Daemon’s character in House of the Dragon has quickly captured the hearts of fans, and the show’s team can’t understand why some of the audience fantasizes about him.
Since the launch of House of the Dragon, fans have changed their minds about certain characters as the episodes and betrayals and reversals progress. But there is one character who has completely conquered the public, and this since the beginning of the inaugural season, it is Daemon Targaryen.
The character played by Matt Smith quickly found himself in photo and video editing, memes, gifs and other creations on social networks by fans of the series. Some of them even fantasize about this Targaryen, because of his strength, his charisma but also for his incestuous relationship with Rhaenyra, his niece.
Another facet of Daemon to discover
Yet despite his outpourings of love and tenderness towards his brother, the late King Viserys, his niece/wife Rhaenyra – and even his dragon eggs! – Daemon is nonetheless a manipulative and violent character, who killed his first wife, who seduced his still young teenage niece and who does not hesitate to destroy anything that stands in his way without any morals or ethics .
This is why the House of the Dragon team does not understand that some fans see Daemon as “the ideal son-in-law” or “the perfect boyfriend”. This is the case of screenwriter Sara Hess, who spoke on the subject for Hollywood Reporter:
“He’s become ‘the internet’s boyfriend’ in a way that baffles me. Not that Matt isn’t incredibly charismatic and wonderful, and he’s amazing in the role. But Daemon himself is… I don’t want him to be my boyfriend! I’m a little confused by the way they’re all shouting ‘Oh, daddy’.”
HBO
A feeling shared by director Clare Kilner, to whom we owe the staging of episodes 4 and 5, where Daemon and Rhaenyra get dangerously close and make eyes at each other while the latter is getting married (and that she is mostly his niece):
“I love that people are so invested with these characters, and I think that’s part of the fun. One minute you love someone, and the next minute you love someone else. But I don’t I’m not surprised. Matt takes so many risks in his performances and he’s got this little smile and, you know… you can’t help it! He’s charismatic. People love a good villain. But I don’t think he be especially a good father or a good brother.”
But the look of the fans will perhaps change with the tenth and last episode of the first season of House of the Dragon since Sara Hess has teased that“another side of him” was going to show through in this last chapter: “Right now we are writing season 2 and finding out what the nature of her relationship with Rhaenyra is? There are many interpretations [dans le livre Feu et Sang de George R.R. Martin] to that.”
So will Deamon remain a fan-favorite character or will his actions change the public’s gaze, like he may have changed on Sir Criston Cole?
* “Daddy” is a term used to show affection or love for a boyfriend or romantic partner, especially if he is older.
PODCAST – House of the Dragon: incest, marriage and change of actors … we take stock of the Game of Thrones spin-off mid-season:
House of the Dragon is available on OCS.