- George R.R. Martin explained on his blog why Daeron Targaryen isn't in season one.
- The writer said they left him out to save time over the 10 episodes.
As "House of the Dragon" gears up to a dramatic finale after the tragic death of Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), there is a civil war ahead between the members of House Targaryen as they all want the Iron Throne for themselves.
The house has grown considerably bigger since the start of the prequel series, as Viserys and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) have had several children, alongside Rhaenyra Targaryen's (Emma D'Arcy) own brood.
Although we've seen the likes of Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban), and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), Alicent actually had a fourth child with Viserys who hasn't shown up just yet: Daeron Targaryen.
"Game of Thrones," and "Fire & Blood" author George R.R. Martin explained on his blog why Daeron is missing from the first season of the prequel, saying that it was all down to time.
Martin wrote: "Do I wish we'd had more time to explore the relationship between Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin, the marriage of Daemon and Laena and their time in Pentos, the birth of various and sundry children (and YES, Alicent gave Viserys four children, three sons and a daughter, their youngest son Daeron is down in Oldtown, we just did not have the time to work him in this season), and everything else we had to skip? Sure."
Martin added: "But there are only so many minutes in an episode (more on HBO than on the network shows I once wrote for), and only so many episodes in a season. Fewer and fewer as time goes by, it seems."
Fans who've read "Fire & Blood" will know that Daeron Targaryen properly shows up in the civil war later down the line, fighting alongside his mother's family, House Hightower.
The family lives in Oldtown, the second biggest city in Westeros, which is why Martin referenced it in his blog post. For the moment, there's no real need for Daeron to be on screen, since the fighting hasn't started yet.
However once the "Dance of Dragons" kicks off, it's only a matter of time before Daeron rides into battle on his dragon, Tessarion, also known as the "Blue Queen" due to her colorful scales.
It'll be interesting to see all the dragons in the series face off against each other because, while the show hasn't shied away from using them, they've only been used in a couple of action sequences, and the tragic death of Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell).
New episodes of "House of the Dragon" air Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.