How Did Daemon Targaryen Die in the Dance of the Dragons?

Ever since the start of House of the Dragon, the one character that became polarizing to audience members was Daemon Targaryen, who did a lot of awful and cruel things but was still one of the most beloved characters in the series. Of course, he is going to play a huge role in the Dance of the Dragons. While Daemon is indeed one of the main characters of House of the Dragon, the thing is that his fate isn’t exactly that good as far as the history books are concerned. So, how did Daemon Targaryen die in the Dance of the Dragons?

Daemon supposedly died during the Battle Above the Gods Eye when he jumped off of Caraxes and pierced Aemond Targaryen right through the eye. The battle took the lives of all of the combatants, but Daemon’s body was never found. Still, historians believe that he died there as well.

The battle between Daemon and Aemond is supposedly the most epic one during the Dance of the Dragons, as this was a fight between the two best dragonriders and the two strongest dragons on each side. Nevertheless, there were also a lot of things that went into Daemon’s battle with Aemond and his supposed death. Now, let’s took more about how Daemon supposedly died.

How Did Daemon Die In The Dance Of The Dragons?

Fans were quick to love and flock over to the side of Prince Daemon Targaryen, whose introduction in the series was not entirely on a positive note but was still able to showcase the kind of character he is. He is ambitious, cruel, and stern. Nevertheless, Daemon was clearly a dashing and daring character that had the kind of straightforward approach that his brother, Viserys, didn’t have. Still, it was clear that he didn’t have the same kind of controlled temperament that a king should have, and that was one of the reasons why Viserys disinherited him from the Iron Throne.

Still, Daemon tried his best to find his place in the world by waging war against the Triarchy in the Stepstones and even killing his own wife, Rhea Royce, so that he could marry into a more prominent family of his choosing. That was the reason why he was eventually able to find a more suitable wife in Laena Velaryon, who he wedded just shortly after his niece, Rhaenyra, wedded Laenor Velaryon.

The fact that Daemon is on the side of Rhaenyra and the Velaryons means that he will eventually have a huge role in the upcoming Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. However, both Daemon and Rhaenyra weren’t able to actually come out of the war in one piece, as did most of the other Targaryens that were involved in the Dance of the Dragons. So, how did Daemon die in the Dance of the Dragons?

After Laena and Laenor died, both Daemon and Rhaenyra were married and were able to have two pure Targaryen children in Aegon III and Viserys II. Through the strength of their united Targaryen-Velaryon families and their ability to command other houses throughout Westeros to bend to their will, the Blacks (Rhaenyra’s faction) were able to muster up a huge force that took King’s Landing by force from the Greens (Alicent’s and Aegon II’s faction). This allowed Rhaenyra to sit on the Iron Throne as queen while Daemon was supposedly her king consort.

But while Rhaenyra now had the capital, the war was far from over because most of the Green forces were still around. On top of that, both Aegon II and Aemond, the sons of Viserys and Alicent, were still alive. While Aegon II was the one that was the king that Rhaenyra needed to kill to finally put an end to the Dance of the Dragons, Aemond was the more dangerous one because he had the biggest and strongest dragon in Westeros at that time. On top of that, Aemond was far better than Aegon II and fighting and commanding.

Because of that, Rhaenyra sent Daemon and a dragonseed named Nettles to the Trident to search for Aemond, who was terrorizing the Riverlands. Daemon and Nettles made Maidenpool their base, but the problem was that they were supposedly having an affair with one another. This did not sit well with Rhaenyra, who ordered Nettles to be executed. Daemon allowed Nettles to flee with her dragon, Sheepstealer, who were both never seen again.

Daemon, on the other hand, knew that fate wasn’t going to be kind to him once the queen found out what he did. That was why he did his trademark move by taking Harrenhal all on his own while mounted on Caraxes. After that, he issued a challenge to Aemond to come out and fight him, as he slashed Harrenhal’s weirwood tree during dusk for 13 straight days until his opponent came out to fight him.

On the fourteenth day, Aemond arrived to answer the challenge from his uncle. This commenced what was widely regarded as the greatest battle of the Dance of the Dragons because it involved the two best dragonriders and the two strongest dragons on each side. Daemon was a proven swordsman that mounted Caraxes, the Blood Wyrm. Meanwhile, Aemond rode Vhagar, the second-biggest dragon in the history of Westeros.

While Caraxes was half of Vhagar’s massive size, it was able to outmaneuver the larger dragon to even the odds. The two dragons grappled with one another, and this gave the bold and daring Daemon the chance to deal a decisive blow. With enough space between him and his target, Daemon leaped off of Caraxes to pierce Aemond straight through his eye as the two dragons were sent crashing down into the Gods Eye in an epic fight known as the Battle Above the Gods Eye.

Caraxes was able to drag itself to the shore but died due to its wounds. Years later, the bodies of Aemond and Vhagar were found, as Dark Sister was still lodged in the eye socket of the Targaryen boy. But Daemon’s body was never found, as historians believe that there was no way he could have survived that battle.

Did Daemon Die In The Dance Of The Dragons?

While the standing belief is that Daemon Targaryen also died during the Battle Above the Gods Eye, there were those who believed that he found a way to come out of that fight in one piece but opted to live a more peaceful life away from the Targaryen mess.

As mentioned, he aided in the escape of his rumored mistress, Nettles, who Rhaenyra wanted to kill due to Daemon’s infidelity. Of course, Daemon was well aware of the fact that his wife’s mental stability was already down the drain at that time, and that meant that returning to King’s Landing would mean certain death to him.

As such, it is also believed that he was able to survive the Battle Above the Gods Eye but opted to rendezvous with Nettles, who was able to survive the Dance of the Dragons. No one knows exactly what happened to Nettles and whether or not she got to live a life with Daemon. Of course, that means that there is no clear indication that Daemon did indeed live out the rest of his life with his mistress, as history still believes that he died in the same battle that took the lives of Aemond, Vhagar, and Caraxes.