House of the Dragon ‘We Light the Way’ Review: Something green, something borrowed, someone dead

It’s wedding season on a Game of Thrones show and We Light the Way continues the tradition of betrayal, poor decisions and bloodshed.

All of the various houses gather together to celebrate the joining of house Velaryon and Targaryen for Rhaenyra and Laenor’s wedding. Even by Game of Thrones standards, this wedding is an especially dour affair. No one except Lord Corlys Velaryon is happy about the marriage. Even he has some issues when it comes to the succession and Rhaenyra’s last name.

Daemon walks into the wedding uninvited. Viserys doesn’t do anything. He lets Daemon sit at his table after Daemon admitted he tried to sleep with Rhaenyra.

There are a few strong moments in We Light the Way. Alicent becoming a player with Otto gone, Rhaenyra and Laenor’s arrangement and the unhinged violence near the end of the episode are terrific.

Unfortunately, all of the good moments are balanced out by every character with the exception of Laenor being unlikeable. Alicent overreacts to Rhaenyra not telling the whole truth, but for the first time acts like a queen who should have some power. For every good decision a character makes, they make a profoundly dumb one to counteract the good.

For example, Rhaenyra’s conversation with Laenor is full of understanding and compassion. On the other hand, her conversation with Criston has no compassion for the situation she’s has placed him in. If it’s found out he’s broken his chastity oath, he could die. Rhaenyra’s solution to Criston wanting to run away with her is to essentially make Criston her whore (those are Criston’s words).

We Light the Way is still a strong episode due to the performances by Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower. They shine in their respective sendoffs as the series prepares for another time jump.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood in We Light the Way. There may be some minor spoilers. House of the Dragon is available to stream on HBO Max.

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Rhaenyra’s Error in We Light the Way

Rhaenyra makes a good decision initially by talking to Laenor about their arranged courtship. Neither is happy about the arrangement. Laenor is gay. She makes an agreement with Laenor that they will fulfill their marital obligations to their families. However, they will have an open relationship.

Later, Rhaenyra makes a costly mistake. Sir Criston wants to run away with Rhaenyra. He likes Rhaenyra but also is ashamed of breaking his chastity vow. Rhaenyra turns him down, which is fine. However, she goes too far. She suggests they keep seeing each other in secret after she weds Laenor. Criston deduces and points out this would make him Rhaenyra’s whore.

Criston’s anger boils over at the wedding. He kills Laenor’s lover in a fit of rage. Viserys follow this carnage by issuing a shotgun wedding.

I’ve never felt more sorrow for a character than I do for Laenor.

The Green, Green Dress

Alicent found out from one of Otto’s spies about the tea sent to Rhaenyra at the conclusion of the last episode. She feels betrayed. Instead of talking with Rhaenyra directly, she summons Criston to her chambers.

She wants to know as Rhaenyra’s personal guard if Daemon had sex with Rhaenyra. With little provocation, Criston admits to breaking chastity and sleeping with Rhaenyra. Alicent is furious, but We Light the Way doesn’t do a great job of establishing why she’s so angry.

In the last episode, the conversation between Rhaenyra and Alicent was all about Daemon. Could Rhaenyra have told her the truth? Sure, but Alicent’s anger is a bit overblown here. The only way Alicent’s anger is justified is if she believes Rhaenyra sent Criston as a sacrificial lamb to lie for Rhaenyra and Alicent still believes Rhaenyra slept with Daemon.

Alicent makes a huge entrance during the engagement ceremony. She shows up in a green dress, which represents her house and for the first time exudes the presence of a queen.

Carey is truly remarkable throughout the episode. Criston ratting out what happened between him and Rhaenyra is a weak character moment. Alicent’s reaction is simply too strong given the limited context provided.

Daemon’s ascension through murder

Finally, House of The Dragon introduces Daemon’s wife. She’s riding a horse. He walks in front of the horse. She calls him out on his failures as a man. She falls off the horse with the horse landing on top of her. Daemon starts to walk away, until his wife says she knew Daemon couldn’t finish. He then picks up a rock to end the scene. Thankfully, we don’t see Daemon bash a woman’s skull in.

Daemon shows up uninvited to the wedding. Almost no one does a thing. Remember, everyone in this room believes Daemon tried to sleep with Rhaenyra. Viserys don’t say a word. Daemon just sits at the king’s table.

Later, his dead wife’s cousin approaches and accuses him of murder in front of the king. Viserys doesn’t do anything. Since Daemon had no kids with his wife, he is entitled to her inheritance, which is his wife’s entire kingdom. He demands his inheritance on the spot.

Daemon’s been the antagonist throughout the season, but this is the first time he’s progressed to straight-up villainy. Matt Smith is terrific. However, I didn’t enjoy anything Daemon did in this episode. Up to this point, the people Daemon has killed were criminals and in war, now he just killed his wife to take her inheritance.

We Light the Way Final Thoughts

Some cool moments are slightly undermined by characters making dumb decisions, Viserys failing to act on multiple occasions and Criston being a rat.