Is Daemon Targaryen the Night King from Game of Thrones?
One of the favorites among the different characters introduced in House of the Dragon is Daemon Targaryen, who isn’t exactly a hero but isn’t a villain as well. While Daemon may have anti-hero qualities, we did see a clear antagonist in the form of the Night King back in Game of Thrones. The Night King and Daemon may seem different, but some might think that they are one and the same, considering that House of the Dragon is a prequel story. So, is Daemon Targaryen the Night King from Game of Thrones?
Daemon Targaryen is not the Night King. The Night King has existed for thousands of years and has only been building up his strength in preparation for the Long Night. On the other hand, Daemon Targaryen was born more than 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
The fact that Daemon lived during a time that took place two centuries before Game of Thrones is proof that he isn’t the Night King, who has been around for thousands of years. On top of that, they both have entirely different origin stories that aren’t even remotely related to one another. That’s why there is no reason why Daemon Targaryen could be the Night King.
Daemon Targaryen’s Life Explained?
The release of House of the Dragon allowed us to get to know one of the most polarizing fictional characters of all time in Daemon Targaryen, whose life and personality have always been quite interesting to fans. He is a Targaryen prince that was supposed to be next in line to the Iron Throne due to King Viserys’s lack of male heirs but was disinherited from the throne due to how mercurial his personality could get. As such, he has spent a good amount of time in the series trying to find his place in the world.
After Daemon ended up marrying Laena Velaryon, he began living a life far away from the politics of King’s Landing. But he still felt empty inside because he knew deep in his heart that he was meant for greater things. As such, after Laena’s death, he decided to return to Westeros, where he married his niece, Rhaenyra Targaryen, and produced children with her.
In the Fire & Blood book, Daemon also ended up becoming one of the integral figures of the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons because of how he was able to help Rhaenyra win pivotal battles against the Green faction led by Dowager Queen Alicent and King Aegon II. But Daemon also took a mistress in the form of a dragonrider named Nettles, who mounted the wild dragon named Sheepstealer. Rhaenyra found out about this and commanded the execution of Nettles, who Daemon allowed to escape.
Knowing that he was eventually going to lose his life to Rhaenyra’s rage, Daemon decided to undertake a suicide mission to challenge and defeat Aemond Targaryen, who rode Vhagar, the largest and strongest dragon in the world at that time. It was this battle that presumably took all of the four lives involved, as this epic confrontation became known as the Battle Above the Gods Eye.
Caraxes, Daemon’s dragon, crawled its way to the shore before dying. Years later, the bodies of Aemond and Vhagar were found. Daemon’s body was never found, but the maesters presumed that he died in that battle as well. This is where it gets interesting because there were also rumors regarding his survival.
Some say that he survived the Battle Above the Gods Eye and ended up living the rest of his life with Nettles, far away from the eyes and the politics of King’s Landing. But there were also those who say that he ended up becoming an entirely different person or entity after that battle with Aemond. And that’s the heart of this discussion.
Is Daemon Targaryen The Night King?
As mentioned, Daemon Targaryen supposedly died in the Battle Above the Gods Eye when he made a leap of fate off of Caraxes to pierce Aemond Targaryen through his eye. Daemon, Caraxes, Aemond, and Vhagar all fell into the massive lake known as the Gods Eye, as only the bodies of the two dragons and Aemond were found. Daemon’s body was never found.
Considering that Daemon does have anti-hero qualities and is not the nicest person in the Seven Kingdoms, he does have similarities with a true villain that was introduced in Game of Thrones. We are talking about the Night King, who is a character that’s full of mystery because his backstory was never fleshed out well enough during the eight seasons of Game of Thrones.
The Night King, of course, is the leader of the White Walkers and is the supreme commander of the Army of the Dead. He is the very source of life of all of the White Walkers and the walking dead, as his death at the hands of Arya Stark led to the annihilation of his entire army. Of course, the Night King never talked the entire time, but it was clear that he desired to rid the world of humanity.
While there may be some people who believe that Daemon could be the Night King due to the fact that his body was never found at the end of his story in the book and that he might want his own crown, which was something he never had a chance to wear, he isn’t the Night King.
The proof lies in the fact that Daemon was born more than 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Meanwhile, his presumed death happened on 130 AC, which is around 170 years before the events of Game of Thrones. And for those who kept their ears open during the events of Game of Thrones, you would know that the Night King has been around longer than that.
It was explained in Game of Thrones that the Night King was created by the Children of the Forest during the age of the First Men to protect themselves from humans. However, the Night King ended up becoming too powerful for the Children of the Forest to control, as he began creating an entire army that allowed him to threaten the entire continent.
Nevertheless, the combined efforts of the First Men and the Children of the Forest allowed them to push the Night King all the way to the north, as Brandon the Builder built the Wall to protect themselves from the White Walkers. This happened around 8,000 to 10,000 years before the vents of Game of Thrones.
In that regard, the Night King was created thousands of years before Daemon Targaryen was even born. That means that Daemon, who existed around 200 years before Game of Thrones, could not be the very same entity that was around for thousands of years before his death in the events of Game of Thrones. As such, there is no reason to believe that Daemon and the Night King are one and the same person.