Laenor Velaryon
Next up, we spend a bit of time with House Velaryon. Both Laena and Laenor Velaryon will be growing up over the course of House of the Dragon — in fact, both of these characters have already been replaced with new actors once already this season! In the first episode of the season, Laenor is played by Matthew Carver as a child.
Starting in Episode 3, Laenor is aged up and played by Theo Nate. Nate plays Laenor up until the big time jump which occurs after Episode 5, “We Light The Way.”
After the 10-year time jump, both Laena and Laenor will be played by their final, adult actors. Starting in Episode 6, Laenor Velaryon will be played by John Macmillian, who is best known for his role as Julian in the Mitchell and Webb sitcom Back.
Laena Velaryon
Like her brother Laenor, Laena Velaryon will be played by three different actors during season 1 of House of the Dragon. The first is Nova Foueillis-Mosé, who plays Laena as a child of 12 years old in the first two episodes of the season. You probably remember King Viserys having an incredibly uncomfortable walk-and-talk with her in Episode 2:
The fifth episode, “We Light The Way,” will introduce Savannah Steyn, who plays Laena Velaryon as a young adult:
Finally, Episode 6 will introduce us to Laena Velaryon as an adult, played by Nanna Blondell:
Other than Rhaenyra and Alicent, Laenor and Laena are probably the characters who go through the most prominent changes on House of the Dragon. However, there are still a few others that you’ll want to be aware of going into the back end of the season.