How ‘Star Wars’ Inspired Daemon and Rhaenyra’s Reunion in ‘House of the Dragon’

The Big Picture

• Daemon Targaryen undergoes a transformation in the season finale of House of the Dragon, realizing the importance of supporting Rhaenyra for the realm’s survival.
• Director Geeta Patel drew inspiration from Star Wars for Daemon and Rhaenyra’s reunion, portraying Daemon as a spiritual leader.
• House of the Dragon explores the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones.

“Winter is coming,” Daemon (Matt Smith) tells Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) in the climatic moments of the House of the Dragonseason 2 finale. This season, in his side quest of getting haunted by visions of the ones he let down in Harrenhal, Daemon Targaryen has emerged a man transformed. Fans have been waiting for a Daemon and Rhaenyra reunion throughout the season and were given electric moments of understanding and devotion that even surprised Rhaenyra. In a new interview with TV Line, director Geeta Patel discussed how Star Wars inspired her to direct the reunion scene.

In the finale episode, Daemon has his last vision in Harrenhal, which shows him numerous things from, the three-eyed raven, a dead dragon, fallen men, Daenerys, and her three dragons, and more. Patel says that she had two objectives for the scene. “One was, we wanted to make sure that Daemon didn’t come across as a weak person all of a sudden, like someone we didn’t recognize.” Furthermore, co-creator Ryan Condal’s vision was to have Daemon’s experiences in Harrenhal convincing him that there is “something bigger than him” and “that Rhaenyra is meant to be on that throne.” She explains, “Daemon is someone who always thinks about himself, and here, he is being asked to think about the bigger picture.”

How ‘Star Wars’ Inspired Daemon and Rhaenyra’s Reunion

In the finale, Ser Simon Strong sent Rhaenyra a raven when he feared that Daemon and Ser Alfred Broome were conspiring against her. However, Daemon is so shaken by his vision that by the time Rhaenyra shows up at Harrenhal, he realizes that he’s got to back her if the Realm is to survive. “Daemon is someone who is profound and is actually quite thoughtful underneath the way that he expresses his fear and anger, which is violence,” Patel explains.

The director further explained that while thinking about how to direct this, she saw “Daemon as more of a Yoda that has just realized he’s Yoda,’” Adding “He is the spiritual leader. He’s not someone who’s becoming subservient. He’s not someone who’s stepping back. He’s someone who’s stepping into his role, and I thought Matt did that beautifully.” Certainly, a change Rhaenyra notices when she likens Daemon to be talking like “her father.” Patel adds,

“Where he says, ‘You are the chosen one, you can do this,’ it’s not a man talking to a woman. This is someone who has become a hero’s journey mentor, and the hero is Rhaenyra.”

All episodes of House of the Dragon are available on Max.