The Rogue Dragon

Star Wars ~ The Walking Dead ~ ASOIAF ~ GOT ~ HOTD ~ LOTR

[theroguedragon3]

House of The Dragon 1x07

High Tide Incident Analysis

Something that I have noticed in regard to the children’s fight at Driftmark, is how both hardcore stans of the Greens and the Blacks refer to this event while defending their side, refusing to consider the other characters perspective. This type of mindset I feel hinders the complex aspect of the characters themselves, as I’ve seen some hardcore supporters claim that Aemond deserved to lose his eye or Luke deserve to die because he took Aemond’s eye. I wanted to unpack this scene and I’m not going to sugar-coat the children’s actions because, they were all at fault and played a part in the escalation, that ultimately caused an accident that resulted in the loss of an eye. This analysis will examine my interpretation of the characters possible intent, motivations and feelings in order to understand each character’s viewpoint and how it got to the point of no return.

 Aemond Claims Vhagar

Before I dissect the actual fight scene, I feel like it is important to examine Aemond’s state of mind when he successfully claims Vhagar. Aemond has been obsessed with having his own dragon, the fact that he doesn’t have one bothers him, as this insecurity is utilised against him in the Dragonpit when Aegon, Jace and Luke play a prank on him.

I feel like I have to address the prank, as Aemond apologists utilize this to demonize Rhaenyra’s children, when at no point does he state to his mother that they always pick on him or that he is tired of being picked on, indicating a prolonged bullying experience. I would like to point out this is the first and only incident that the viewer is aware of Rhaenyra’s children picking on Aemond. Viserys even alludes to Aegon being the ring leader being the oldest, while the younger boys follow him. That’s not a far stretch to consider, as they could look up to Aegon and see him as an admirable cool older boy. While on the flip side, Aemond is also shown knocking out Jacaerys’ wooden sword out of his hand during the training yard scene for no reason. Was it to get back at him after the prank, if so Aemond is clearly no push over and also likes to pick on his younger cousin.

Of course, it’s not fun being the laughing stock at the end of the day they are children, but I feel like there is more to Aemond’s mindset other than the prank and it involves his upbringing. Viserys is an absent father, and it falls to Alicent being the parental figure present in his life. Her clear dislike towards Rhaenyra is reflected in her parenting style, as I believe she instilled her belief into him, that he is better than Rhaenyra’s children, because they are bastards, and he is more Targaryen than his nephews. I feel like this distinction contributed to a sense of self-entitlement, only the biggest obstacle that bothers him about their differences is that their dragons hatched, while he simply doesn’t have one. This is a bruise to his ego, something considered a symbol of house Targaryen, yet Rhaenyra’s bastard children have dragons, when he the legitimate second son of the King, doesn’t even have one.

Aemond’s obsession in getting a dragon to validate his Targaryen lineage and self-importance over Rhaenyra’s children, especially after the prank, contributes to his decision to claim Vhagar on the same night as her previous rider’s funeral. He does not think or care about the repercussions his actions will have to those that it affects such as Rhaena and Baela. When Aemond manages to successfully bond and claim Vhagar as his mount, he receives a sense of validation and a huge ego boost. He now has claimed the largest dragon in Westeros, how could he not let it get to his head. This validation feeds his self-entitlement and superiority complex, as he now perceives himself above Rhaena, Baela, Jace and Luke, which is reflected during the confrontation. I also want to point out that I’m not simply hating on Aemond’s character, but I’m merely trying to dissect his different layers, as I enjoy the aspect in understanding all of the characters complex natures.

Confrontation

When the other children confront him, he is still riding the high of having just claimed the largest and fiercest dragon. He doesn’t shy away or is hesitant to engage with them head on, instead he is arrogant, which supports the idea of his self-entitled beliefs. Aemond chooses to use his words as a weapon with the intent to hurt and provoke Rhaena and the other children. He possibly went into this situation already anticipating a fight, as he chooses to face the confrontation, wanting to prove his self-worth to himself and utilize his newfound position of power after having claimed the largest dragon, to either defeat or intimidate his cousins, further validating his position over them.

Rhaena calls him out by choosing to remind Aemond that Vhagar was her mother’s dragon, the same person they just held a funeral for earlier in the day. She is responding out of anger at the lack of respect Aemond demonstrated by claiming Vhagar on the night of Laena’s funeral. Aemond disregards her grief by stating she’s dead and confirming Vhagar has a new rider, only further upsetting an already heartbroken Rhaena and by extension Baela.

Rhaena angrily states that Vhagar was hers to claim, while from a viewer’s perspective, we know dragons are not a family heirloom passed down to family members and it is ultimately up to the dragon to choose who they bond with, as they are not possessions. But sticking to this idea and criticizing Rhaena for her reaction, hinders the viewer in understanding Rhaena’s perspective. She also doesn’t have a dragon and is desperate to finally have one of her own. Her intentions on hoping to claim her mother’s dragon could be a result of her desire to finally have a dragon of her own (just like Aemond) and it just so happens that the opportunity presented itself being her mother’s dragon. It could also be that she did want Vhagar because of the connection to her late mother, there is nothing wrong in that, as viewers need to be mindful, she is still a child, who has the opportunity to learn about dragons and change her beliefs about them.

