#daemyra analysis

So it all starts with disheveled-looking Daemon and Rhaenyra being the last ones to enter the hall in the middle of the night when shit had already hit the fan, with everyone else already being there... it's awkward enough as it is, the two of them walking in together, especially the circumstances given: Rhaenyra constantly being accused of having an affair outside of marriage/ having illegitimate children, and here she comes all disheveled in the middle of the night with none other than Daemon, her once rumoured lover, who had just buried his wife...

Daemon knows, Daemon heard even Vaemond not-so-subtly accuse Rhaenyra of all that in his funeral speech for Laena, as insane as that was. So Daemon is well aware of the dire situation in which Rhaenyra already is, and obviously isn't gonna add fuel to the fire. Caring for Rhaenyra as much as he does, he slows down significantly, and tries to make it seem like he only arrived AFTER her, not with her. He walks slowly, carefully, assessing the situation, and then he stops by the door, basically hiding away from all prying eyes, low-key keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble, trying to understand what's up...

BUT, naturally, this DOES NOT escape Otto's judging eye... (and Daemon notices Otto noticing soon after...)

So Otto immediately notices Daemon arriving with Rhaenyra and i think Otto had been suspecting there had been sth serious going on with these two for well over a decade.

I mean, we even got a close up shot (in 1x4) of Otto watching intently as Rhaenyra watched and gravitated towards Daemon, giving him heart eyes during the garden conversation post Stepstones victory,

he noticed Rhaenyra's heart eyes but ALSO Daemon's head tilt and him being all giddy and excited/flustered as Rhaenyra approached, so yeah, Otto knew.. look at how he looked at both of them:

I think Otto had always known and was pretty wary of their potential union...

Back to the big hall 1x7 scene... So it all started -> accusations, ofc Rhaenyra's children being illegitimate was brought up again, and that's when it was suggested they brought Laenor, kids' 'father' to speak on that matter... but ofc, as always, Laenor was nowhere to be found. And Rhaenyra was left to fend for herself yet again, and she had to come up with an excuse for him. But what was worse, she herself did not have a very good excuse, as she'd just returned from that beach shack where they'd just made love with Daemon, so she awkwardly tries to come up with a believable enough excuse about being unable to sleep and taking a walk, while Daemon is watching intently. And it seems to me his expression suggests he is concerned but at the same time he also finds Rhaenyra's excuse kinda funny(?), still feeling her under him just moments ago... it's like only the two of them know what had gone down and it isn't easy to hide it since it's all so fresh... Anyway, he knows it's all a "shit just got real" situation, but still, for obvious reasons he CANNOT do anything about it, there's no way he can help Rhaenyra or defend her without raising questions, and so he continues assessing the situation:

^we see him staring at her while she's coming up with her excuse and right after we see him low-key checking reactions of everyone there to Rhaenyra's excuse, checking whether they'd bought it, and if all was alright...

Thankfully, the conversation takes an expected turn, people bringing up Laenor's preferences... Then we have Viserys questioning his sons about the rumour about Rhaenyra... And when Aegon voices it in front of everyone that it's not just a rumour, and that everyone KNOWS it, we see Rhaenyra completely defenseless and defeated with tears in her eyes. And again we get a shot of Daemon staring at her, now with concern:

and again Daemon is just standing there helplessly, he knows he cannot interfere without making the situation EVEN worse for Rhaenyra...

His concern gets even more evident when Alicent eventually asks ser Crispin to bring her Lucerys's eye, Daemon looks pretty tensed now:

And then the mess starts: Alicent attacks Rhaenyra, and here's where it gets INTERESTING -> ser Crispin darts towards Alicent, and quite possibly at the same time Daemon darts towards Rhaenyra (although from the way the scene was edited in the episode, it looked like Daemon only jumped up when he saw Crispin):

but let's also take a look at a DIFFERENT camera angle which made me think about this situation again, look: Daemon in the picture above, when he jumps up, he is looking LEFT (Rhaenyra was to his LEFT the whole time, if you look at the hall from the top, you see Crispin was on the right), so it seems to me that Daemon jumps up because of Alicent attacking Rhaenyra and only THEN when he also notices crazed Crispin running, Daemon turns to stop him instead... i mean, who knows:

