House of the Dragon star Benjamin Evan Ainsworth on Daeron Targaryen’s rift with Ormund

If you have been waiting for House of the Dragon to finally put a voice to Daeron Targaryen, your moment is here. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is stepping out of the shadows in season 3, and he is not just showing up — he is explaining exactly why this kid is torn straight down the middle.

Daeron vs. Ormund: the tug-of-war finally gets a voice

After two seasons of the show essentially keeping Daeron off the board, Ainsworth told Entertainment Weekly that the prince’s entire identity right now is a split-screen: sworn service to House Hightower on one side, blood and dragonfire on the other. The push-pull with his guardian, Ormund Hightower, is the point — not a side detail.

"I act as his squire, and I’m a Hightower, and I dress in the Hightower colors, but I’m also a Targaryen, and I have this dragon behind me."

That is the character in one breath: a boy in green armor with a dragon in his back pocket. And yes, that dynamic has been baked into the season from the jump. Before Daeron uttered a word on screen, we met Charlie Gordon — a fake-out planted by Ormund to misdirect Rhaenyra and keep the real prince out of her reach. The family tree gymnastics go back further: Alicent originally parked Daeron in Oldtown under her uncle Hobert Hightower. When Hobert died, Ormund took over, and that switch is basically the spine of Daeron’s loyalty crisis we’re watching play out now.

A funny bit of timing you might not have heard

Entertainment Weekly also notes Ainsworth found out he had landed a role in a Legend of Zelda project on his first day shooting House of the Dragon. Not crucial to Westeros, sure, but as far as career whiplash moments go, that’s a memorable one.

Meanwhile, George R. R. Martin has notes (as always)

George R. R. Martin has been pretty open about what has not matched his Fire and Blood vision so far, and Daeron is near the top of that list. He didn’t love that the show sidelined the prince early, especially with the Dance of the Dragons underway. More of his ongoing gripes:

• Cutting Prince Maelor entirely, which Martin argues undercut the emotional fallout of the Blood and Cheese sequence and what it meant for Helaena.
• Softening Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon’s marriage in a way the book never did.
• Framing Aegon the Conqueror’s campaign as hinging on a single prophetic dream.
• Reimagining Rhaenyra and Alicent as ex-friends instead of straight-up rivals.

The upside, if you’re Team Canon: season 3 is finally giving Daeron the presence Martin always thought he deserved, and Ainsworth is the one carrying that weight now. For what it’s worth, showrunner Ryan Condal has been teasing this stretch as dark, funny, action-packed, and emotional — which tracks with the material they’re finally tapping.

Where this leaves Daeron

Short version: the series has stopped treating him like a footnote. The conflict with Ormund isn’t just court chatter; it’s defining who Daeron is going to be when the war demands a choice between the colors he wears and the blood he can’t escape.

What are you thinking about Daeron’s growing clash with Ormund this season? Drop your take below — I’m curious where you land on a prince who serves green but breathes fire.