'House of the Dragon' Theory Debunked: Daemon Targaryen Is NOT The Night King

During it's eight season run, Game of Thrones regularly sparked theories and speculation among it's fanbase. Now, the spin-off/prequel House of the Dragon is similarly inspiring fans to theorise on what could be coming in the future.

The latest theory, gaining traction since House of the Dragon's second season finale, proposes that Daemon Targaryen, the Uncle and King-Consort to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, is destined to become Game of Thrones villain The Night King. Unfortunately, this theory is relatively dead on arrival, as we already have multiple pieces of evidence that this is not the case.

Let's break it all down.

The Night King already exists during 'House of the Dragon', and has for a long time.

It is not possible for Daemon to 'become' the Night King, because the Night King already exists, and has since long, long before Daemon was born, and even before the Targaryens migrated to We. Thousands of years before the events of either TV series, the Children of the Forest transformed a man into the first White Walker, to defend themselves against the First Men, who were slaughtering the Children and cutting down their sacred trees.

Unfortunately, this White Walker soon turned on his creators, becoming the Night King, raising his own army, and plunging the realm into an endless, dark Winter that became known as the Long Night. After enduring it for a generation, the First Men and the Children of the Forest formed an alliance to fight the Night King and his army, driving them into the Land of Always Winter and ending the Long Night in an event knwn as the Battle for the Dawn. However, believing the Night King would one day return, the First Men built the Wall, with the Children adding magical reinforcements. The Night's Watch was formed to guard the Wall and prepare for the Night King's return.

While Cregan Stark and the people of the North still believe guarding the Wall is important during the time of House of the Dragon, to most of the realm, the Battle for the Dawn and the Night King himself had already begun descending into myth. However, whether he was believed in or not, the Night King does already exist, therefore Daemon Targaryen cannot become him.

We saw the origin of the Night King in 'Game of Thrones', and it is not Daemon

The origins of the first White Walker, who eventually becomes the Night King, were seen on screen in Game of Thrones 6x05. Bran Stark and the Three-Eyed Raven visit the moment where the Children of the Forest transform a man into a White Walker with Dragon Glass. This unfortunate man is clearly not Daemon Targaryen. After all, let's reiterate that these events are occurring around eight thousand years before the Rogue Prince was born.

The Night King is also not any other past Targaryen. Aside from the immediately obvious, that the man depicted does not have the typical Valyrian features of silver hair and (in the books) purple eyes, a deeper probe into lore reminds us that the Targaryens will not arrive in Westeros for thousands of years after the first Long Night. In fact, the people of Old Valyria were not even Dragon Lords at this point, so House Targaryen as we know it did not yet exist.

If the Night King belonged to any Noble House, it would have been a Northern one.

Daemon is probably not any of the other White Walkers either

If not the Night King himself, some fans cling to the idea that Daemon could become one of the other White Walkers, most commonly pointing at the one killed by Daemon's descendant Jon Snow in Game of Thrones 5xo6, 'Hardholme'. This theory is similarly full of holes.

Without getting into major spoilers, it seems unlikely that Daemon Targaryen will survive the events of House of the Dragon, with season two foreshadowing his death on more than one occasion. For Daemon to become a White Walker, he would have to end up deep in the 'true' North, far, far, beyond the Wall. This is highly unlikely, given that the Dance of Dragons conflict takes place literally everywhere but the North.

Per the prediction of Alys Rivers, Daemon is most likely to die in or near Harrenhal. This means he is unlikely to become as a White Walker.

While the Game of Thrones universe can be complicated, it seems that in this case, the answers are as simple as what we saw unfold onscreen.

The Night King was once one of the First Men, a Northman, perhaps a Stark. He is definitely not Daemon Targaryen, who was several thousand years shy of being born at the Night King's creation. While some of the White Walkers may be survivors of the first Long Night, most are the sacrificed sons of the Wildling 'King' Craster.

With a long wait until House of the Dragon season three, who knows what other theories fans will come up with.