^ this is the shot we get, Alicent attacking, and Daemon moving towards the mess, he's in the middle, between Rhaenyra/Alicent and crazed Crispin to his RIGHT, so it's like, he asseses the situation, sees that Rhaenyra's got it, and so he immediately turns to shield Rhaenyra by stopping Crispin, look at Daemon's body position, it's like he was not going to stop Crispin, as his body had been turned more towards the circle with Rhaenyra, and so when he meets Crispin to stop him, he has to take a sharp turn right to meet Crispin. He had been aiming for the circle with Rhaenyra it seems:

if he wanted to just stop Crispin, he could have moved more to the right, go straight for Crispin, no? ...But no, it's like he was aiming for the circle first... o_O

My conclusion? Based on all their positions and movements, Daemon jumped up to run to defend Rhaenyra, then when he was in the middle, he noticed Crispin, then he saw Rhaenyra was ok, and so last minute he turned RIGHT to stop Crispin instead. (alternatively, it's simply that the scene was shot several times from many different angles and the final cut rearranged the scenes so that it caused confusion as to what happened when and how :D ...so I give up, i blame the editing!)

Anyway, after this situation, we get Rhaenyra/Daemon parallels again -> Rhaenyra fiercely stopping crazed Alicent, Daemon fiercely stopping crazed Crispin, side by side, Daemon's there, all this time, as Rhaenyra's shadow :

So to sum up the verbal part of the big hall confrontation scene : Daemon did not want to get openly involved NOT cuz he was afraid, or that he was protecting himself there, QUITE THE OPPOSITE. It was to protect Rhaenyra. Daemon knew that ANY kind of his involvement, defending Rhaenyra so suddenly and so openly in front of the whole court despite them not having been in any contact for 10 years, and now arriving late together, with Daemon who has made it a point to stay away from all court affairs for good, now suddenly out of nowhere siding with the King's Landing's outcast Rhaenyra against the whole court just like that? A freshly widowed man now being the only one to stand up for the black sheep Rhaenyra in front of everyone, fiercely protecting her honor against all odds, even getting into a fight for this woman, ready to shed blood for her, on the night of his wife's funeral ??? - well that would've raised tons of questions and not only among the rivals of Rhaenyra, but now also among Velaryons who were like, the last ones that still at least respected/accepted Daemon and Rhaenyra as family...

So with the question of Rhaenyra's decency out there, Daemon being all "back away from my girl" would've been the last nail in Rhaenyra's decency's coffin. And Daemon would never jeopardize Rhaenyra's reputation like that or put her at risk.

Remember how he backed down in front of Otto (despite the fact he was ready to roast Otto right there and then) on Dragonstone just cuz Rhaenyra was there and he wanted to help her cause? Not taking her away on her wedding day despite her pleas, was also for her sake. He chose Rhaenyra's well-being instead of his own desire to marry her himself - thus making sure they wouldn't take away her right to the throne or exile her for his own selfish desire and Rhaenyra's naivety. Ultimately, what was important for her, ended up being more important to him than his own well-being...

Back to commenting on the post 1x7 big hall confrontation: when the big hall fight was finally over, and everyone had seen hysterical crazy Alicent, in the silence we hear Aemond say he's contented despite it all cuz he'd got a dragon: and it seems to me that at this very moment Rhaenyra turns right, to stare at Daemon in shock (remember? they heard/saw Vhagar in the sky after their beach lovemaking, and they looked confused, it's like now it all fell into place, and so Rhaenyra is immediately searching for Daemon in shock)

(again, i may be wrong about the angles, but i'm basing this on where all of them were standing). And right after the shot of Rhaenyra, we get this shot of Daemon staring left, as a reaction to a reaction? that is also why i think they were looking at each other... but who knows?

Anyway, after this we get Viserys who finally puts an END to it all.

