House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal puzzled by Daemon Targaryen’s “super-fandom”

Daemon Targaryen is the Rogue Prince in House of the Dragon. He was never meant to be known for his good nature or kind heart. Nevertheless, many watchers of the show have fallen hard for him. The internet fawning over the ‘bad boys’ is not a new phenomenon, but House of the Dragon co-showrunner Ryan Condal is puzzled by the character’s ever-growing “super-fandom.”

“I’m having trouble understanding it,” Condal shares in an interview with The New York Times, “We established right out of the gate, in the pilot, that Daemon is a fascinating guy, but he’s not Ned Stark. So I didn’t see it coming. To me, Daemon is the antihero of this story. He’s a character with a real darkness to him, who’s dangerous and charming in equal parts.”

The showrunner sheds insight into the character, “I knew people would be fascinated by him and latch onto him, but I figured they’d do it in the way they did with Jaime Lannister or Bronn or the Red Viper. I did not think they would oddly apply this sort of super-fandom to him and try to justify every single thing he’s done as being intrinsically heroic. It simply isn’t. It’s not the case. Nor will it be in the future.”

Somebody should let the writers and directors know that Aemond is already amassing a huge fanbase as well. Fictional bad boys are always desired more than the actual hero figure. The unpredictability of morally grey characters enhances the viewing experience. Now add Matt Smith to the mix, and can you blame us for falling for the bad guys?

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