i feel like some of you have never suffered through multiple seasons of your OTP having full-on romantically-framed relationships with other people, with no sign of the OTP getting back together and the only hope is in your imagination, and it really shows 😅
like, they are the main romantic pairing in this show, even when they aren't on screen together have had countless parallels between their individual scenes, have already made out on screen, and are guaranteed to get married and have children within the next 16 days. Them not being together for one episode, or caring about the other parent of their children who they've spent years with, is just so not any kind of reason to be worried or all sad about.
and to be a LOT more verbose in order to show you how easily the show could have framed Daemon and Rhaenyra's dynamic completely differently, if they really had wanted to go the "political" route or make Harwin and Laena more central romantic figures, please find 3k words of meta beneath the cut that I wrote while drinking cosmos at 1AM last night:
the writers SO EASILY could have adjusted the characters/storyline to be a million times less romantic -- and it would have been the more palatable and acceptable option for the locals too, so it would have been easier in so many ways. They so easily could have had Daemon be much more self-interested from the beginning, much more predatory and power hungry, and painted him as a person who was only interested in Rhaenyra for power -- but they didn't, even though that would absolutely have been a very easy decision to make given the General Audience's "ew incest, age difference, etc. etc." default settings. But they didn't!
That first scene in the throne room? Hell, maybe Rhaenyra has already been the heir for YEARS like she is in the book, so Daemon has a "reason" to be nice to her. When Harrold Westerling is shocked at Daemon sitting on the throne, have Rhaenyra look nervous instead of amused. Have their banter not be banter, but rather Rhaenyra being more uncertain and Daemon being more intimidating. Change the line-reading of "I brought you something" from genuine affection to a more cold, calculating vibe. Change Rhaenyra's reaction to him in general to be more nervous. Tada, the dynamic is now negative and predatory instead of romantic!
The funeral scene? Do not have Daemon comforting her, or trying to bridge the gap between her and her father, or even speaking to her in Valyrian. Honestly, don't have them interact here at all.
Dragonstone Bridge Scene? Have Rhaenyra be wrong about his motivations. Daemon is in love with Mysaria, they are getting married, she is pregnant, and that is why he wants the egg - and Viserys is the one who confronts him instead of Rhaenyra. Tada, no romantic "You know you could never actually hurt me, so where is this temper tantrum actually leading?" moment between him and Rhaenyra.
Episode 3 and its bloody and violent parallels between Daemon and Rhaenyra? Idk maybe that still exists because even in a scenario where the writers are trying to make their dynamic unromantic, they can't help but accidentally write romantic parallels without even realizing it.
Episode 4? Would need to be different in every single way. No way are they starting the episode with Rhaenyra listening to shitty suitors while playing with her necklace, or romantically gazing at Caraxes and Daemon flying after knocking her over. Maybe she is more focused on Crispin in this version -- during the suitor scene she's not wearing the necklace, but keeps looking at Crispin. On the boat when she's injured, she is flattered by Crispin's assistance. Post-family-barbeque conversation is more focused on her inexperience, and maybe even mentions her resistance towards getting married specifically to segue into her wanting Crispin. So then the Flea Bottom Date is really about showing her a Brothel so she doesn't feel intimidated to try and seduce Crispin. And The Brothel Scene itself? Well, no cutting between that and the Viserys/Alicent Sex Scene - because in the actual show, they were contrasting the lack of lust and choice between Viserys/Alicent with the major lust and consent of Daemon/Rhaenyra.
So in this non-romantic version, Rhaenyra isn't having that much fun. Daemon verbally convinces her to go to Flea Bottom with him, instead of just leaving her the disguise and a personal note/map for her to decide on her own. They watch the play, but he doesn't give her genuine good advice. No running and laughing through the streets.
Perhaps Harwin is even framed as an opportunity for rescue that she mistakenly doesn't accept, in order to set up that romance as the "real" love, where he has a little time to be like "I don't think you should be here, let me help you" rather than "LOL targaryens, have fun I won't tell anyone!". Definitely no smiling and holding hands.
And The Brothel? Do you know how easy that scene could have been framed so badly???
Like I said, no flattering contrast between that scene and Viserys/Alicent. Don't have Rhaenyra smiling or willingly following Daemon, but instead have her looking freaked out and uncomfortable and stuttering like "I don't--no, where are we going…" And once they are in the Sexy Times Room? Daemon's excuse in this version is to teach her to be more confident for Crispin, so instead of "I hate marriage, you hate marriage, but who cares because we want each other and we can do whatever we want" he would be like "Crispin would probably like if you did this to him".
