It Never Ends

People are blaming Emma D’arcy for Daemon and Rhaenyra not having many scenes together in s2? Is Emma a writer of the show? No. Is Daemon away at Harrenhal in the book? Yes. The only thing I’ve heard Emma say about not having many scenes with Matt (Daemon) is that they missed working with him, which they say they loved.

Also, hating on Emma for saying that Mysaria is “maybe a little healthier” of a relationship in Rhaenyra’s life. Because it kind of is? As opposed to her literal blood uncle who has choked her?. (I’m not anti-Daemyra before anyone accuses me of that, but it is a bit weird from a modern perspective when you think about it and I think it’s a normal thing for Emma to have pointed out in an interview). Rhaenyra’s relationship with Alicent is also complicated and has very toxic elements. Her brief relationship with Criston obviously didn’t end well. I think it’s fine to acknowledge that. It doesn’t mean Emma hates any other option for Rhaenyra and is going to force the writers to put more Rhaenyra/Mysaria, or less Daemon/Rhaenyra or whatever they’re being accused of on that particular day. Y’all are getting too angry at Emma for making valid observations/having a different opinion of your fav ship and then only hearing what you want to hear. Which is that Emma hates Daemyra therefore it’s their fault Rhaenyra and Daemon had less scenes together because they must have demanded it. It’s possible for Emma to have criticisms about a relationship between two characters and still do their job as an actor and act as Rhaenyra who has different feelings about said characters. But, I'm pretty sure Emma has also spoken positively about Daemon and Rhaenyra. Any changes that deviate from the book aren’t Emma’s fault when they then need to perform them. When it comes to the show Emma can only work with what they’re given.

IMO, from what interviews I’ve seen (and I haven’t seen them all obvs), Emma has spoken with nuance about Rhaenyra as a character, and her relationship with Daemon, Alicent, and Mysaria etc. Bearing in mind, when it comes to press, the actors will be told what to say and what not to say, to a certain degree. Emma can't be like, "the writing for this scene was shit actually, but I had to do it". Tom (Aegon) has said that Aegon was “an empath” in an interview and I haven’t seen anyone point out how much of a mischaracterisation that is.

Emma has spoken about the relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra and their love for each other despite the hate, but even Milly (young Rhaenyra) and Emily (young Alicent) have also said in multiple interviews that they purposefully played their character with a bit of a flirty undertone. In the script for s1 it’s even written that Rhaenyra says something to Alicent in a flirting tone. Olivia (older Alicent) has expressed similar feelings about Alicent and Rhaenyra. Clearly, the writers and directors wanted to have a suggestion of love that borders on platonic and romantic and it was picked up on by multiple actors, not just Emma. Viewers started shipping Rhaenicent immediately after s1 ep1 because the groundwork of this dynamic was already being laid. It wasn’t Emma that suddenly started trying to push Alicent and Rhaenyra for whatever reason out of the blue.

Emma can give suggestions and maybe they’ll be taken into account, but only if the show creator agrees to it. Yes, the kiss between Mysaria and Rhaenyra was apparently Emma’s suggestion, but Sonoya (Mysaria) also said the kiss felt emotionally right for the characters in that moment, after the intimacy of the hug they shared. Sonoya said; "It was scripted as an intimate moment that got interrupted, and it was unknown where the scene was going to go. Emma and I both strongly felt that we didn't want it to be queer-baity in any way, and we wanted to step back, look at it, and take care of it. But it just felt right. It would be a kiss." In the episode before the kiss, when Rhaenyra is circling Mysaria and then she realises who she is, I made a post saying something like “did anyone else think they were about to kiss?”, and I saw other people pick up on some sexual tension in that scene too. So, clearly the writers/directors wanted to lay the groundwork for the kiss/a potential relationship before the kiss. So, it wasn’t just a total random out of the blue suggestion from Emma that the show runners thought was a bad idea but included it anyway because Emma has some kind of magical influence powers.

Also, blaming Emma for Rhaenyra not being feminine enough and saying it's obviously because Emma is a bad actor and is just being themselves in a blonde wig. Personally, I think Rhaenyra has been perfectly feminine. Usually what people mean by "Rhaenyra isn't feminine enough" is "I don't like that she held a sword, and the propaganda told from the perspective of unreliable narrators in the book saying Rhaenyra only cared about dresses and jewelry isn't being shown, and Emma is more masculine irl so it must be their fault". Even Milly's Rhaenyra said things that showed her grievances at being treated differently as a girl/woman than she would if she were a male heir eg “I’ll never be a son” and “if I were a man I could sire 100 bastards and no one at court would blink an eye”. So, clearly Rhaneyra's annoyance at being considered less than as a woman was being written in the script by the writers before Emma was even playing Rhaenyra. I don't think a female character being rightfully upset at sexism is unfeminine or masculinising. Also, Emma isn't the costume designer so how can Rhaenyra's dresses not being pink or flamboyant enough be their fault? The things Emma can control, like Rhaenyra's body language and movements etc have been pretty feminine imo and different from how Emma seems irl. I haven't watched Mothering Sunday but Emma looks and acts pretty feminine in that from what I have seen, so they’re clearly capable of playing feminine characters.

"It was scripted as an intimate moment that got interrupted, and it was unknown where the scene was going to go. Emma and I both strongly felt that we didn't want it to be queer-baity in any way, and we wanted to step back, look at it, and take care of it. But it just felt right. It would be a kiss."- Sonoya Mizuno.

They're a power man should never have trifled with.