After years of people acting like Daemon “never loved” Rhaenyra or was using her for the throne, it’s so funny to see those arguments completely obliterated in just two episodes.
In episode 1, we see that he genuinely cares for her:
he brings her gifts with meaning and sincerity, things that have value that both of them appreciate and can treasure
she is the only one he speaks Valyrian too (he doesn’t do it with Viserys or Mysaria despite them knowing it!). One of the actors said it’s like their own secret love language a
nd that couldn’t be more accurate
look at their banter during the throne room: the way he teases her and the way she snipes back at him but instead of getting angry, he smiles. she makes him smile.
with her, he puts aside his claws and shows a very rare tenderness. that scene of him carefully putting that necklace on her? he wouldn’t be caught dead doing that to anyone else.
the look in his eyes when he goes to comfort her during her mom’s funeral? if he was really only looking to use Rhaenyra for the throne this would have been the perfect chance to drive a wedge between her and her father and draw her over to his side. but he doesn’t. why? because he cares for her and sees how alone she is in that moment
In episode 2, we see that Daemon is truly and utterly whipped:
the moment Rhaenyra arrives on her dragon he goes from smug douche mode to “oh fuck the wife is here and i need to behave now mode.” He literally clutches at that egg like a boy caught putting his hand in the cookie jar and Mysaria gives him the biggest wtf look lmao
there’s this tiny smile on his face when she lands and all of Otto’s side is in shock. he’s fucking proud of her for that glorious entrance. he’s glad to see her even if it means things are now much more complicated
Hell, you could even argue he engineered this whole scenario and trolled the fuck out of everyone, just so he could see two people that he cares about most. His brother. And Rhaenyra. He chose the one thing that he knew she’d be pissed about him taking: her brother’s egg. This is what happens when Daemon is bored, lonely, and separated from the people he cares about most for too long.
For all the people who claim Rhaenyra was the unsuspecting victim to Daemon’s desire for the throne and just manipulated and used, Rhaenyra destroys those claims with just a few sentences. “I’m right here, uncle. The object of your ire, the reason you were disinherited. If you wish to be restored as an heir, you need to kill me. So do it. And be done with all this bother.”
She straight up challenges him and tells him to kill her. Why? Because she knows that there’s no way in seven hells that he would ever come close to doing it. She sees right through him and calls his bluff. She knows he cares too much. And he knows that she knows. Hence, the slightly amused, slightly proud, and very much exasperated “you know I would never do that” look on his face.
So it’s established that he would never hurt her even if she gave him the chance. Then it’s also established that he would never lie to her either. He does his whole elaborate prank about getting another wife and having a child to everyone, but under her stare, he can’t bring himself to lie. That shows more than just care and affection. That shows that he respects her too much to lie. He can play everyone else for a fool and have his little game, but not Rhaenyra.
“You already have a wife.” “Not of my own choosing.” The look he gives her afterwards when she tells him to kill him and he just stares at her in silence. He’s clearly not thinking “this girl really ruined my plans smh.” You can practically see the wheels turning in his head. This mf is involuntarily thinking “I’m going to make this girl my wife one day.”
TLDR: Daemon is whipped for Rhaenyra and I will hear no objections
