Throughout its first season, House of the Dragon has remained unwaveringly focused on the members of its two central families: The Hightowers and the Targaryens. However, that doesn’t mean the HBO series’ cast has felt limited. In fact, House of the Dragon has slowly but surely expanded its roster throughout its first nine episodes. Now, heading into its Season 1 finale, it boasts one of the more impressive ensembles you’ll see on TV.
Those familiar with Fire & Blood, the 2018 novel that inspired House of the Dragon, will know that the show’s cast is going to grow exponentially in its second season. According to author George R. R. Martin, the sophomore season will potentially feature the introduction of a noteworthy Targaryen who’s so far gone unmentioned.
Alicent’s Third Son — In a recent blog post, Martin shared some thoughts on House of the Dragon’s first season, and took a moment to praise Paddy Considine’s scene-stealing performance as King Viserys I Targaryen. Martin also confirmed that Considine’s Viserys didn’t have three children with his second wife, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), but four.
That may come as a surprise. To date, the series has only featured three of Viserys and Alicent’s kids: Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), and Helaena (Phia Saban). However, in Fire & Blood, Alicent and Viserys had another son named Daeron.
If Martin’s recent comments are to be believed, House of the Dragon hasn’t forgotten about Daeron, either.
Introducing Daeron Targaryen — Throughout the second half of House of the Dragon Season 1, Fire & Blood readers were growing concerned that Daeron Targaryen had been cut from the show’s cast. Now fans can lay their worries about Daeron to rest. In his recent blog post, Martin wrote, “[Alicent and Viserys’] youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season.”
Martin, notably, doesn’t confirm whether Daeron will actually be included in House of the Dragon Season 2. However, with the Dance of the Dragons expected to finally break out in the show’s upcoming Season 1 finale, it seems fair to assume that Daeron’s introduction will come in House of the Dragon’s sophomore season.
While that may be disappointing, it’s not hard to imagine why the House of the Dragon creative team decided to delay Daeron’s screen debut. As Martin notes, Daeron Targaryen is in Oldtown. Even though he goes on to play an instrumental role in the conflict, it makes sense to save Daeron’s introduction for the moment when he becomes an active player.
The Inverse Analysis — House of the Dragon already has more than its fair share of platinum-haired Targaryens for fans to keep track of. Maybe some won’t be thrilled to learn that there’s at least one more member of House Targaryen to become familiar with next year.
While he’ll never be the show’s most important Targaryen, Daeron still has a notable role to play. More importantly, his inclusion in House of the Dragon’s future seasons reinforces the show’s commitment to staying faithful to its source material.
That’s important to demonstrate to fans who still feel burned by Game of Thrones’ divisive final two seasons.
The Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon premieres Sunday, October 23 on HBO.
