‘House of the Dragon’ Producer Baffled Daemon Targaryen Has Become an “Internet Boyfriend” - Hollywood Reporter

It was determination from the archetypal occurrence of House of the Dragon. And aft past week’s episode, the thirsty tweets and memes truly exploded: The murderous Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) is an entity of online desire.

Two moments, successful particular, seemed to nonstop admirers implicit the top: The prince helping his estranged brother, ailing King Viserys, arsenic helium stumbled connected his mode to the Iron Throne; and past beheading Vaemond Velaryon, who committed treason by insulting Daemon’s wife, Rhaenyra. (Nevermind that Daemon besides murdered his erstwhile woman due to the fact that she was simply inconvenient — that was 4 full episodes ago!)

The Hollywood Reporter recently chatted with Dragon writer and enforcement shaper Sara Hess and manager Clare Kilner about the ninth episode of the HBO phantasy deed and threw successful the pursuing question: Some viewers person truly fallen for Daemon aft the past occurrence erstwhile helium helped his member arsenic helium stumbled connected the mode to the Throne to determine the heir of Driftmark. But wasn’t that Daemon helping the king bash what helium wanted him to bash anyhow — to marque a ruling successful his daughter’s favor? If Viserys was astir to regularisation against Rhaenyra, Daemon would person fto his member autumn level connected his face. In different words, aren’t each of Daemon’s moments, adjacent the seemingly benevolent ones, yet self-serving?  

Hess replied: “I hold with you. He’s go Internet Boyfriend successful a mode that baffles me. Not that Matt isn’t incredibly charismatic and wonderful, and he’s unthinkable successful the role. But Daemon himself is … I don’t privation him to beryllium my boyfriend! I’m a small baffled however they’re all, ‘Oh, daddy!’ And I’m conscionable like: ‘Really?’ How — successful what mode — was helium a bully partner, begetter oregon member — to anybody? You got me. He ain’t Paul Rudd. What bash you think, Clare?” 

Kilner, for her part, seemed to subordinate a spot to the feels. 

“I conscionable emotion the information radical are truthful progressive with these characters, and I deliberation that’s portion of the amusive of it,” she said. “One infinitesimal you similar someone, and the adjacent infinitesimal you similar idiosyncratic else. But I’m not surprised. Matt is specified a risk-taker successful his performances and he’s got that small grin and, you cognize … you can’t assistance it! He is charismatic. People emotion a baddie. But I don’t deliberation he’s peculiarly a bully begetter oregon a bully brother.”

Hess teased that — possible mild spoiler alert — fans’ presumption of Daemon mightiness beryllium challenged again by Sunday’s finale, arsenic good arsenic successful play two, which is expected sometime successful 2024.

“We volition spot a antithetic broadside of him,” Hess said of the finale. “And close now, we’re penning play 2 and figuring out, what is the quality of his narration with Rhaenyra? There are galore interpretations [in George R.R. Martin’s publication Fire & Blood] to that.”