Season 1 episode 5 of the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, “We Light the Way,” is an eventful one that sees Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) make an emotional decision with fatal results. It’s a decision he makes based on his feelings for Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock). That decision? The brutal murder of Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod). So why does Ser Criston do it?
The key to remember about this whole thing is unrequited love. Remember that earlier in the season, Rhaenyra was rejected by her uncle Daemon and then took those raunchy feelings to Ser Criston. The two had a romantic night together but Ser Criston couldn’t just let it be a thing that happened, and developed real feelings.
She was nice to him but ultimately rejected him, and subsequently he made the mistake of telling the Queen, Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), what happened. This would inadvertently lead to Ser Joffrey’s death. Ser Criston makes a string of bad decisions, but you can’t really blame him considering his level of infatuation with the princess.
As viewers, it was hard to watch Ser Criston propose to the princess, as that was obviously not going to go well. After her rejection, he whines about breaking his oath to his knightship because he’s supposed to be chaste. “I soiled my cloak,” he keeps telling her.
She then tells him she has an arrangement with Ser Laenor to “dine” wherever they want, but Ser Criston just gets mad because that makes him feel like a “whore.” Even though Ser Criston wanted some weird life in Essos with the Princess, she’s too dedicated to her duties to entertain those notions.
The wedding scene is fraught with tension, especially because Ser Criston is on edge about the affair, the rejection, his guilt, and his unresolved feelings for the princess. On top of all that he has to watch her marry someone else.
Enter Ser Joffrey, who is the groom’s lover. He makes a bad decision and seemingly tells Ser Criston that he knows he slept with the princess. Then the beating starts. It doesn’t even feel like he’s trying to kill Joffrey per se, but more to express his unresolved anger at the princess.
There are some other things at play here as well. Ser Criston could be trying to make sure no one else knows about the affair. He also doesn’t like the idea of being the princess’s special “whore,” and because of his “chastity” it all gets to be too much. Unfortunately, it’s Joffrey that pays the price for this.
