When the first season of House of the Dragon aired, fans breathed a sigh of relief as a show of high calibre continued tales from their favourite continent.
Within that, they found new favourite characters, and even as loyalties divided between the Greens and the Blacks, one character managed to win them all.
Daemon Targaryen, the rogue prince, is a fan favourite, thanks to the writers and Matt Smith's charm.
Ahead of season 3, Hindustan Times sat down with the actor to talk about his character's arc, his warmongering ways, and 'allegations' of aura farming.
Daemon was established as a warrior par excellence in season 1, but fans were disappointed when the character spent much of the second season cocooned in Harrenhall.
However, in season 3, he is back on the battlefield, doing what he does best.
According to Matt, it feels liberating both as an actor and the character to be back in the zone of warmongering.
The show's creators had justified Daemon's arc in Harrenhell as his journey of self-discovery, but Matt believes that he will be back to his old ways soon.
When asked about the theory of aura farming, Matt joked that there are scenes where he is intentionally looking cool, but he has a justification for the theory.
He revealed that in one of the early cuts of the season 1 episode, Second of His Name, the makers had propped Daemon up as a superhero, and he argued that it needed to be more visceral.
House of the Dragon season 3 premieres on June 21 on HBO and HBO Max worldwide, and in India, the show will stream on JioHotstar.
