A prince on the wrong path: Only Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) knows exactly what he is planning to do in season 2. Image: HBO.
Warning, spoilers: The following paragraphs contain significant spoilers about plot details of House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 5: The Prince Regent
. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, you shouldn’t read any further!
The fact that Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) feels unfairly treated is a recurring theme throughout House of the Dragon. Because he was left out of the election of his brother’s successor in the first season, he declares himself the Lord of Dragonstone.
And although his brother, King Viserys (Paddy Considine), was always against it during his lifetime, Daemon marries his niece Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) against his better judgment.
Ultimately, Daemon’s transgressions come down to one thing: The prince feels cheated out of his rightful place on the Iron Throne and wants to secure a position of power at any cost. This motif continues in season 2 – only much more disturbing.
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House of the Dragon: Season 2 is half over, a new trailer now heats up the mood
What happens to Daemon in season 2?
After a dispute with Queen Rhaenyra, Daemon flies off on his dragon to conquer Harrenhal Castle in the name of his wife. The fortress is one of the largest and oldest castles in the Seven Kingdoms and has the reputation of to be burdened with a curse.
Already in episode 3, Daemon is haunted by dark visions in which a young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) accuses him of being a child murderer.
However, episode 5 culminates in Daemon’s psycho-trip in the Riverlands.
In the new episode, the prince dreams of sleeping with a silver-haired Targaryen woman who praises him for his great deeds and tells him that she would always have preferred him over his brother Visery. In a disturbing twist, the unknown woman finally says: You are my favorite son
This makes it clear that this is Daemon’s mother Alyssa Targaryen, who died when he was still a child.
Fans react disturbed
The fact that incest is a topic in the Game of Thrones universe is nothing new. For example, we can recall the more or less secret relationship between Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his sister Cersei (Lena Headey).
In House of the Dragon, however, the whole thing reaches a new dimension.
The scene paints an impressive and dark psychological profile of a man who was always in the shadow of his older brother and who was deprived of any possibility of living an independent life.
Although Daemon always had a talent as a warrior and was loved wholeheartedly by his mother, he never received the recognition he felt he deserved.
Now that he has been abandoned by his own wife, he feels increasingly insecure and vulnerable. In the series, this is expressed through a disturbing mother complexwhich the psychologist Sigmund Freud would certainly have enjoyed.
Fans, however, reacted to the scene with some shock, which is reflected in the Twitter reactions:
Link to Twitter content
Link to Twitter content
Perhaps the visions also offer Daemon the opportunity to confront his dark tendencies and come to terms with them. Then the trip to Harrenhal would be a kind of psychotherapy.
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What do you think of Daemon’s side quest adventures on Harrenhal? Do you find his visions as disturbing as we do? Let us know in the comments!
