Warning: Spoilers ahead for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 4.
With Daeron Targaryen taking a more central role in this week’s ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, actor Henry Ashton has shared that his ties to the world of Westeros are surprisingly significant.
The actor portrays Daeron the Drunken, who is Egg’s brother and one of the Targaryen princes overseeing Dunk’s Trial of Seven. In episode 4, he shares a significant dream with Dunk – a vision of him with a deceased dragon – which will become increasingly important as the story unfolds.
“ It was for Jon Snow. I think they went to every school and auditioned every teenager!”
In episode 4, Daeron tells Dunk that his dreams have a habit of predicting the future, making Dunk uneasy about a recent dream Daeron had – a dream involving Dunk and a dead dragon, and occurring right before Dunk’s upcoming fight.
Ashton described the significance of the dream, explaining that Daeron is often puzzled by his own visions. When he dreamt of a dead dragon, he immediately started guessing who it could be and what it might signify. Although Daeron didn’t understand the dream’s meaning, he felt certain it foreshadowed trouble for him and his family.
Ashton described the character he plays as wonderfully flawed, which makes the role incredibly enjoyable. There’s a lot of depth beneath the surface – the character uses dark humor as a way to mask a deeply troubled inner life.
He went on to say it was unfortunate that someone with such incredible abilities – these powerful dreams and visions – wasn’t able to control them.
He’s a key figure because he connects the history of the Targaryens to the story of Dunk and Egg, and he illustrates the harsh realities of being raised in a violent family.
Daeron proved to be a surprisingly complex character, sparking debate even among the show’s creators, including showrunner Ira Parker and director Owen Harris, who couldn’t fully agree on what motivated him.
Ashton explained that Ira and Owen disagreed about Daeron’s true character – whether he was a genuinely good person hiding his nature, or simply a bad person pretending to be good.
They disagreed about whether Daeron was a good person. I liked exploring the idea that he is a good person, but he’s so focused on his own struggles and hurt that he often acts badly.
I remember one note from the initial character description they sent was ‘Withnail and I’ – they wanted someone who seemed both charismatic and upper class, but also completely unkempt and a bit of a mess. I really enjoyed playing with the idea that he was strangely charming and funny.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
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I’m a huge fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy, so I’m really excited to tell you about Louise Griffin! She’s the editor at TopMob who gets to cover everything I love – Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel, House of the Dragon, Good Omens… the list goes on! Before that, she was a Senior Entertainment Reporter at Metro, and she actually studied English Literature, which makes perfect sense considering how great her taste is!
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2026-02-06 19:04