Ajna

#girlboss and malewife

Rhaenyra: *fangirling*

Rhaenyra: *a dramatic entrance with a crown*

Daemon: *fanboying*

It’s very small and simple but as he goes to take her hand, she curls her fingers around his hand too (YES IM OBSESSIVE AND REPLAYED IT). It’s not simply him pulling her by hand but her holding his in return.

But that small action (and keeping in mind how Emma has been very deliberate with hand placement and physical acting in their depiction of Rhaenyra) is important because she is not recoiling from Daemon or passively being pulled along. She reciprocates by curling her fingers around his. Emma has played Rhaenyra as a woman who uses touch as a love language. She is often seen holding Luke’s hands to comfort him, rubbing Daemon’s arm when talking to Viserys, holding Daemon’s hand when they’re upset about Viserys’ condition, stroking his face when getting married, she and Alicent hold hands when considering reconciliation and when she’s getting ready to be announced as heir.

Hence why Daemon went to hold her hand to give some comfort, despite knowing he’s about to give her the most world-shattering news you can give a mother. And she accepts his hand and offer of confort initially, at least until she lets go in favour of clenching her fist in anger and distress.

(Yes I’m obsessed with handholding and think it’s way hotter than sex scenes 😂😅)

me rn: omg can't wait for s2 🤩 daemyra bout so serve so bad with all their war crimes so trueeee

no but fr

There were two (2) glaring issues with this episode: Daemon’s characterization and Aemond’s characterization. So lets talk about the Daemon Problem.

Look, Daemon Targaryen is a morally grey character who functions as, at best, an anti-hero, and (occasionally) at worst, as a mild antagonist. We have seen him murder (brutally, several times), steal (my guy, your obsession with dragon eggs is a bit concerning but shown from the start), scheme (sometimes), act impulsively (frequently), seduce (The Brothel Scene), and generally cause chaos wherever he goes. But the things we have never seen from him? Violence towards the people he loves and apathy when they are hurt. Yet those are his two main actions in this episode, which just completely mischaracterizes the (arguably) most compelling character on the show.

Daemon was visibly upset when he saw Viserys was so ill. He took an active role in trying to help his brother get to the throne, questioned who was treating him and their allegiances, and even inspected the medicine he was taking. When Laena was giving birth, he stood in the doorway, watching over her and actively checking with the healers attending to her. When Nyra is cut by Alicent, the first thing he does when he gets to her side is to check her arm and make sure she is alright. He is shown time and time again to take an active role in caring for the people he loves.

Yet this writer expects us to believe that he’d ignore Rhaenyra painfully calling out to him while miscarrying their child? Especially after his previous wife died as a result of a difficult birth? Its. Bad. Writing.

If they wanted to make him seem scarred by Laena’s death, then show him in the hallway, wanting to go to Nyra’s room but being visibly anxious, startling at every pained groan or scream coming from beyond the door. If they wanted to show him being excited by the prospect of war, then show that! Not as him trying to take over while Nyra’s fighting her own war with her body, but instead show it later, as a legitimate dispute between their leadership styles and their partnership having to adapt when the balance of power changes with her being crowned.

You cannot have a scene of Daemon mourning his unborn child’s death and expect it to mean anything if its immediately preceded by a scene of him ignoring Rhaenyra’s desperate, pain riddled wail calling for him to be there with her. It just doesn’t make sense.

And THEN. To have him choke her, in a way that is visibly painful and actively cutting off her air supply, over being told that Viserys told her about the prophecy and not him? What the hell was that?! It just seemed so… random. And incredibly out of character.

The choking scene didn’t need to happen. It added nothing to the plot, took focus from the actual dialogue in the scene, and completely threw off the characterization of one of the main characters. They could just as easily have had him pacing and shouting about prophecies and then have Nyra slowly realizing that Viserys never told him about Aegon’s Dream.

All this to say: Stop hiring writers who hate the characters they’re writing about. It makes for a sloppy and disjointed character arc and a mildly confusing season finale.

Princess Rhaenys Targaryen:

#daemon being totally normal about it 

definitely not itching to use this on anything other than the food <333

What do you want? HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (2022).