The following article contains spoilers for the sixth episode of House of the Dragon.
The last episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon, entitled “The Princess and the Queen” devastated fans in more ways than one. First, we saw the departure of Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, respectively. Then came the expected Game of Thrones style of doom and disaster we can come to expect from the series when multiple characters were killed off by the end of the episode.
One of the characters who is no longer with us is Laena Velaryon. The daughter of Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) was first introduced to us when she was offered as a match for Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) after his wife Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) died after he attempted to save the life of his child while she was in childbirth.
At the time, she was only a young girl. Because of that and a few other reasons, Viserys refused the match and proposed to Alicent Hightower. Laena was played by Nova Foueillis-Mosé before there was another time jump for the wedding of Rhaenyra and Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), and she was recast as Savannah Steyn. As we then went even further into the future, flashing forward 10 years later, she was recast again, this time played by Nanna Blondell.
This current version of the character is now married to Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), and they had two children, Baela Targaryen (Shani Smethurst) and Rhaena Targaryen (Eva Ossei-Gerning). What caused their family to fall apart in the latest episode, how exactly did the matriarch die, and what happened to her in the source material George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood?
What happened to Laena Targaryen?
Laena Targaryen was pregnant in the latest episode of House of the Dragon. Not that it stopped her from riding the largest of all the dragons, Vhagar, and looking excellent while doing it. Laena, Daemon, and the children were living as guests in Pentos, while Daemon considered living there and helping the locals out with a little war. However, before any of the family could set down more permanent roots, Laena went into labor.
This would not be the first birth of the series, not even the first birth of the episode. Viewers were privy to the traumatic childbirth that Aemma Arryn went through, and at the start of the episode, Rhaenyra (now played by Emma D’Arcy) gave birth to her third child. Unfortunately, Laena’s birth did not go as easily as Rhaenyra’s did. In fact, the birth was more comparable to Aemma’s as the child did not survive, and neither did the mother.
Daemon was faced with the same decision that his brother Viserys had to make with his late wife. Daemon hesitated as after all he did not need an heir as badly as Viserys did. Laena realizing that she was most likely about to die during childbirth whether Daemon intervened or not, fled the room and lumbered out to the beach where her dragon Vhagar was waiting for her. She commanded Vhagar, said Dracarys and after hesitating multiple times, Vhagar did as she was commanded and lit her and her unborn child on fire, killing them both.
The source material, Fire and Blood, does not quite tell the same story of how she died. Of course, the book is deemed as a less-reliable recount of the events as it is written from the perspective of the maesters and not a firsthand account. The book also mentions that Rhaenyra and Laena were friends, although that might have been because of Daemon. The book’s account of Laena’s death is as follows, “The babe was twisted and malformed, and died within the hour. Nor did his mother long survive him. After three days of delirium, Lady Leana passed from this mortal coil.”
There is no mention of her suicide by her dragon in the book, except for this passage, “Lady Leana rose from her bed…intent on reaching Vhagar that she might fly one last time before she died. Her strength failed her…and it was there she collapsed and died.” Of course, this could be the official word coming from Daemon after witnessing her death, and they could have shielded the more graphic details from the maesters. The book’s version of events is also sad as she ultimately could not die the death of a dragon rider. Either way, her presence in the show was very strong even though she had very little screen time.
As for the family she left behind, we will have to keep watching House of the Dragon to find out exactly how Daemon and the children will fare in the episodes to come. Catch House of the Dragon as it roars on to HBO on Sunday nights.