Who Is Laena Velaryon in House of the Dragon? Meet Nova-Foueillis-Mosé And Savannah Steyn’s Character
Episode 2 of House of the Dragon continued to expand the storylines of the characters that we know are going to play crucial roles in the series. In that regard, Laena Velaryon saw more screen time, especially when her parents wanted the king to marry her and unite the Targaryens and the Velaryons. As such, she had a role that was quite crucial in the direction of the series. But who is Laena Velaryon in House of the Dragon?
Laena Velaryon is the daughter of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen, and that means that she has both Velaryon and Targaryen ancestry. She was just 12 years old when her parents tried to set her up to marry King Viserys. However, in the book, she ends up marrying Daemon Targaryen instead.
We don’t know how House of the Dragon will play around with Laena Velaryon’s role, but we do know that she is going to play a crucial role in quite possibly furthering the ambition of Daemon, who wants to become as powerful as possible. Now, with that said, let’s look at what we know about Laena Velaryon in House of the Dragon, as well as her story in the book.
Who Is Laena Velaryon In House Of The Dragon?
Similar to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon has a lot of different characters that are going to eventually become important to the overall progression of the storyline. Of course, we know that the Targaryens are the central characters of this series, as it clearly revolves around the immediate royal family and the events that lead up to the Targaryen civil war. However, there are also other characters that have their own roles as well, and one of them is Laena Velaryon. So, who is Laena Velaryon in House of the Dragon?
Laena Velaryon is the eldest daughter of Corlys Velaryon and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. This means that she is not only born from one of the oldest bloodlines that can be traced back to Old Valyria but is also related to the Targaryen royal family. During the time that she was introduced in House of the Dragon, she was just 12 years old.
What Happened To Laena Velaryon In House Of The Dragon?
During the first two episodes of House of the Dragon, the one thing that we noticed about Corlys Velaryon, who is Laena’s father, is that he was concerned about what was happening in the Stepstones. A Triarchy-funded pirate that goes by the name of Crabfeeder had claimed the Stepstones and was terrorizing Westerosi ships that passed through those islands. Due to the fact that House Velaryon makes its fortune through its ships, the concern was real for Corlys.
Even though King Viserys Targaryen denied Corlys’s request to send an army to the Stepstones so that they could get rid of the Crabfeeder’s own army, the king still wanted to make sure that the relationship between House Targaryen and House Velaryon was as good as it has ever been. That’s because he recognizes the military and economic power of House Velaryon, which was the most powerful house in the Seven Kingdoms during that time.
That was when Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen decided to offer their daughter up to King Viserys so that he could remarry. This happened right around six months after the death of Aemma, the former queen consort of Viserys. The purpose of the union was to strengthen the bond between the two families and to make sure that the Targaryens and the Velaryons were finally united. Of course, considering that the Velaryons were denied the chance at the Iron Throne when Viserys was chosen over Rhaenys to rule the Seven Kingdoms, allowing Laena to marry Viserys was their best chance to rise to power.
After that, Viserys was allowed to meet Laena, who was still 12 years old at that time when Corlys and Rhaenys offered her up for marriage. During that time, the king and the young girl were walking around the gardens of the Red Keep. Laena was particularly interested in the dragons, especially Balerion the Black Dread, because Viserys was the last to ride the greatest Targaryen dragon of all time. However, she was also interested in Vhagar, who was the oldest and largest dragon in Westeros at that time.
Laena also told Viserys that she was willing to be a good wife to him and that she would give him more heirs so that they could strengthen the Targaryen bloodline for further generations to come. Nevertheless, the king knew that these were the words of Corlys.
King Viserys consulted with everyone in his Small Council regarding the matter of the proposal of the Velaryons. All of them except for Otto Hightower (who had his own hidden agenda) agreed that it was best for the king to marry Laena Velaryon because of the fact that her family was the most powerful in the Seven Kingdoms and that she was pure-blooded in terms of her Old Valyrian ancestry.
However, instead of marrying Laena Velaryon, who he was never even sure of because of her age, Viserys chose to marry Alicent Hightower due to the fact that she was the one who offered him comfort (due to Otto’s request) during the time that he was grieving from the deaths of his wife and son. As such, Laena was spurned, as Corlys was outraged by the fact that his daughter, who he thought was his final ticket to rise in power, was rejected by King Viserys.
What Happened To Laena Velaryon In The Book?
At the end of episode 2 of House of the Dragon, we saw Corlys Velaryon conversing with Daemon Targaryen, who he was trying to win over to his side, especially when it came to the fact that he wanted to wage war on the Stepstones.
Of course, we know that the immediate concern of House Velaryon is the presence of the Crabfeeder in the Stepstones. As such, Corlys tried to win Daemon over to his side by using the prospect of glory. But it shouldn’t be too surprising if Corlys were to offer Laena to Daemon in the future.
That’s because, in the book, Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon did indeed get married after the prince killed Laena’s Braavosi betrothed. As such, Daemon was able to increase his power because he now had the support of House Velaryon, which was just as powerful as any other family in the Seven Kingdoms. And we all know that Corlys Velaryon was the one who spun the wheel into motion.
The union between Daemon and Laena eventually bore twin daughters. A few years later, Laena was about to give birth to their first son. However, the child was malformed, as he died not long after. Meanwhile, Laena became too weak after childbirth and died not long after her son passed away.