And right after Viserys, we get this shot of Daemon, staring intently at Rhaenyra, ready to dart her way, and a (still) crazed Crispin glaring at Daemon (who now has other thoughts on his mind already and couldn't care less about Crispin):

and right after this shot we see Daemon getting through the crowd to where he's been looking -> he's walking fast and straight to Rhaenyra, (despite Viserys still being there, kind of ,although leaving... so Daemon is still fairly subtle about his protectiveness...but at the same time, he sees that people are already dispersing, so he feels more free to act now that the show is over, and Viserys made it clear no one was allowed to continue that "Rhaenyra inquisition", so either A/ Daemon knew that him being by her side now at least wouldn't endanger her anymore. B/ He's understood that everything bad that could've been said against her has already been said and so him being with her couldn't make things worse, C/ or the moment when he saw Rhaenyra get threatened with a knife, made something snap inside of him and he decided to stand by her now, no matter what, like, to hell with it ...) And what do YOU guys think?

First thing Daemon does when he reaches Rhaenyra, he immediately checks her hand, her well-being being his number one priority again:

And then he shields / half-embraces her,

and later half-embraces Rhaenyra's boys as well, when they get to them, creating this "new family protection circle" :)

I also love Crispin's expression when he sees Rhaenyra's got Daemon now,

Daemon, who is the feared Rogue prince, fierce King of the Stepstones and the Narrow sea, the former commander of the Night watch, rider of Caraxes and the one who's first called him ser Crispin)

- do you think Crispin understood here that Daemon and Rhaenyra were now a thing?

I think Crispin got it right there and then. Hell, if I were Crispin, I'd shit my pants if I saw Daemon giving me THIS glare ... :D

Also, the way he was UNABLE TO DEAL with her screaming, desperately trying to focus on acting - on securing safety of Dragonstone since they were told Greens were coming for their family's necks,

trying to organize, set up defenses, talking over Rhaenyra's screams and over her calling out his name, him unable to deal with the pain and fear and helplessness o_O also trying to do something, to help or act at least somehow (securing safety, making sure those that were around were super loyal to Rhaenyra and that no one currently on Dragonstone would betray them)

Unpopular opinion: I actually loved Daemyra's proposal scene FOR REASONS! - THE PROPOSAL SCENE analysis:

so first of all we have Daemon calmly, casually join Rhaenyra to watch the horizon and talk.. he's visibly relaxed, there's even a hint of smile, he leans in slightly >>

then they have a small talk about fire and sea, they both express similar views on what fire and water is like, what they represent, and how both Daemon and Rhaenyra's fates have been marked and even scarred by fire... Daemon's still visibly relaxed here... >>

but THEN Rhaenyra turns to him and finally boldly says she NEEDS him, she's looking at him, pleadingly, and you can see him visibly tense, like it's caught him off guard - so he stands there, staring into the horizon without a word, he then looks down, it's like he doesn't know what to do with himself >>

and then, to make him see how important this is for her, how much from the heart, she switches INTO VALYRIAN (their secret love language they only use with each other), she shows her vulnerability to him, tells him she cannot face the greens alone, and that's when he first turns to look at her >>

she then pleads for the two of them to bind their blood like Aegon did with his sisters (in the tradition of their house -> just like Daemon had once proposed when asking for Rhaenyra's hand, he'd been dreaming of the same Targaryen-styled Wedding!) and for Daemon to become her husband and her prince consort >>

all this time he never stops looking at her, never once looks away, he's still staring into her eyes (i feel the need to point this out cuz i see people say he wasn't even looking at her while she was proposing) >>

she basically tells him that with him by her side, her claim won't be easily challenged, that with him she will be stronger and protected, that together they'll be invincible...

