#vaemond

I really need this.

I mean, Vaemond had it coming. There has never been a greater fool born than the one who'd scream at DAEMON TARGARYEN's wife, call her children bastards and call her a whore in front of the whole court with DAEMON standing right there!!!

^ not sure what Vaemond was thinking, i mean, did he really think he was getting out of that hall alive after that? ...duuuude...

So here's where it all started getting heated, Daemon's watching the scene, Rhaenyra's turning her head slightly towards Daemon subconsciously, without really looking at him, just him being there is reassuring for her:

And just as Vaemond starts with his BS for real, we see Daemon giving Rhaenyra this knowing look >>>

^ to me it looks like Daemon being partly amused that the fool would dare, and also reassuring Rhaenyra with this look like 'i've got this babe, don't you worry'

And right after, Daemon redirects his attention to Vaemond in an ominous way, 'EVIL' written all over his face :D i'd shit my pants, Vaemond, how did you not get it?!

And that's when Daemon graciously gives Vaemond ONE.LAST.CHANCE.

- "SAY IT"- Daemon says, basically hissing...

for a moment it looks like Vaemond indeed is shitting his pants, his lip trembling (out of anger?) .... but then he ultimately signs his death warrant, oh the fool... does he think Daemon is kiddin' ??? he knew Daemon had murdered in cold blood without blinking an eye FOR MUCH LESS, not to mention, getting rid of his 1st wife to be able to marry the Rhaenyra this fool is just offending, i mean, what the hell, Vaemond ???

Suicidal Vaemond then turns to Daemon fully and SHOUTS at pregnant Rhaenyra's husband that "her children are baaaastaaaards"

i can't help but laugh at Otto's reaction the moment Vaemond stops just seconds before (probably) attempting to call Rhaenyra a whore for the first time but hesitating for a second,

This is Otto's face when he sees Vaemond's attempt and Daemon's face :D :D :D

there's horror and alert written all over Otto's face :D he knows that you do not mess with HUSBAND and DADDY DAEMON, calling his wife names, Otto's face is literally like "oh no oh no oh no Vaemond don't you dare, i still have use of you you old fool, stop it , stop right there, you don't wanna piss Daemon off, you don't wanna mess with his wife"

also, i loved the shot of protective Jace here :") my sweet,

and then it's as if Vaemond started believing in himself a little too much, cuz obviously he did not get Daemon's subtle message, and decided to go like "and SHE IS A WHOOORE" in front of pregnant Rhaenyra's husband and right to her father king's face, wtf Vaemond, you really are dumb >>>

^^ and long story short, THOSE were the last words this foolish man had ever spoken :D head(s) started rolling... (one. for now.)

I would also love to highlight Otto's reaction JUST BEFORE this moment and just AFTER Vaemond called Rhaenyra a whore :D :D OTTO totally KNEW that was IT. The way he took a deep breath and turned around and away from Vaemond like, oh why oh why, Vaemond.... oh yeah, this alliance was good while it lasted...

also, the next pic Otto already low-key mourning Vaemond :D he knew that was IT for Vaemond :D

And so when the head rolled, we got a really interesting pic of the Greens' reactions :D you gotta love their reactions, it speaks volumes about their characters

Alicent worrying about her children,

Otto grumpy about the turn of events, couldn't hate Daemon more, but not surprised at all, kinda pissed at Vaemond too, for his stupidity, salty about having to scheme more, and harder...

Helaena poor bb shocked to death,

Aegon just disgusted and like 'yeah well...another day.'

and Aemond standing there in true awe, as if in that moment he decided to become Daemon when he grew up (just joking but anyway, i do think Aemond admired Daemon, and had things turned out differently between these two branches of families, i think Aemond and Daemon could have become good buddies and have a nice teacher-apprentice, uncle-nephew relationship, fly dragons to wars together, have each other's backs... Oh well... forever wishing we got a big strong united Targ family :"( ...)

Anyway... Daemon totally not sorry, staring down at dead Vaemond with contempt, casually leaning on his Dark sister like nothing's happened

and he's proud of himself, too ...for the justice. "He can keep his tongue" Daemon's sass at its finest. Murdering for his family is the best kind of murdering. The satisfaction. No one's gonna call his wife a whore in his presence without losing a head

Otto was kinda horrified after that, (fearing more heads were gonna roll while Daemon's at it?? Otto knew Daemon hated him with passion, and he knew Daemon knew how much of a scheming manipulative Rhaenyra and Viserys hating ass Otto was - perhaps he thought Daemon was gonna deal with all their haters at that point? so he just needed Daemon disarmed ASAP:

Daemon couldn't've been calmer at that point :D calmly saying "no need" as he wiped the blood off his sword, using his own garments for that, wild

BUT the look Daemon gave Otto after that!!! he knew Otto was shitting his pants. And Daemon was low-key making a point, JUST YOU DARE SAY A WORD AGAINST MY WIFE OR KIDS, heads gonna roll, Otto . For real.

And... I'm just gonna say it was about time idiots started answering for treason, for constantly speaking against and disrespecting the future Queen and her children. Now Daemon was there, the defender of the Realm, his Queen and wife's protector, their children's daddy, and from now on NO ONE was gonna say shit about his wife without getting his head chopped off anymore. Daemon looked like he hoped he made himself clear and was pretty happy with himself.

Calm, sassy and contented Daemon. In his element. And with his loving family, NOW more powerful than EVER before.

This man just needed his Rhaenyra by his side and to create a happy family nest together with her :D make house Targaryen great again :")

^ this is the same man that chops off heads.

The difference in fandom treatment of Ned stark vs Vaemond Velaryon is so interesting to me. Like Vaemond was definitely out of line in calling Rhaenyra a whore and Ned would never, but... both of them saw bastards, so they said bastards. And both of them were killed for it. Yet one of them is beloved, and one of them is detested.

I know that Ned's situation is a bit different because Robert didn't know his kids were bastards, while Laenor did and was fine with it. However, you gotta remember that the characters aren't privy to the full picture-- only we as viewers are. Vaemond doesn't know that Laenor agreed to the whole situation. And honestly, Ned is so focused on honor and tradition that he would 100% still object on principle.

TLDR if Ned Stark was in HotD he would have absolutely been against Rhaenyra's bastard situation. Not because it was unfair to Laenor, but because it violated customs, laws, and truthfulness, which he feels very strongly about. He would have probably done something similar to in GoT and come to Rhaenyra privately, but threatened to go public if she didn't address it. And Rhaenyra would have had him killed, exiled, or blackmailed for it. Or maybe she would've tortured him like she wanted to torture Aemond after he lost his eye.