So, House of the Dragon just released its first three episodes and fans are already excited. The pilot episode already established Matt Smith as one of the greatest characters, Westeros has ever seen.
[Update 07.09.2022]
So now we have more episodes of House of the Dragon and people just can't get enough of Matt Smith's Daemon Targaryen.
So since the second episode, 3 years have passed. Yep, three freakin years. During that time, Daemon and Corlys have been battling the Crabfeeder, and they seem to be the ones losing out.
If you don't know who the Crabguy or the Corlys dude are, read this:
So Daemon and Corlys are losing and Visery's gets persuaded to send reinforcements. Upon reading that, though, Daemon decides to go full Thanos, "Fine, I'll do it myself", and goes off on a solo suicide mission.
Daemon Targaryen is the kinda guy to charge into an enemy camp alone, before reinforcements can arrive.
The crazy thing, is that during the whole scene, he doesn't utter a single word and fans are going crazy about it.
Bro did not say a single word and still took the whole episode!Daemon Fucking Targaryen#HouseoftheDragon #hotd pic.twitter.com/2ozz2ugsxo
— KEVIN (@dcruzk10) September 5, 2022
Matt Smith just continues to deliver a great performance and people love it.
[Original]
House of the Dragon just had a record-breaking premiere, with 2.6 million households watching the show within the first 6 hours. This even beat out the premiere of Stranger Things season 4, which many called the best release in 2022.
If you've seen the first episode of House of the Dragon, you are probably already very familiar with Daemon Targaryen, played by Matt Smith. For now, he seems to be placed as the antagonist of the story. He is hot-tempered, aggressively violent and ambitious. Doesn't seem very likeable, does he?
Well, I guess he does because fans are loving him. Matt Smith accomplished something in this return to Westeros that no one has done before. He made an antagonist a fan favorite.
Matt Smith as Daemon #HouseoftheDragon pic.twitter.com/LkZPluDb6t
— Game of Thrones Memes (@Thrones_Memes) August 24, 2022
Remember when Joffrey, that little bish, was the main villain of the story? People hated his guts and poor Jack Gleeson, the actor playing him, even received threats because people couldn't separate character from actor. Shame! People just love to hate. So why don't they hate Daemon Targaryen?
House Of The Dragon: Why Daemon Targaryen Works
Daemon Targaryen should be a disliked character, he is violent, ambitious and a notorious "bad boy", George's words, not mine. So, why do people like him so much?
There seems to be a certain charm to Daemon Targaryen. Even George R.R. Martin himself called him his favorite character, due to his colorful, unpredictable, morally gray personality. It might just be me, but it sounds like Matt Smith was the perfect cast, he excels at colorful and unpredictable characters. I mean, he was Doctor Who, for god’s sake!
So, is it just the brilliant portrayal of the character that made fans love Daemon Targaryen? It probably is a factor, but it seems people just embrace the chaos and wickedness Daemon provides. So pretty much the same reason George provided. If you combine a character, that is kinda compelling on its own, with a stellar performance, you got yourself a great antagonist.
Anyway, the whole situation turned into somewhat of a meme, and I am loving every second of it!
Daemon after Viserys' son dies #HouseOfTheDragonHBO #HOTD pic.twitter.com/1PH4h1ALVW
— Aemond Targaryen (@HateStrongs) August 22, 2022