House of the Dragon trailer breakdown: Episode 5, “We Light the Way”
By Daniel Roman
The latest episode of House of the Dragon came in with all the force of a wrecking ball, shifting the balance of power and exploding character relationships left and right. From Rhaenyra and Daemon’s tryst on the Street of Silk to Otto Hightower getting fired as Hand of the King, there will be a lot of fallout to cover when the show’s fifth episode, “We Light the Way,” airs this coming Sunday.
True to form, HBO has released a teaser to get us hyped. Safe to say, they succeeded. Let’s break it down shot by shot.
A wedding is afoot on House of the Dragon Episode 5
We begin with a sweeping pan up to a fleet of ships approaching King’s Landing; you can make out both the Red Keep and the Dragonpit:
That stable for the fire-breathing lizards will soon be getting more use, because there are two dragons in the left side of this shot. And of course, the flag flying from the mast of the closest ship bears the seahorse of House Velaryon. Looks like the upcoming nuptials between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Laenor Velaryon will be quite the splendid affair.
Of course, everyone will have to agree to it first. “I wish to propose a marriage, to my daughter and heir,” says King Viserys:
While Rhaenyra agreed to marry Laenor and we’re all pretty much assuming it will happen, it’s easy to forget that no one has actually run this idea by Corlys Velaryon or his wife Rhaenys. Presumably, that’s where Viserys and his whole entourage are off to in this shot. It’s time to go to Driftmark, the seat of House Velaryon!
Rhaenyra and Criston Cole are both with Viserys, as is Lyonel Strong there on the left. We have yet to see Viserys travel farther than the Kingswood in this show, and there are a few hints in this trailer that the journey will be taxing on him.
From there we get a shot of a dwarf playing the drums, most likely at the wedding itself. I can’t be the only one who immediately wondered if we just got a glimpse of Mushroom. Whether or not the show would include the salacious court jester from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood has been a hot topic these past few months. Could he finally be making his debut?
Another quick shot of the Velaryon fleet. The ornamentation on those ships is pretty fancy.
And here we get our first glimpse at the actual wedding. Rhaenyra and Viserys are both decked out. Banners for Houses Targaryen and Velaryon hang behind them, flanking the Iron Throne.
Next, dragons:
Judging by the shot of two dragons with the Velaryon fleet, it’s a pretty safe guess that this is Seasmoke and Meleys, who are ridden by Laenor and Rhaenys Velaryon respectively. We saw the silvery dragon Seasmoke back in Episode 3 when he lit up the Crabfeeder’s corsair army, but this is the first time Meleys, known as the Red Queen, has appeared in the show.
As glorious as those dragons look, Rhaenyra Targaryen appears pensive. One can only wonder how this whole wedding thing is going to go down, given her escapades in “King of the Narrow Sea.”
Rhaenys Velaryon, the Queen Who Never Was, knows that Rhaenyra’s succession will not be a simple matter. “Rhaenyra’s succession will be challenged. Knives will come out,” she tells her husband Corlys:
And she means that literally: