Episode 5 reveals something that I can't stop thinking about: Daemon might be the "right" choice for Rhaenyra, yet it will always be Alicent she loves the most. Texts will remember Daemyra but Rhaenicent mattered the most.
Daemon was laughing at Rhaenyra for praying and the conversation shift to power, as always. It was the first time a Sept scene didn't feel vulnerable.
Alicent brought Rhaenyra to where she finds comfort in hope it would help with her pain, she layed her vulnerability in front of Rhaenyra, even though Alicent thought it would look foolish. Yet, Rhaenyra didn't find it foolish, she respected Alicent’s beliefs and she tried. Daemon arrived and the foolishness hit.
Daemon's taken Alicent's place in the frame. The contrast is more brutal when you remember Alicent has lit a candle for Lucerys. It's Daemon's first time in the Sept and he doesn't respect the place, despite Rhaenyra still grieving, despite the fact she had already tried to grieve here, despite the place being charged with the ghosts Rhaenyra's lost loves ones.
Daemon represents the harsh side, that cruelty of Rhaenyra she needs to rule and that realm won't forgt. Alicent is the, cherished, more tender side Rhaenyra has to give up and that history will erase.
Then, you have Alicent warning Mysaria that the both of them are too different from Rhaenyra for her to pick any of them over Daemon. That's how Alicent has lived it. That's who will be remembered at Rhaenyra's side.
Daemon is more similar to Rhaenyra, he fits her more. He comes from where she came. She chose him. Yet, he doesn't understand her fully, not like Alicent does. It's one of Rhaenyra and Alicent's tragedy, they are too different to last together in the long run. However, the love was there, it will always be there, no matter how much this gap grows.
After that, Alicent said being loved by Rhaenyra is bathing in the warm light of her gaze. She claimed she isn't. But Alicent is known to be wrong about many things.
Alicent believes Rhaenyra loves Daemon more because Rhaenyra and her were never able to pick each other at the same time. Currently having Rhaenyra's attention is bathing in the warm light of her gaze.
From Rhaenyra's eyes, Alicent is illuminated. She is that warm light that she cannot see, not anyone else. Not Daemon.
It circles back to the beggining of the series. It's not coincidence we are introduced to Rhaenicent before Daemyra, that Rhaenyra defies that Targaryen supremacy Daemon is so attached to by offering Alicent to ride OK Syrax, before we even know about his existence.
The cracks in their marriage are appearing. He lies to her, he defies her in front of the council, he somehow doubts her ways, he's too ambitious for what Rhaenyra wants from now. Meanwhile, even though we know Rhaenyra and Alicent
Daemon might her perfect match, he might be her choice, he might seem like her soulmate, he might be remember as her greatest partner. And yet, he is not the love of her life. It doesn't matter that Alicent will never be with Rhaenyra. It doesn't matter that they keep falling apart. It doesn't matter that they aren't compatible.
It doesn't matter that everyone else will forget that something that deep has ever existed between them.
It's the whole point of the story. They cannot. They should not. But Rhaenyra and Alicent are to each other the person they love the most. It's a reality between them alone, a bond nobody else can understand to nor compare to.
