It turns out there’s a secretly queer character lurking around HBO’s House of the Dragon…kind of.
Fans of anything in the TV world of Game of Thrones who have hoped for real LGBTQ+ representation haven’t been too thrilled over the years, and the new spin-off hasn’t done much to change that just yet.
But a deleted scene seems to prove none other than Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) himself is attracted to men, giving some fans hope that his sexuality will be explored further as the show progresses.
A behind-the-scenes feature shared by HBO shows a quick glimpse of a deleted scene in which Daemon and a male servant appear to be kissing in the background.
In the actual show, there was a brief interaction between the two that read as flirtatious to fans keeping a close eye on the character dynamics, so this excerpt, while technically not canon as it didn’t make it to air, provided some vindication.
House of the Dragon previously introduced queer characters by way of Laenor Velaryon and Joffrey Lonmouth, but — spoiler — things went south very quickly for one of them. Fans also noted the chemistry between the actors playing young Alicent Hightower and young Rhaenyra Targaryen, but that has stayed outside of the canon as well.
Game of Thrones introduced more queer characters over its eight season run, but in a way that frequently seemed to frustrate fans more than anything else.
With only six episodes having aired so far, House of the Dragon has ample opportunity to explore more when it comes to both its characters in general and Daemon in particular, and hopefully this little snippet indicates there is more to come.
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