'House of the Dragon' star Matt Smith on why his character Daemon loses his swagger

Among all the steely warriors and power queens in Season 1 of HBO's hit series "House of the Dragon," there was no one more rock and roll than Matt Smith's rowdy rogue prince, Daemon Targaryen.

Strutting his stuff everywhere from the council rooms to brothels in the "Game of Thrones" prequel, the "agent of chaos" (as Smith calls him) was the seasonlong forever headache to his peace-loving, model-building older brother King Viserys (Paddy Considine). But offscreen, the smirking House Targaryen hottie with the flowing blonde wig was the king of thirsty memes, dubbed "the internet's boyfriend."

"People are really going for him. And I feel the same, I love a bit of Daemon," says Smith. "He's got a cool edge."

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However, the British "Doctor Who" star, 41, warns there's Daemon trouble ahead in Season 2 of "Dragon." "Daemon's a bit more on his back foot and slightly different this season," he says.

Here's what's happening as "House of the Dragon" returns Sunday (9 EDT/PDT and streaming on Max).

Matt Smith brings his own heat to Daemon Targaryen, but needs hair

There's no one better suited to infusing the Daemon DNA into the scene-dominating "Dragon" character than Smith. After breaking out as the Eleventh Doctor for three seasons of "Who," Smith played the ultimate real-life No. 2 to the throne as royally naughty Prince Philip in the first two seasons of Netflix's "The Crown."

Even without the royal training, "Dragon" executive producer Ryan Condal says Smith inspired the writers even before signing on for the part. "We had Matt's face tacked up on our writers' board," he says. "He was always, in our minds, the archetype to play Daemon."

The dark-haired Smith has endured the daily process of donning Daemon's blond hair. The locks changed throughout the two-decade time span of Season 1. But the 90-minute wig process never changed, which allowed Smith to channel the ever-impatient Daemon all the more.

Come "Dragon" game time, Smith brings it. Riding his dragon Caraxes in the series – a giant bucking bronco device set against blue screen, with the dragon digitally added later – Smith was allowed to pull a no-hands showoff dragon ride for Daemon.

"If I had a dragon, I'd ride like that," says Smith. "He rides as he lives, without restraint. He doesn't give a flying anything."

He beheaded foes and opportunistically murdered one troublesome wife before marrying twice more (which calls into question the whole "Internet boyfriend" thing). Daemon finally ended up with his equally strong-willed niece, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) – the king's daughter who was promised the throne.

While his brother slept, Daemon cheekily sat on the Iron Throne he covets. "It's made of swords, so you have to be careful or you'll get poked in the wrong place," Smith says. "But it was really nice being on the throne. I'm looking forward to Emma being back on it."

What happens to Daemon in Season 2 of 'House of the Dragon'

That's a big part of the Season 2 drama. With King Viserys dead, his spoiled son Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) is propped up to the throne by his mother, Viserys' widow Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), his grandfather Otto (Rhys Ifans), and eye-patch-wearing brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell).

Rhaenyra's claim to the stolen throne is backed by Daemon and a coalition that includes the Velaryons (Eve Best and Steve Toussaint). As war looms between the two sides over the rightful ruler, a schism emerges between Rhaenyra and Daemon.

Daemon even splits for a little me-time to claim the strategic castle Harrenhal, run by Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale). That's great for Smith, acting alongside British acting legend Beale ("he's a national treasure") in spirited scenes. But the castle is away from the main fray, decrepit and really haunted. Daemon is deeply affected by the spirits, or maybe his guilt from past transgressions. Either way, he loses some serious swagger.

"He's haunted by the present and his feelings about the past," says Smith. "I think it was a deliberate decision by the writers. They don't want to just churn out the same thing. It's like, what else can we do with Daemon?"

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Daemon is also surprisingly mourning the brother he never seemed to get along with when the king was alive.

"Grieving is the catalyst. He's grieving the death of his brother, who he misses deeply," says Smith. "But he's unable to share or express that to anyone. So you're left with a quite volatile and confused Damon Targaryen, which will hopefully be entertaining for viewers."

A confused Daemon off his game is better than no Daemon, especially in the topsy-turvy "Thrones" universe. But you know that fans are going to be rooting for Old Daemon to bring his badness back again.

"I'm sure he'll be back," says Smith. "But you're all just going to have to wait and see."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'House of Dragon' Matt Smith on Daemon's Season 2 fall from cool