One wild theory spinning out of House of the Dragon claims Daemon Targaryen is the Night King, but Game of Thrones already debunked this. The theory that Daemon is the Night King has been around for a couple of years, going back to similarities in their costumes and uncertainty surrounding what happens to Daemon in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood.
However, it really gained traction with House of the Dragon season 2’s ending.
In the finale, Daemon had a vision of a White Walker with blonde, Targaryen-like hair, which was read as teasing his future. In the book, Daemon dies fighting his nephew, Aemond Targaryen, but his body is never found, leading to speculation he actually survived. This is combined with theories about the Night King being a Targaryen, mostly thanks to him surviving dragonfire in Game of Thrones season 8, episode 3, “The Long Night.” It’s certainly fun as a tinfoil theory, but, well, it isn’t true.
Game Of Thrones Season 6 Confirmed Daemon Targaryen Isn’t The Night King
Bran Stark’s Vision Rules Out The Theory
Game of Thrones didn’t do a super deep dive into the Night King’s origin, but it did show how he was created. In season 6, episode 5, “The Door,” Bran has a vision that shows a man tied to a weirwood tree, who is then turned into a White Walker by the Children of the Forest, with Leaf plunging a dragonglass dagger into his heart. This came amid the Children’s war with the First Men, and was the creation of the Night King and, thus, the White Walkers.
It’s not just that he doesn’t look like a Targaryen, but he couldn’t possibly be one
Quite clearly, the man who was turned into the Night King is not Daemon Targaryen. That’s not just because it was years before House of the Dragon existed and Matt Smith had been cast, but he clearly does not look like a Targaryen, and with very good reason. The mystery person was one of the First Men, the first humans to live in Westeros. It’s not just that he doesn’t look like a Targaryen, but he couldn’t possibly be one: this predates the rise of Valyria by at around 2,000 years, and would be almost 10,000 years before the Targaryens came to Westeros.
Technically, it’s possible for Daemon to be the Night King if time travel is involved. That itself isn’t 100% ruled out (maybe 99% though!), as the same episode that showed the Night King’s origin also showed how Bran was effectively operating in a closed time loop with Hodor’s fate, having interacted with the past while in a vision of it. Still, Daemon going back and becoming the Night King would be a whole other level of time travel messiness that there’s zero evidence for.
The “Daemon Is The Night King” Theory Shows A Problem With Game Of Thrones
It Didn’t Reveal Enough About The Night King
The theory that Daemon is the Night King almost certainly isn’t true, but that it’s gained traction shows Game of Thrones did mishandle its big villain. Yes, wild, wacky theories will often gain popularity if for nothing else than their inherent silliness and the fun of talking about them, but the Daemon theory in particular exists because there’s such a vacuum of knowledge about the White Walkers. And it’s one that really ought to have been filled.
We know almost nothing about the man who turned into the Night King. Could he have been a Stark, since he was presumably a Northerner? Was he an early greenseer, and that’s why he was chosen? Did the Children of the Forest make other White Walkers themselves? How many White Walkers did he create, and what were they doing for thousands of years after the Long Night?
There are lots of compelling, unanswered questions that Game of Thrones could’ve answered, and completely avoided. Because of that, and because it didn’t fully explain Bran’s vision when it happened back in season 6 – plus the general passage of time making people forget – you get theories like Daemon being the Night King, or similar out-there ones (e.g. the Bran is the Night King theory that was popular for a while).
As a force of nature who want to wipe out humanity, the White Walkers being unknowable makes sense. But that’s not all they are in Game of Thrones, because the show gave them a human face with the first man turned into a White Walker. That itself demands more of an explanation, especially when they’re the overarching villain of the entire series and the greatest threat the world has to face, but there’s nothing, and that’s partly why Daemon being the Night King becomes so popular. It likely isn’t true, but what actually might be the truth was, sadly, ignored.