Daemon Targaryen has done some questionable things in House of the Dragon. Was ordering the death of a child one of them?
In House of the Dragon Season 2’s premiere, Rhaenyra makes it clear that she wanted Aemond. She needed him to pay for the death of her son, Lucaerys, who was killed at the end of Season 1. Daemon took it upon himself to send in two men to kill Aemond Targaryen.
In the end, they couldn’t find Aemond. Instead, they chose to kill Jaehaerys Targaryen. “A son for a son,” Blood said. And it seemed like this was an order from Daemon. Was that the case?
We didn’t see what Daemon told them to do in House of the Dragon
When meeting privately with Daemon Targaryen, Blood and Cheese ask what they should do if they can’t find Aemond. Taking Aemond down doesn’t seem to be the fear they have. They don’t know if they will be able to find him.
Daemon doesn’t answer this. The camera pans away and we cut to the next scene.
It is possible that Blood and Cheese take it upon themselves. They’ve heard “a son for a son,” and it’s possible that Blood decided that who the son was wouldn’t matter. Jaehaerys is a son to Aegon and Helaena, so why not him?
Daemon tells Rhaenyra “it was a mistake” in House of the Dragon
Further suggesting that Daemon didn’t actually tell them to kill a child is that he told Rhaenyra “it was a mistake” when she accused him of ordering the death of a child. This was an improvised line by Matt Smith, but that doesn’t take away from the impact of the story.
It’s possible that him not telling Blood and Cheese specifically what to do if they couldn’t find Aemond was the mistake. He should have made it clear it was Aemond or nothing.
However, it’s also possible that Daemon suggested it in his wording. He didn’t actually think Blood or Cheese would go through with that. After all, nobody is quiet as ruthless as he is.
I guess it is something that we’ll never know. Unless Daemon makes it clear in House of the Dragon Season 3, we’re left to speculate this ending.