TV

House of the Dragon slammed for falling into painful anti-LGBTQ+ trope: ‘Never a happy ending’

House of the Dragon episode five saw Rhaenyra wed Laenor. (HBO)

House of the Dragon episode five repeated an historic anti-LGBTQ+ trope on screen, much to the disappointment of fans. Warning – spoilers follow.

The latest episode introduced the show’s first canonically queer couple, Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) and Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly Mcleod), only for them to then be torn apart by violent death.

Following in the footsteps of Game of Thrones, and other shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The 100 and Killing Eve, House of the Dragon has succumb to the “bury your gays” trope – which sees queer characters meet devastating ends.

Fans were excited to properly meet Laenor after he made an epic entrance on his dragon in episode three.
Episode five saw the prince enjoy a romantic dalliance with Joffrey, the pair kissing and glowing with love – but that all soon changed. 

When a match was made between Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Laenor, the two agreed to politically align themselves but continue any relations they pleased outside the marriage. 

https://twitter.com/fortargaryen/status/1571700803861192704?s=20&t=akvqUkG58Vo40tq6eS68kQ

Although it was all looking good for Laenor and Joffrey to have their happy (by Game of Thrones standards) ending, at the wedding everything fell apart.

Joffrey told his fellow knight, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), that he knew about his affair with Rhaenyra, which did not go down well. 

As the wedding erupted into chaos, Criston brutally pounded Joffrey to death. As things died down, viewers were left with the haunting image of Laenor crying over his lover’s body.

Fans slammed House of the Dragon for the tragic turn of events, especially since earlier on in the episode things were being handled so positively. 

“Surely you didn’t think you’d get a less than horrific gay plot line in this show?” one viewer wrote. 

While another added: “Loving House Of The Dragon but did we really need to do the whole Bury Your Gays trope in the year of our lord 2022?“

Another summed it up: “I was a fool to think for a second that the gays could win & be happy in a Game of Thrones world.”

https://twitter.com/ElvinGarciaNYC/status/1571684138184314880?s=20&t=akvqUkG58Vo40tq6eS68kQ

 

As pointed out by fans, this is not the first time the Game of Thrones universe has thrown queer couples under the bus. 

Throughout early Game of Thrones seasons, Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony), youngest brother of King Robert, was seen in a relationship with knight Loras Tyrell (Finn Jones).

Much like poor Joffrey, Renly met a terrible end after being killed by a shadow monster.
Loras was later imprisoned and forced to confess his sexuality – and then, shortly after, blown to pieces.

With five episodes left in the first season of House of the Dragon following the marriage of Rhaenyra and Laenor, there is still hope that things could turn around the for Laenor – but only time will tell. 

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