House of the Dragon fans want Daemon back in the fray

What did you miss?

House of the Dragon viewers appear to all want one thing: for Matt Smith's Daemon Targaryen to return from his solo storyline.

The character has been separated from the other main characters in the Sky series for some time now after travelling to Harrenhal to take it over and declare the castle for Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and, let's be honest, for himself. There he has been plagued by strange visions and nightmarish visitations, which have kept him there.

However viewers aren't too happy about the storyline anymore, with several calling for the side plot to come to an end so that Smith's dragon lord could do something else instead. Before we explore how and why be warned that this article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon episode 5.

What, how, and why?

Episode 5 saw Daemon continue his sojourn in Harrenhal, where he is now helping to rebuild the castle out of his own pocket so that it can be a grand location. He continues to see strange visions, including one in which he has sex with his own mother.

The character also tries to bring local lords to Rhaenyra's cause by urging those loyal to him to ransack their villages to force the others to comply. This backfires, because the lords who he wanted to come to his side instead turn their back on him and their cause.

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Despite these things happening to Daemon, viewers appear to have had enough of seeing him on the sidelines and shared on social media that they would like to see him return to the main storyline soon.

Sharing their thoughts on X, one viewer said: "im getting sick of this harrenhal plot", while another viewer said: "What is happening to daemon in harrenhal??? I need them to wrap it up by next episode".

Another person wrote: "harrenhal plot is making me sick at this point", and similarly one fan said of Daemon's latest visions: "Wtf Daemon and his mom!!! This Harrenhal arc must end!"

Another shared a video of someone being chased by a person in costume, as they joked: "me: 'i hope daemon stops having these hallucinations' daemon still in harrenhal during tonight’s episode".

Despite the change in pace compared to last week's episode, one viewer wrote: "the bottomline is, Ep 05 may be a slow burn but oh boi, it burns. it’s a great hump after a steep downhill slope of emotions that let’s us catch our breaths for the next climb… and goddamn, i have recovered.

What else happened on House of the Dragon?

The new episode also showed the aftermath of the battle between Rhaenys (Eve Best), Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). Aegon was severely burned in the encounter after his own brother attacked him, and this meant that someone needed to rule in his stead.

Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) saw this as her chance to rule after successfully doing so for her husband Viserys, except the Small Council aren't keen on a woman taking over the throne and instead opt to raise Aemond to the position.

The character was noticeable upset by decision, and viewers were quick to point out how now Alicent understands Rhaenyra's struggle to have her claim to the throne upheld.

One viewer said on X: "pov: you joined the team that doesn’t want women to rule and now the men surrounding you won’t let you rule"

Another wrote: "The entire war is because they don't want a woman to rule, but here's Alicent thinking they'll support her. Poetic justice." While one person added: "oh so NOW you understand why being undermined as ruler just for being a woman is unfair RIGHT ALICENT?"

House of the Dragon airs every Monday at 2am and 9pm on Sky Atlantic.