Rhaena is a little girl still mourning the death of her beloved mother. She is not in the mindset of claiming any dragon, as she probably was intending to properly grieve her mother. Allowing time to heal the rawness of losing a parent, before acting on her own desires to try and claim Vhagar. We will never know if Vhagar would’ve bonded with her or not because that opportunity was taken from her, which contributed to her anger towards Aemond.  

Aemond’s response is to completely dismiss her feelings and basically point the finger at her and claim it is her own fault for not being quick enough to claim Vhagar. This highlight’s his superiority complex and arrogance, as the underlying insinuation is that he was the smarter one to act quick enough, regardless of Rhaena’s emotional turmoil at the loss of her mother.

He continues by mocking her by referring to the pig prank, something that she had no part in and uses it to belittle her, as he now has the justification in putting himself above her. Instead of being mindful to avoid the subject regarding Raena’s lack of a dragon, he uses it against her, knowing it would hurt and upset her, because he was once in the same position as her not that long ago. He tilts his head in a nonchalant manner when he smugly suggests a pig would suit Rhaena. This shift in character illustrates his superiority, as he feels enjoyment by intentionally taunting her, through the use of targeting the same insecurity he himself struggled with against her.  

 Fight Sequence

Rhaena lashes out and lunges at him, he throws her to the ground, as Baela steps in and punches him, but it had little effect as he quickly recovers. Obviously, from a viewer’s perspective the girls’ actions were wrong, but we have to be mindful that they are children who are acting out based on their emotions. They do not have the ability to think of the consequences of their actions.

Baela’s actions are a result of anger, after listening to Aemond’s utter disregard for her late mother on the night of her funeral and then mocking her sister’s lack of a dragon, followed by throwing her to the ground.

Aemond punches her back in retaliation and Green hardcore stans argue he had every right to because he was defending himself, without taking into account the differences in the children’s background. Aemond is training to be a warrior, while the girls are not and are expected to learn feminine etiquette and household duties. The one who poses the biggest threat out of the two in that exchange is Aemond, he is better skilled and it is a testament, when he manages to overpower all four of the children.

After punching Baela, he proceeds to threaten her, stating he would feed her to his dragon should she decide to attack him again. I doubt Aemond had intentions on murdering Baela in such a manner and his character gave the impression that he was just running his mouth, without serious intentions to actually follow through with his threat.

This dialogue illustrates his confidence from the power trip, as he most likely just wanted to scare Baela in attempts to prevent her from attacking him again, knowing he wouldn’t hold himself back just because she’s a girl. This emphasizes his cold personality and hints towards his ruthless nature, as he doesn’t distinguish those that are weaker and would attack regardless of the opponent’s strength.  

This prompts Jace to step in, as Baela cowers on the ground while Aemond yells at her. Jace punches Aemond in the face, only further escalating the situation, as he feels the need to protect Baela.

Jace continues trying to hit Aemond, as he dodges the attack and ends up kicking him. This can be seen as a call back to Ser Criston’s teachings during Aegon’s match against Jace, where he instructed Aegon to use his feet. This highlights the differences in the skill level between Aemond and Jace, as he and Aegon received closer attention to hone their fighting abilities.

Despite being the significantly weaker opponent Luke intervenes once Jace is kicked to the ground and only manages to grab onto Aemond’s left arm with both of his hands, allowing him to freely swing a direct punch into his face which resulted in a broken nose, as he falls to the ground and crying out in pain. At this point in time, this is where a de-escalation should’ve occurred, where someone should’ve yelled at the ongoing fight to stop or threaten to get an adult, but the kids are now rushing with adrenaline and acting on emotions of anger.

Jace gets up and proceeds to push Aemond to the ground. Jace, Baela and Rhaena take advantage of his helpless situation and jump him. All three continue to take out their anger on him and repeatedly hit him. They are all worked up from the emotional turmoil, as the girls mourn their mother and Jace cannot properly mourn Ser Harwin, someone he looked up to. All three are at fault, as they choose to physically react at the taunts aimed at them, instead of choosing to walk away from the situation.

Aemond manages to kick Jace away from him and grabs Rhaena proceeding to throw her towards her sister, who was on the opposite side of him. Luke runs at Aemond, as he quickly stops him by grabbing his neck. His free hand stumbles across a rock, as he stands up and holds the rock above Luke, posed in a striking position.

This is where things really enter the point of no return, as Aemond is the first one to introduce an object as a potential weapon into the fight. Of course, once again hardcore stans assert he had the rock for self-defense and is not the one in the wrong, as the other children had jumped him. I can to some extent agree with this conclusion, but we have to keep in mind that despite being outnumbered Aemond did gain the upper hand, without the need of a weapon. The introduction of the rock served as a dangerous element in escalating the fight, as he already restrained Luke by the throat with one hand.

