We Light the Way finally reveals Daemon's wife and she's not what we expected.


The Ugly Wife Situation

Since us viewers got our first look at Daemon, he's been endlessly yapping about how ugly his wife is, she looks like a cow, she's not attractive enough, he wants another wife, the sheep are more fuckable etc. Finally, in We Light the Way, we get a peek at Daemon's wife Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford) and she's kind of cute? Now we're well aware that depicting an "ugly" person can be a bit challenging (how many actors would willingly sign up to play a naturally ugly person) but perhaps House of the Dragon could have employed the skills of a makeup artist to make Rhea as described by Daemon but they didn't.

Does that mean Rhea is truly not ugly and Daemon is just a bitter confused man? There are theories that perhaps he likes his women a little incest-y but we've seen him get busy in a whore  house so the issue might be deeper than that. It would have been interesting to peel a layer of Daemon's psyche and find out exactly what issue he has with his wife but Daemon quickly crushes the idea - and her head with a stone.


Alicent's Vilain Origin

Remember HOTD Episode 4 where Alicent passionately vouches for Rhaenyra to King Viserys and Rhaenyra ends up getting Alicent's father, Otto Hightower fired? Well Alicent finds out (courtesy of Lord Larys) that Rhaenyra lied to her face about being "intact", Alicent feels a host of emotions but one of them is clearly betrayal and the sinking feeling that her father was right; the Targayrens are looking out for themselves and Alicent should not naively assume otherwise and do the same.

Alicent's emotions in this scene are clear and it's a little worrisome that the Queen would wear her emotions so visibly on her face, especially in the presence of someone who clearly wants her rattled. But if there's one thing we've learned so far in House of the Dragon, it's that the Targayrens deserved to be usurped from the Iron Throne as there's not a single scheming bone in their body - No one in the castle knows how to play the game of politics as they all just wing it and do whatever the eff they want.



King Viserys gets no respect

We've seen from the pilot episode that King Viserys is not a king that inspires respect or instils fear as everyone succeeds in manipulating him. We Light the Way makes it far more obvious as Viserys journeys all the way to Driftmark (by sea and despite being viciously seasick) to the Valeyrons to beg for Laenor's hand. The Sea Snake and his wife don't even bother to personally welcome the King and the latter ends up getting the minuscule end of the stick when he agrees to allow Rhaenyra and Laenor's children to bear the Valeryon name.

Later, Alicent interrupts the King's speech with a dramatic entrance and a brawl breaks out in the presence of the King.

The King is also aware of his reputation and how barely song-worthy it is as, in the throes of sickness, he has an honest moment with his new hand on how he would be remembered and how he wishes he had been "tested" during his reign. Hand of the King, Lyonel, tries to assuage his doubts and Viserys eventually says "You're right as always, it is perhaps best not to know".

This scene feels a lot like a deathbed conversation and the actor who plays King Viserys, Paddy Constantine carries it so well. 


Match Made in King's Landing

Rhaenyra has a talk with Laenor while they take a walk on the picturesque beach. This moment would have warranted a comment like "It's a beautiful day" and not the moment in Second of His Name where Rhaenyra said that about moody weather.

In a cryptic roast duck vs beef analogy, Rhaenyra alludes to the knowledge of Laenor's sexual preferences and gives him leave to do as he pleases in the marriage so long as they both perform their duty of producing heirs.




The Scorned Side Piece

Rhaenyra gave Laenor room to have his little side piece because she was hoping to do the same with her side piece, Ser Criston. But we see that Criston had a more naive view of their little tryst - thinking that she truly intended to do something about the constant whining of her royal duties and that she'd elope with him. Rhaenyra brutally bursts his bubble by saying "Do you think I'd choose infamy in exchange for a bushel of oranges or a ship to Asshai?"

You can see Criston's realization that he had misjudged Rhaenyra - that the woman who called his name and elevated his bloodline would so easily destroy it to satisfy her whims. Later, when Alicent tries to find out who Rhaenyra did the deed with, Criston confesses (unprovoked!) and asks for a merciful death instead of torture. Both betrayed by Rhaenyra, a sense of camaraderie is budding between these two.

The interesting situation about this side-piece saga is that none of the side pieces truly know their place. Laenor's beau, Ser Joffrey blatantly gives Laenor a lingering look that Rhaenyra immediately catches onto.  Criston spends all feast staring intensely at Rhaenyra and Joffrey later walks up to him boldly, alludes to knowing about his affair and suggests that they both protect each other's interests. I'm not sure how Ser Joffrey expected this conversation to go but definitely not the way it went as his head ends up getting bashed in by a crazed Criston.

There are theories that Criston was reacting to a different external stimulus - some theories suggested that Criston may have tried to attack Daemon after seeing him and Rhaenyra so close together only to get stopped by Joffrey. The truth is we'd never know but we do see that Ser Criston gets no earful or consequence for publicly murdering the groom's best friend, disrupting the wedding and disrespecting the King as he's free enough to attempt suicide only to be stopped by his newest ally.


The Slightly Red Wedding

Following Game of Throne fashion, HOtD tries to have a bloody wedding in the form of Ser Joffrey's pummeled face but it's literally chaotic as no one can tell what's going on for a while - we just see the commotion. Later, during the actual wedding ceremony, King Viserys drops to the floor immediately after hearing the exchanged vows between Laenor and Rhaenyra.


Quote of the episode

Ser Criston when he finally understands the assignment - "So you want me to be your whore?"