While Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) battle for control of Westeros, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) is living in his own personal horror movie.
His troubles started in episode 3 of House of the Dragon‘s second season, when he received a haunting vision of young Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) after conquering Harrenhal. Episode 4, “A Dance of Dragons,” kicks these visions up a notch, as Daemon receives not one, not two, but three haunting visitors. Plus, a nightcap with witch-in-residence Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) offers up an explanation of why Daemon may be getting these visitors in the first place.
Let’s break it down.
What does Daemon’s episode 4 vision of young Rhaenyra mean?
Milly Alcock in “House of the Dragon.”
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO
“A Dance of Dragons” opens with Daemon’s vision of the Great Hall at the Red Keep. Once again, he comes face to face with young Rhaenyra, who now sits on the Iron Throne. But something’s shifted. In Daemon’s vision of young Rhaenyra in episode 3, she was wearing the same gold dress as in the first half of Season 1. However, this manifestation of young Rhaenyra is dressed just like adult Rhaenyra; she’s wearing a long black and red gown and the crown of Jaehaerys the Conciliator.
As episode 3 director Geeta Vasant Patel said, Daemon views young Rhaenyra as someone who truly knew him, who loved him and worshipped him when his own brother Viserys (Paddy Considine) scorned him. Meanwhile, present-day Rhaenyra cast him aside following the reveal that he was complicit in young Jaehaerys’ murder. Seeing adolescent Rhaenyra take on the clothing and attitude of adult Rhaenyra destabilizes Daemon right off the bat.
Making matters worse is what this vision of Rhaenyra actually says to Daemon. As in their episode 2 argument, she needles at one of his greatest insecurities, that Viserys never loved him as much as he loved Rhaenyra. And even though Daemon “created” Queen Rhaenyra — literally crowning her in the Season 1 finale — is he really supportive of her? Or is he hellbent on destroying her and taking power for himself? Rhaenyra delivers these words in High Valyrian, a language that she and Daemon often spoke alone together early in Season 1 and that holds quite a bit of intimacy for the two of them.
The combination of that intimate language being used to harm him and the blending of young and adult Rhaenyra proves too much for Daemon. In this vision, he beheads young Rhaenyra without hesitation, an act that recalls the beheading of Jaehaerys at his behest, and his beheading of Vaemond Velaryon (Wil Johnson) in Season 1. But even then, the horrors aren’t over: Rhaenyra’s disembodied head asks Daemon whether this is what he’s always wanted. Is he really that monstrous?
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What do Daemon’s visions of Aemond Targaryen and Laena Velaryon mean?
Ewan Mitchell in “House of the Dragon.”
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO
Daemon continues to reckon with his worst fears as “A Dance of Dragons” continues. His next vision is one of Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell). Well, kind of. Daemon sees someone who looks a lot like Aemond Targaryen walking through Harrenhal. From behind, he can see that this figure has long, Targaryen-blonde hair, as well as an eyepatch. However, when the figure turns around, we see that it’s actually Daemon, made to look like Aemond.
There are several layers here. First, Daemon and Aemond act as mirrors to each other. Both are younger brothers of kings, and both are viewed as more dangerous than their siblings. But as the Dance of the Dragons gets underway, the two gain a horrible new commonality. In the Season 1 finale, Aemond’s actions led to the death of Lucerys (Elliot Grihault), a child. Daemon’s retaliation, while originally targeting Aemond, also leads to the death of a child: Jaehaerys. So when Daemon sees Aemond in Harrenhal, he’s not just seeing someone with a similar life path to him. He’s seeing himself as a fellow child-murderer and a fellow kinslayer. Plus, fans of George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood will also know that Daemon and Aemond’s fates are both intertwined with the castle of Harrenhal, so the Daemon-Aemond connection here is especially prescient.
After all that, Harrenhal still isn’t done with Daemon. During a meeting with House Blackwood, a vision warps a serving woman into Daemon’s late wife, Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell). Once again, this ghostly apparition is a reminder of what Daemon has lost, as well as his possible monstrosity. While Laena died by suicide, commanding Vhagar to burn her during a painful, likely fatal labor, there was a chance that Daemon would have forced a C-section upon her to save his child, just as Viserys did to Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) in House of the Dragon‘s premiere.
Why is Daemon getting these visions in the first place, and what does Alys Rivers have to do with it?
Gayle Rankin in “House of the Dragon.”
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO
Daemon’s nightmarish sleepwalks lead him to Alys Rivers, a bastard woman who’s overtaken the duties of Harrenhal’s Maester. You may remember her as the woman who tells Daemon, “You will die in this place,” on his first night in Harrenhal. What a warm welcome!
In Fire & Blood, various accounts describe Alys as “a serving wench who dabbled in potions and spells,” “a woods witch,” and “a malign enchantress who bathed in the blood of virgins to preserve her youth.” Needless to say, she’s a powerful woman in her own right — although House of the Dragon is so far keeping whatever mysterious abilities she may have somewhat secret.
Alys offers Daemon a history lesson that hints at why he keeps getting strange visions. Harrenhal is cursed, she says. When Harren the Black built it, he cut down the sacred weirwood trees that used to grow where Harrenhal now stands. “Heart trees imbued with the spirits of those who lived long before he came,” Alys explains. “It’s said their whispers can still be heard sometimes.”
Daemon is quick to dismiss Alys’ account as a midwives’ tale. But given that his bed was made from a weirwood tree, and that his first vision of young Rhaenyra led him to the one weirwood tree that still stands in Harrenhal’s courtyard, it’s clear that her words hold more truth than he might think.
Is the curse of Harrenhal all that’s affecting Daemon, though? Or is some of Alys’ witchcraft at work as well? She gives him a draught that she claims will help him sleep, yet he appears disoriented — and still sees Laena! — while drinking it. Alys also pokes at Daemon’s insecurities about Viserys passing him up as heir, something his vision of Rhaenyra brought up at the start of the episode. Can she see Daemon’s visions too? Or is she directly responsible for them? Either way, something supernatural is definitely afoot.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.