HOTD Episode 5 Review & Breakdown: "We Light The Way"

The fifth part is one of the strongest episodes of the House Of The Dragon series. Although the first four parts laid the foundation for the historical events that will take place in the next series, it was the fifth part that ignited those things.

This part was called "We Light The Way." If we take the reason why this is special, these four words are the motto, or the model color, of House Hightower, which owns Auto and Allison.

Although the main event of the episode was divided between the Targaryen and Valaryn clans, this episode showed how the Hightower clan, led by Alicent, rose up behind their shadows without even realizing it. The other thing is that Alicent, who was crushed by the actions of others in this part, finally understands her situation and joins this fight. To be precise, what happened here was a discovery that she made on her own. That's why this part was called "We Light The Way."

The episode starts with an incident in Vale. In this section, you can see how beautiful Vail is. Rhea Royce, Damon Targaryen's legal wife and a powerful elite in the Vale, is first introduced at the beginning of the episode.

From Damon's explanations, we could see that Riya is a different person than the image we had imagined.

Here, Damon, who is a gray character, appears in front of her in his black form. Rhea, who recognizes him, insults Damon with metaphors.

"Have you, at last, come to consummate our marriage? The Vale's sheep might be willing, even if I'm not. "

Damon, who had never been physically with her, suddenly appeared from the veil. Riya asks if he will complete their marriage by doing that. After that, Rhea drags Damon's disinheritance into her story. Rhea's continuous insults ended with Damon killing her.

So what could have been the reason for killing Damon Riya? There are several reasons for this.

One is that Ria was an obstacle that crossed Damon's path. Even Viserys always used action to punish Damon. In the first part, Viserys ordered Damon to go to Rhea to take revenge for Damon's insulting of his dead son. In the fourth part, Viserys banished Damon to the Vale where Rhea was. So Damon combined his anger and desire to remove this barrier.

With Rhea's murder, Damon gains a lot of respect. Riya's name has a great legacy. That is the Runestone Castle that belongs to the name of Royce. Damon should legally own the runestones now since Rhea and Damon had no children. As the episode progresses, you can see this coming out of Damon's mouth.

The other advantage is that now Damon can get married without any problems. In the second part, when Damon tried to marry Misaria, others criticized his idea because of Riya. Now that his wife is dead, Damon can remarry without any problems.

Along with those things, Damon is someone who loves violence. So it is not wrong to say that the man decided to end the act by adding this desire along with the reasons mentioned above. Because that is the nature of the "Rogue Prince".

In the next scene, a group of people, including Viserys, Rhaenyra, Lionel, and Sir Kristen Cole, are going to Hightide on a ship. It goes with a proposal of marriage to the next heir of the Valaryan clan.

Viserys seemed to be quite weak by now. The reason why King Viserys ended Reneira's affairs in such a hurry may be because he foresaw what was going to happen to him. Because the last hope of every king is to end his political headaches and find comfort.

While the Targaryen clan goes to the Hightides to meet the Valaryns with the good news, the Hightowers in King's Landing are facing a big problem. With Otto's demotion, he now has to leave King's Landing. Alisant comes to meet him to say good-bye, and Otto accuses Alisant of forgetting her own father and choosing Reneira, who should be her enemy.

"Either you prepare Aegon to rule, or you cling to Rhaenyra and pray for her mercy."

After giving Alisante his last warning, Otto leaves on a horse.

Now Allison is alone in King's Landing with no one of her own. Otto is gone now, so she has to be alone with the dragons. Larys Strong appears to add straw to the fire that is burning in the middle of the river. As Otto questions Alison's remaining faith in Reneira, Larys arrives and manages to cast doubt on it. Larys takes Alicent to the point where she hates Reneira without even realizing it. For so long, Auto looked like "Little Finger" in HotD, but now we understand that there are more Little Fingers than Auto these days.

Meanwhile, Viserys' leading group reaches Hytide. Lenore Valarian, who is about to receive a marriage proposal, is seen playing with swords with her friend. Even when a king has arrived in front of their house, the house of the Valarians is very lonely. It is not the head of the household who comes to welcome Viserys, but Leyna, the daughter of Kollis, who gave Viserys many heirs and became his wife. Lionel himself, who held a huge ceremony to celebrate Aegon's second nomination, does not forget to ask Leyna if this is how the Valaryans treat the king.

The fact that the king was not taken into account shows how much anger and regret he has towards Viserys. King Viserys, who rejected his daughter in front of Kollis, now has to ask Kollis' own son to marry his daughter. As Raineys later said, this is a job fit for a king. But Viserys has no choice.

