Warning: spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon.
The fact that House of the Dragon has been filled with death and despair shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering it’s a prequel series to the tear-jerking Game of Thrones.
However, many viewers found a couple of the deaths in episode 6 particularly upsetting, given fans would have wanted to spend more time with the characters whose lives were lost.
Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) and Lady Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell) both met tragic ends this week, with Laena dying after being unable to give birth to her baby.
So how does Laena die in the Fire and Blood book, the novel by George RR Martin on which House of the Dragon is based, and how does her death differ in the series?
How does Laena die in the book?
In the books, Laena doesn’t go to Vhagar asking for her beloved dragon to burn her to death.
In the original source material, Laena is heavily pregnant and goes into labour, just like in the series.
However, unlike the TV show, she is able to give birth to a boy, who dies after just an hour.
After suffering from sickness for three days, Laena also dies, having tried to go to Vhagar so she could fly her dragon one more time.
Daemon then picks her up from the tower steps where she collapsed and died and carries her to her bed.
How does Laena die in House of the Dragon?
In House of the Dragon, the events leading up to Laena’s death closely mirrored what happened to Queen Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) in the first episode of the series.
When Queen Aemma went into labour, the maester informed King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) that the baby could not be delivered because it was breach, and so the only course of action if they wanted to save the child’s life was to cut directly into the mother’s womb.
In this instance, a broken-hearted Viserys agreed to the maester’s suggestion, resulting in Aemma being forced to undergo a C-section and dying on the childbirth bed.
When Laena goes into labour, Daemon is similarly told that they’re unable to deliver the baby, and could consider cutting into his wife’s stomach to retrieve the baby.
Daemon appears reluctant to do this, and shortly afterwards, Laena takes matters into her own hands, fulfilling her wish to die a dragonrider’s death.
She orders Vhagar to burn her to death using the famous command ‘dracarys’, screaming in pain while pleading with her dragon to do as she says.
Daemon runs out to try and stop his wife but doesn’t arrive in time, as Vhagar does what her master commanded.
Speaking in a behind-the-scenes video about the episode, executive producer and writer Sara Hess explained why she felt that Laena wouldn’t die in the same way that Aemma did in episode one.
‘We’ve already had one person die in their childbirth bed. I just felt like Laena doesn’t go that way. She’s going to go out like a warrior,’ she said.
Showrunner Ryan Condal added that Laena was ‘unwilling to go the same way that Aemma did’, while pointing out the ‘irony’ of the situation from Daemon’s point of view.
‘The irony there is that Daemon is faced with the same decision that Viserys was in the pilot, and Daemon made a joke of it,’ he said.
‘She’s a dragonrider. She wants to die a dragonrider’s death.’
House of the Dragon next airs on Monday at 2am on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : House of the Dragon: All the major talking points from the episode 7 teaser