Out of all the children there Luke is the smallest target, therefore physically he posed no threat to Aemond in this specific situation. He didn’t have the strength to break free from his chokehold, while the rest of the children can only watch in horror as Aemond once again runs his mouth after gaining the upper hand. Aemond is at fault for continuing to verbally provoke his cousins, as he knows which buttons to push to get a reaction, further supporting the idea that he wanted to fight them all, to prove himself worthy as a Targaryen, that just claimed the largest dragon.

Aemond threatens Luke stating: “you will die screaming in flames just as your father did, bastards.” I interpreted Aemond’s threat as being directed to not only Luke but to Jace as well, as he glances over at him while he spits out the word ‘bastards’ in clear contempt for the two boys. I consider this line as an indicator to Aemond’s upbringing, as he upholds the notion on the importance of being a pure Targaryen, while he views his nephews as lesser than, due to the rumours regarding their parentage. This highlights his mother’s influence that shaped his belief and disdain for his nephews, that he willingly committed the highest of treasons by insulting the heir to the Irone Throne.

Luke struggles against his hold as he states his father is still alive. Aemond lowers the rock only to direct his attention towards Jace, as he mocks him on Luke’s lack of awareness regarding the rumours. To me there are two interpretations on Aemond’s use of the title ‘Lord Strong’. One, is alluding to the deceased man himself, Ser Harwin Strong. The other is Aemond using the title to taunt Jace on his identity, by addressing him while using his rumoured father’s last name.

This insult triggers Jace to pull out his concealed dagger. Jace knew he had no chances on attacking Aemond with just his fists, while he has a rock in one hand. He is now clouded by his anger, wanting to hurt Aemond for insulting a man he considered an important role model in his life. He is also battling his inner conflicting thoughts on his own parentage, as he is at an age where he is aware of the rumours, which would only cause further confusions, as he tries to cope with the loss of his potential biological father.

Rhaena shouts his name and I believe there are two different interpretations on why she called out his name. The first one is she is concerned about his safety before he engages in a serious altercation with the addition of weapons and the second is that she called his name to hopefully make him regain his senses, prompting him to stop the fight. This is where both girls should’ve shouted at the boys to stop, before someone ended up getting seriously injured. But also, we don’t know if words would’ve been enough, as the situation continued to snowball out of control.

Aemond punches Luke again in the face, which was completely unnecessary as he could’ve easily pushed him away. This portrays the influence of Ser Criston’s training, as he still felt the need to hit Luke despite him being the weaker opponent that is at his mercy. Luke stumbles into an armed Jace, where he could’ve accidently hurt Luke, but luckily, he withdrew the dagger and quickly pushes him out of the way, to allow him to attack Aemond.

He swings the dagger, as Aemond jumps back and manages to successfully dodge the blade. Seeing an opening he goes on the attack and hits Jace on the head with the rock. I agree that Aemond’s reaction to hit Jace was in self-defence, but that argument is invalid when he proceeds to hold the rock aimed at a defenceless Jace. Aemond apologists love to absolve him of any wrongdoing and responsibility, something that I will not gloss over. He could have stopped the altercation from further spiralling out of control, by immediately dropping the rock, after disarming Jace and just state they should stop fighting, as it wasn’t going to change what has happened.

But unfortunately, he allows the position of having the power dictate his actions, as he enjoys having control over the situation. This hints to his sadistic nature by his decision to raise his arm, holding the rock aimed in a striking position towards a helpless Jace. He glances at the girls as Rhaena shakes her head, indicating for him to stop, before he went too far.

Luke crawls towards the discarded dagger, as he just witnessed Aemond hit his brother with the rock and acting on instinct to protect his brother, he intends to arm himself, knowing he was no match against Aemond. I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke recalled Ser Criston’s ruthless teachings on not allowing the opponent to get up, once they’re knocked on the ground, further contributing to his fear for his brother’s safety.

Aemond did himself no favours in stopping the unfortunate outcome, as Jace most likely felt that Aemond would seriously injure him or at worst kill him, after the numerous threats he dished out.

Aemond approaches Jace with his arm still raised, as Jace glances over to the side and notices Luke with the dagger. Trusting his brother to rescue him, Jace grabs a handful of dirt and throws it into Aemond’s face, successfully distracting him.

Aemond covers his face with his hand upon reflex and lowers his hand, as he turns his head towards Luke, while he swings his arm with the dagger and ends up accidently slashing his eye.

Luke was motivated by his desire to protect his brother and I doubt he had any malicious intentions to purposefully blind Aemond, which is also a ridiculous claim Aemond hardcore stans believe in. I interpreted his actions were to hurt Aemond with the intent of causing pain by probably cutting his hand or arm, but not to severely injure him, as he possibly just wanted to deter him from smashing his brother’s face with a huge rock. He just didn’t realize the severe repercussions that his actions would end up leading to, as he couldn’t have predicted Aemond lowering his hand or turning his face towards him.

