In episode 10 of “House of the Dragon,” Daemon Targaryen gambles away some of the viewers’ sympathy points. He strangles his wife Rhaenyra Targaryen. Why he does that, you can read here.
- “House of the Dragon” holds a scene in episode 10 that is probably hard to bear for many Daemon fans.
- Daemon, who has always been loyal to his niece and wife Rhaenyra Targaryen, strangles her.
- We’ll tell you what his motives are.
Daemon Targaryen became a fan favorite as a taciturn bad boy during the first season of “House of the Dragon“. However, a scene in episode 10, the season finale of the “Game of Thrones” spin-off again gambles away some sympathy for him, as it shows the true nature of the uncle and husband of Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen. He strangles his beloved wife and niece.
No shock, but disappointment
Daemon has never actually hidden what he really is: a deeply brutal egomaniac who craves power and doesn’t care about rules. He was introduced to us as the commander of the city guard, first roaming King’s Landing with his gold skirts and brutally executing alleged criminals without proof of their guilt.
He sleeps his way through the city’s brothels, disrespects and despises his brother, King Viserys, for his diplomatic and peaceful ways, and destroys the reputation of his niece Rhaenyra by almost sleeping with her in a brothel. The marriage with Laena Velaryon seemed to have tamed him, even later at Rhaenyra’s side he kept calm with looks and without hesitation defended her honor by beheading Vaemond.
In the end, however, Daemon only ever wanted his brother’s recognition and trust. That’s why he went to war on the stepping stones without asking his brother for help. That’s why he helped him to the throne in episode 8 and supported him.
With the death of Viserys, Daemon is again overcome by his old self. He immediately accuses the Greens of killing Viserys, although his death was really foreseeable. While Rhaenyra is in labor, he seizes the opportunity and starts preparing for war against Rhaenyra’s explicit wish not to. He is driven by revenge.
Daemon’s rage can no longer be contained
When Rhaenyra also tells him that Viserys has kept a big secret from him all his life, the Song of Ice and Fire, Daemon’s synapses burn out. On the one hand, he is frustrated with Rhaenyra because she doesn’t want to go to war right away like he does, but wants to act just as hesitantly, diplomatically and, in Daemon’s eyes, weakly as Viserys would have. On the other hand, because Viserys did not trust him again and kept an important prophecy from him.
The thing that made Daemon still somewhat likable was that he adored Rhaenyra from the beginning. They had a unique bond since Rhaenyra’s childhood. But now Daemon is strangling Rhaenyra, even though she has just gone through not only a stillbirth, but also the burden of the realm on her shoulders and the death of her father to deal with.
When Daemon strangles Rhaenyra, he does it out of frustration, envy, and revenge. Rhaenyra, at that moment, represents everything he also hated about his brother. For Daemon would rather have been on the throne and solved everything his way: with dragon fire.
What will happen to Daemon and Rhaenyra?
It’s quite possible that Rhaenyra finally realizes that Daemon is only after the power of the throne and doesn’t really care about her. But after the death of Lucerys, she is ready for war, for what Daemon wants all along. However, Rhaenyra now also knows that Daemon is disobeying her orders and will think back to it in season 2 of “House of the Dragon”.
Since Daemon wants to create an army of dragon riders, the two won’t be spending as much time together. We also know from the books that Daemon will have an affair with one of the dragon riders during the course of the war. The time of romance between Daemon and Rhaenyra is probably over for good.
