This week’s episode of House of the Dragon, while furthering the grand machinations of Rhanerya Targaryan and her Hightower enemies, is also a sneak peek of sorts at the Legend of Zelda movie. Sprinkled throughout the episode, we get to see the brief but consequential performance of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, the actor chosen to play Link.
His appearance in the show marked the arrival of Daeron Targaryen, known in the books as Daeron the Daring, the youngest son of Queen Alicent and the deceased King Viserys. Sent away as a ward when he was a baby, Daeron was raised by his mother’s family, the Hightowers. His mother hoped that being so far removed from the royal court, with its vicious backbiting, fratricide, and rampant incest, Daeron would grow into a better man than his two depraved older brothers. And she was right, sorta. Our first introduction to Daeron showed him as a thoughtful boy, honorable and sweetly devoted to his dragon. But because this is Game of Thrones we’re talking about, just because Daeron was raised away from the corrupting influences of court doesn’t mean he was totally spared from its touch.
I like that this is my first introduction to the actor playing Link. While Ainsworth has numerous credits in other genre productions including Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, it’s cool that we get to see his fantasy acting chops in one of the foremost fantasy franchises of the last decade before we see him performing in a movie adapting one of the foremost fantasy video game franchises of the last 35 years.
His performance as Daeron feels correct for a Link. The boy don’t talk much, instead letting his emotions do the acting for him. There are several great moments throughout the episode that show off Ainsworth’s range, from wary, to loving, to utterly horrified. If the Link we get in the Legend of Zelda movie is similar to the one in the games, Ainsworth has the talent to sell an audience on Link’s trademark muteness. If Link does have speaking lines, and let’s be honest, of course he will, I hope the scriptwriters keep it minimal. So far Ainsworth has shown he can perform well with little material, something integral to making Link’s character work.
