‘House Of The Dragon’ Viewers Couldn’t Help But Be Thrilled About A ‘Crazy’ Character’s Return To Form

Spoilers for House of the Dragon will be found below.

The House of Targaryen is one f*cked up bunch. We see repeatedly see this with incestuous pairings and, last week, when the series’ worst character (Aegon) jerked off in a (symbolic) window and emotionally tortured his own brother with a pig. That brother (Aemond) made some antagonistic moves of his own this week, but we’re here to talk about another antagonist, Prince Daemon, who people absolutely love. And that credit goes to the writers and Matt Smith for being likable while playing a guy who’s exiled over and over again and continues to emerge and wreak havoc at court.

In Episode 7, “Driftmark,” Daemon (after one week, or maybe a decade in actual time, of being a Dad with a capital “D”) didn’t act as expected after his latest wife’s death. He killed the first wife, of course, and his second wife (Laena Velaryon) died during a complicated childbirth after hauling herself in front of her dragon (prompting a discussion of whether Targaryens are fireproof) and ordering, “Dracarys!” Well this week, Daemon has returned to fine form, at least in the eyes of viewers who can’t help but love him. He started giggling during his wife’s funeral. And that was only the beginning.