he had in the books have brown hair, despite the fact that Rhaenyra and Laenor both have white hair due to their shared Valyrian ancestry. Ser Harwin Strong is thought to be the father of these kids, which has Alicent’s court group questioning the princess’ right to the Iron Throne. This is one of the factors that will spark the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that begins when Viserys dies in House Targaryen.
Meleys
Just as House Velaryon was finding its way to King’s Landing in full swing, two dragons can be seen flying in the clouds as a large number of ships are seen following. Fans have met the grey Seasmoke during the Battle of the Stepstones as Laenor Velaryon did ride him to victory. But we’ve never seen one like the red one before.
Rhaenys Targaryen was seated on Melys, the red dragon flying with Seasmoke, despite there being no closer shots of this. This specific dragon is known as the Red Queen and is larger than Caraxes’ long, lean form. It’s also noteworthy to note that Laena still misses a dragon, but Rhaenys and Laenor both now have them given that they both have Targaryen blood. Of course, the episode 6 teaser hints that she will also ride one after a significant time jump.
