House of the Dragon’s John MacMillan discusses that Laenor twist

In Episode 7 of House of the Dragon, we get an unexpected twist to Laenor Velaryon’s storyline. We see Laenor and Rhanyra’s marriage arrangement coming back to haunt them as questions regarding their sons’ true father loom. Laenor pledges to be a better husband and weather the storm with Rhaenyra. Laenor actor John MacMillan discussed Laenor’s arc in an interview with Vulture:

"I found the writing of that scene really moving. Perhaps there isn’t a romantic love between Laenor and Rhaenyra, but they do have compassion for each other, and they’re friends in many ways. They’ve been married for 10 years, and they’ve known each other since they were children. It’s a relationship that’s lasted most of their lives. They do like each other, and they’ve been there for each other as best they can."

However, the princess seeks to strengthen her position by marrying her uncle Daemon instead.

We are then led to believe that Daemon and Rhaenyra conspire to murder Laenor with the help of his lover Qarl Correy. That is until we get a shot of Qarl and Laenor, now with a shaved head, fleeing Driftmark after faking Laenor’s death.

House of the Dragon actor doesn’t know what’s next for Laenor Velaryon

For now, this is a rare happy ending in a world where most characters tragically die. “I’m so pleased!” MacMillan said. “I remember [showrunner Miguel Sapochnik] saying, “No one gets to be happy in Westeros for long.” It’s amazing that there’s this moment of relief. The escape was one of the first things I did. It was a really stormy day, and we were out in the ocean in this massive hundred-year-old boat, which was both exciting and terrifying. To see it in the context of the episode was gratifying.

Many think that the Laenor twist was a big departure from the book, but we don’t exactly know that for sure. George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood is written as a historical account with multiple sources that give differing recounts of events. Regarding Laenor’s death, we are given three possible circumstances that all have elements of what we saw in the show.

Maestor Mellos wrote that Laenor was killed by one of his household guards after a quarrel. A household guard was killed in the show and burned so his body could be passed off as Laenor’s. Septon Eustace says that Qarl grew jealous of Laenor’s new consort, and slew him out of jealousy. The court fool Mushroom gives us the closest account, suggesting that Daemon paid Qarl to kill Laenor and arranged for a ship to carry him away. Mushroom says that daemon killed Qarl shortly thereafter.

The beauty of House of the Dragon is that the showrunners have multiple versions of the same event to choose from when it comes to adaptation. They can take the elements that work and the ones that don’t and give us the most compelling story. So far, this system is working. Hence, we were given the “Laenor gets away” plot.

I would guess that we haven’t seen the last of Laenor, though. Like Sapochnik said, nobody gets to be happy for long in Westeros. When asked about the future plans for Laenor, MacMillon said, “The honest answer is I really don’t know.”

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