^ which also sort of parallels with Daemon telling Viserys that together with Rhaenyra they would make their house great again, strong again (turn it to its former glory: power, awe, respect, greatness...), when pleading Viserys to give him Rhaenyra to take to wife. Also, they are both obsessed with the Targaryen legacy, customs, and traditions, dragons and Old Valyria :) Fire and Blood, Daemon and Rhaenyra are peas in a pod, they're really like one. Soulmates.

and here he was still looking at her when she started her comparison of Velaryions and Targaryens -> to show how the two of them were different, unlike the rest

and the moment she says "but YOU and I, " Daemon starts slowly turning around to sit down and he puts his hands to his chest !!! >> as she finishes saying that the two of them are made of fire

his sudden turning around and sitting down is basically Daemon processing everything, the man has to SIT DOWN for it :D

then there is a mini moment of silence as he's already sitting, so that Daemon can take it all in :D because the man is just utterly OVERWHELMED... look at how even his mouth is slightly opened. Like he had never, not even in his wildest dreams, imagined such an outcome when he'd left for Driftmark for a funeral...,

So he's just sitting there with his hands to his chest, staring into nowhere, processing it all >>

and when she then says "We have always been meant to burn together" he finally looks up at her >>

and the BEST THING is that right after Rhaenyra says this key phrase, Daemon, clutching his hands to his chest, without hesitation, goes on to name the last obstacle standing in their way (Laenor alive, legal husband):

he DOESN'T say "yes" to her proposal, he doesn't even smile or react any way to the proposal itself, he simply immediately focuses on the actual steps that need to made for their MARRIAGE to happen, he immediately pinpoints and proposes to get rid of the last obstacle he sees in their way! -> You gotta love how for Daemon it had never been about whether to marry Rhaenyra or not, but about HOW to get married ASAP ! :D

^ just like the moment Viserys refused to give him Rhaenyra due to Daemon having a legal wife at the time, what does Daemon do? He literally says ok, as you wish, brother. And proceeds to go and get rid of said wife, JUST LIKE THIS TIME around, the moment the opportunity to marry Rhaenyra presents itself, he doesn't waste any time, he names the problem AND comes up with a cool plan of HOW to get rid of said problem, Daemon is a man of action, not words, he wastes no time :D

^^ and here's when it gets interesting, right after he mentions that Laenor stands in their way, he looks up at Rhaenyra to check her reaction, still clutching his hands to his chest (like he's nervous, expectant, excited) here he challenges her, he wants to see whether she has it in her to get rid of Laenor, cuz Daemon's ready to do what it takes, he's staring up at her, waiting to hear what she says, whether she's ready to go such lengths for the two of them to finally get official

and when she confirms "she knows" (that they have to get rid of Laenor to be together officially), his stare changes instantly to one of determination and fire :D and we know this means Daemon's back in action, his face here's saying: "SAY NO MORE, i have experience"

we then see him with his killer!Daemon dark cloak on, getting shit done for him and his wifey, he looks super contented and excited, too, as he's putting their plan to full action :D

we hear him share with Rhaenyra tips on his very own ruthlessness that can help a lot at times, we hear him teach her about how to be a strong queen and have people respect but also fear her

But when Rhaenyra expresses she wishes to spare Laenor anyway, Daemon adjusts the plan (of how to get Laenor off their way) to please Rhaenyra, he offers to have her set Laenor free, Daemon completely respects her wishes, and goes back to his killer mode to sacrifice a random servant then, to organize it all the way Rhaenyra would be happy, and he covers up all their tracks

and then we see them share a mini victorious smirk after they've come up with their perfect plan together, we see that they're totally on the same page, with just about right amount of evil and good, and they're equals who respect each other like none other >>

^^ with this smirk we know they know what they'd been wishing for for years is finally happening, and their fire is back on and they're gonna be THE POWER COUPLE they'd always known they could be

Daemon immediately rushing straight to check on Rhaenyra's hand when the talk is over

^ Daemon gently shielding Rhaenyra from Alicent/everyone, looks how close he's standing to her

Also, it shows a great difference between Rhaenyra (who has her sons, in-laws, and her protective beloved shielding her) and Alicent (who seems to have no one, her husband left right away, her son is standing on the side awkwardly not even knights come close to her - at least her son will hug her later)

here kids are joining them, feeling the protection of mommy and daddy

also, for those of you worrying for Baela and Rhaena, no worries guys, they had been under the protection and in an embrace of our Rhaenys, look, all's been totally well with them, Daemon could clearly see it

