House of the Dragon Season 3 continues to bring the heat like dragon fire, and Episode 4, “Tumbleton”, had yet another game-changing swerve (or three) to throw at viewers. The episode revealed what Lord Ormund Hightower (James Norton) is up to after taking over the town of Tumbleton. It turned out that Ormund is quite the Game of Thrones player, who is jumping from serving at the behest of would-be kings Aegon II and Aemond Targaryen, and is seeking to instead install his own young monarch on the Iron Throne, in the form of Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), the youngest son of Lady Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and King Viserys.
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Daeron has already shown that he will bloody his hands in pursuit of power, and has a dragon (Tessarion) who is more than willing and ready to back him up. However, even with a new Targaryen entering the chat, and once again shattering Queen Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) plans to rule, there is one thing House of the Dragon fans can’t stop talking about: What’s up with Daeron’s hair?
Daeron Targaryen clearly has reddish-auburn hair, compared to his brothers and sister (Helaena), who all have the platinum-blonde locks that distinguish the Targaryens from all others. Fans are debating why that is, and some wild rabbit holes are opening up under the subject, but really, the explanation boils down to one of two possibilities.
Theory: Daeron’s Hair Is A Ruse
This would be something that will be revealed within another episode or so, if it turns out to be true. The simple theory is that Lord Ormund is routinely having Daeron’s hair dyed that reddish-auburn color, as part of his larger ruse to hide the boy. Ormund was perfectly willing to dye another boy’s hair blonde and send him off to his death pretending to be Daeron, so dying the actual Daeron’s hair reddish-brown wouldn’t be a stretch.
The purpose would be clear: before Ormund was found out, he was successfully convincing the world that Daeron was actually like a son to him; the dye job would also be to ensure that externally, Daeron is viewed as being a Hightower (who all share a similar range of hair color) by the onlooking public, rather than a Targaryen. Ormund would want the same for Daeron, internally: to make the boy see the face of a “Hightower” man rather than a Targaryen man when he looks in the mirror.
Again, if this is the case, House of the Dragon‘s next episodes would have to reveal some kind of scene of Daeron going through his hair treatment. It could potentially be a key metaphor for the character, who is clearly struggling to come to a sense of identity.
More Likely: Daeron Is A Genetic Metaphor
Some deep rabbit holes are trying to connect Alicent to some act of adultery that had her produce a non-blonde child. Those theories claim it was the real reason Alicent sent Daeron away in the first place: to avoid being caught in the same social snare she once tried to trap Rhaenyra in, after birthing bastard children. However, Daeron’s existence and plot for the throne are already major twists to the Season 3 storyline: we don’t need a twist within that twist. At this point, revealing that Alicent also birthed a bastard would have no impact on the narrative between her and Rhaenyra, so really you can throw this theory out the window.
Personally, I don’t think it’s that deep: TV shows like to use visual metaphors. Alicent sent Daeron to Ormund so that the boy would be raised as a Hightower and not as a Targaryen, precisely because she believed that fostering one identity over the other was critical. Giving Daeron reddish-auburn hair signifies that Alicent’s instincts were right, and that Daeron is more of a Hightower than a Targaryen at this point. It also helps viewers distinguish Daeron from his brothers, and is low-key making a direct connection between him and Alicent in terms of looks and personality.
If that’s the case, House of the Dragon could be foreshadowing a dark end to Daeron’s bid for power: Season 3 has made it abundantly clear that Alicent is rarely able to pull a scheme that doesn’t blow up in her face in some kind of major way. Just go ask her father about that (ooops! You can’t…).
In the end, Alicent gave birth to children who were all dominated by the Targaryen genes, and suffered all the curses that come with them. Daeron seems like he was the one case where her genetics won out, but it remains to be seen if that’s really any better than the alternative.
House of the Dragon is airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. Discuss the show with us on the ComicBook Forum!
Forum Conversation: The Odyssey First Reactions are here….
Go to ForumI’m looking forward to watching it. I love anything with Matt Damon
I did not take ONE BATHROOM BREAK or look at the clock ONCE. Nuff said.
It won’t beat The Simpsons’ version of the Odyssey, but still curious for it