No, actually they could not have used the dragons earlier. As Laenor explained in the episode itself, they just retreated into the caves everytime they used the dragons. So Daemon became the bait to lure them out. Hmm!
Abhi Subedi
2022-11-05 09:00:05 +0000 UTC
Daemon beat up that messenger and went to win the war on his own because he was basically saying he won't allow Viserys to win the war. Daemon wanted the victory for himself.