When presented with the proposal, Collis asks a few questions. Collis raises questions about who will be king after Viserys and whether Rhaenyra and Leynor's children will have the Valyrian or the Targaryen surname. Viserys mockingly questions the same thoughts as Colys, thinking that because Rhaenyra was a girl, the Targaryen reign ended there, and then the Valaryns would inherit the throne.

Viserys replies that after him, Rhaenyra will inherit the Iron Throne, and after that, whether female or male, a child of Rhaenyra will rule. Viserys agrees to Caulis's proposal on the final condition that when the child born with the surname Valerian becomes king, he or she must sit on the throne under the Targaryen family name.

So the marriage of Reneira and Lenore happens as a political agreement for power. We were able to take care of many marriages in this category in Game of Thrones. Cersei Lannister and Robert Baratheon marry in order to bring the Lannister and Baratheon clans together.Daenerys and Carl Drogo are also getting married to get Dany's brother, Prince Viserys, an army for the throne.

These marriages are based on love, but with political motivations.But the marriage between Reneira and Lenore is a little different. because there was a mutual understanding between these two even before the wedding. In that "goose-duck" story, the two promise that even after marriage, they will have the opportunity to satisfy their desires.

As Viserys leaves, Caulis and Rhaenys have a long conversation. Renira asks Collis if Lenore's sexuality and his wife's coronation as a woman will endanger her son. But Kollis replies that since the dragons and naval power are now united, anyone who opposes Reneira will be destroyed.

In this way, "Team Black" is created as one of the teams in the upcoming war.

On the way back to King's Landing, Reneira and Kristen Cole have a conversation. Kristen invites Reneira to put aside her power, choose her heart, and come out with her. But Reneira says no to Kristen's invitation, saying that she cannot deny her crown and responsibility. But even though Reneira said that the relationship between them should not end with marriage, Kristen, who was very angry with that story, was going to leave.

As soon as Viserys arrives in King's Landing, Alison calls Kristen and asks if the rumors about Rhaenyra are true. Kristen confesses to Alisant that they are true and that it was her fault. Alicent now realizes what a wrong decision she made.

It is at this moment that she finds out that the friend she trusted more than her father lied to her. This is a very important event in HotD. Alicent discovers this secret and begins the storm to come.

In the meantime, Viserys is shown to be a very weak person. Now he is in such a situation that it is difficult for Meister to control.

Here, Viserys asks Lionel if he will be remembered as a good king. Because nothing memorable about Viserys happened during his reign. Even if a king doesn't write poems and songs to remember himself, what's the point, right?

Lionel's answer is that peace is more valuable than the destruction of poetry. But it seemed that Viserys was not satisfied with that answer.

The Royal wedding season begins. Even the reception ceremony is held in a very grand manner.

The scene of the Valarians coming here is very beautiful. The glorious union of two of the most powerful clans in Westeros was depicted without fail.

Damon, who has finished with his wife, is getting married without any hesitation.

But Alicent was the one who stole Reneira's day as well as the whole episode. Alicent was the talk of everyone who came to the wedding, not because she interrupted the king's speech... it was because of the color she wore. Instead of the customary red and black Targaryen colors, Alicent comes to the event dressed in green.

So why does Alicent draw green? Green is the color of the Hightower clan. A green flame is used by the Hightower clan to declare war against other clans. So here Alicent is declaring war on Reneira, who betrayed her. Here, Alicent shows her anger in the way she looks at Reneira.

Here, Alicent shows her anger in the way she looks at Reneira.

I said above that "Team Black" was formed. Now their rivals, "Team Green," are coming to the scene. The firecrackers prepared from the original parts will start to ignite.

During this event, the future between Princess Leyna and Damon Targaryen is teased. Although Leyna can't marry Viserys, later she gets the chance to marry Damon. Even children are born as a result of their relationship. A hint of those things is given here.

The pre-wedding ceremony takes place in a quiet manner. People indulge in pleasures. A beautiful dance is going on. But when was there a peaceful wedding in GoT that didn't end in blood?

Kristen's boyfriend reveals to Kristen that he has discovered Kristen and Reneira's secret. At this time, Kristen, who was very angry and under pressure, attacked and killed him during the ceremony. After that, Alicent stops Kristen, who is trying to commit suicide. Starting off peacefully and ending tragically, the fifth episode had a dark GoT vibe and ended with Viserys falling to his throne.

As mentioned in the beginning, this part is very important for the future. The coming together of the Valaryan-Tagherian clans, Alicent's rise, and Alicent's rescue of Kristen Cole, who regretted Rhaenyra, highlighting Harvin Strong, Lionel Strong's son, and the Leyna-Damon meeting, are very important events. You will understand why I am saying this while watching the previous parts.