[drakaripykiros130ac]

They are so desperate to promote their political agendas, that they are trying to turn everyone into gay/bi etc. Game of Thrones was spared. Wouldn’t have stood a chance if it came out now.

Can you imagine the nerve to force Rhaenyra to have an affair with someone like Mysaria of all people? This woman is a devious wench. She was never meant to be a confidant. She was the female version of Larys. Rhaenyra only tolerated her because Daemon was the one who insisted that she would be helpful. But she certainly wanted her husband’s ex-mistress out of her life.

This makes as much sense as the whole invented Rhaenyra/Alicent bullshit.

The way I see it go down in the writing room: we need to have two women kissing already. Don’t care who. Let’s toss a coin.

If they were that desperate, why didn’t they pursue a relationship which made sense from the start, like Rhaenyra and Laena?

Can they just come out and say that this show is only loosely inspired by the book? Or just cut ties with it officially? GRRM has already cut ties with the whole lot of them who ruined his work (don’t blame him).

There are two things which are absolutely canon:

1. Daemon was highly possessive of Rhaenyra. Man or woman, he would have struck down anyone who tried to touch her (those believing he would be okay with this are delusional).

2. Rhaenyra would have never cheated on Daemon. She loved him too much for that.

What they did this season is much worse than the first. Way worse. And this is not just me talking. It’s GRRM as well, who has not been shy about making his feelings on this whole thing quite clear. He went from “the show tells us what actually happened” to “the show and the book are two separate canons”. I rest my case.

[benjinotes-deactivated20250217]

save me team black man. SAVE ME.

[rynnthefangirl]

Is it character assassination for Aemond to try to kill his brother? Lots of TGs seem to think so, arguing that Aemond loved his brother and was fiercely loyal to him in the book.

So let’s look at the evidence TG has for Aegon and Aemond having a close loving loyal brotherly bond:

1. Aemond fighting and killing Aegon’s enemies — which are also his enemies. If Nyra takes the throne Aemond’s head is the first on the chopping block, so he has a vested interest in fighting for Aegon to keep the throne and maintain a united front against Team Black.

2. Aemond not styling himself as King and only as Prince Regent when Aegon is incapacitated— he literally cannot be the king while the king still lives. By law he can only be Prince regent.

3. Aemond not murdering his brother and usurping the throne— the bar is in Hell. Maybe he didn’t do that bc Aegon was guarded, and he could’nt kill him undetected. Maybe he came very close to, but decided not to at the last minute. You know who also never murdered their brother? Aegon IV and Aemon. Who canonically despised each other.

4. Aegon building a statue of Aemond— which is something that could be argued towards Aegon loving his brother, but not the other way around. And even then, the statues could also be interpreted as Aegon emphasizing his victory and rightful kingship by celebrating those who died for TG as war heroes.

None of these are explicit evidence of love. You can certainly headcanon that dynamic between them, but it’s just that— a headcanon. If GRRM wanted to write them as close and loving, he could have and would have. Don’t believe me? Look at how he writes Aegon III and Viserys II:

[Upon Viserys’ return to Kings Landing] “King Aegon III began to weep, throwing himself upon the boy in a fierce embrace”

“The return of his brother from the dead worked a wondrous change in Aegon III. His Grace had never truly forgiven himself for leaving Viserys to his fate… deep down, the Broken King felt himself unworthy to sit the Iron Throne. He had not been able to save his little brother…”

“As a boy, Aegon had worshipped his three elder half brothers, but it was Viserys who shared his bedchamber, his lessons, and his games. ‘Some part of the King had died with his brother in the Gullet… it is plain to see that Aegon’s affection for Gaemon Palehair was born of his desire to replace the little brother he had lost, but only when Viserys was restored to him did Aegon seem once more alive and whole.’”

“Prince Viserys once again became King Aegon’s constant companion… whilst Gaemon Palehair was cast aside and forgotten, and even Queen Daenaera was ignored.”

“Viserys [after Gaemon’s death] broke his stubborn silence to comfort His Grace in his grief, and sat with him by the Queens bedside.”

“For the rest of his days, [Viserys] was the only person Aegon ever fully trusted.”

George paints an explicit and undeniable dynamic between Aegon and Viserys— one of love, trust, and joy. George could have written such a dynamic between Aegon and Aemond. There was ample opportunity. He could have spoke of a close shared childhood, had Aegon comfort Aemond when he lost an eye, had Aemond display distress/guilt/grief when he nearly killed Aegon. But George doesn’t. Instead, what is Aemond’s only recorded response to nearly killing his own brother? “[The Crown] looks better on me than it ever did him.” Could you imagine either Aegon III or Viserys II ever responding that way to the other nearly dying. Nope.

