Daeron on House of the Dragon, explained: Season 2 finale teases the missing Hightower's introduction

Warning: This article contains mild spoilers from the House of the Dragon season 2 finale.

For those keeping count of all the actual dragons on House of the Dragon thus far, two more were added to the mix at the end of the season 2 finale. One is likely the wild dragon known as Sheepstealer. The other is a certain winged drake spotted zooming through the skies above the Hightower army.

The latter is no doubt Tessarion, the she-dragon nicknamed the Blue Queen who is bonded with Daeron Targaryen. That means Alicent's long-absentee other child will likely make his debut on House of the Dragon season 3. Daeron has been both mentioned and alluded to a few times over the course of the Game of Thrones prequel series, but here's a recap of what we know of the elusive, but important, character.

Who is Daeron Targaryen?

As chronicled in George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, Daeron Targaryen is the fourth-born child of Queen Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke on House of the Dragon) and King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine), next to Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), and Helaena (Phia Saban). Daeron was not present for the beginnings of the Dance of the Dragons in the book, as he was squiring for Lord Ormund Hightower, his mother's cousin.

He similarly hasn't been present on House of the Dragon. Daeron was sent to ward at Oldtown, the seat of House Hightower, first under Lord Hobert Hightower (Steffan Rhodri) and then under his son, Ormund, after his death. However, book fans took notice of Daeron's absence, especially in the beginning of the show, which saw a younger Alicent (then played by Emily Carey) giving birth and raising her children except for him.

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Daeron isn't necessarily a crucial character to the story of the Dance of the Dragons civil war, but he is important because of sheer dragon math. By the end of the House of the Dragon season 2 finale, Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) has seven winged leviathans in her arsenal: Syrax (her own), Caraxes (Prince Daemon), Vermax (Prince Jacaerys), Moondancer (Lady Baela), Vermithor (Hugh), Silverwing (Ulf), and Seasmoke (Addam of Hull). Prince Aemond, on the side of Aegon, may have the largest dragon in the world, Vhagar, at his disposal, but even the ancient she-beast of Old Valyria can't withstand that many adversaries head on. So the Greens need to boost their numbers.

Martin, a co-creator on House of the Dragon with showrunner Ryan Condal, took to his personal blog in October 2022 to assure folks that Daeron was not written out of the drama's narrative. "Yes, Alicent gave Viserys four children, three sons and a daughter," Martin confirmed. "Their youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season."

Condal told Entertainment Weekly separately, "Daeron is a fixture and a character in the show. Do not fret, anybody. All in due time."

What House of the Dragon tells us about Daeron

The first time Daeron is mentioned by name on the series adaptation is in season 2, episode 2, "Rhaenyra the Cruel." After King Aegon dismisses his grandfather, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), as Hand of the King, Otto remarks to Alicent in private, "I'll return to Oldtown. The Hightowers still have strength, and you have a son there who will take more kindly to instruction. Daeron may yet help us in weeks to come."

Daeron is mentioned again during a Small Council meeting among the Greens in episode 3, "The Burning Mill," when Lord Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy) says the dragon Tessarion "nears fighting age." The most we hear about Daeron comes later in episode 6, "Smallfolk," during an exchange between Alicent and her brother, Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox). We learn he's 16 years old at this time, "stalwart, clever," "adept at his lute as he is with his sword," likely "features in the fancies of many young ladies," and, more importantly, "kind," which Alicent says is lacking in his brothers.

Now, in the season 2 finale, Daeron's dragon carries the character through the skies and seemingly right into season 3, which was officially greenlit prior to the season 2 premiere. Rhaenyra remarks to Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) in this episode how young Daeron is and how much smaller Tessarion is compared to Prince Jacaerys' steed Vermax. Yet, towards the end of the episode, a scene shows the soldiers of House Hightower marching from Oldtown, with Daeron riding Tessarion overhead.

An actor has not been cast for the part just yet, so that will likely be a fun surprise as Condal gears up for production again. The showrunner previously suggested to EW that the plan is to have one season of a Game of Thrones spinoff per year. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 will debut on HBO and Max in 2025, which means House of the Dragon season 3 could be coming in 2026.

"We're shooting two feature-size film units every day," he said of his production schedule. "This episode is going on over here with this director and this group of cast. This episode is going on over here with this other director and this other group of cast. That's the way that we keep on schedule to release the show every two years. Otherwise, it would take a year just to film the show because you're talking about a schedule between 2 and 300 days of filming. Once you fold those things over on top of each other, it makes it filmmable."

In other words, we still have a ways to go before we meet Daeron for the first time on screen.