House of the Dragon Episode 6 Deleted Scene Has Daemon Fans Angry

House of the Dragon Episode 6 certainly threw a lot at fans with a massive time-jump, some (more) scandalous reveals, and (more) gruesome deaths. However, there was one thing that wasn’t actually shown in the episode that seems to be making some fans really upset: a deleted scene that showed a more tender side to Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). 

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW! 

In “The Princess and the Queen” we learn how the family of King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) is siring the next generation of Targaryen dragon riders. As with Viserys, the path to the next generation is not without hardship, and in the case of Daemon Targaryen, he finds himself standing in his brother Viserys’ shoes when his wife Laena Velaryon has a fatal complication giving birth to their third child. 

In the trailer for House of the Dragon Episode 6, we got a scene where Daemon Targaryen is speaking to his twin daughters Baela and Rhaena on a Pentos rooftop, in a clear moment of attempted comfort. The same scene was also shown in one of the making-of featurettes for House of the Dragon, and it was certainly a moment that stood out. After all, Daemon has been almost exclusively portrayed as a schemer and scoundrel in House of the Dragon, so a moment of him being a caring father to his children was looked at signfiicant expansion of his character. 

Why Did House of the Dragon Cut the Daemon, Baela, and Rhaena Scene in Episode 6? 

The makers of House of the Dragon haven’t spoken up about this mysterious deleted scene (at least at the time of writing this), but there are several reasons we can speculate about for the choice. 

As stated, House of the Dragon has made some clearly distinctive choices on how to portray Daemon Targaryen. Daemon has almost exclusively been portrayed in a sinister or (at best) mischievous light, with only a few small moments to denote his insecurity (in the form of impotence), or vulnerability (wounded on the battlefield). Episode 6 does show one moment of Daemon being a good Zaddy, teaching his one daughter to read and speak Valyrian – maybe the showrunners felt that was enough, but Daemon giving a full heartfelt speech like a loving dad was too much? 

Given everything that is known about the history of the Targaryens, House of the Dragon does, admittedly have a tricky balancing act when it comes to depicting Daemon. It would be an understatement to say that he has something of a complicated arc in the story. Still, that said, there is a growing corner of fans who are keeping count of how much screen time Matt Smith is (or is not ) getting in the show. House of the Dragon may want to take note. 

House of the Dragon airs new episodes Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.