House of the Dragon makes Daemon a white knight in Game of Thrones

At first glance, Daemon Targaryen seems to be positioned as one of the heroes of house of the dragon, although this impression does not last long. Played by Matt Smith, arguably the best-known actor in the original cast, he plays the role of a “character who scathingly deconstructs the things that everyone around him is invested in,” which is the closest he can get on the show a character like game of Thrones‘ Fan favorite Tyrion Lannister. Subsequent events since have made it clear that the rogue prince is more rogue than prince, as Daemon is repeatedly banished by his brother, crossing lines with his niece, and generally at odds with everyone else.

But if he’s not the hero of house of the dragon, Daemon was never his villain either. That’s not to say he hasn’t done some terrible things throughout the series. Ultimately, it falls somewhere between “morally ambiguous” at best and “morally reprehensible” at worst. But while many of Daemon’s actions could superficially be viewed as “roguelike,” the series has taken great care to maintain a degree of ambiguity in order to pull back and prevent the audience from being shown the full account of Daemon’s actions. In doing so, a distance is created between his villainy and the audience to better protect his esteem in our eyes. we Listen about Daemon doing bad things, but rarely do we see he does these things. And even when he pulls off a villainous act on screen, it’s usually presented in a sympathetic way to better keep him from becoming a full-fledged villain in our minds.

For example, at the end of Heirs of the Dragon, the show’s first installment, Daemon appears to be the show’s central villain: after reports that he toasts his dead nephew as an “heir for a day,” Daemon is disinherited and banished from King’s Landing by King Viserys (Paddy Considine), whereupon Viserys appoints his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir. As Daemon sneaks into exile, the episode ends with a traditional hero shot, confirming Rhaenyra as the protagonist of the story.

But we never really exaggerated see Daemon pronounces the words “Inheritance for a Day”. When asked about it, Daemon neither confirms nor denies saying “inheritance for a day” (indeed, his response to Viserys’ interrogation – “We must all mourn in our own way” – fits Daemon’s rhythm and rhyme Toast as passed earlier in the episode, suggesting it may be a daemon actually said that night). It’s a meaningful choice: While house of the dragon‘s source material, the book Fire & Bloodintended to be a subjective narrative of the history of Targaryen written by an in-universe author drawing on a limited (and biased) set of sources. The show’s producers have said that the television show presents an objective portrayal of these events.

Whether or not Daemon spoke the words ultimately doesn’t matter; The key takeaway here is ambiguity. In this supposedly objective account of the story, we don’t know for sure if Daemon committed the sin that originally cast him in the role of series villain. And it’s a technique the series will continue to use to control the camera’s seemingly objective gaze, as it keeps Daemon from becoming downright villains. When he steals the dragon egg in The Rogue Prince, that also happens from the off, but only focuses pointedly on the reaction to it and his motivation for doing it in the first place. It’s not the action of a villain out to hurt or cause trouble, but rather the action of a brother and uncle trying to get the attention of their outlaw family. Even when he kills one of Viserys’ messengers at the end of Episode 3, the moment is a prelude to his most traditional feat of the series, in which he puts himself at risk (via an action sequence shot to position Daemon as a hero) and the immediate ended threat from the crabfeeder. That win is what viewers remember, not the earlier attack on someone just for delivering messages they didn’t like.

When he confronts his legal wife, Rhea Royce, in “We Light the Way,” it seems clear that Daemon is contemplating murder. However, their encounter is filmed in such a way that it is unclear whether or not Rhea’s horse reared as a direct result of Daemon’s actions. And as Daemon approaches the now-paralyzed Rhea with a big old rock in hand, the result is clear even when the camera cuts away.

This snippet is remarkable and spares us the sight of Daemon collapsing into his wife’s skull. we knows it happens, but if he doesn’t show the deed, Daemon isn’t seen as too much of a ruthless villain. Contrast this with later in the same episode when the camera is less interested in protecting our view of Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) as we see him beat Joffrey Lonmouth’s face to a pulp. The creators clearly have no problem eliciting a visceral response from audiences to Criston’s actions – they want us to be put off by the seriousness of what he’s doing to Joffrey and therefore dislike him (to better cement his). Transitioning from a savage Rhaenyra ally to a staunch foe). Yet Daemon, who does the same thing to Rhea earlier in the episode (although he appears to be acting with willful malice, as opposed to the inflamed passion of Criston Cole), gets the more flattering edit – because he’s not really the villain of the story.

This sympathetic portrayal of Daemon given what are on paper gruesome acts is clearly a clear choice in a sea of ​​morally ambiguous characters, even as he does things that might offend audience sensibilities. The sizzling fourth episode, King of the Narrow Sea, could be described as “the one where Daemon seduces his niece.” But while that’s technically correct, the depiction of their actions is far more complex. Their actions in “the bowels of a pleasure den,” as Otto Hightower puts it, are not portrayed as cheesy or illegal by the performances or the direction. Milly Alcock portrays Rhaenyra enjoying herself during their physical interactions and their scenes of intimacy are not filmed in an exploitative manner or in a manner that suggests that what they are doing is wrong. Daemon’s abrupt departure and clear feelings about the situation are in direct contradiction to the evil thing he is accused of doing. The rumors of their encounter cause significant trouble for Rhaenyra (and another banishment for Daemon), but again, actions that appear outwardly malevolent on paper are presented to audiences in a more nuanced and ambiguous manner.

Building his arc in Episode 7 is all the better when he’s reunited with Rhaenyra and the two decide to get married. Once again, he’s mostly on the fringes of the episode’s main plot, but his motivation—and the way he wants the audience to perceive him—is in the face of incest – is so much more rooted in his feelings as a character than in an archetype he holds onto. Here it becomes clear why the show has consistently kept audiences away from Daemon’s villainous actions. We have come to a point where the battle lines have been drawn and that has become clear Foreigner, not Daemon, is the main antagonist of Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra and Daemon’s decision to marry proves that he was their ally, not their rival. For audiences to accept that, there needs to be some distance between them and Daemon’s more morally questionable actions, and so from the start the series has made sure to present Daemon in a sympathetic way, even when he’s doing things audiences would otherwise than to mock the actions of a clear villain. In order for Daemon to become the partner of Rhaenyra that he was meant to be, he had to be kept away from his baser deeds.

The end result of all this obfuscation is clear: Daemon Targaryen is not a good guy. But he’s also not the villain of this story, and that’s what the show has been telling us all along.