^ here papa Daemon is shielding Rhaenyra's boys, look at how he's holding the boy's head/shoulders, the boys are now under DAEMON's protection as well, Daemon super willingly became a daddy of 5 in an instant

^ he seems to be caressing Rhaenyra's boy hair/shoulder :")

^ and that's how a NEW FAMILY was born :")

^ killer daddy look, also, Rhaenyra's boy having Daemon there as his shield, oh the feels :")

^ also, funny how this is probably the moment of realization for the boys :D it's like uhuh, so why was this fella so quick to jump in, why is he shielding us so fiercely, hugging us and mommy, being all comfy with mommy, touching our shoulders as well, staring daggers at the ones who want us harm...? what's going on?

But they did not have to wait long for answers :D ...

i'm sorry but i kinda think it still must've been a SHOCK for the kids and despite absolutely loving the fact Daemyra was set on having their babies be there and watch, it must've been also kinda awkward for them? i mean, they'd just had to go through funerals of their parents and the next they they're witnessing their mom and dad making out with their new mom and dad like, the confusion ???

must've made them realize a lot of things as well, like, that Daemon/Rhaenyra was NOT A NEW thing, and WHAT THAT actually meant....!!

(Also, I don't think they'd ever seen their parents kiss each other like that or look at each other like that before, so... yeah...must've been a serious new revelation... o_O)

On the other hand, had Daemon and Rhaenyra not made the kids be a part of their union right from the beginning, it would've definitely made them feel excluded, not needed, or put aside... So this was ultimately Daemon and Rhaenyra's best decision in the far from good circumstances for the children and the Daemyra family as a whole.

no but can we talk about the Rhaenyra/Daemon/Laena moment??? About DAEMON not being able to take his eyes off Rhaenyra during the whole wedding, staring at her lovingly all the time, not giving a damn about who might notice???

and then Laena staring at Daemon, clearly liking him BUT then glancing over to see where he was looking, noticing Rhaenyra, then went on to stare at Daemon again, contemplating...

and DAEMON noticing for a moment that Laena was staring at him, liking him, even went to the dance floor invitingly, WHILE Daemon only acknowledged that and immediately went BACK to staring at his Rhaenyra like this:

cuz there was now a new plan in his head :D an opportunity presented itself, he now knew he would go to "dance with Laena" as an excuse to get closer to Rhaenyra without making it too obvious

^ this is when Laena was already dancing IN THE CENTER, and YET Daemon is here getting super ready for his move while STILL staring at Rhaenyra (on the side). His goal was clear. Steady, ready go, DAEMON :D

and then he was already talking to/ "dancing" with Laena, ALTHOUGH interestingly enough, he paid her little to no attention, he kept staring to the crowd, his eyes searching for Rhaenyra, he did make Laena a compliment, but he was not very present, as he had more important matters at hand :D

And then the moment came and he noticed Rhaenyra, !! the moment he saw her, he immediately turned away from her to stare to the crowd, while Laena was still blatantly flirting with him, yet he WAS NOT looking at Laena, ( neither at Rhaenyra), but he KNEW Rhaenyra was watching so he probably didn't want to piss her off :D

still, Rhaenyra did NOT like what she saw :D

Laena seemed enthusiastic about her complimenting-session with Daemon, the dragonrider, all the while he was barely glancing at her form time to time, his focus never leaving Rhaenyra !!!

and then we see Laena dancing with someone else already, and there's a cut to Rhaenyra with ser Harwin, and DAEMON finally approaching, politely getting rid of the last obstacle (Harwin) :D

Also the way he approached Rhaenyra with Harwin, and then led Rhaenyra away in such a dominating, marking his territory kinda way :D

holding her hand, no less!!

