In House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3, The Burning Mill, Daemon Targaryen goes on a mission to take Harrenhal and build his army in the Riverlands. But while doing so, the King Consort has a vision, foreshadowing a major Targaryen’s death as the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons begins.
Daemon has started charting his own path in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 2.
Though he’s still working with Rhaenyra to some degree, it's evident that he wants to own the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms.
However, Daemon can’t do that as Aegon II is still on the throne. And if the Greens win the war, he will ultimately lose his chance.
So, while he starts to build his army, devastation awaits as he gets a glimpse of his own death.
[Major spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 3 and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood ahead]
Daemon’s Vision of in House of the Dragon
Simon Strong has surrendered Harrenhal to Daemon the moment the Targaryen Prince steps on the cursed castle.
But after getting their alliance, alongside a few soldiers who have survived the castle’s fire, he has a chilling vision.
While walking through the castle halls, Daemon ends up in a room where he sees a young Rhaenyra, featuring the return of Milly Alcock after Season 1, sewing on the head of the slain Prince Jaehaerys back on his body.
After seeing the consequences of his actions, Daemon snaps out of the vision and finds himself in front of a weirwood tree in the middle of the hall.
There, he sees the woman known as Alys Rivers, who tells him, “You will die in this place,” and walks away.
Daemon’s Death in Fire & Blood
Though Daemon’s death is probably not happening in House of the Dragon Season 2 anytime soon, his vision hints that the show will follow the roadmap its source material, Fire & Blood, has laid out for his character.
In the novel, Daemon is killed at Harrenhall after he and his dragon, Caraxes, challenge Aemond Targaryen and his monstrous beast, Vhagar, in the Battle Above God’s Eye.
The fight ends with the two dragons and their riders failing into the God’s Eye Lake, where Harrenhal is located.
However, it’s good to note that Daemon’s death may be changed in House of the Dragon, though there’s no denying that Alys’ warning may have meant something.
House of the Dragon S2 E3 Director Geeta Vasant Patel Discusses Daemon’s Vision
In an interview with ScreenRant, director Geeta Vasant Patel, who directs episode 3, the second season’s final episode, and the first season’s eighth episode, reveals the scene in Harrenhal is a metaphor for what’s going inside Daemon’s head.
“It's about Daemon's relationship with Rhaenyra,” she said. “It's about Daemon and where he just came from.”
It’s also a representation of his guilt after ordering the death of Jahaerys.
“In that dream, she looks at him — and the way we talked about it is she doesn't need to say anything. We just worked on the look, the meaning that comes from all the episodes before she looks at him and she cuts him. She says, ‘Hey, you killed a boy. You don't do that,’” she explained.
“People have said that to him all the way through. But when young Rhaenyra says it to him, it's the first time he feels it. It's the first time he processes his actions, though he's been killing people left and right since the beginning. This is the first time we see him regret. We see him feel. We actually kept talking, in between takes, about how this is something we've never seen before in Daemon.”
House of the Dragon Season 2 drops new episodes every Sunday on HBO.
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