You can certainly headcanon Aegon and Aemond as having a deep and loving brotherly bond, but George does not explicitly write them as having that dynamic. Their book dynamic is under explored and ambiguous. Comparing them to Aegon III and Viserys II, a brotherly bond that IS explicitly written to be loving, makes that apparent. GRRM had ample opportunity to add moments/quotes like the ones I showed for Aegon and Viserys, but he chose not to. The show interpreting Aemond as hateful towards his brother is not a wild deviation from his book counterpart, and is clearly based upon his recorded response to Aegon’s near death.

TLDR: Aegon and Aemond do not have a canonically loving relationship. You can interpret it that way, but looking at the text, considering authorial intent, and comparing them to an explicitly written close brother duo shows the ambiguity of their dynamic and the openness for interpretation that HOTD has fairly capitalized on.

[theroguedragon3]

I never understood why it's believed Aemond and Aegon had a strong bond, when Aemond is quoted saying the crown looks better on him, whilst his brother is still alive but suffering from his wounds. Their relationship is unexplored but like you said, GRRM could've included atleast ONE scene that demonstrated their supposed close bond but he didn't.

[prideprejudce]

alicent realizing that viserys deathbed confession to make aegon king was a giant misunderstanding and now there's nothing she can do about it because her sons are out for blood and she has no power over them anymore. she's now doomed to be haunted by her own pre war decisions for the rest of her life

[darklinaforever]

Daemon as father :

- Seems to want children in general, but not in the state of his marriage to Rhea Royce.

- Teaches Baela high Valyrian himself.

-Shares a goodnight kiss with Baela, and continues to watch her as she walks away.

- Daemon kissing Laena's baby bump.

- Rhaena saying Daemon ignores her.

- Laena replying that in reality he is doing his best.

- Daemon completely unsure how to handle Laena's traumatic death with Baela and Rhaena.

- Daemon telling Viserys that Pentos is his home and that of his children, therefore his daughters.

- Daemon subtly checking where Baela and Rhaena are when he returns from his intimate moment with Rhaenyra in the great hall of Drifmark.

- Daemon who agrees to honor Laena's will by sending Baela as Rhaenys' ward to know the part of her heritage linked to Drifmark (in addition to obviously wanting to calm Rhaenys in relation to Laenor).

- Daemon maintains a corresponds with his daughter Baela.

- Daemon having kept Rhaena by his side in Dragonstone.

- Daemon caressing Rhaenyra's baby bump.

- Daemon defending the position of heir of Drifmark of his stepson Lucerys.

- Daemon looking proud to present his sons Aegon III and Viserys II.

- Daemon stroking Viserys II's hair.

- Daemon who tries to console Viserys II when he cries.

- Daemon decapitates Vaemond for insulting his stepsons of bastard.

- Daemon who agrees to marry Baela & Rhaena to Jace & Luke, therefore allowing his daughters a good marriage, both politically speaking and with good people.

- Daemon who seems proud that Lucerys finally has his place as future lord of Drifmark assured.

- Daemon seems particularly happy and cheerful to toast the engagement of his daughters and sons-in-law.

- Daemon who stops the fight led by his daughter Baela and his stepsons Luke and Jace against Aegon II and Aemond.

- Daemon who shows Jace what the definition of true loyalty is.

- Daemon who defends the position of heir to the Iron Throne that Jace has.

- Daemon who collapses on the beach after the death of his stillborn daughter Visenya.

- Daemon watching Baela & Rhaena during baby Visenya's funeral.

- Daemon who walks towards Rhaenyra to announce the death of Lucerys, looking sad but also looking like he is wiping away a tear.

- Cut scene, seen as canonical by the directors of HOTD, where Baela says that she is a dragon rider, like her father, in addition to her mother and Rhaenys, with pride. Which wouldn't make sense if she didn't have a good relationship with her father.

- Not counting all the positive cut scenes whose photos have been revealed, and also the other positive scenes from the original script also cut...

- Visibly resentful / bitter towards Rhaenys to whom he reproaches that she could have exterminated the Greens and that thus Lucerys would still be alive. [S2]

TG logic : Daemon is the worst father ever ! He doesn't love his children and only cares about himself !

Corlys : Ready to marry off his daughter when she hasn't even had her period yet, so she is still a child for their world, all in order to get closer to the Iron Throne. Don't accept that his son is gay. Wants to marry his son Laenor to Rhaenyra, even though he knows it would potentially be a bad marriage and Rhaenys warns him that as the husband of Rhaenyra, the heir to the throne, Laenor could be in danger in the future.

Otto : Essentially pimping his daughter by forcing her to visit Viserys secretly in his chambers (something which could greatly damage his daughter's reputation, particularly her virtue, if it became known, so basically, it could totally ruin her for in eyes of the society), so that Viserys becomes attached to her enough to want to marry her, that she bears his future children, and therefore potentially put his own lineage at him on the Iron Throne.

Basically, Corlys and Otto think : Are we jokes for you ?!

Logical conclusion therefore for Daemon : A correct but imperfect father.

Aegon II as father :

- Never seemed to want children.

- Didn't seem interested in them.

