A House Of The Dragon Queer Character Not Dead Yet… Yay!
Since HBO brought back the world of Westeros to our screens with House Of Dragon, avid Game Of Thrones fans are being introduced to new Tragaryen family members with more queer representation than before, reports Pride.
LAENOR’S FATE (SPOILERS AHEAD)
In the most recent episode of House Of Dragon, we get a closer look into one of the only queer characters in the series so far; Laenor Velaryon. We were first introduced to Laenor being queer two episodes back when it’s revealed he was in love with his best friend who was unceremoniously slaughtered during Laenor’s wedding to Targaryen princess Rhaenyra.
The tragic end to Laenor’s paramour boded an equally grim fate for the Velaryon prince. This tends to be the way for Game Of Thrones queer people; in the original series we met three distinctly gay characters and each met a grisly fate. Oberyn Martell was bisexual and had his skull crushed in, Renly Baratheon was stabbed to death by shadow monster and his lover Loras Tyrell was burnt alive with wildfire.
Seeing that the new House Of Dragon showed us POC in leading roles, a feat that the original series fell short of doing, we were expecting better representation. George RR Martin’s canon text tells us that Laenor meets a similarly tragic end and the latest episode leant into that showing us the moment he is betrayed by his lover Ser Qarl Correy, reports Pride.
But to every viewers surprise, the end scene shows Qarl and Laenor escaping in the night via rowboat to potentially start a new life, unburdened by the expectations of succession and nobility. This twist ending is a moment of hope amid the Westerosi tragedies, and is a departure from the classic kill-your-gays trope that Game Of Thrones (and media at large) often leans to.
What comes next for Laenor Velaryon? Hopefully, he stays far from Westeros and enjoys a long life with lover Qarl Correy.