And their first kiss(es)??? No, Rhaenyra will not be looking at Daemon's lips multiple times to indicate her interest, he will instead turn her around and surprise her with it. No cutting to Rhaenyra's hand clutching his neck, or Daemon caressing her lip while staring into her eyes - just Daemon moving her and her looking shocked. And obviously Rhaenyra is the one pulling away, not Daemon. In this version she is just an opportunity for power, and Rhaenyra is uncomfortable because she really wants Crispin -- so once they're against the wall she panics and runs away, and sleeps with Crispin in order to be comforted after the terrible evening Daemon put her through.
Episode 5: Daemon is a power hungry maniac who kills his wife, and shows up at the wedding to drive everyone insane. Rhaenyra is pining for Crispin, but turned him down with actual tears and sadness and is upset at marrying Leanor because of her conflict between wanting to do the right thing by her station and ruling, and her love for Crispin. There will be zero puppy-dog-eyed cuts between Viserys' speech and Daemon looking at Rhaenyra, but instead he will be glaring at Viserys. And when Rhaenyra's dancing? No heart eyes and clapping, just anger at Viserys for denying him more power.
And then, because even one-dimensional villains like Daemon need character growth, he ends up dancing with Laena. He looks genuinely taken by her, and there is direction/editing to indicate his attention being drawn away from "power" (a.k.a. Rhaenyra) to real emotion (a.k.a. Laena). Daemon and Laena have more than one five-sentence exchange, and Daemon is distracted by her even when he has his talk with Rhaenyra.
And his talk with Rhaenyra? He looks at Laena when Rhaenyra says "Marriage is only a political arrangement, I hear" to indicate that maybe his mind is changing about his previous words, because he's just met Laena. And Rhaenyra? Doesn't confront him on the impossibility of his romantic, if extremely unrealistic at this point, plan - but instead confronts him to say that he's ruining things with her and Crispin, and that his advice that she could have a side-piece when she's married backfired because Crispin doesn't want to be her whore.
All of this kind of framing could have led into a post-Laena-funeral world where Daemon is much more power-hungry and bitter from losing his One True Love, and a world where his and Rhaenyra's union is based in politics, like "Hey, I loved Laena more than anything, but you are the heir and I want power and you want power -- lets get married in the Faith of the Seven with the explicit permission of the crown and only have sex one time once we're married to produce an heir, and then we can just leave each other alone and the audience can be comfortable and grossed out by our union because we also don't like it".
I don't know if you've noticed, but that has not been the story so far.
Their scene's in episode 1? Immediate comfort with each other, to the point that Rhaenyra is making fun of Daemon to his face and he is happy about it, Daemon is literally walking down to her level and softly and affectionately bringing her a gift (WHEN SHE IS NOT THE HEIR BTW, HE HAS NOTHING TO GAIN FROM THIS), and connecting with her on their Valeryian heritage. He speaks with her at the funeral with absolutely no agenda other than comforting and trying to help her. Not to mention that they are the two main characters of this episode and are the first two dragonriders we see and…
…by Episode 2 the locals are expecting, and are completely correct to expect, that the main conflict will be Daemon vs. Rhaenyra. Because why would they not be the main rivals??? But they absolutely are not made to be the main rivals by the narrative. Rhaenyra is wearing that fucking necklace all the time, she immediately clocks that he has lied about getting married and having a kid, knows he won't hurt her, and confronts him about all of it AND gets back the egg -- because Daemon is a complete simp for Rhaenyra, even back then.
And Episode 3, the episode that they do not interact, somehow still pairs them up in romantic parallels!! Obviously the stabbing of the boar and the bloody walk through camps, paralleled with Daemon's beating up the guard/killing Crabfeeder and the blood-covered closing shot, but also Rhaenyra's whole conflict this episode is being unappreciated and uncared for because "no one is there for [her]" (and literally Daemon is not there) -- and Viserys, during a conversation in which he is like "Ok, fine, choose your own husband" also says how alike Daemon and Rhaenyra are.
AND EPISODE 4, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???
The episode starts with Rhaenyra playing with The Necklace while listening to suitors, a.k.a thinking about Daemon while being proposed to. You guys, this one scene would have fed me for an entire 22 Episode Season in shows-past. Like, FOR REAL?! SHE IS THINKING OF HIM WHILE ON HER "FIND A HUSBAND" TOUR OF THE COUNTRY. I am going to need you all to soak in that and appreciate it way more than you are currently appreciating it.
AND THEN THE BOAT. Daemon's nearest romantic "rival" in the narrative at this point is Crispin, and Rhaeyra is like "Fuck off with your concussion protocol, I want to stare romantically into the distance at my hot uncle riding his dragon."
AND THE THRONE ROOM. You guys, the blocking of Rhaenyra walking through the crowd and keeping pace with Daemon as he walked down the center aisle? I HAVE WATCHED IT 40 TIMES, and back in the days of network TV 24 episode seasons that would have ruined like 3 months of my life from the romantic tension.
and then Rhaenyra is like looking at him at the garden party? And he is staring at her as she wanders off being lonely?? And then he's soaking in the sun and she's ASKING HIM "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" AND HE TOUCHES THE NECKLACE HE GAVE HER AND SAYS "HOME, I WANT HOME, AND YOU, BASICALLY"???? and then gives her genuinely beautiful life advice that yes, her mother's death was a tragedy, but don't let that stop you from experiencing the best that life has to offer.
