I keep thinking about the scene where Daeron mentions getting a "foot-whipping", a punishment most definitely assigned to him by his father for his misbehaving and losing his brother to God knows who... (because no one else could have raised a hand against the prince without an explicit order from his parent).
And I cannot help but think that Daeron, being the oldest and the only one apart from Aerion and probably Aemon who truly remembers Dyanna, would have been a mother's boy.
I know Dyanna would hold Daeron through the night when he was tortured by his dreams, no matter how old he was. It definitely drove Maekar mad because he just wanted to be able to relax with his wife after a long day of doing whatever the court required of him, and he would come to bed to find his wife curled up and singing a lullaby to their 5/10/12/15 year old son. No matter how old Daeron was, Dyanna would always check up on his at night because she knew he could not sleep, and she would always attempt to soothe him.
I know Dyanna would scold Daeron for his drinking so he attempted to hide it better when she was still alive, letting it take over his life completely after her passing because not only did it numb the dreams, it also numbed the pain of losing the only person who openly loved and cared for him. Who did not see him as strange or weak or anything else that he might have heard from his cousins, his siblings, the whispering servants and noblemen, his father, even. Dyanna did not understand but she did her best to. She did her best to try and make his terror more manageable, to help him find a way to overcome whatever dreams were torturing him at any given moment. He lost his only support when she died, and I truly believe it, because it seems to me like Maekar never tried to understand the source of Daeron's despair and 'cowardice'. Not because Maekar was a bad father, but because he must have been overwhelmed with everything else going on around him and he is portrayed as someone less in tune with their emotions.
However, to tie this back to what originally made me go on this rant: Dyanna hated (and when I say hated, I mean HATED) when Daeron was punished by Maekar (or any of her other offsprings), for whatever reason, and she would make it known. She would scream and she would throw things and she would cover him with her own body if she found him in time. She would absolutely let her son lick his wounds whilst in her arms and she would give Maekar the coldest of cold-shoulders. That man might not have ever traveled to the North, but she would ensure he knew what the North felt like without leaving the warmth of their home. Dyanna would never condone her children being hurt as punishment. Yes, she probably lightly tapped Aerion on the back of his head a few times, or pulled her children's ear a little every now and then, but I strongly believe she was a more... 'let's talk about it and I will explain to you why this is wrong' parent and Maekar knew nothing else but the tough-love parenting he showed to his children when they were old enough to understand things (because he most certainly cradled them in his arms when they were babies). So if she found out that her child, her baby boy, was foot-whipped, whatever the reason might be, she would have killed Maekar. Yes, doing what Daeron did was wrong and losing Egg was very dangerous, but that does not condone such a punishment.
Anyway, that is all I had to say. Sorry for such a long rant and if you read it... let me know what you think on the matter. Cheers!
P.S.: I do believe, despite her softness, she was a respected parent. Maekar might have been a more feared parent, but she was respected, even by Aerion's little cheeky ass.
Love this! Mamma’s boy Daeron is so real🥺. I also think Dyanna being a Dayne made a big difference, because her house is likewise a very magical one and she would’ve been more inclined to believe and trust Daeron’s dreams.
My take on Maekar is a little different, since I’m convinced that Daeron II practiced the Westerosi version of gentle parenting. Which means that that’d be what Maekar had to go off of. I think Maekar started out as a softer father, but then grew sterner over time as he struggled to handle the many issues of the Maekarlings.
That, is a fair point. I think, re-evaluating my point of view because I starter rewatching AKOTSK for the 100th time, I am now more a believer that he feels like he has to be sterner/'stronger' because he is a sole parent now. Before he was most likely the 'bad cop' parent more often because Dyanna always took on the 'good cop' role but he was still gentler (I am basing this off of his reaction to Aerion getting wounded and how terrified he looked at seeing what Egg has been driven to consider by his hatred of his brother).
Either way, out of all the children, Daeron is the biggest momma's boy. That does not mean I think he is her favorite, however, I just think he got most of her attention.