- Doesn't seem interested in them once he has them. (legitimate children)

- Don't share any scenes with them.

- Has no dialogue referring to his children.

- Rape their nanny.

- Enjoys watching his illegitimate children fight in arenas to survive.

- Wishes to leave Westeros without any mention of his children and therefore officially leave them behind.

- Does not, to our knowledge, have any type of positive deleted scenes related to his children, nor any positive dialogue or description from the original script between him and his children.

- Differentiates his daughter from his son (now this boy he his heir for the throne I remember) who are twins when he sees them from the front. [S2]

- Doesn't seem interested in his daughter. [S2]

- Does not know that his son is taking lessons or where they take place. [S2]

- When he is finally with his son, he lifts him up to prevent him from going up the steps of the council room, smiling. [S2]

- Then smiled again while watching his son try to play with a ball once seated. [S2]

TG logic : Aegon II is such a good father who loves all his children ! He his so a family men ! Much better than anything Daemon will ever be on this subject !

Logical Conclusion : Aegon II is a father who doesn't care about all his children and is clearly absent from their lives, now only caring about his son because he is now his heir to the Iron Throne.

[rogers-carter]

Did you find what you needed?

[darklinaforever]

Forehead touching as a love language from Daemon is truly the most adorable thing in the world...

[theroguedragon3]

After lashing out in anger, when Rhaenyra finally returns, he checks on her with the smallest of gestures, as her council waits for her orders.

[gameofthronesdaily]

Emma D'arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen — House of the Dragon: 2.01 "A Son for a Son"

[theroguedragon3]

Emma's portrayal of Rhaenyra's grief is gut wrenching and the inclusion of Syrax mourning the loss of Arrax, makes this loss reflect the end of negotiations and what will be the start of Fire and Blood.

[gameofthronesdaily]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 02.01 A Son for a Son

[theroguedragon3]

What a way to start the season, opening with the Starks theme song and revisiting Winterfell left me feeling nostalgic, with the introduction of Lord Cregan Stark. I was disappointed that they cut away from Jace's reaction to the news about Luke's death, it reminded me of S8 when Jon was about to disclose his true parentage to Sansa and Arya, only for the most important part to be left off screen. There are already writing decisions that are questionable but will have to wait and see how the rest of the season plays out.

[sugurugetos]

RHAENYRA TARGARYEN & JACAERYS TARGARYEN HOUSE OF THE DRAGON — 2.01 (2024)

[theroguedragon3]

Despite the lack of scenes from Rhaenyra in this episode, Emma truly gave a heart wrenching portrayal of Rhaenyra's grief. Harry's performance of trying to remain composed only to break down in his mother's arms was palpable.

[lanaisdoe]

about WHY Daemon COULD NOT interfere during the big hall Rhaenyra-Alicent confrontation, all's logical...

So it all starts with disheveled-looking Daemon and Rhaenyra being the last ones to enter the hall in the middle of the night when shit had already hit the fan, with everyone else already being there... it's awkward enough as it is, the two of them walking in together, especially the circumstances given: Rhaenyra constantly being accused of having an affair outside of marriage/ having illegitimate children, and here she comes all disheveled in the middle of the night with none other than Daemon, her once rumoured lover, who had just buried his wife...

Daemon knows, Daemon heard even Vaemond not-so-subtly accuse Rhaenyra of all that in his funeral speech for Laena, as insane as that was. So Daemon is well aware of the dire situation in which Rhaenyra already is, and obviously isn't gonna add fuel to the fire. Caring for Rhaenyra as much as he does, he slows down significantly, and tries to make it seem like he only arrived AFTER her, not with her. He walks slowly, carefully, assessing the situation, and then he stops by the door, basically hiding away from all prying eyes, low-key keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble, trying to understand what's up...

BUT, naturally, this DOES NOT escape Otto's judging eye... (and Daemon notices Otto noticing soon after...)

So Otto immediately notices Daemon arriving with Rhaenyra and i think Otto had been suspecting there had been sth serious going on with these two for well over a decade.

I mean, we even got a close up shot (in 1x4) of Otto watching intently as Rhaenyra watched and gravitated towards Daemon, giving him heart eyes during the garden conversation post Stepstones victory,

he noticed Rhaenyra's heart eyes but ALSO Daemon's head tilt and him being all giddy and excited/flustered as Rhaenyra approached, so yeah, Otto knew.. look at how he looked at both of them:

I think Otto had always known and was pretty wary of their potential union...