And then, with no pressure, gives her the option to meet him, takes her to a play that shows her what the common folk think (AND stares at her romantically without her noticing, AND gives her real Girl Power advice about people thinking Aegon II should rule just because he's a boy, AND tries to communicate to her that what the common folk think does matter).
Ok, and then The Brothel. Daemon obviously wanted them to be seen, hence the removal of the beanie because it would be (in his estimation) a surefire way to regain a position of respect by maybe marrying Rhaenyra. I think Daemon is good at planning exactly (1) step ahead, so I really do think he took Rhaenyra out initially after the Garden Party Convo in order to show her a good time, and then at the Brothel was like "…but what if someone saw her here with me and WE got married…". So all to say, he is impulsive based on how he's feeling: and he absolutely wanted Rhaenyra. But then it was ~INTENSE~~
Like, tell me, how often before has Deamon EVER been on equal footing with a sexual/romantic partner? We never even saw him and Mysaria kiss! We know now he and Rhea never slept together. So he has literally maybe ONLY slept with people who have been paid to sleep with him. And now he is here with the closest person to him, who actually cares about him and knows him better than anyone and who he actually cares about and knows better than anyone, and he's about to kind of use her to piss someone else off AND maybe to trick her father into marrying her to him AND because he wants to show her that she can have whatever she wants AND he wants her -- and that is all too much, because this is easily the most emotionally-involved sexual moment of his life.
So Deamon leaves, get absolutely hammered afterwards (because he clearly wasn't exuding "I am super drunk" energy when he and Rhaenyra were having their almost-sexy-times scene). And Rhaenyra is left horny and unfulfilled and sleeps with the first guy she sees.
And Daemon is beyond hungover, and yet is like "Rhaenyra is a grown woman, she can do whatever a man can do, out of anything in the world I want you to let me marry her". A more calculated and power-hungry Daemon would have not pissed Viserys off so much, maybe would have just manipulated Viserys to annul his marriage to Rhea Royce and made Rhaenyra "choose" him. A more calculated Daemon would have actually slept with Rhaenyra. A more calculated Daemon wouldn't have even taken Rhaenyra out on the town, but would have instead pretended to be nice to Viserys and just asked for Rhaenyra's hand without her involvement at all.
And Episode 5? Daemon, again thinking only one step ahead, heard Viserys' main objection to him marrying Rhaenyra: that he already has a wife. Great, lets just get rid of her! So he does that, but then is again confronted by reality through Rhaenyra's words: is he really going to ruin Rhaenyra's claim to the throne, make enemies of the Velaryons, end his relationship with his brother for good, kill a bunch of people, and exile them together in order to get what he wants right now? He acts off of emotion and instinct, but not in the face of Rhaenyra being like "Are you really willing to go as far as this will require?"
And that brings us to Episode 6, and beyond, which I haven't seen: the writers have done everything in their power to set up Daemon and Rhaenyra as THE main romance. There is no other romance in sight as far as the narrative is concerned, and both his and Rhaenyra's long-term partners are only going to be around for 1 episode as their long-term partners, even though they absolutely could have adjusted the timeline/writing prior to this point to make it like Laena and Harwin were THE main loves, and that Daemon and Rhaenyra were each other's consolation prize after the people that they really wanted died. But they didn't do that.
We are literally going to see Daemon and Rhaenyra getting it on right after his wife's funeral in like 8 days, and then by the end of the episode they are going to get Valyrian Blood-Mixing Hardcore Married right in front of our faces. They could have had the same boring-ass wedding ceremony with the same boring-ass vows as every other couple in this world, but they are going to do some insane "our souls and blood are bound for the rest of eternity" kind of shit!
The first 5 episodes of this show have ONLY framed them in a romantic light, even though they could have easily chosen not to. So I beg you, stop falling victim to your pessimism and just enjoy what is happening right in front of your eyes!
ASoIaF is a tragic world, and this pairing is basically as "OTP Written in the Stars Insanely Romantic and Meant to Be" as a relationship could ever be framed, so just enjoy the ride and stop handwringing about any little hint that they had comfort from other people, that were the other parents of their children, for a single episode. They are allowed to care about other people, especially when they've been apart for so long! If anything, knowing what its like to love other people only makes what they have together even more special. Because they did have good relationships when they were apart, so they know what that is like -- and yet still they yearned for each other, and take the literal first possible moment to get together so they don't waste any more time.
tl;dr: this is a buffet of romance they are serving, stop ruining your own enjoyment of this awesomeness by falling victim to paranoia