‘House of the Dragon’ Finally Confirmed the Existence of the Missing Targaryen Prince
Daeron Targaryen exists in “House of the Dragon!”
Despite fan speculation since Season 1 about the absence of Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) fourth child, the HBO drama series revealed in the second episode of Season 2 — titled “Rhaenyra the Cruel” — that Daeron Targaryen not only exists, but he’s right where he’s supposed to be according to book lore.
During a heated exchange with his daughter, Otto (Rhys Ifans) mentions traveling down to Oldtown — which is the seat of House Hightower — to rally some power. He then makes reference to another grandson who might heed his advice better than Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carey) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) have been.
“The Hightowers still have strength and you have a son there who will take more kindly to instruction,” Otto says. “Daeron may yet help us in weeks to come.”
Book readers have assumed that the third Targaryen prince was being cut from the show after a child version of him didn’t appear alongside young Aegon, Aemond and Helaena in the pre-time jump days of Season 1. When an adult was never cast as Daeron, it was taken as all but confirmed — and yet this line means Alicent’s fourth child is out there ready to play his part in the Dance.
Don’t expect to see Daeron anytime soon in “House of the Dragon.” No actor has been announced for the role so the earliest possible sighting would be sometime in Season 3.
Note: Spoilers below from “Fire and Blood,” and possible upcoming seasons of “House of the Dragon.”
Otto’s line confirms Daeron is exactly where he should be at this point in the story. When the Dance kicks off, the young prince is in Oldtown serving as a squire for Lord Ormund Hightower. It’s during the Battle of the Honeywine that Daeron — alongside his blue dragon Tessarion — proves himself so valuable and brave that he earns the title Daeron the Daring.
Consider this your second spoiler warning.
After Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) reclaims King Landing and the Iron Throne which leaves Aegon missing-in-action and Aemond dead (eventually), Daeron ends up being first in line for succession to the Throne for Team Green. Like anyone in Westeros who climbs the Iron Throne succession ladder, things get worse for Daeron in a hurry.
The prince’s eventual death is such a mystery and so refuted, even by the fictional sources cited in “Fire and Blood,” that many people after the fact actually tried to pass as Daeron in attempts to claim the Throne.
“House of the Dragon” has been acting as the “true story” of what happened during the Targaryen civil war and has already changed things like Laenor’s death in Season 1 actually being a fakeout, so he could live across the Narrow Sea with his partner. So maybe viewers will find out what actually happened to Daeron the Daring, maybe he never died at all, or maybe everything will play out just like it was written. We’ll have to tune in to find out.
New episodes of “House of the Dragon” air Sundays on HBO and stream on Max.
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