Editor's Note: The following article contains spoilers for Episodes 1-5 of House of the Dragon and the book Fire & Blood.Anyone who knows Westeros knows that they don't ever do weddings in half-measures. If a family isn't being ambushed, then a king is being poisoned. For a while, this Sunday, it seemed as if Rhaenyra Targaryen's (Milly Alcock) wedding celebrations with Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) might go smoothly, with the only real drama being that her step-mother/ex-best-friend showed up in a fashion faux pas dress. But, dramatic entrances aside, a Westerosi wedding isn't complete until someone dies.
For Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding, this victim is tragically Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), Laenor's paramour. While we don't know what caused Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) to completely lose his marbles and literally beat Joffrey to death, we obviously know it is tied to Rhaenyra's relationship with Criston. However, like any good House of the Dragon episode, there is always more happening in a scene than just what is at the surface.
Did Daemon Actually Kill Rhea Royce?
Among the pageantry of the entrances, including a stellar entrance for House Velaryon, was Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) return. You might be asking, wasn't he exiled? For Daemon, exile is more of a suggestion than anything else. He's likely stayed away the last five years, but he arrives on the scene not long after the Velaryons have joined the party, silencing the party goers and, in particular, riling up the anger of Gerold Royce (Owen Oakeshott), the cousin of Daemon's late wife Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford).
We saw at the beginning of the episode that Daemon did as his brother asked and returned to the Vale to his wife. But, upon meeting Rhea while she was hunting alone, the two have an acerbic and contentious conversation. We learn that apparently Daemon has never consummated his marriage with Rhea and we see Rhea come to the realization that her life might be at stake. Thrown off her horse, she lands on the ground and delivers one last barb to Daemon as he walks away from her. We watch as Daemon picks up a rock and walks back toward her before the scene cuts away.
So, did Daemon kill Rhea? The simple answer would be to say that he did. The scene certainly implies it, but if you didn't see the crime, there's still an air of uncertainty. In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, all we know is that Lady Rhea was thrown from her horse and cracked her skull on a stone. But in the book, she manages to stay alive for nine days before finally dying. It's never stated explicitly that Daemon kills her, but sometimes if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
What Is Going on With Daemon and Laena Velaryon?
While the truth might never be written in stone, Lord Royce certainly blames Daemon for Rhea's death and Daemon is hardly the grieving widow, asking about his inheritance callously. As the festivities proceed, we watch as Daemon catches the eye of both Rhaenyra and Laena Velaryon (Savannah Steyn). While Rhaenyra is focused on her wedding celebrations, dancing with Laenor and Harwin (Ryan Corr), Daemon dances with Laena.
He confesses to her that he wasn't sad about Rhea's death, but this doesn't seem to throw Laena off. Instead, she flirts with the prince and hopes to get to know him better. So what's going on with Laena and Daemon? Well, if you've read Fire & Blood then you know this episode not only calls back to events of past episodes but foreshadows future ones. Rhaenyra will eventually start an affair with Ser Harwin and, now newly single, Daemon will marry Laena.
What Happens During Daemon and Rhaenyra's Meeting?
However, Daemon's also had his eye set on Rhaenyra. Their liaison last episode threw everything askew when Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) got news from a source that the two were spotted "coupling" in a brothel late at night. We know that while the two came close, they never actually did the deed. Daemon, thrown off by his lack of ability to shock Rhaenyra, left her to get drunk and pass out.
While Rhaenyra did go on to sleep with Criston Cole — the big problem of the episode — Viserys (Paddy Considine) was made more cautious of Daemon. In confronting him, instead of denying that he had sex with Rhaenyra and telling the truth, he instead asks Rhaenyra's hand in marriage. Which, as far as Targaryen customs go, is not really shocking to Viserys for the same reasons it's shocking to us. After all, both Viserys and Daemon's parents and grandparents were siblings and Viserys married his cousin and plans to marry Rhaenyra to her cousin.
Instead, we can only take from context clues why he's angry. Daemon was, at the time, already married. But his strained relationship with Daemon and the fear that he could take the throne from Rhaenyra or manipulate her are all possible fears. When uncle and niece are reunited on the dance floor, tensions flare up again. This time it is Rhaenyra who tests Daemon, telling him to whisk her away while she is still single and marry her at Dragonstone. Their interaction is clear for all to see, but more importantly, Viserys and Alicent (Emily Carey) both see it. While we don't know what exactly happens as the partygoers dance, they did seem awfully close.
Why Does Rhaenyra Get Married So Quickly?
When the fight breaks up, everything is thrown into chaos. Ser Criston, in a fit of rage and guilt, brutally murders Joffrey, and Rhaenyra and Laenor get swarmed by partygoers. Viserys watches, bleeding from his nose, and when the dust settles all that is left on the ground is Joffrey's dead body.
So where did Daemon go? The short answer is, we don't really know. And that's kind of a problem. We know that eventually Daemon and Rhaenyra will wed each other, and we know that Daemon is probably the most impulsive person in Westeros. Is it possible that he accepted his niece's proposal? Was he readying their dragons? Or perhaps did he run away with Laena?
We see after the death of Ser Joffrey that Rhaenyra and a still devastated Laenor are quickly married by a septon in the bloody ballroom. We heard earlier in the episode that this was just the beginning of the wedding celebrations, and it was supposed to last a whole week with tournaments and feasting. In Fire & Blood, Ser Criston kills Ser Joffrey during a tournament melee rather than just out in public. So what's changed?
It could be assumed that Viserys, seeing his brother and his daughter getting so close on the dance floor, decided not to take any more chances. Who knows what could happen in seven days? He can not afford to lose the favor and alliance with House Velaryon and he can not be sure of what is going on with Rhaenyra and Daemon, with both of them single the threat of a ruined engagement is too high, and so he quickly marries the two while a rat licks up the blood in the ballroom.