Back to the big hall 1x7 scene... So it all started -> accusations, ofc Rhaenyra's children being illegitimate was brought up again, and that's when it was suggested they brought Laenor, kids' 'father' to speak on that matter... but ofc, as always, Laenor was nowhere to be found. And Rhaenyra was left to fend for herself yet again, and she had to come up with an excuse for him. But what was worse, she herself did not have a very good excuse, as she'd just returned from that beach shack where they'd just made love with Daemon, so she awkwardly tries to come up with a believable enough excuse about being unable to sleep and taking a walk, while Daemon is watching intently. And it seems to me his expression suggests he is concerned but at the same time he also finds Rhaenyra's excuse kinda funny(?), still feeling her under him just moments ago... it's like only the two of them know what had gone down and it isn't easy to hide it since it's all so fresh... Anyway, he knows it's all a "shit just got real" situation, but still, for obvious reasons he CANNOT do anything about it, there's no way he can help Rhaenyra or defend her without raising questions, and so he continues assessing the situation:

^we see him staring at her while she's coming up with her excuse and right after we see him low-key checking reactions of everyone there to Rhaenyra's excuse, checking whether they'd bought it, and if all was alright...

Thankfully, the conversation takes an expected turn, people bringing up Laenor's preferences... Then we have Viserys questioning his sons about the rumour about Rhaenyra... And when Aegon voices it in front of everyone that it's not just a rumour, and that everyone KNOWS it, we see Rhaenyra completely defenseless and defeated with tears in her eyes. And again we get a shot of Daemon staring at her, now with concern:

and again Daemon is just standing there helplessly, he knows he cannot interfere without making the situation EVEN worse for Rhaenyra...

His concern gets even more evident when Alicent eventually asks ser Crispin to bring her Lucerys's eye, Daemon looks pretty tensed now:

And then the mess starts: Alicent attacks Rhaenyra, and here's where it gets INTERESTING -> ser Crispin darts towards Alicent, and quite possibly at the same time Daemon darts towards Rhaenyra (although from the way the scene was edited in the episode, it looked like Daemon only jumped up when he saw Crispin):

but let's also take a look at a DIFFERENT camera angle which made me think about this situation again, look: Daemon in the picture above, when he jumps up, he is looking LEFT (Rhaenyra was to his LEFT the whole time, if you look at the hall from the top, you see Crispin was on the right), so it seems to me that Daemon jumps up because of Alicent attacking Rhaenyra and only THEN when he also notices crazed Crispin running, Daemon turns to stop him instead... i mean, who knows:

^ this is the shot we get, Alicent attacking, and Daemon moving towards the mess, he's in the middle, between Rhaenyra/Alicent and crazed Crispin to his RIGHT, so it's like, he asseses the situation, sees that Rhaenyra's got it, and so he immediately turns to shield Rhaenyra by stopping Crispin, look at Daemon's body position, it's like he was not going to stop Crispin, as his body had been turned more towards the circle with Rhaenyra, and so when he meets Crispin to stop him, he has to take a sharp turn right to meet Crispin. He had been aiming for the circle with Rhaenyra it seems:

if he wanted to just stop Crispin, he could have moved more to the right, go straight for Crispin, no? ...But no, it's like he was aiming for the circle first... o_O

My conclusion? Based on all their positions and movements, Daemon jumped up to run to defend Rhaenyra, then when he was in the middle, he noticed Crispin, then he saw Rhaenyra was ok, and so last minute he turned RIGHT to stop Crispin instead. (alternatively, it's simply that the scene was shot several times from many different angles and the final cut rearranged the scenes so that it caused confusion as to what happened when and how :D ...so I give up, i blame the editing!)

Anyway, after this situation, we get Rhaenyra/Daemon parallels again -> Rhaenyra fiercely stopping crazed Alicent, Daemon fiercely stopping crazed Crispin, side by side, Daemon's there, all this time, as Rhaenyra's shadow :

So to sum up the verbal part of the big hall confrontation scene : Daemon did not want to get openly involved NOT cuz he was afraid, or that he was protecting himself there, QUITE THE OPPOSITE. It was to protect Rhaenyra. Daemon knew that ANY kind of his involvement, defending Rhaenyra so suddenly and so openly in front of the whole court despite them not having been in any contact for 10 years, and now arriving late together, with Daemon who has made it a point to stay away from all court affairs for good, now suddenly out of nowhere siding with the King's Landing's outcast Rhaenyra against the whole court just like that? A freshly widowed man now being the only one to stand up for the black sheep Rhaenyra in front of everyone, fiercely protecting her honor against all odds, even getting into a fight for this woman, ready to shed blood for her, on the night of his wife's funeral ??? - well that would've raised tons of questions and not only among the rivals of Rhaenyra, but now also among Velaryons who were like, the last ones that still at least respected/accepted Daemon and Rhaenyra as family...

So with the question of Rhaenyra's decency out there, Daemon being all "back away from my girl" would've been the last nail in Rhaenyra's decency's coffin. And Daemon would never jeopardize Rhaenyra's reputation like that or put her at risk.

Remember how he backed down in front of Otto (despite the fact he was ready to roast Otto right there and then) on Dragonstone just cuz Rhaenyra was there and he wanted to help her cause? Not taking her away on her wedding day despite her pleas, was also for her sake. He chose Rhaenyra's well-being instead of his own desire to marry her himself - thus making sure they wouldn't take away her right to the throne or exile her for his own selfish desire and Rhaenyra's naivety. Ultimately, what was important for her, ended up being more important to him than his own well-being...

