House of the Dragon is about to unleash its second season finale—capping a run of episodes in which Alicent’s newly powerful family began to shatter, and Rhaenyra learned to drew strength from unexpected, occasionally fiery places. But one major character has been off in his own storyline almost the entire time: Matt Smith‘s Daemon Targaryen.
Arguing with guilt-provoking ghosts? Making a witch frenemy? Manipulating minions into unimaginable cruelty? Plotting to betray his wife and queen by taking his own shot at the Iron Throne? Being the worst guest despite having maybe the most accommodating host ever in Ser Simon Strong, played by British acting legend and internet insta-fave Sir Simon Russell Beale? Daemon has experienced a lot and he’s barely set foot outside of Harrenhal, his home base since he flounced away from Dragonstone in episode two.
This is a big switch for Daemon, who in season one was a danger-prone bad boy with all the allure that implies. He defeated an entire army John Wick-style; he casually murdered his inconvenient first wife; he pouted about being cut out of the line of succession. But he ultimately married Rhaenyra, his niece and the Iron Throne heir apparent, once she was age-appropriate and their previous spouses were out of the picture.
In season two, the passionate Targaryen power couple is in serious trouble. Westeros’ commitment to patriarchy has been well-established already in House of the Dragon, and that—blended with Daemon’s own festering ambitions—has meant that he’s been unable to fully embrace Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne. He thinks he should be giving orders, and when Rhaenyra calls him out for overstepping and questions his loyalty, he does what he’s always done: flees the situation rather than facing it head-on.
His destination is Harrenhal, the hulking husk of the largest castle in Westeros, where his intended mission is to make sure all the houses in the Riverlands are on Team Black. And while he’s finally gotten around to pulling those strings in recent episodes—using some horrifying tactics that’ve made him the most hated man in the region—the main thrust of his season-two narrative has been far more cosmic and surreal.
Game of Thrones fans and George R.R. Martin book readers know Harrenhal is a place well familiar with tragedy, and where the veil can be very thin. Daemon’s mind is already troubled when he arrives, which makes him even more receptive to its intrusive spirits. That intensifies when he meets the witchy Alys Rivers, Harrenhal’s healer in residence. It’s implied that she’s a big reason he starts having distressing dreams and visions; during his waking hours, she’s certainly unafraid to poke into the shell he’s constructed around his complicated feelings about Rhaenyra, his late brother King Viserys, and the Iron Throne.
She’s also been something of a voice of reason—though whether Daemon is absorbing Alys’ admonitions that his actions affect everyone around him, including the most vulnerable smallfolk, is murky at best.
Far more effective in getting through Daemon’s towering ego: the “ghosts” he interacts with, including the teenage Rhaenyra—not coincidentally, the age she was when Viserys chose her as his heir instead of Daemon—and, most poignantly, Viserys himself. The brothers didn’t always see eye to eye, and their relationship suffered greatly when Daemon was disinherited for being utterly heartless after the tragic deaths of Viserys’ wife and infant son.
When Viserys appears to Daemon at Harrenhal, forcing him to confront painful feelings he’s repressed for decades, it doesn’t quite give him closure. But it perhaps makes him re-think his quest to capture the crown for himself, especially after Viserys, looking as he did when he was in the worst throes of his wasting illness, reminds his brother of how much pain it can cause: “It crushes whoever wears it. You always wanted it, Daemon. Do you want it, still?”
It remains to be seen (very soon!) if Daemon will take his Harrenhal lessons to heart; in episode seven, he had to very unpleasantly atone for his Riverlands tactics by beheading an ally who followed his instructions a bit too closely. That had to sting, but his existential crisis feels even more towering, especially as the battlefield beckons. Will the finale see Rhaenyra’s husband finally become a true asset to Team Black, or will his tendency to act like a self-serving jackass incinerate him in the end?
We’ll find out, presumably, when House of the Dragon‘s season two finale arrives Sunday night on HBO and Max.
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Daemon TargaryenGame of ThronesGeorge RR MartinHBOHouse of the DragonMatt SmithMax
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