Written by Charmaine DeGrate
Directed by Clare Kilner
Viserys (re Rhaenyra/Laenor): "I hope to herald in a second age of Dragons."
What is with wedding, eh? Well, usually people tend to die in them as we saw with both the Red and Purple weddings in Game Of Thrones and that tradition was maintained here with the second wedding in the series but only the first we've seen so far. I still can't believe this show skipped showing us seeing Viserys and Alicent wed but they didn't make the same mistake here.
The nice thing about Rhaenyra and Laenor's union was the fact that both of them knew exactly what they were doing. Theirs was a political marriage, a bid to unify both Houses Targaryen and Velaryon and strengthen their numbers against any potential future threat. On top of that, the bride and groom had an understanding about their real desires and how to accomplish them while also performing their expected duties as newlyweds.
In essence, everything should've gone without a hitch but you had both Daemon and Alicent making sure their arrivals at the feast made a statement. Except it wasn't them who scuppered the royal feast but more two jealous lovers instead. If only Ser Joffrey had kept his mouth and if only Ser Criston didn't go so spectacularly batshit crazy and murdered him in front of everyone before contemplating suicide himself. That was until Alicent stepped in at the last minute to stop him.
Speaking of Alicent, I talked about her making a statement this episode and she did by wearing a green dress to the wedding feast. That in itself would seem rather innocent but she was making a point to both Viserys and Rhaenyra. Thanks to a bit of shit stirring from Otto (knew he wouldn't be so easy to get rid) as well as both Larys also doing his own stirring and Criston confessing to bedding Rhaenyra, Alicent had enough of both her husband and former friend/stepdaughter. Looks like Rhaenyra can add a few more enemies to her list following the events of this episode.
As for Criston, he foolishly believed that Rhaenyra would renounce her inheritance and take off with him for parts unknown? Surely, he couldn't have been that naive but seemingly he was. However while it looks like he's well and truly burnt his bridges with Rhaenyra and her in turn might have a new protector with Ser Harwin, it also seems like for now, Criston has Alicent in his corner.
As for the Velaryons themselves, Corlys still has his issues with Rhaenys never getting to be queen and seemed determined that his grandchildren would maintain the family name, to which Viserys mostly agreed to. Then there was the revealing conversation that both Corlys and Rhaenys had in regards to Laenor's sexuality. Something tells me that Corlys won't be too upset with Joffrey being out of the equation.
As for Daemon, he opened the episode with taking his first wife Lady Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford) out of the equation while also incurring the wrath of her cousin. Also between some flirting with Rhaenyra during her own wedding feast, he found the time to charm Laena (Savannah Steyn) and she was definitely charmed by Daemon. Looks like there's going to be another Targaryen/Velaryon wedding on the horizon. Yeah, the episode ended with Rhaenyra and Laenor tying the knot and Viserys falling to the ground.
- I should've mentioned it last week but Alicent also had her daughter, Helaena, which means there are two more babies on the horizon for her.
- Otto really drove home the fact that Viserys days are numbered and the latter does continue to get worse with each passing episode.
- Lyonel became Viserys's hand while Daemon looks set to inherit Runestone in spite of murdering his wife and not having any children with her. Their marriage was unconsumated.
- We met Rhaenys's dragon Meleys this week and saw Seasmoke again.
- This episode marked the final appearances of both Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra and Alicent. The actors playing Laenor and Laeana will also be recast for the second half of the season.
- Chronology: Very little time has passed since the events of the previous episode but we're in for a major time jump next week.
We Light The Way in some regards could've felt like a season finale given that we're about to enter a time jump and get four prominent roles recast. Both Milly Alcock and Emily Carey have done a fantastic job in the first half of the season and it's going to be interesting to see how Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke expand on the roles as things between Rhaenyra and Alicent are about to heat up big time.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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