WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 5!House Lonmouth’s Knight of Kisses makes his debut on House of the Dragon episode 5 “We Light the Way” - raising questions as to why Joffrey Lonmouth has this unusual moniker. George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood book describe Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod) as Ser Laenor Velaryon’s (Theo Nate) “favorite knight and companion”. While this annotation heavily suggests the nature of their relationship, House of the Dragon episode 5 verifies it amidst the forthcoming political marriage of Ser Laenor to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock.)

House of the Dragon's Ser Joffrey Lonmouth revels in Laenor and Rhaenyra’s marriage of convenience, finding the situation advantageous for his love affair with the future king consort. In episode 5's welcoming banquet, Ser Joffrey correctly guesses that Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) is the Princess’s secret paramour and quickly instigates an alliance through an unintentional backhanded threat, assuming that the knight would see the humorous side of their relations with Westeros’ next monarchs. However, Ser Criston reacts quite differently, and kills Ser Joffrey by bashing his head repeatedly until he dies.

Related: Rhaenyra Marrying Laenor Is A Bigger Deal Than You RealizeHouse Lonmouth is a minor noble house in the Stormlands with only two notable members ever mentioned in the entire A Song of Ice and Fire novels and Fire and Blood companion book; namely, the Knight of Kisses, Ser Joffrey, and the Knight of Skulls and Kisses, Ser Richard Lonmouth (knighted by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen himself) from the time of Robert’s Rebellion in Game of Thrones. The decision to call Ser Joffrey Lonmouth the Knight of Kisses appears to be due to their house’s banner, which shows a quartered field of red lips spotted on yellow and yellow skulls spotted on black. While Ser Richard Lonmouth's extended version of the name may just be down to the title being extended over time, the omission of “skulls” in Ser Joffrey’s knight title might well be a nod to his romantic nature.

Why Joffrey Lonmouth Was Killed Off So Quickly In HOTD (& How Laenor Honors Him)

House of the Dragon Laenor Joffrey Criston

Evident in the many time jumps House of the Dragon has weathered thus far, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth’s death is done quickly in favor of the grander narrative: the Dance of the Dragons. During the tourney celebration for Laenor and Rhaenyra’s wedding in Fire and Blood, Ser Joffrey dies from an injury (inflicted by Ser Criston Cole) that renders him comatose for six days before he dies (an indirect result of Cole’s spite for his former lover.) Meanwhile, House of the Dragon’s Ser Joffrey is outright murdered directly by an already slighted and emotional Ser Criston, fashioning the crime as a perfect tie-in to his vendetta against Princess Rhaenyra’s choice to remain the heir and marry for status. Additionally, the manner of Joffrey’s demise in the show provides Laenor a personal motivation to partake in the succession war and avenge his paramour’s killer.

Naturally, as any wounded romantic, Laenor desires to honor Joffrey by wanting to name his (alleged) and Rhaenyra’s son after his fallen love. Initially, Joffrey should have been the name of Princess Rhaenyra’s firstborn child, Jacaerys, but this was overruled by Laenor’s lord father, the House of the Dragon character Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). In the end, it is Rhaenyra’s third son who bears the name Joffrey, ultimately becoming an extension of Laenor's devotion to the Knight of Kisses.

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