House of the Dragon’s messy queer melodrama endures show’s ten year time jump – to delight of fans

The latest episode of House of the Dragon has seen Laenor and Rhaenyra’s relationship grow more complicated than ever with him naming her son after his dead lover. 

Episode six saw huge change with a 10 year time jump and major characters changing actors – including Emma D’Arcy taking up Rhaenyra, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower and Laenor being played by John Macmillian. 

At the end of the previous episode we saw Princess Rhaenyra marry her gay cousin Laenor. But at the wedding, Laenor’s lover Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod) tragically died. 

The episode saw a huge backlash from fans who accused the show of falling into the tired “bury your gays” trope. 

In this episode we see the impact Joffrey’s death still has on Laenor, who names Rhaenyra’s third child Joffrey, without consulting Rhaenyra.

While some fans were touched by the gesture, others felt the name has been too tainted by the Game of Thrones character Joffrey who was universally hated for his terrible personality. 



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