Let's Burn the Bury Your Gays Trope Once and for All
Editor's note: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 5.As part of our new ritual, my boyfriend and I tuned in to watch House of the Dragon this past Sunday, along with about 29 million other viewers.
We both let out a collective “aww” when, halfway through the episode, the show introduced its first queer storyline. In one scene, Princess Rhaenyra, played by Milly Alcock, discusses her soon-to-be marriage to her betrothed, her cousin, Laenor Velaryon, played by John Macmillan.
In a seemingly modern agreement of sorts, Rhaenyra and Laenor decide they will have an open marriage. This gives the couple the freedom to explore their separate love interests.
We know from previous episodes that Rhaenyra has been intimate with a knight of the King’s Guard, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), while we learn in the next scene in Episode 5, Laenor has a romantic relationship with his own knight, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, played by Solly McLeod.My boyfriend, Carlos, and I were ecstatic when we saw the show’s first queer storyline introduced in a way that went beyond the subtle suggestions of Laenor’s sexuality as we had watched in earlier scenes.
