Warning: This article contains major spoilers for episode seven for House of the Dragon
It’s no secret that changes are made whenever a book gets adapted to screen, but episode seven of House of the Dragon revealed the first major change from George R.R. Martin’s source material. But, most surprising of all, fans are loving it.
This is your final warning in case you haven’t seen the latest episode of House of the Dragon. You have been warned.
The newest episode revealed that Laenor Velaryon faked his death, following a plan made by Rhaenyra and Daemon, so he and his lover could live a new life elsewhere. This meant that Rhaenyra and Daemon were free to marry each other (ew!) following tensions with Viserys and Alicent reaching an all-time high.
Fans are praising the show’s writers, saying that the change strengthens the idea that Laenor and Rhaenyra were supportive of each other from the very start.
It feels like this change was necessary as it shows that Rhaenyra did care for her husband, despite their differences. She spoke to Daemon about her current situation with Laenor, emphasizing that she didn’t want to kill him as his parents recently lost their daughter and that killing Laenor would “cost Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys their only remaining child.”
While Daemon was teaching his niece a lesson about being a fierce and dangerous leader, it showed that the future queen of King’s Landing has a heart.
This plot change did confuse book readers as it led to multiple questions such as “Did Rhaeynra spare him or did the plan backfire?” and “what will happen to Laenor’s dragons?”
Both the books and TV show shared the same information as to who convinced Ser Qarl to kill the future king’s consort. And fans feared that Laenor would receive the same fate from the books.
In the end, the twist ending mostly received a positive reaction from fans and they look forward to seeing what happens next as episode eight drops on Sunday on HBO Max.