Many believe that Daemon is portrayed as a bad father because of the deleted scene where he hugs his daughters after Laena's death. And while it was a shitty decision to cut that scene, to say that without it Daemon is portrayed as a bad dad is just plain wrong.
I'm going to split the pear between those who think Daemon is actually a great dad, and others who think he's a crap dad, saying, like Laena:
Note that in the first place, episode 6 shows us only a tiny and tiny part of the family life that Daemon has led until now. And during the episode, we are clearly shown, as on the side of Rhaenyra, the worst pass of this current life. So judging Daemon's paternity through this brief moment in his life isn't very fair/fair.
Going back to her relationship with her daughters, I think people easily forget that short but very cute scene where we see Daemon teaching Baela the High Valerian, and before she goes to bed, she kisses both her father and her mother. The relationship between Daemon and his daughter Baela therefore seems good, and nothing indicates otherwise.
A little later in the episode, however, we learn that Rhaena, Daemon's second daughter, unlike her sister, has still not seen her dragon egg hatch. The little one therefore seems full of uncertainty, even going so far as to place herself below the other members of her family, judging herself less important because she has no dragon. In that same scene, she also states that Daemon is ignoring her. However, before taking Rhaena's words at face value, it is important to remember that it is very common for a child of this age to feel ignored by a parent, or to think they are less loved than their siblings, especially if the child in question has a particular insecurity. Which, here, is the case for Rhaena.
Another important detail, Laena defends Daemon to her daughter, saying, as I said before, that he does his best.
And I sincerely think it is, otherwise the episode would have shown us Daemon being a horrible father, and probably Laena taking him back on that. However, once again, she defends him instead.
Laena is not a victim. She's a Velaryon. She of Targaryen blood, descends from ancient Valerya and rides Vaghar, the greatest dragon in the world. It's certainly not Daemon who will scare him.
We see that she confronts him on the subjects that bother him. She takes him back to his current state. That he's not himself, that he actually has no interest in Pentos, hides in the books of the library, hardly sleeps anymore, that he lies saying that his brother and his house don't he doesn't miss it. Hell, she even tells him she knows she's not the woman he wanted. (And we all know she knows about Rhaenyra) If Daemon was mistreating Rhaena, as some idiots think since this episode, she definitely would have reprimanded him about it.
Moreover, this discussion between Laena and Daemon takes place after the discussion between Laena and Rhaena. An important detail to note. The little one is full of her father's behavior, Laena defends him and goes to talk to him right after, finally letting us finally understand as a spectator that Daemon is in fact in a very bad situation.
What we see in this episode is actually a brooding, self-exiling Daemon trying to be content with his current life and family, but missing Viserys and more specifically Rhaenyra, which plunges him into an undeniable depression.
He tones down his true nature in an attempt to be happy, but it doesn't work, and gets worse over time. Laena will tell him “The man I married was worth more than that. which shows that their marriage wasn't always like this.
Daemon has always been a chaotic being, having trouble expressing his emotions properly. But with his current state, it's even worse.
I don't think he dislikes Rhaena because she doesn't have a dragon. It's stupid to say that. Viserys doesn't have a dragon either, I remind you, and yet we all know that Daemon undeniably loves his big brother.
But technically, Viserys, in addition to being his older brother, was also his father figure for much of his life. It is therefore normal that Daemon particularly likes him. Although it may also explain Daemon's difficulties with being a father, in addition to his depression. Let's not forget after all that Viserys made mistakes, and wasn't the best father or brother in the world.
Personally, I think Daemon may not really know how to comfort Rhaena about her lack of a dragon, or even how to properly broach this subject. The fact that Baela's egg has hatched presumably allows Daemon to facilitate a connection with his daughter. From what we've seen in the series so far, I think Baela's impulsiveness is the one who looks the most like Daemon, which must have helped a lot in their relationship as well.
But to say he likes Rhaena less than Baela, ignores her or mistreats her because we haven't seen any direct scenes between them is ridiculous.
In episode 8 we see Daemon being affectionate with his son Viserys II, but not really with Aegon III when he introduces them to his brother along with Rhaenyra. Does that mean Daemon likes Aegon III less than Viserys II? Ignore him or mistreat him? I do not think so.
As for Daemon finally not hugging his daughters, I can understand that. In view of his depression presented in the episode, plus the death of Laena, he must have felt lost and confused. Such an event is hard to manage, even more so to explain it to your own children. Also, I don't find that he seems cold with them during this scene, but rather tense, giving the impression of not knowing what to say or do exactly at such a time.
This is not to say that Daemon is ignoring his daughters, which is at odds with the scene where he is seen having the High Valerian study at Baela earlier in Episode 6.
Let's move on to episode 7, where Daemon remains alone during Laena's funeral. At this point, Daemon is still in a depressed state, from which he will only come out at the end of the episode with his marriage to Rhaenyra. That he stays away from his daughters here is not inconsistent if he is still in this negative phase. It would have made sense even if he had taken it upon himself to console them (as he should have been, stupid director) in Episode 6.
Then we have a scene where Daemon tells Viserys that his home is Pentos and HIS children's, showing that he considers and thinks of them both. Not just Baela.
Some might say that was hypocritical, as he eventually decides to stay to be with Rhaenyra. But there is a difference though. Viserys' proposal brings him nothing. Go back to the course and its endless problems? What would that bring to him and his children? Not to mention that Otto is back as a hand, and I doubt Daemon wants to hang out with him, or his kids around. How long can he stay? His next exile? In comparison, Rhaenyra offers him everything he ever wanted. Her to start with. Then a position to assist her and their House. Not to mention a family that will really care about him and make him feel important and exist. There's also living in Dragonstone, the literal birthplace of their House. Daemon would definitely feel at home there, and I'm sure he would love to live there and raise his children there.
