HBO's Latest 'House of the Dragon' Twist Finally Confirms a Major Fan Theory

Jul 07, 2026 - 16:05

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HBO's Latest 'House of the Dragon' Twist Finally Confirms a Major Fan Theory

James Norton in House of the Dragon Season 3

Published Jul 7, 2026, 8:36 AM EDT

Julio is a Senior Author for Collider. He studied History and International Relations at university, but found his calling in cultural journalism. When he isn't writing, Julio also teaches English at a nearby school. He has lived in São Paulo most of his life, where he covers CCXP and other big events. Having loved movies, music, and TV from an early age, he prides himself in knowing every minute detail about the things he loves. When he is older, he dreams of owning a movie theater in a small countryside town.

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 3.Fans of Game of Thrones have been used to shocking plot twists for a while, and House of the Dragon just delivered the newest one after a long time of speculation by the fans. Season 3, Episode 3 finally introduces a young Daeron Targaryen, played by Charlie Gordon, only to reveal at the end of the episode what some might have already suspected, that this Daeron is an imposter. His capture is Rhaenyra Targaryen's (Emma D'Arcy) only victory since her arrival in King's Landing, but when Alicent (Olivia Cooke) fails to recognize her youngest son, it becomes clear that Rhaenyra has been played by the Greens. So, now, new questions arise: where is the real Daeron, and who is playing him?

Daeron’s Absence in ‘House of the Dragon’ and His Casting Have Long Confused Fans

When adapting a book like Fire & Blood, it's natural to change some aspects of the original story for many reasons, and House of the Dragon has certainly changed quite a bit. Daeron's absence is one of these changes, as he is only mentioned for the first time at the end of Season 2, and, up until now, we've only seen his dragon, Tessarion, but never him. Shortly before this week's episode, Daeron's arrival was teased by HBO with footage of Gordon being taken by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), but that didn't convince many fans.

Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To? Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell

Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie.

🐺Stark

🦁Lannister

🐉Targaryen

🦌Baratheon

🌹Tyrell

FIND YOUR HOUSE →

Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do? In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.

ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly. BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power. CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me. DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring. ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the source of your power? Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?

AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold. BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment. CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable. DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight. ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.

NEXT QUESTION →

Who do you truly fight for? Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.

AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything. BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me. CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me. DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth fighting beside. EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you deal with your enemies? A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.

AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted. BThoroughly — I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same enemy twice. CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays. DHead-on — I'd rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors. EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.

NEXT QUESTION →

What kind of ruler do you believe in? Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.

AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear. BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs. CA transformative one — someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible. DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse. EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword.

NEXT QUESTION →

You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond? How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.

AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do. BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely. CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next. DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house. EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready — on our terms, not theirs.

NEXT QUESTION →

Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe? Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.

AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect. BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency. CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born. DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don't stop until it's done. EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.

NEXT QUESTION →

The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do? The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character.

AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having. BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself. CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood. DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked. EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign.

REVEAL MY HOUSE →

The Maester Has Spoken Your House Is…

Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don't. That's very much up to you.

🐺 House Stark

Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.

You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult.
The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are.

🦁 House Lannister

You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.

You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.

🐉 House Targaryen

You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.

You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.

🦌 House Baratheon

You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.

Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what's behind it.
You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after.
The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.

🌹 House Tyrell

You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes.

Growing strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it.
You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

Initially, it was believed that Daeron would be played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, whose casting was only confirmed in June, shortly before the third season premiere. Fans felt it was a perfect casting, as Ainsworth is young and will play a similar role as Link in the upcoming The Legend of Zelda adaptation, making him a great choice for Daeron the Daring, a dragonrider. In the premiere, however, Ainsworth briefly appears as Lord Ormund Hightower's (James Norton) squire and notably has red hair.

Now, the series finally explains what's up. Ainsworth is indeed playing the real Daeron, whose hair has been dyed red to pass as a Hightower and fool Daemon, Rhaenyra, and the Blacks. Daeron's absence so far is also justified as part of this plot, to keep him and Tessarion as the Greens' secret weapon in the Reach on their way to King's Landing, now that Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) has taken Vhagar to Harrenhal. He is young, and nobody knows what he really looks like. It's the perfect ruse.

Editor's Note: The below contains spoilers from the novel Fire & Blood, which House of the Dragon is based on.

A "Fake Daeron" Plot Comes Straight From ‘Fire & Blood,’ but With a Different Setting

Daemon Targaryen and fake Daeron Targaryen in House of the Dragon Season 3

In Fire & Blood, Daeron shows up much earlier in the story as the youngest son of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Alicent Hightower. It is only in his teens that he is sent to squire for Alicent's cousin, Lord Ormund, and then plays a key role in securing the Reach for the Greens. The Hightower army struggles initially, but the tide turns thanks to Daeron and Tessarion. To honor his young cousin, Ormund titles him "Daeron the Daring," and they progress until Tumbleton, right at Rhaenyra's doorstep in King's Landing.

Parallel to that, with Aegon II's (Tom Glynn-Carney) having escaped to Dragonstone and Aemond gone to Harrenhal, Daeron suddenly becomes a serious contender to the Iron Throne, despite his young age, and this is part of his plot until after the end of the Dance of Dragons. He is killed in the war, but how he dies is disputed by the diverging accounts in Fire & Blood, and his body is never identified. Because of this, some believe Daeron never actually dies, and some people even try to use it to their advantage.

HBO Is Quietly Fixing ‘Game of Thrones’ Biggest Season 8 Mistake

Is HBO finally redeeming one of 'Game of Thrones' most controversial storylines?

After the war ends, it's Aegon III, Rhaenyra and Daemon's son, who ascends to the Iron Throne. During his reign, many pretenders show up claiming to be Daeron, but they are proven to be impostors by Aegon III and Viserys, his brother and Hand of the King. Because House of the Dragon is slated to end with Season 4, it's unlikely that there will be time for Fire & Blood's "fake Daeron" plot after Aegon III takes the throne to make it to the screen. Still, it's nice that the series found a way to incorporate it into its story somehow.

‘House of the Dragon’ Uses the Fake Daeron Plot To Smartly Set Up the Battle of Tumbleton

At the end of this week's episode, Rhaenyra is warned that the Greens have taken Tumbleton by a surviving dragonkeeper who likely tended to Tessarion. Tumbleton's lords had previously declared for her, so the "fake Daeron" is a smart gambit by Lord Ormund — Rhaenyra can't allow herself to have been made a fool by admitting she fell for the imposter, but she also can't target the people she swore to protect. Whatever card she plays, she loses something in this business.

In Fire & Blood, the Battle of Tumbleton simply starts with the Hightower host taking over the town and infiltrating as civilians, with Daeron flying Tessarion. By then, he had already won the Greens some battles and "avenged" his nephew Maelor's death (Aegon II's third child, who hasn't appeared in the show). Rhaenyra then sends Ser Hugh the Hammer (Kieran Bew) and Ser Ulf the White (Tom Bennett) to protect Tumbleton, and the fateful battle begins.

In the series, however, there is more happening. Lord Ormund and Daeron's ruse now forces Rhaenyra's hand, but, at the same time, if she sends Hugh and Ulf, she is giving them a dilemma of their own, since she refuses to acknowledge them as Targaryens. Hugh's wife, Kat (Ellora Torchia), has also fled to Tumbleton after he became a dragonrider, so, for him, there are personal stakes as well. With so much happening, we're finally bound to see the real Daeron in action.

House of the Dragon is available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes air weekly on Sundays.