House of the Dragon set pics offer first glimpse at Daemon with his legendary sword

daemon1

The goods just keep on comin’! Mere days after we caught a first look at Laenor Velaryon and some grizzly post-battle action, new set photos grace us with a glimpse of Daemon Targaryen wielding his legendary Valyrian steel blade, Dark Sister!

In photos tweeted by @HOTDBr and published on Metro, we see Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen walking along a beach carrying a sword that can only the famous Dark Sister,

Daemon2

Daemon4

For those fuzzy on Targaryen history… or who have simply lost track of all the named swords in Westeros, Dark Sister was the Valyrian steel sword originally wielded by Visenya Targaryen, sister-wife to Aegon the Conqueror. The sword’s last known owner was Brynden Rivers aka Blood Raven aka the Three-Eyed Crow and its current location during the events of A Song of Ice and Fire is unknown (and the subject of much speculation and theorizing). But for a while there between Visenya and Brynden, Dark Sister belonged to Daemon Targaryen and though the sword was pretty much guaranteed to feature in House of the Dragon it’s still exciting to see it on set for the first time.

Perhaps the most jarring of these new photos is the one of Daemon Targaryen on his back with Dark Sister seemingly sticking out of his stomach.

daemon5

While this has caused some panic online (and it would be pretty funny if Daemon dies in the show by tripping on his sword), I’d say this is pretty clearly a trick of perspective. The sword is stuck in the sand and Daemon is lying beside it.

Of course, it’s unclear from these photos why the great and dignified Rogue Prince is lying in the dirt by himself. I wonder if this scene takes place at an emotional low point for Daemon and if House of the Dragon will offer us a glimpse at who Daemon is when he’s not performing his machismo for others.

18 Comments

  1. Looks like in one of the shots they’re filming him stabbing the sword into the sand. Maybe he is upset/angry about something, and petulantly stabs the sword in the sand, and then throws himself onto the ground? Targs are pretty emotional.

  2. 🗡
    Earlier this year, the writer of an article here on asked us if there were particular characters or events we wanted to see adapted in House of the Dragon.

    In my replies, I said I’d like to see subtle callbacks or homages to GoT, and my first nominee would be a reference to Dark Sister, “[t]hanks to Arya’s fangirling in her show-only scene with Tywin. (“Visenya Targaryen was a great warrior. She had a Valyrian Steel sword she called Dark Sister.”)”

    Now that I can check off that item on my Wish List, I invite you to revisit that classic scene from S2e7, Arya & Tywin talking Targaryen history:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Wr-yrAL1c

    at 8:25 – 8:43:
    Arya (with awe): “Visenya Targaryen was a great warrior. She had a Valyrian steel sword she called Dark Sister.”
    Tywin: “She’s a heroine of yours I take it?”

  3. The sword itself is fine for a woman without wanting to offend women but I have no doubt that both Visenya and Daemon are deadly with this sword.

  4. Oh yay – my namesake! How exciting. The longsword has such a rich history, I’m excited to see more of it. Also, so Daemon would be Brynden’s great grandfather correct? It would make sense if Dark Sister is to remain within his line? I love theorising about it’s whereabouts. Since it was last at the wall I think Jon might end up with it at some point but we shall see. It would be great if he does end up with it and passes it along to Arya. It would be yet another weapon he gifts her.

  5. Huh…he seems angry at something…and then throwing a temper tantrum in the aftermath! Viserys anyone?! LOL..😋🤣

  6. Off-Topic
    Congratulations to Septa Unella
    (Hannah Waddingham) on winning the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (for “Ted Lasso”). Clip of presentation and her acceptance speech from last night’s Emmy Awards:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–40TEbZ9Is

    I suggest starting at 1:20. Not sure who the “comedian” presenter was before that. He was not funny at all. He laughed at his own “jokes.” His outfit looked ridiculous. (Wait. Was that Seth Rogen?)

    And he mispronounced Hannah Waddingham’s name as “Waddington” when he announced the winner.

    🔔 Shame! 🔔 Shame! 🔔 Shame!

  7. Erik, formerly Lord Parramandas,

    Just to let you know I noticed you had replied circa May of this year to a post of mine in the forums (from last year). I can’t post in the forums currently but as other people have posted there this year I think it must be a problem with my account rather than the forums in general.

  8. mau,

    This was expressly on topic. Callbacks or homages to the original series provide a connection for the audience. The lore about thus particular artifact is part of book! canon, GoT show! canon, and now, HotD show! canon. Kindly direct any grievances to Benioff, Weiss, and Big G, the credited scriptwriters for that episode, or to Charles Dance and the audience, who enjoyed Tywin’s repartee with the young actress in that high thread count scene.

    Enough with your vituperative spam already.

    To avoid any unpleasantries in the future, kindly scroll past anything I write without reading it, and I’ll scroll past anything you write without reading it.

  9. Could this be linked to the recent battle on the beach we’ve seen pics of? Clearly he’s not dead or even impaled by the sword.

  10. Ten Bears,

    Those scenes between Arya and Tywin were some of my personal favourites. I appreciate knowing more of the sword’s history. In many ways, Arya herself
    was the dark sister.

  11. Jon Snowed:
    Could this be linked to the recent battle on the beach we’ve seen pics of? Clearly he’s not dead or even impaled by the sword.

    My speculation is this as well and that all of these photos (including the beach photos from the previous post) might be the War for the Stepstones.

  12. MotherofWolves:
    Ten Bears,

    Those scenes between Arya and Tywin were some of my personal favourites. I appreciate knowing more of the sword’s history. In many ways, Arya herself was the dark sister.

    FYI: Here’s what Charles Dance had to say about those scenes in this pre-Season 2 Thronecast interview in 2012.

    at 5:06 – 6:02:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEzpu4H9gGg

    Those scenes were his favorites as well, especially the long one (S2e7) which was “a joy” to do.
  13. MotherofWolves,

    Either in this thread but maybe in the Forum Section, I may try to open a discussion of “high thread count” scenes, i.e., the interpersonal moments which I believe made GoT so special. (And hopefully, HotD will be chock full of high thread count scenes rather than relying on dragon flying and dragon battles.)

    Anyway, at the risk of being redundant, I typed out the excerpt from Charles Dance’s pre-S8 Thronecast interview (filmed before the April 2, 2012 start of Season 2), because the scene he called his “favorite” is one example of a “high thread count” scene. *

    [at 5:00 to 6:00 of this 6:11 long clip]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEzpu4H9gGg

    Interviewer Kelly-Anne Smith talks to Charles Dance about his role as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, and upcoming second season.

    Kelly-Anne Smith: “Finally, without giving too much away, is there a particular scene, a favorite of yours, that we can look forward to in Season 2?”

    Charles Dance: “Yes. There’s a long… I’ve got quite a few scenes with that wonderful little girl – who’s desperate to stick a knife in my back at every opportunity – and um, she’s fabulous actually – great, great kid.

    “But there’s a scene in that with her, when the writers allow the audience to see a little bit of what’s behind Tywin Lannister. Which is very clever. Because it means the audience is saying to the little girl,
    Don’t kill him yet! Because there’s something strange going on here… Maybe we’re going to find out something more about this character.’

    “It’s quite a long scene, just between the two of us. And it was a joy to do. So, yeah.”

    Kelly-Anne Smith: “So that’s your favorite. Thank you Charles Dance, thank you so much for coming to Thronecast.”

    ——
    * Another example: Oberyn’s long monologue in Tyrion’s cell in S4e7, concluding with “I will be your champion.” (That episode was jam-packed with high thread count scenes.)

Comments are closed.