JN’s comment on ormund’s sexuality alongside the masochism mention implies that ormund deeply suppresses himself through religion.

masochism is the closest thing he can achieve and enjoy regarding his sexuality in an outlet of faith. serving the seven by repressing his identity is a form of self harm with given purpose. this “self sacrifice” evolves into self importance and fuels his narcissism. he can simultaneously transform his self loathing and indulge in his depravity. to ormund, suffrage is a sign of devotion and commitment to duty.

symbolically, roderick splitting ormund in two would be the highest violation ormund could be subjected to. he’s humiliated by his enemy, is forced to be “taken from behind”, has mouthfuls of blood that trigger his smell and ocd, and is left rendered immobile so he cannot run from the dragon fire that ultimately kills him. ormund, who has had agency in every aspect this season through the cruelest means, now has all control and autonomy taken away from him. narratively, it’d be poetic justice, but for ormund it’s the worst judgment be could face.

ormund’s sexuality factors in his death scene through him constantly asserting dominance to intimidate and/or subdue others using his physicality. he is beat and outmatched by a man with more physical prowess than him. ormund faces the direct consequence of his fanaticism through ulf burning him. a lowborn decides the finality in ormund’s fate.

ormund's face after daeron retracts into himself and is visibly hurt by the viserys insult has been stuck in my brain.

does ormund ever wonder if he's struck too hard or have the impulse to reach out to console daeron? would he ever think there's such a thing as having gone too far in his ambition through daeron? does daeron resent viserys to be in despair when compared to him? is sharing resemblance to his father a known sore spot that ormund's exploited before?

this face reads to me as one that is sympathetic!!! there's almost a remorse or regret shared towards daeron's reaction.

norton emphasized their relationship containing love just as much as control. ormund's treatment towards daeron is precisely because he is the most important person to ormund. he's convinced himself that what he does is for their combined benefit.

alicent and corlys both attend a dinner against their will, alicent being sent to kill aemond by rhaenyra and corlys being kidnapped by ormund, and are subjected to the notions of two people that hold an infatuation with them. aemond is in love with his mother and ormund is stated to hold corlys in high regard and tries to convince him to join his army.

aemond and ormund are engaged in a dynamic that holds a power imbalance. additionally, those dynamics have robbed daeron and aemond of their dragons by people that are non targaryen. daeron and aemond have lost sense of their identity and are latching onto what is familiar to them.

aemond and ormund are also humiliated to some degree in their respective dinner scenes. daeron questions ormund at some point in front of their enemy, corlys, and alys' remarks grow increasingly frustated with aemond throughout their dinner scene.

ormund views daeron in a sense of ownership. in addition, he constantly uses physical touch to manipulate and exert control over him. he intentionally uses his physicality to intimidate and subdue people; he infiltrates their space and imposes on their boundaries. it's even implied daeron has repeatedly faced his wrath enough, likely through several forms, to fear and recognize it before it even happens.

ormund also has a dynamic range of switching from the manipulative maternal figure to the wrathful paternal figure. he’s adopted these two roles so only he himself can a balance, however twisted, in daeron's life. he could not share ownership with him alongside anyone else, he's curated their lives to specifically fit his needs and what he imagines for daeron.

alongside daeron being an extension of ormund, him converting daeron’s entire identity to being a hightower is a way to inextricably bound himself to him, because then daeron is reminded of ormund in every aspect of his self. he cannot distinguish where he ends and where ormund begins. embracing his targaryen identity would be an act of “defiance” that ormund has instilled in him to reject. in a sense, ormund is a targaryen in the way he has tamed and caged daeron. he has left him flightless unless needed and dictates every single part of him.

rhaenyra has been conditioned by viserys to view herself as this savior almost her whole life. as a result, she's developed a type of god complex to fulfill this Grand Prophecy that he's instilled in her. for the most part, daemon fulfills that desire and strokes her ego to satisfy her claim. whenever daemon is caught up in his own world and doesn't orbit her however, rhaenyra feels secluded and loses faith within herself.