Why House of the Dragon changed Laena Velaryon’s death from the book

The latest episode of House of the Dragon continued that vaunted Game of Thrones tradition of killing off characters in surprising ways. While HBO’s new prequel series has been a bit of a slower burn, things really ramped up in “The Princess and the Queen.” After a 10-year time jump, we’re introduced to new actors playing some of our main cast members, as well as a whole brood of new Targaryen children. Not everyone we met survived.

One character who received both a recast and a poignant death scene was Laena Velaryon. Laena has been played by three actors on House of the Dragon: Nova Foueillis-Mosé as a child, Savannah Steyn as a teenager in Episode 5 and then Nanna Blondell as an adult in Episode 6. Though “The Princess and the Queen” was Blondell’s debut in the role, it was also her curtain call.

It’s a shame we didn’t get to spend more time with Steyn and Blondell as Laena. Both actors did a fantastic job bringing the character to life, but considering that House of the Dragon has to cover around three decades of time during this first season, there’s precious little to spare. Showrunner Ryan Condal said as much recently to Variety: “Unfortunately, because of the nature of the season and the storytelling, we didn’t get to spend as much time as I think we would have preferred to with Laena. We had to keep the story moving.”

House of the Dragon writers wanted Laena to have a more “active” death

While Laena does die in childbirth in George R.R. Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, the circumstances are slightly differen. In the novel, Laena does give birth to a son, but the baby is “twisted and malformed” and dies within the hour. Laena lingers for three days, delirious from grief and physically ailing from the difficult labor before eventually passing away. Here’s the passage about her final moments:

"During her final hour, it is said, Lady Laena rose from her bed, pushed away the septas praying over her, and made way from her room, intent on reaching Vhagar that she might fly one last time before she died. Her strength failed her on the tower steps, however, and it was there she collapsed and died."

The show changed things so that Laena is unable to give birth, which means her situation parallels Aemma Arryn’s from the season premiere. The show also gives Laena more agency by allowing her to actually reach Vhagar and commanding the dragon to burn her. “I want to die a dragonrider’s death,” Laena told Daemon earlier in the episode, and she got her wish.

“Laena’s a valkyrie. She’s a dragon rider. We met that little girl back in Episode 2; that little girl went on a couple years later to claim the biggest dragon in the world. It felt like she wouldn’t want to go out the way that the history book said,” Ryan Condal explained to Variety. “So we wanted to give her a memorable out that felt active and in her character. Even though we’re only with Nanna Blondell’s portrayal of her for a very brief time, within that moment, it tells you a lot about who Laena is and was.”

That it does. Though Laena Velaryon featured only briefly as an adult on House of the Dragon, we shall never see her like again.

Nanna Blondell says goodbye to Laena Velaryon

Condal isn’t the only one out talking about Laena’s final turn. Blondell herself bid farewell to the character on Instagram Stories. You can see the image here, along with a message for fans:

"I just wanna acknowledge all of you that have taken the time write to me, I read it all and I’m overwhelmed by all the kind messages you send me. I don’t think I fully grasped until now what a loved character Laena was from the book. It was an absolute pleasure to get a chance to walk in her shoes."

Blondell also shared the above image of her with Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) and their on-screen children Shani Smethurst (Baela Targaryen), and Eva Ossei-Gerning (Rhaena Targaryen). So at least we get one wholesome picture of the whole family for the road.

House of the Dragon premieres new episodes Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.

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