The Crown star Matt Smith is playing a prince again, but this time it’s in a very different setting.
The Doctor Who icon is set to feature in HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of The Dragon, which will focus on the Targaryen dynasty. With production now pressing ahead in Cornwall, England, our first set pic of Smith in character as Prince Daemon has arrived online, and it showcases the actor sporting the iconic white-blonde Targaryen hair.
The photo, which you can see below, captures Smith in costume as Daemon shooting a scene opposite Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra, his niece and the daughter of King Viserys Targaryen I (Paddy Considine), which gives her a strong claim to the throne when her father dies. Unfortunately, though, her brother Aegon – we don’t know yet who’s playing him – will attempt to rise to power instead.
Princess Rhaenyra was also enamored of her uncle, for Daemon was ever attentive to her. Whenever he crossed the narrow sea upon his dragon, he brought her some exotic gift on his return.
-Heirs of the Dragon, Fire And Blood #HouseOfTheDragon #ASOIAF pic.twitter.com/52p9ruHuO5
— AQuoteOfIceAndFire (@SerASOIAF) April 28, 2021
As per the character logline revealed when the full cast for the show was announced, Daemon is the “younger brother to King Viserys and heir to the throne. A peerless warrior and a dragonrider, Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon. But it is said that whenever a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air…” Meanwhile, Rhaenyra is described as “the king’s first-born child, she is of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything… but she was not born a man.”
Olivia Cooke is also in a leading role as Alicent Hightower, “the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms.” The series is set 100 years prior to Game of Thrones and will depict the Dance of the Dragons, a Targaryen civil war – spurred by the conflict between Rhaenyra and her brother – that nearly tore Westeros apart.
House of Dragon airs its 10-episode first season on HBO sometime in 2022. In the meantime, you can catch more set pics over at The Daily Mail and be sure to let us know your initial impressions in the usual place down below. Will it be a worthy successor to the fantasy smash hit? Or will you be giving it a pass?
