House of the Dragon producers explain why Daemon left Rhaenyra

Last night’s new episode of House of the Dragon was all kinds of wrong. Daemon Targaryen seduced his niece Rhaenyra and then walked away before going through with it. Rhaenrya slept with her bodyguard, King Viserys finally fired Otto Hightower…it was an intense one!

The producers break it all down in another Inside The Episode feature. Watch below, and then we’ll hit some highlights.

To me, the most interesting part of this feature is when the producers talk about Daemon bringing Rhaenyra to the brothel. They begin to kiss in public, which is definitely part of Daemon’s plan — notice that he removes their disguises before going into the place; he wants this information to get back to Viserys. But while Rhaenyra wants to take things further, Daemon seems to get frustrated and storms out.

Daemon couldn’t perform with Rhaenyra after she took control of the situation

“It’s the idea that Daemon is using Rhaenyra as a way to get at her father,” showrunner Miguel Sapochnik said. “Ultimately, his impotence in this scene is a reflection of the fact that he knows deep down what he’s doing isn’t right.” That’s more or less what I thought when I watched the scene, although it didn’t occur to me that Daemon had an attack of impotence; I just thought that he decided he probably shouldn’t go through with having sex with his much younger niece. Seems obvious, right?

We did see Daemon unable to perform with Mysaria back in the first episode, when he was feeling insecure about being supplanted as heir to the Iron Throne. Director Clare Kilner had another take on Daemon’s impotence: “He thinks it’s shocking to her. But she doesn’t just get shocked, she gets excited by it. And when that happens, he has nothing. And he basically can’t handle not being in charge or in control. I think what it’s saying there is that young women want sex just as much as young men.”

Layers upon layers, people. The producers also get into Alicent Hightower’s role in this drama, Viserys canning her father Otto, and Rhaenyra’s impending marriage to Laenor Velaryon.

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