House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4 sets up the show’s most epic deaths

The haunting of Harrenhal continues in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4, with Daemon’s nighttime visions foreshadowing the show’s greatest deaths.

House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 4 was incredibly emotional, with Rhaenyra forced to send Rhaenys and Meleys to the Battle at Rook’s Nest after failing to convince Alicent to stop the war.

However, while Aemond, Aegon, and Rhaenys duked it out in the skies, and Criston Cole and Gwayne Hightower fought on the ground, Daemon was nowhere to be seen.

Echoing Episode 3, Daemon spent most of his time detached from reality. He chopped off young Rhaenyra’s head, who taunted him for resenting Viserys’ love for his daughter, and he had another predictably ominous conversation with Alys Rivers.

Importantly, as he pursues a figure with Targaryen hair through the castle, he sees himself – but he’s sporting an eyepatch, just like Aemond. This is your chance to stop reading as potential SPOILERS ahead.

HBO

This is another big tease for Aemond and Daemon’s showdown in the Battle Above the Gods Eye, should House of the Dragon stick to the book it’s based on.

In George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, both characters take to the skies above Harrenhal and the Seven Kingdoms’ largest lake, duelling with Vhagar and Caraxes.

As Vhagar tears into Caraxes’ body, Daemon leaps onto Vhagar and plunges his blade through Aemond’s remaining eye, and the pair plummet into the water with their dead dragons.

This comes after Alys tells Daemon, “You will die in this place.” In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Aemond’s Ewan Mitchell also addressed the parallels between the two characters.

“I think a part of Aemond would wish that Daemon saw Aemond in himself,” he explained.

“There’s so much of his image that lends itself to that idea that Aemond is very much paying homage to a young Daemon Targaryen, with the Targaryen black and the long hair.

“It’s very reminiscent of the rogue prince. Aemond being Daemon’s biggest stan, he would definitely want to live in Daemon’s head rent-free.”

Make sure you know when to catch the next episode of House of the Dragon. Also, Episode 4 leaves some big questions: is Alicent is pregnant, and is Aegon dead?