HotD Confirms Book Rumor at the Cost of Repeating GoT's Mistakes
The brutal death of Joffrey Lonmouth at the hands of Ser Criston Cole was by no means the first murder to take place in House of the Dragon, but it was notable in that it attracted attention for appearing to follow a trope of gay characters being treated differently from some of their straight counterparts.
Episode 5 of HotD confirmed a rumour from the book that Joffrey was in a same sex relationship with Laenor Velaryon. Laenor, of course, was married to Rhaenyra, who had recently had heterosexual intercourse with Ser Criston, with both parties in the marriage happy to ignore the other's extramarital exploits.
Ser Criston's motivation for killing Joffrey was not motivated by homophobia or his knowledge of the latter's sexuality. Instead, it was a purely selfish act aimed at ensuring Joffrey could not spill the beans on Criston's misdemeanour with Rhaenyra.
So, the issue raised by some LGBTQ+ support groups and allies was not that Joffrey was killed off, but that he was killed off so soon after his sexuality was revealed. This, of course, gave the character no time to develop anything beyond the revelation of his sexuality.
Like Joffrey, Ser Loras was a man in love with another man who potentially wielded great power. Loras Tyrell was at least afforded the opportunity to demonstrate he had more than just being gay to his character before his death. Indeed, he was celebrated as a successful knight. He had even defeated The Mountain and Ser Jaime Lannister in separate tourneys.
And he wasn't simply thrown in, revealed to be gay and then written out. In fact, the first few seasons of the show stuck pretty close to the books when it came to Ser Loras and his relationship with Renly Baratheon.
However, in the books, Ser Loras' sexuality is never revealed, only hinted at. And his exit from the story is far more heroic than the ending he receives in the series.
In the books, the story goes that Ser Loras is injured by having hot oil thrown over him during a successful siege on Dragonstone. We hear no more about him after that. We can only assume that he dies a hero's death or he lived to fight again.
In the series, though, his sexuality is a key part of his downfall. Loras is arrested by the Faith Militant for being gay. He is then imprisoned, tortured and broken. His exit from the TV series is very much a matter of his sexuality – just one part of his character – rather than his main trait which is his heroism as a warrior.
Let's hope that when we next see a gay character in House of the Dragon, they are afforded the opportunity to have other notable elements to their character beyond their sexual orientation and that their story is one that enhances the show and is told because it's relevant, not just because it's stereotypically easy.