Daemon Targaryen is the most complicated character on House of the Dragon. His dedication to his family’s survival is admirable, but as a member of Team Black, he ironically shares the worst traits with many members of Team Green. He has Aegon’s impulsiveness, Aemond’s resentment of being overlooked and Alicent’s envy of Rhaenyra. It shouldn’t be that surprising when Daemon ultimately turns against Rhaenyra to take the Iron Throne himself.
Daemon’s lonely trip to Harrenhal was a bad sign from the start. Maester Aemon’s words on Game of Thrones, “A Targaryen alone in this world is a terrible thing,” couldn’t be more true in this case. Daemon is left to his accord on trust alone, which Rhaenyra doesn’t have much of as of Season 2, Episode 5. Being alone with his own thoughts, without anyone holding him back, has been an even bigger loss than Rhaenys’ death in the Battle at Rook’s Rest. Everyone knows that when Daemon runs away, he only ends up trying to benefit himself in the process.
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Daemon Targaryen is a polarizing figure in HBO’s House of the Dragon. His bold actions and complex nature drive much of the show’s intrigue.
Season 2, Episode 5 pushes Daemon’s psyche in the wrong direction by granting him a different type of hallucination than past ones. While in past episodes he’s dealt with nightmares of being scolded by a younger Rhaenyra and haunted by the image of his deceased wife Laena Velaryon, he now has a dream full of pleasure. In the dream, he has 𝑠e𝑥 with his late mother, Alyssa Targaryen, who praises him as a better fit for the Iron Throne than his older brother Viserys. The dream was the push Daemon needed to advocate for himself as the “rightful” male heir. Later, Daemon tells the witch Alys Rivers that he intends to raise an army for himself because the lords of Westeros will never follow a woman, thus condemning Rhaenyra to fail.
Some Daemon supporters may say he’s possessed and that never in a million years would he ever betray Rhaenyra. If that was truth to that, it would mean Alys would be in control of him. Yet, Alys has no motive to tear Team Black apart to help Team Green rise to victory. Alys is as middle-ground as it gets. Another excuse for Daemon’s treachery is that Harrenhal has him under a “spell” that’s possessing him to be his worst possible self. But that’s still a part of who Daemon is. He can hide his misogynistic beliefs all he wants, but they’re still inside of him deep down.
In the recent past alone, Daemon has showed signs of bitterness toward his lost inheritance. He referred to the Iron Throne as “our throne” when fighting with Rhaenyra, when in fact it’s only her throne. Daemon choking Rhaenrya in the first season wasn’t because he was deeply emotional over his brother’s death or that Rhaenyra was becoming as weak and superstitious as Viserys. He was angry that Viserys never considered Daemon as a legitimate successor, even in all the years before Rhaenyra was named heir. Daemon’s the perfect example of a man who can put up a charming front until he’s been pushed too far. When he saw a window to jump out of Rhaenyra’s shadow, the charm wore off and his true colors came to light.
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Apart from his glaring transgression of betraying his wife and queen, Daemon’s secrecy is what makes him the most dangerous threat to Rhaenyra’s claim. Right now, Rhaenyra only suspects that Daemon has deserted her. She considers the idea that he may be even raising an army to fight for his own claim. But she doesn’t know the full picture. Daemon has been slowly indoctrinating the Tullys and lords of the Riverlands to the idea that he’s the rightful heir. He’s gone from forcing people to call him “My Prince” to “Your Grace” and “King Consort” to “King.” He plays it off like the former titles don’t roll as well off the tongue, but he’s skating on very thin ice.
It’s safe to say Daemon is staging a coup against Rhaenyra. He’s no better than Otto Hightower secretly planning to usurp the throne. Only, Otto has never hid his disfavor of Rhaenyra. Otto’s deception was never personal, but purely political. It doesn’t make him anymore justified to plan Rhaenyra’s downfall and assassination, but his treachery was to be expected from him. Daemon is operating right under Rhaenyra’s nose using her name and power to pull the rug out from under her. At least the Greens don’t have spies working for Rhaenyra to undermine her. They’re plainly outspoken against her. Daemon is just a coward working in the shadows.
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Daemon is practically a bomb ready to go off at any point. A slight trigger can do the trick for him. That’s why Rhaenyra has been so hesitant to confront Daemon face-to-face. It’s almost as if she’s afraid of showing that she has no trust in him. Not only has he been physically violent towards her, but he’s abandoned her when she needs him the most. She may be the queen, but he has all the power in the world over her. She won’t even go herself to Harrenhal to get an update from him; she has to send an envoy instead, who more than likely won’t make it back to Dragonstone in one piece. The sad part about this entire mess is that Rhaenyra will ultimately take him back.
Daemon’s expedition for power is bound to fail because nobody takes him as seriously as the Blacks or Greens. When he realizes he can’t win, he’ll crawl on his knees to Rhaenyra, assuring her that his loyalty is only to her. He’ll be sorry he got caught and failed, but not sorry that he tried to take the throne, and Rhaenyra will accept his apology because she is unhealthily attached to him. He groomed her since she was a child, and that type of conditioning is hard to undo when she’s spent many of her adult years in love with her abuser. Rhaenyra does have free will, but her weakness is being non-confrontational. She has enough problems to worry about as is, and she doesn’t want to add making an enemy out of Daemon to her list.
Daemon may support Rhaenyra once more after seeing her use her strength to preserve more dragons via dragonseeds, but that trust can no longer be fully mended. Thankfully, Rhaenyra has grown a backbone in Season 2, so best case scenario, she invites him back into her good graces for tactical purposes. They have genuine love for each other, but it has a toxicity rooted out of manipulation and jealousy. The only way Daemon could redeem himself is by dying for her — the ultimate act of love in the twisted world of the Targaryens.
New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere every Sunday at 9 P.M. ET.
