‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Reveals First Look at Daeron Targaryen – Meet the Young Actor Taking Over Westeros and Hyrule at the Same Time
There is something quietly extraordinary happening in the career of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth. The young British actor has spent the past year becoming one of the most in-demand faces in genre television and film, and now that ‘House of the Dragon’ has finally put him on screen as Daeron Targaryen, fans are getting their first proper look at someone who appears to be on the verge of a genuine breakthrough.
‘House of the Dragon’ has been teasing the existence of Daeron for two full seasons without ever showing him. Alicent Hightower’s youngest son was sent away to Oldtown as a child, living under the care of her cousin Ormund Hightower, while the rest of his family became entangled in the civil war consuming the Seven Kingdoms.
His absence was always conspicuous given how much story the character carries in George R.R. Martin’s source material, and anticipation for his arrival had been building steadily in the fandom.
His casting was confirmed through a Sky Italia listing that surfaced online, but HBO kept unusually quiet on the announcement, leading to widespread speculation among fans about why the network might be shielding details of what Daeron would be up to in the new season.
Now that the season has premiered, eagle-eyed viewers spotted him in the background of the new trailer well before the season launched, a blurry face standing behind Ormund Hightower in the Hightower ranks, easy to miss if you were not specifically looking for him.
In ‘Fire & Blood’, Daeron cuts a notably different figure from his brothers Aegon and Aemond, growing into a courteous and warm-hearted young man who nevertheless proves himself in spectacular fashion on the battlefield, riding his dragon Tessarion to save Lord Ormund Hightower’s army from destruction at the Battle of the Honeywine, earning the epithet Daeron the Daring.
It is exactly the kind of arc that translates well to screen, and fans have been looking forward to seeing it play out for years.
Ainsworth has previously appeared in ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’, ‘The Sandman’, and Disney’s ‘Pinocchio’, making him a familiar face in high-profile productions even before landing one of the most coveted new roles in the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe.
His work in those projects hinted at a range that suits a character like Daeron, who is required to carry both the gentleness of a prince raised far from war and the urgency of someone suddenly thrust into the middle of one.
What makes Ainsworth’s moment particularly striking is that Daeron is not even his biggest upcoming role. In July of last year, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto announced via the official Nintendo social media accounts that Ainsworth would be playing Link in the live-action ‘The Legend of Zelda’ film, alongside Bo Bragason as Princess Zelda. Miyamoto wrote in the announcement, “I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of ‘The Legend of Zelda,’ Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.”
The film is directed by Wes Ball, who helmed ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’, and is co-produced by Sony and Nintendo, with Miyamoto and Avi Arad serving as producers. It is scheduled to release in theaters on May 7, 2027. The project carries enormous expectations given how passionately devoted the ‘Zelda’ fanbase is, and landing the lead role in an adaptation of that scale would be a significant moment for any actor, let alone one still in his teens.
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