Spoiler Warning: House of the Dragon
Laenor Velaryon, son of “The Sea Snake”, Corlys Velaryon, and Rhaenys Targaryen, “The Queen Who Never Was”, quickly became one of the most influential people in all of Westeros. In the war for the Stepstones archipelago that took place in the first few episodes of House of the Dragon, he was instrumental in defeating the evil Crabfeeder. He rode on the back of his dragon Seasmoke and set fire to dozens of enemy warriors, making him a formidable warrior despite his youth.
However, Laenor was forced to leave his days of battle on the high seas behind when he was betrothed to Princess Rhaenyra. Their royal union was cursed from the start. Just moments before the two consummated their marriage, Laenor’s longtime romantic partner, Joffrey Lonmouth, was brutally beaten to death by Ser Criston Cole in a brutal scene that seemed to set the tone for their strained relationship.
Still, the two stayed married and even built a family together. However, the legitimacy of their three heirs is the subject of much dispute in the Kingdom. However, the most recent episode of House of the Dragon“Driftmark”, saw Princess Rhaenyra take drastic measures against Laenor that would be insurmountable obstacles for even the most loving couple. What exactly happened to Laenor Valeryon?
Laenor’s marriage of convenience to Princess Rhaenyra
During the fifth episode of House of the Dragon, “We light the way”, Laenor was married to Princess Rhaenyra in an arranged partnership set up by King Viserys to bring the two houses together. It was also to ensure that his daughter, whom he had previously chosen as his heir, would have offspring who could eventually succeed her. Rhaenyra had three children – Jacerys, Lucerys and Joffrey. However, it is a poorly kept secret throughout the kingdom that Laenor, who is gay, is not their father. The three children were born of a ten-year illicit affair Rhaenyra had with a member of the city guard, Ser Harwin Strong.
From the very beginning, there was an agreement between Rhaenyra and Laenor that their marriage would not be real and that they would both seek happiness the way they wanted. Laenor is well aware that the children are not his, and “Driftmark” sees him drunk and grieving the loss of his sister Laena, completely indifferent to his children. Later in the episode, he apologizes to Rhaenyra and promises to recommit to their marriage, but it’s too little, too late for the princess.
Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon have revived their relationship
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Princess Rhaenyra has never had a deep relationship with Laenor, but she has long been in love with her uncle, Daemon Targaryen. In ‘Driftmark’, the two finally see each other after being apart for nearly a decade and quickly pick up where they left off, sneaking to a secluded corner of the beach to… couple, as Ser Otto Hightower puts it. expressed “King of the Narrow Sea.”
Princess Rhaenyra is aware that a conflict is brewing in the Kingdom, and she knows that Daemon would be a powerful ally in a fight against the “Greens,” the term she uses to describe the faction that is claiming her claim to the Iron Throne Might Reject. At the end of “Driftmark”, after Laenor’s untimely death at the hands of Ser Qarl Correy, Rhaenyra and Daemon get married each other in the incestuous Targaryen tradition, creating one of the strongest partnerships in all of Westeros.
An assassination plot turned into a daring escape 
Before Rhaenyra married Daemon, something had to happen to her current husband, Laenor. Daemon recruits Ser Qarl Correy, Laenor’s romantic partner, to kill him and offers a significant amount of money.
Later, Laenor and Ser Qarl fight in Laenor’s chambers, and Laenor’s parents find their son’s charred corpse in the hearth. However, in the very last moments of ‘Driftmark’, the audience finds out that Laenor is very much alive and that Ser Qarl was involved in the plot from the start. After shaving off his silver dreadlocks, Laenor boards a rowboat with Ser Qarl and the two set sail for an unknown shore.
Laenor may well be inclined to go into hiding and live the rest of his life as a free man in a neighboring country of Westeros. Given that he knows who tried to kill him, Rhaenyra and Daemon better hope he doesn’t return, as the kingdom would be notified of the new couple’s assassination attempt would be disastrous for Rhaenyra’s reign . The princess has made herself a powerful enemy, and Laenor will not soon forget her horrific actions.