House Of The Dragon Season 3's Confusing Daeron Twist Was Completely Invented For The Show

Dracarys! This article contains major spoilers for "House of the Dragon" Season 3, Episode 4.

The latest episode of "House of the Dragon" Season 3 is filled with secret identities, quirky bad guys that you'll love to hate, and convoluted plots completely invented for adaptation purposes — in other words, a quintessential hour of "Game of Thrones." We should've known where things were headed as soon as last week's installment saw Ormund Hightower (James Norton) surrender with nary a fight, turn his entire army around (with a hilariously expressive dragon, to boot), and slink away home minus one conspicuous prince/hostage. Nothing ever ends easily in the world of Westeros, as Matt Smith's Daemon Targaryen probably should've known, and Episode 4 is all about those dragons coming home to roost.

And, what's more, this Daeron Targaryen change actually works incredibly well. Yes, there are plenty of valid logistical headaches this twist brings up, as the Daeron we thought we knew (an almost silent performance by Charlie Gordon) turns out to be a blonde-haired impostor vs. the genuine article, portrayed by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth. (Wait, if characters could dye their hair this whole time, why the heck didn't Emma D'Arcy's Rhaenyra do that with her own sons when their legitimacy was brought into question on account of their brown hair?) Sure, on the face of it, a hardened veteran like Daemon getting fooled by the oldest switcheroo in the book is pretty embarrassing. But where Episode 3 (titled "Rhaenyra Triumphant") left us with nothing but questions, this week brings a whole slew of fascinating answers.

The fact that none of this appears in George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood" only adds to the thrill, as casual fans and book readers alike can only guess where this rogue storyline seems to be going.

Give "House of the Dragon" co-creator/showrunner Ryan Condal and his writers this much credit, at least — swapping out a doe-eyed Targaryen clone for a hardened Hightower acolyte trained under the Westerosi version of a white supremacist is definitely a choice. Arguably, it's a fantastic one. In "Fire & Blood," we never get much insight into Daeron's personality or his complex role as a half-Hightower and half-Targaryen in a family that would have several legitimate gripes against their dragon-riding overlords. Here, "House of the Dragon" devotes the bulk of Episode 4 to making up for lost time and fleshing out Dowager Queen Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) last remaining son.

As we see throughout Episode 4, it's clear that Daeron's father figure Ormund Hightower has schemes upon schemes in response to Rhaenyra and Team Black's reclaiming of King's Landing. The Daeron twist is only step one. Banking on his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and his dragon Vhagar, Hand of the King Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), and Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) and his army to bolster their ranks even further was supposed to be step two. When that goes sideways, well, the temper tantrum-throwing Ormund himself soberly announces his next move once he calms down: "We must alter our scheme."

Ostensibly, this endgame involves the Hightower army making itself at home in the market town of Tumbleton — even if Rhaenyra struggles to see the strategic advantage of this. But the other shoe finally drops in the episode's closing moments. As Ormund gives Daeron a mentoring lecture in the holy sept, he reveals his plans to install his young student as king ... and gives him a bloody test to prove his commitment.

In the span of just a few tense minutes, much about the confusing Daeron Targaryen twist in "House of the Dragon" suddenly clicks into place. Of course Ormund Hightower wouldn't want to risk giving away his usurping prince as a hostage to ensure his loyalty to the Targaryens. Even with King's Landing taken and the civil war all but over, Team Green isn't exactly fading away and accepting their fate. The Dance of the Dragons has its reputation as the most costly conflict the Targaryen dynasty ever experienced for a reason, after all, and there's still more dancing to come.

We're officially at the halfway mark of "House of the Dragon" Season 3, so this is perfect timing for a new twist to fuel the rest of the episodes to come. Unbeknownst to Alicent Hightower, the acting Regent Aemond, or the still-alive King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), Ormund is secretly plotting to flip everything on its head and install Daeron as Westeros' new ruler. 

It's unclear exactly how this might be accomplished, considering Rhaenyra and her several dragons are still sitting comfortably within the walls of King's Landing — not to mention the pesky detail of having to deal with Aemond, who isn't likely to sit idly by and have his crown taken from him. Book readers know that fate may have different plans anyway. Without spoiling anything, Daeron is set up to play an enormous role in this next stage of the war, and even a show as eager to skip over events from the book as this one can't stray too far off the beaten path.

"House of the Dragon" airs new episodes on HBO every Sunday.