And FINALLY he was able to get to what he'd been doing SO MUCH for... now was his chance:

but Rhaenyra was still chilly about how Daemon had left her without going through with what they'd both wanted to go through in that brothel :D so she was now 1000% done :D

And she went on to tell him the same thing he'd once told her, about marriage not mattering, about it being just political

But here he was, with a new narrative :D marriage was no longer about politics, now he wanted what he wanted. As fate would have it, Daemon got rid of his wife (accidentally kinda) and he was now super happy about it, so proud of himself too, informing Rhaenyra of the joyful news:

Letting her know he was now a free man, in a pretty smug way too :D look at that mischievous smirk there:

bb Daemon couldn't contain the joy :D (and his lust for his hopefully new wifey-to-be right in front of him, now that there were no obstacles.....)

And so she says: "So take me! Has this NOT been your purpose?" - ....and really, has it not, Daemon-I-want-Rhaenyra-give-her-to-me-to-take-to-wife-Targaryen ????

^ also, the way he stares at her, I can't!! like she's his prey, he really sees NO ONE and nothing else. This scene is just too hottt

And then she goes on to tell him HOW to take her away from there, mockingly, kinda hopelessly, kinda daringly, perhaps with hope but resigned...... ?

^ although, the intensity :D it's like they're not talking about Daemon cutting his way through all the kingsuard for Rhaenyra, but rather something that would come after... when they're on Dragonstane :D Also, LIP-staring, he's staring at her lips, she at his

^ and here it's like he's ACTUALLY CONTEMPLATING doing just that for her :D ...it's like she's bewitching him, he seems to be losing himself, losing his control again...

and here, she's daring him, pretty aggressively too, to have the guts to do what he'd been wanting to do so much

...and this when Daemon says nothing anymore and there's just the facial expression we see...it says he's challenged, aroused, in awe, BUT at the same time it's like it has just dawned on him that he really has no plan, cutting through everyone single-handedly on a wedding he cannot, she dares him to act but his hands are tied, it's like it's now dawning on him that without a plan his mission has always been a lost cause. And here she is, pleading him to do it, daring him to do it and YET AGAIN in front of her HE's WEAK and cannot do what he'd thought he'd accomplish somehow.... his expression here is breaking my heart :( helplessness...

and here^ it's like all of the emotions above just burst out in a single move, in a single gesture in a single statement: he grabs her aggressively, he grabs her dominantly, <-- this is what he wishes for, to just take her and make her his, he doesn't even care the wedding guests are watching them, Daemon knows what he wants. And there's the aggression born out of his helplessness and despair, he wants and he knows he cannot have her, not there and then, not like that, he cannot do what she asks of him either, he's furious and desperate, and she's there, and she could be his but she cannot :"(

so it's like he's holding her firmly, desperately, perhaps contemplating what to do next? definitely knowing he needs her in his life with him on dragonstone, with no idea how to achieve that...

he pulls her even closer, he wants to kiss her, be with her, but they're not alone, and this is her wedding, and his hands are tied, but they want each other, he knows she wants him too, 'think Daemon, think' :D .... but it's like he cannot think clearly anymore either...

and then there's Viserys, horror written all over his face, he sees what we see

and then for a few seconds wedding guest are covering our view, we can only see Daemon's head, so it's up to us and Viserys to try to understand whether or not they were kissing there actually or not

AND THEN BOOM!!!!!

And then ser Crispin, the cockblocker, LOSES HIS SHIT and destroys what could've been the beginning of a new Targaryen era of Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen aaaaaaaaahhhhh I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM, that little shit, what have you done???? you have no idea how much that angered me!!! and it's not like he's ever had a chance to get Rhaenyra either, wth was he even thinking, such an unstable, weak, sorry excuse of a man, oh maaaan....

And Daemon disappears like he's never been there (????? I DON't GET IT ???? how ??? why??? what went down in those few seonds, any ideas???)

Also, i found it funny how Laenor and his bf were focused on ser Crispin as 'the lover' of Rhaenyra, while they totally missed the point of all that was going on with Rhaenyra in her life :D while they were thinking of ser crispin and his secret with Rhaenyra (which had always been unimportant, irrelevant to Rhaneyra) they totally missed Rhaenyra's sweet uncle making moves and perhaps even KISSING HER right in the middle of the dance floor and in front of Viserys!