TV - Movies
This Was The Real
Purpose Of House
Of The Dragon's
War Of The
Stepstones
By BRANDON SHOAFF
THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR "House Of The Dragon," Episode 3.
SPOILER WARNING!
A major event in “House Of The Dragon,” is the war in the Stepstones, which involved the combined forces of Daemon and Lord Coryls against a contingent of corsairs from the Free Cities. After some moves reminiscent of the second battle of Winterfell, Daemon emerged victorious, but it looks like the series showrunners have a very specific reason for his reckless run.
In a featurette played at the end of Episode 3, showrunners, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik said that this particular episode is about the end of childhood and predominantly focused on Daemon and Rhaenyra coming to terms with their respective lots in life. This is highlighted by Daemon being marked by fire and blood during his one-man assault on the Triarchy's forces.
They went on to say the whole scene is meant to appear as a suicide run, with Matt Smith adding that they wanted to show Daemon losing while still coming out on top. Condal followed this with: "It was really meant to be an anvil where Daemon's character could be forged. And he could go into the battle, and come out as a formidable force that had proven himself worthy of some reputation in Westeros."
Director Greg Yaitanes also said of the moment: "There's no way that story would not have ended with his death, if not for the arrival of the cavalry. And that's the thing I like about it, is that he came there to die, and he really meets death in the face and is reborn." So, it appears as if the purpose of “the battle of the Stepstones,” was to act as a crucible to further Daemon's character.