The lengthy Harrenhal plot of House of the Dragon is actually good

As Daemon Targaryen suffers from nightmares week after week in the dark, damp rooms of Harrenhal, House of the Dragon Fans were left with one question: “When will this be over?”

But as Game of Thrones fans shout “filler!” and craft Luigi’s Mansion MemeI am here to argue for the events at Harrenhal and to celebrate the strange, creepy and incestuous goings on in the Riverlands. Harrenhal has allowed House of the Dragon to flesh out its mystical side amidst the many political machinations in Dragonstone and King’s Landing and bloody skirmishes elsewhere, and has given the show an injection of aesthetic diversity. I’ll say it: Harrenhal is beautiful and terrifying and refreshingly different from anything else we see in Westeros. (Not to be entirely “I get a lot of ‘Boss Baby’ vibes from this

But most of all, Harrenhal gave Daemon something to do and allowed him to reflect on his character.

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Daemon has few places he would be welcome at this point. He has fled – or been nearly banished – from King’s Land ing, Dragonstone, Pentos, and the Vale. That he is stuck in the mire of Harrenhal is fitting, considering he left Rhaenyra in 1945. her

Thankfully, four weeks into Daemon’s stay at Harrenhal, we’re actually seeing progress. Maybe not in terms of repairing Harrenhal or forming a functioning garrison, but the weeks of increasingly insane dreams Daemon has endured have forced him to confront his relationships with Rhaenyra, Laena, and Viserys. Daemon finally seems to realize, thanks to Alys Rivers’ poison therapy, that he may actually be in the wrong. It’s working, and as anyone who’s ever been in therapy knows, this kind of change doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes it means processing a sex dream about your own mother.

As Alys says in her argument with Daemon this week House of the Dragon“If you don’t like something, you run away.” With few places left to run to, Daemon has no choice but to follow her advice and wait for the wind to change, while accepting that running away from his problems (and the ghosts that haunt him and Harrenhal) is not the answer.

Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO

Or maybe that’s some kind of character development. Or maybe I just like seeing Daemon suffer. After all, he gave his brother hell and is now with his third wife, who he’s secretly plotting against. Oh, and he’s also indirectly responsible for the death of a young child, thanks to a botched assassination attempt he outsourced. Daemon is an asshole, and a few weeks of poor sleep and loss of reality seems like the start of a fitting punishment.

From a viewer’s perspective, Daemon’s ordeal at Harrenhal gave us the brief return of beloved characters, including Paddy Considine’s Viserys and Milly Alcock’s younger Rhaenyra. From a purely fanservice perspective, I’m glad to see these people back. Likewise, Daemon’s (and the viewer’s) extended stay at Harrenhal gave us (and the viewer) time to spend with the delightful Ser Simon Strong, played with sharp, understated “well, actually” energy by Simon Russell Beale. Simon provided entertaining comic relief. House of the Dragonand I say the more of him the better.

So, yes, Daemon is languishing in Harrenhal; and rightly so. He has shown little ability to change so far, and is finally asking for help. Perhaps his recent breakthrough – and the timely death of Grover Tully – will actually help him keep going.

But I don’t mind if Daemon has to work at Harrenhal a little longer.