WARNING: Contains spoilers for House Of The Dragon Season 3
In the Targaryen Civil War, it’s hard to know who to root for. Which is the whole point, really – the splintered family of the late King Viserys spends the whole of House Of The Dragon ripping each other apart. It’s death by 1000 cuts. Or, 1000 dragon skirmishes. And while the show positions viewers with sympathy for Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra Targaryen – denied her rightful rule by scheming usurpers – the events of Season 3 saw her finally ascend the Iron Throne, only to have a frankly terrible time in the hot seat. So, who do we root for now?
The answer appears to be Daeron Targaryen, on the opposite side of the fractured family tree to Rhaenyra – he’s the son of Viserys and Alicent Hightower, long sent away from King’s Landing to be the squire to his uncle Ormund, a deliciously nasty piece of work (gleefully portrayed by James Norton). Season 3 finally brought Daeron into the fray after remaining off-screen previously, and he’s everything you’d want from a ruler: clever, and calm, and magnetic. His heart genuinely seems in the right place. He knows how to play people, and how to self-preservate. And it’s all been delivered in a great performance from relative newcomer Benjamin Evan Ainsworth – a young actor with a major upcoming destiny of his own.
Next – and before the final season of House Of The Dragon arrives in 2028 – Ainsworth will be lifting the Master Sword in Hyrule; yes, he’s Link in Wes Ball’s live-action The Legend Of Zelda movie. The film shot in late 2026 and the first half of 2026, with a release date in Spring 2027 – at which point Ainsworth, best known for his role in The Haunting Of Bly Manor as a very young child, was a largely unknown quantity. But off the back of HOTD Season 3, his casting seems extremely promising.
There’s a quiet power to the way Benjamin Evan Ainsworth holds himself.
Link is a curious figure to cast. He is, of course, entirely non-verbal in the games, a challenge in itself – and it’s currently unclear if he’ll remain that way in Ball’s film. Link is also somewhat light on personality, as the avatar for the player – a literal chibi sprite in the early games, and a strong but silent 3D figure in the likes of Ocarina Of Time and Breath Of The Wild. You play through Link, more than as him. But Ainsworth’s turn as Daeron showed him as a figure that radiates presence – there’s a quiet power to the way he holds himself. In the early episodes of Season 3, he stands firmly in the background while Norton chews the scenery as Ormund. Even there, he had a surprising magnetism, an intensity in his eyes that bodes well for Link.
Notably, Ainsworth succeeds in bringing a stoic decency to Daeron. As of Season 3, he has become the character who seems perhaps best suited to winning the Dance Of Dragons; since Rhaenyra’s rule has brought out her most dangerous tendencies, and bickering siblings Aegon and Aemond have too much damage (some literal), Daeron seems like the most sensible choice for audiences – and the people of Westeros – to get behind heading into the fourth and final season. This innate benevolence is an ideal trait for a live-action Link, too, who through so little expression has to convey a sense of general heroism.
What the future holds – for Daeron, and HOTD, and Zelda – remains to be seen. (No spoiler-y tapestries here.) But Ainsworth made a strong impression in House Of The Dragon’s most exciting series yet, an early sign that the central figure of The Legend Of Zelda might be in strong hands. He’ll be right at home holding the Master Sword. As for the Iron Throne? Maybe that’s something nobody should inherit.
House Of The Dragon Season 3 is streaming in full on HBO Max / NOW. The Legend Of Zelda comes to cinemas in April 2027.