For those who criticize that Daemon didn't react to Baela and Rhaena when they were injured, unlike Rhaenyra who rushed to his sons, let me explain my point.
Already, it is important to note that Daemon and Rhaenyra arrive together in the great hall. However, Daemon stays behind, only glancing a little before leaning against the wall, almost as if trying not to be noticed. Besides, apart from Otto, no one seems to have done so. Here I think it's worth remembering that Daemon returned with a half scruffy Rhaenyra from a "night walk". If he had gone to his daughters, as Rhaenyra did to her sons, people, despite the commotion, seeing that they were arriving together would have speculated as to his reasons, especially in view of the state of the clothes. and Rhaenyra's hairstyle. Not to mention that 10 years ago, Rhaenyra and Daemon were at the heart of a huge scandal, accused of being lovers. I clearly think Daemon wanted to avoid drawing attention to them in the first place. After all, they buried Laena just hours ago. Imagine the scandal!
Then, as I said before, Daemon took one look before leaning against the wall to start observing the scene.
I think that by taking a quick look, Daemon must have seen that his daughters were with their grandparents, (more particularly their grandmother Rhaenys) and therefore that they weren't risking anything. In fact, it is even sure, since they were directly in his song of vision if one observes well. What is to be put in context, since the children of Rhaenyra, them, had nobody to supervise them, Laenor (their official father and husband of Rhaenyra) being absent. Logical therefore that Rhaenyra, the only rampart between her children and a possible danger, rushes towards them.
Daemon on the other hand does not have this problem, as his daughters are not alone. I probably think that after seeing where they were, and were fine, Daemon must have wanted to stay in his corner to observe and understand what exactly was going on.
Despite the chaos, the situation is still clear. There was an accident. Aemond has his eye gouged out. Rhaenyra's sons and Daemon's daughters scuffled with him. Here it is important to remember that Daemon is a warrior. So I don't think a fight between kids would freak him out. Even in Episode 8, it doesn't seem to particularly affect him, more like making him laugh. Daemon did not seem to take into account the concept of “gender” so far. If he had had boys I definitely think he would have reacted the same way. Another important element, here are the sons of Rhaenyra and do not have the daughters of Daemon the targets as for the wound of Aemond. This moment is therefore about Rhaenyra. And that, I think Daemon understood perfectly. Clearly, whatever her daughters had in it, they fear nothing because Rhaenyra's sons were with them. So the focus will automatically shift to the boys, already frowned upon for being "bastards", and Daemon wants to see how Rhaenyra will handle it all.
Daemon in this scene stands back, not because he's cold or indifferent but because he probably wants to see the big picture and be able to properly observe it. This is Daemon's chance to see how these people he hasn't seen in 10 years behave. I also suspect that he particularly enjoys the show. After all, Daemon is an agent of chaos, and chaos begets chaos. It's a real chaotic scene that unfolds before Daemon's eyes at this moment. His life having been pretty quiet for the past 10 years, I think a part of him must have loved seeing that.
Episode 8 now, which should bury once and for all the idea that Daemon is a bad father.
Already, we can see that Daemon is clearly out of her depression, happy for 6 years with Rhaenyra in Dragonstone. This can be seen just with his first scene where he is very happy to have recovered 3 eggs from Syrax for his 3 children with Rhaenyra, to the point that he repeats “3 eggs” twice. It's adorable, and the first time we've seen him so happy since the start of the series.
During the episode, we can also see Daemon being affectionate with Viserys II, running his hand through his hair, or trying to calm him down with a grimace when he starts crying, frightened by the appearance of Viseyrys I. We also have Daemon beheading Vaemond for (among other things) insulting his step sons Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joeffrey as bastards.
But what about Daemon and his daughters? Already, we have Baela writing to Daemon at the start of the episode warning him of Vaemond's plans for the Lamark claim. Technically it shows Daemon and Baela's relationship isn't bad. (It would have been surprising since she was never shown as such) If so, Baela would have written to Rhaenyra. And if all of their relationships had been bad for the past few years, Baela might not have written to them at all.
As for the character of Rhaena, it's true that we don't see her much during the episode, but from the little that we saw of her, she seemed happy and satisfied with her life, and without any apparent grudge towards her father. . She even sits next to Daemon during dinner. An interesting detail in my opinion, since she wasn't in episode 6, where she felt she was being ignored by her father.
Then we have Daemon coming between Aemond and ALL of his family. Because yes, even if he basically intervened to prevent yet another fight between Lucerys, Jacaerys and Aemond, in the end he is still between Aemond and ALL his family. Not just boys. It's not just Lucerys and Jacaerys behind Daemon, but also Rhaenyra, Rhaena, and Baela. This is important to note, knowing that Aemond becomes the strongest enemy of the opposing camp later and it is Daemon who will face him. So here we have Daemon, placed (as always) as protector of his family. I like this scene all the more that Rhaenyra, while Daemon serves as a shield against Aemond, sends all the children back to their rooms.
It's also interesting to see how Daemyra's children are different from Alicent's. We see that all their children seem happy and fulfilled, unlike those of Alicent who are all in a rather deplorable mental state… This alone proves that they were good parents. Their family seems to be united in the best possible way.
I think this episode for sure breaks the idea, based on episode 6 for some, that Daemon is a bad father when he was at that time in a period of depression without Rhaenyra and his brother. I don't see how people could continue to think/say that at this point. (Although I would still hate that they cut the hug between Daemon and his daughters in episode 6… You morons)
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