After a pretty balls-to-the-wall opening to Season 3, House of the Dragon quickly settled into slow-burn, claustrophobic political drama in Episode 3, “Rhaenyra Triumphant”. It was a masterclass in narrowed focus that only strengthened Emmy D’Arcy’s Emmy campaign, but the main talking point happened at the end, when it was revealed that Ormund Hightower had pulled a blinder by sending King’s Landing a fake Daeron. While it was a surprise for watchers of the show, it was also a totally new development for book readers, playing on the construction of Fire & Blood to create another new surprise that somehow still works, despite not being totally “faithful” to the source material.
This isn’t just a plot turn. It’s a pretty high-stakes gamble, sacrificing perceived “accuracy” on the altar of surprise, throwing fans a curveball while also remaining true to the broad strokes of the Dance of the Dragons. This isn’t the first time the show has made changes, obviously: Both the Ballet of the Gullet and Rhaenyra’s return to King’s Landing had key, worthwhile differences. In Season 3, House of the Dragon seems to be on an all-timer run, and a big part of that is its willingness to bend the rules of continuity in a way that actually benefits the show.
Who Is Daeron Targaryen Again?
Daeron is the fourth child of Alicent and Viserys, but you’d be forgiven for forgetting that since he hasn’t appeared in the show until now (or has he? More on this below). He has spent his time in Oldtown as a ward of Lord Hightower. This already differs from the book, where he didn’t leave King’s Landing until he was 12, but it’s important here that Alicent hasn’t seen him for years in order to set up this twist.
The key thing to know about Daeron is that he hates Rhaenyra’s kids. In the show, his time on the far side of the Realm has been implied to have hardened him against his own mother as well, making him primarily an ally of the Hightowers. He’s generally considered to be clever and capable without being a rash lunatic or a sadist, as some (okay, pretty much all) of the other kids in this show have been.
He’s also a dragonrider, which is pretty key. His dragon is called Tessarion, known as the Blue Queen, and is seen in the background of Episode 3’s cold open. Since Targaryen power tends to rely heavily on the fact that they have dragons and nobody else does, Team Green having access to one, even a small one like Tessarion, is a pretty big deal, as the people of Tumbleton seem to have found out.
What is Ormund Up To?
Neither the audience nor Rhaenyra can quite be sure about what Ormund is playing at. While he implied to Daemon that he wasn’t willing to sacrifice the lives of his men in a rebellion, his fealty was obviously part of the ruse, and the big play of taking Tumbleton has made his allegiances very clear.
Politically, things are kind of a mess right now. Aegon II has absconded, and Rhaenyra has taken the Iron Throne. Aemond and Vhagar haven’t been seen since they went to Harrenhal, and the Green military is at a massive disadvantage. Ormund knows he can’t compete with Rhaenyra’s forces on open ground.
However, in Daeron, he knows he has two key things – a dragon and a legitimate claimant to the Iron Throne who hates his family enough to turn that dragon against them.
Subverting The Text
None of this happens in the book. In Fire & Blood, Daeron is an active Green military asset. In the show, even though his arrival was teased in the Season 2 finale, his heroics at the Battle of the Honeywine have been sidestepped in favour of keeping the character mysterious.
I mention this a lot, but the key element of Fire & Blood is that it’s an in-universe history book collecting primary and secondary sources, all of which are largely unreliable and several of which are openly contradictory. With this twist, the show is asserting that even Archmaester Gyldayn, the fictional scholar who writes the text, was duped by Ormund’s bait-and-switch, and so the truth of the “fake” Daeron never made the historical record.
I love this. I really enjoy how it toys with the book’s contents while also remaining true to its nature and playing up the idea of historical bias. I also like how it’s toying with the viewer, since there’s a compelling theory that the “real” Daeron is actually Ormund’s squire, seen in the same scene where Ormund hands the fake over to Daemon. He had brown hair, not the classic silver, but so do Rhaenyra’s bastard children, and they’re officially Targaryens as far as history is concerned. It’s all a nice play on the same idea of genetics not being all they’re cracked up to be in the context of dynastic rule.
Rhaenyra’s Reign Is Only Beginning
Even though Rhaenyra’s triumph in the latest episode was winning over the smallfolk, that minor victory has already been turned against her by Ormund’s play. Now the commoners who have championed her will need to be sacrificed in order for her to take Tumbleton back. She’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, politically speaking.
Ormund’s endgame and approach remain a little unclear, but Rhaenyra, who’s already struggling, is going to have to deal with them either way. Once again, her reign looks extremely tenuous, even though it has only just begun.
