Fans of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are enjoying the performances of its ensemble cast, including newcomer Henry Ashton as Daeron Targaryen. The older brother of Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) is known as Daeron the Drunken for…well, obvious reasons. However, he’s been showing a deeper side with dreams of a dead dragon.
Speaking to Radio Times, Ashton dropped the surprise reveal that this isn’t his first try at a show set in the Game of Thrones world. Not only did he audition for the original series, but it was for a major character!
" I actually auditioned for the original Game of Thrones when I was either 17 or 18 in school – they came round all the schools to audition people," Ashton recalled. " It was for Jon Snow. I think they went to every school and auditioned every teenager!"
As everyone knows, the part went to Kit Harington, who made it one of the best characters in the series. It’s fascinating to wonder how things might have been different had Ashton gotten the role. Still, fans should be happy he ended up with Daeron, who will play a major role in the events ahead!
What’s coming for Daeron?
Episode 4 ended with Daeron apologizing for lying about Dunk (Peter Claffey) kidnapping Egg, but Dunk still had to go through trial by combat. At least Daeron promised he'd throw his own part in it rather than attempt to kill Dunk. Even more intriguing, Daeron told Dunk of his dream of the knight with a dead dragon, which fans of the novella know is a key point.
"Daeron doesn't quite know what his dreams mean, even he's confused by them. So when he has this premonition of a dead dragon, he makes assumptions of who that would be and what that means... He doesn't quite know what it means, but he knows it's not good for him or his family," Ashton said.
Ashton added he loved playing the role of Daeron as a “wonderfully flawed” character. "I think he's he's a really important character because he bridges the gap from the Targaryens to Dunk and Egg a little bit, and he sort of shows what it's like to grow up in such a brutal family."
Ashton added he’d brought his own notes for the character to make him “an absolute mess” and different from the rest of his clan. It’s more insight into how this great series works so well and how Ashton got his chance to be part of this wonderful world after all.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs Sundays on HBO Max.