Warning: Contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5.

House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5 sees Daemon Targaryen declare his intentions to be king in a major betrayal of Rhaenyra Targaryen. Daemon has spent several episodes in the Riverlands, ostensibly building an army to help support his wife’s claim to the Iron Throne. However, the pair had left things on terrible terms, and Daemon has had several visions at Harrenhal that have pushed him to new depths and some drastic decisions.

At first, it had seemed like Daemon’s time at Harrenhal was making him reflect and regret upon what had happened with Rhaenyra, as well as things like Blood and Cheese killing Jaehaerys Targaryen, apparently at his command. That’s completely shifted in season 2, episode 5. Daemon now plans to use the army in the Riverlands for himself – if he still has one – which completely upends his book story.

Daemon Deciding He Wants To Be King Is A Major Change To His Book Story

This Doesn’t Happen In Fire & Blood

Despite Daemon choosing that he wants to be king, and very specifically not King Consort, in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 5 being a momentous decision, this is not a plot line that comes from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. Although Daemon and Rhaenyra’s relationship does have its rocky moments, especially later on, and he has always coveted power, there’s none of the drama that currently exists in the show happening at the same point in the book. More pertinently, Daemon supports Rhaenyra’s claim to the Iron Throne from Harrenhal, and even helps her take King’s Landing.

It’s Daemon’s vision of his mother that seemingly convinces him once more that he should have been Viserys’ heir, and that the throne is his to take. Already frustrated by his falling out with Rhaenyra, Daemon’s mother serves to remind him what he’s long thought: that the Iron Throne should’ve been his, and that he can still go ahead and take it. He has Team Black’s biggest dragon (who has a rider, anyway), he is raising an army, he has a massive castle, he is prepared to do what Rhaenyra is not, so why shouldn’t he? That will be Daemon’s feeling.

Even Daemon losing the support of the Riverlords is a departure from the book. He does use unsavory tactics alongside the Blackwoods to help break the Brackens and more, but there’s no mention of any kind of rebellion or backlash; instead, he gets the army he went to Harrenhal for. Once again, that is all in support of Rhaenyra.

What Will Happen With Daemon & Rhaenyra Now?

Can It Get Their Book Story Back On Track?

From this juncture, it is hard to figure out how House of the Dragon gets Daemon and Rhaenyra’s story back on track. However, that presumably does need to happen, because he and Caraxes play a key part in taking King’s Landing, and he has to abandon Harrenhal (which is then taken by Aemond and Criston Cole). Similarly, they also need the Riverlords on their side.

It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that it has Daemon take King’s Landing first, or both he and Rhaenyra arriving at the same time, each pressing their claim. But something, surely, has to give. In the book, Daemon does leave King’s Landing after its fall, and there’s a major rift between him and Rhaenyra. So it could simply do that separation earlier, but then it has to invent a reason for Daemon to willingly leave King’s Landing without becoming king, or have Rhaenyra beat him, but that could just cause further issues,

Take, for instance, the eventual, fateful battle between Aemond and Daemon, which happens above the God’s Eye (the lake that Harrenhal sits upon the shore of). Daemon is largely separated from Rhaenyra at that point, but he’s in the Riverlands ostensibly to find Aemond for her, and does go and confront him. He may want the battle with his nephew regardless, but why do it – and risk his life – for a queen he doesn’t support?

The saving grace for Daemon may be that his mind is clearly being affected by Alys Rivers. If he can reunite with Rhaenyra before it’s too late, then maybe there’s a chance they can work out these differences and take King’s Landing together. But if he insists on going down this path, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens to them.

It’s a similar problem with the Riverlands, which are crucial to the war effort but are now very much anti-Daemon, which essentially means anti-Rhaenyra too. He needs to somehow win back their support, but they are so opposed it’s hard to see how. It might be the Freys’ growing influence or a steadying hand from the Tullys, or perhaps if the Lannister forces (who are marching on the Riverlands) do too much damage, but it does need to be reconciled because it’s such a key battleground in the story.

Is Daemon The Villain In House Of The Dragon?

It’s Harder To Make A Case For Him Being One Of The Good Guys

With all of this, it raises the question whether Daemon is supposed to be a villain in House of the Dragon. Not only that but, since Rhaenyra is the closest it has to a de facto main character and protagonist, and he is now directly opposing what she wants, then it could even be asked if he is the villain of her story. And the answer to that really depends on what happens next.

Daemon is not an entirely good person, which is, of course, quite an understatement. House of the Dragon has gone to lengths to remind viewers of that, often with changes to the book: he was responsible for the death of his first wife, Rhea Royce, in the show, which isn’t the case in Fire & Blood. He choked Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon season 1’s ending, another show invention. Now it has him wanting to be king, which doesn’t happen in the book.

Daemon is clearly a murderous rogue in both, but it’s definitely making him more bad than good in the series so far. With Aegon out of the equation for a while and Alicent wavering, it would seem to be allowing for Aemond (and Cole alongside him) to become an even bigger villain, but he won’t come into direct conflict with Rhaenyra. To that end, it could well set up more of a showdown between Daemon and his wife and have him become a bigger antagonist in her story, at least until House of the Dragon season 3.

Why House Of The Dragon Changed Daemon’s Book Story

There Are A Couple Of Possible Reasons

One reason why House of the Dragon season 2 changed Daemon’s book story so much lies in what happens to him at Harrenhal in Fire & Blood, which… isn’t very much, really. There’s very little said about his time at the castle in the book, and he more or less disappears from view until taking King’s Landing. That obviously can’t happen in the show, which is why it has introduced things like his visions, and helps explain some of the logic behind this new storyline, because it needed more narrative drama for him.

Still, that doesn’t quite cover why it’d make him antagonistic towards Rhaenyra. The show’s greatest conflict does often come from her two closest relationships though – those being Daemon and Alicent. Much like it invented Alicent and Rhaenyra’s meeting as a means of building on that, this allows them to do it with Daemon too.

Book changes in House of the Dragon are often easier than, say, Game of Thrones, because Fire & Blood is an in-universe history book with conflicting sources, so there is no real truth to deviate from in most cases, at least not in the details of what happened. The show also focuses on the struggles of its women in the patriarchal society they exist in – and how they fight against it and contribute to it. Having Daemon want to be king over Rhaenyra does fit with that – it just causes a lot of other complications going forward.

New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 release Sundays on HBO and Max.