apple and daring were never gonna be end game because apple is a raging lesbian. of course not, but that's exactly what they should have been focused on. imagine going your entire life thinking that your life's purpose is to save and end up with this person, and then when the moment finally comes, you fail. imagine how crushing that must have felt for daring. and for apple, losing that sense of stability and comfort. though this is somewhat explored a teeny bit at the end up dragon games and quite a bit from darings perspective in epic winter, we get to see the way this effects a lifelong friendship in like, what, two scenes? i also think there's something to be said about daring pursuing so many other girls, even when he thought it was his destiny to end up with apple anyway, meanwhile apple never seems to seriously pursue anyone, nor does she have a problem with daring doing so because she's a raging lesbian.

daring and cerise had a lot of potential. we saw just in thronecoming how much cerise was able to change daring. he had always seen women as damsels in distress, always in need of saving rather than saviors in and of their own right. cerise proved him wrong, and he actually showed growth. she matched his level in athletics as well, even surpassing him, and clearly, he was attracted to this. but after thronecoming, that was just kind of. it?

daring and lizzie were so so interesting. they're both very dramatic people, loud, always the center of attention, and when they're not, they're trying to be (that is, before they ruined lizzie and made her quiet.) and the entire reason daring even considers pursuing her is because of a bet, and i'm totally biased because i love that trope, but could you imagine the drama that could have created? the angst? anyway, lizzie is pushing back, pushing back, pushing back, finally decides to give him a chance, and he actually surprises her. she sees that he can actually be really sweet, and caring. so she opens up to him too, and what do you know, he realizes there's a lot more to lizzie than a screaming monarch with a thirst for blood. she feels the pressure to maintain that reputation in order to have the same image her mother has upheld when she takes the throne, something daring could probably relate to. and in that moment, these two personalities settle down, and they're able to be very vulnerable and soft-spoken and gentle with one another. and this is all in one webisode.

and then there's daring and rosabella, the final daring ship. i see where they were going with this. she's got a strong moral compass, always fighting for what's right, and daring is...not that. rosabella is progressive, selfless, makes a point to look deeper than the surface, all of darings weak points. she finds him in a time when he really needs someone to see him as something beyond his destiny, and she delivers, but in return, she needs him to become less superficial. and he does, because he wants to do that for both her, and himself. honestly, their dynamic made a lot of sense, and it was really good for daring. i think the fatal flaw of this ship was that, even with an entire special to develop, rosabella didn't really get anything from the relationship. she was absolutely what daring needed, but she didn't need him, and it ended up just being a sort of "i can fix him" dynamic. also, i didn't like the decision to make him the beast in her story. but i could get into all of that another time.