Back to commenting on the post 1x7 big hall confrontation: when the big hall fight was finally over, and everyone had seen hysterical crazy Alicent, in the silence we hear Aemond say he's contented despite it all cuz he'd got a dragon: and it seems to me that at this very moment Rhaenyra turns right, to stare at Daemon in shock (remember? they heard/saw Vhagar in the sky after their beach lovemaking, and they looked confused, it's like now it all fell into place, and so Rhaenyra is immediately searching for Daemon in shock)

(again, i may be wrong about the angles, but i'm basing this on where all of them were standing). And right after the shot of Rhaenyra, we get this shot of Daemon staring left, as a reaction to a reaction? that is also why i think they were looking at each other... but who knows?

Anyway, after this we get Viserys who finally puts an END to it all.

And right after Viserys, we get this shot of Daemon, staring intently at Rhaenyra, ready to dart her way, and a (still) crazed Crispin glaring at Daemon (who now has other thoughts on his mind already and couldn't care less about Crispin):

and right after this shot we see Daemon getting through the crowd to where he's been looking -> he's walking fast and straight to Rhaenyra, (despite Viserys still being there, kind of ,although leaving... so Daemon is still fairly subtle about his protectiveness...but at the same time, he sees that people are already dispersing, so he feels more free to act now that the show is over, and Viserys made it clear no one was allowed to continue that "Rhaenyra inquisition", so either A/ Daemon knew that him being by her side now at least wouldn't endanger her anymore. B/ He's understood that everything bad that could've been said against her has already been said and so him being with her couldn't make things worse, C/ or the moment when he saw Rhaenyra get threatened with a knife, made something snap inside of him and he decided to stand by her now, no matter what, like, to hell with it ...) And what do YOU guys think?

First thing Daemon does when he reaches Rhaenyra, he immediately checks her hand, her well-being being his number one priority again:

And then he shields / half-embraces her,

and later half-embraces Rhaenyra's boys as well, when they get to them, creating this "new family protection circle" :)

I also love Crispin's expression when he sees Rhaenyra's got Daemon now,

Daemon, who is the feared Rogue prince, fierce King of the Stepstones and the Narrow sea, the former commander of the Night watch, rider of Caraxes and the one who's first called him ser Crispin)

- do you think Crispin understood here that Daemon and Rhaenyra were now a thing?

I think Crispin got it right there and then. Hell, if I were Crispin, I'd shit my pants if I saw Daemon giving me THIS glare ... :D

[daemyradaily]

First Look at Daemon and Rhaenyra in Season 2 of House of the Dragon

[theroguedragon3]

Based on season 1, my expectations are on the lower end, but on the positive side at least Rhaenyra's wardrobe has upgraded.

[drakaripykiros130ac]

Fact: Daemon annihilated Otto at the Council Meeting in episode 1 and the poor guy couldn’t handle it

I love the Council meeting in episode 1, just as much as the one in episode 6. Because in pretty much both of them, Daemon and Rhaenyra manage to outplay Otto and Alicent. Having already analyzed how Rhaenyra’s perfect arguments led to Alicent self-pitting herself and drinking, let’s move on to a Council meeting that took place many years before that.

The meeting was called (no doubt by Otto) to debate Daemon’s abilities and choices as Commander of the City Watch. As far as we have seen, Daemon has done an incredible job with the Gold Cloaks. He was skilled and trained the men himself. With him in charge, the smallfolk were safe, and they named him “Prince of the City”. Once he left, and the City Watch remained in the control of the Hightowers (because they were ruling in Viserys’ stead), and the streets became unsafe once more (confirmed by Mysaria in episode 9).

In episode 1, following a night in which Daemon “cleaned” the streets of thieves, murderers and rapists before Viserys’ tourney, he was questioned by the Council in relation to his manner of doing things. And he explained himself pretty well.

While his manner may be perceived as cruel and exaggerated by lords who sit on their asses in the comforts of the Red Keep (*cough* Otto *cough*), it was a necessary evil. Daemon knows the people. He stayed among the smallfolk and understands the streets perfectly. He practically ruled them.

Daemon’s night of terror eliminated dangerous criminals, while also creating just the right amount of fear to keep the rest of the people in line. As such, no one on the streets of King’s Landing would dare put a toe out of line with the Gold Cloaks in perfect shape.

The justice system of the Crown was clearly failing, if the smallfolk were starting to perceive King’s Landing as lawless and terrifying. Action had to be taken. Which is not to say that what Daemon did should be the exact way to enforce law and order on a daily basis. No. It was a one time thing - a reminder. In his own way, Daemon got the job done.

And he explained it so well, that Otto didn’t have any counter argument.

What irritated the Hand even more was that he was slowly becoming the outsider, other Lords at the table slowly starting to show their support for Daemon’s manner of enforcing the laws. Even Viserys saw his brother’s point and agreed to it, as long as Daemon did not make a habit out of it.

So, what did Otto do when he realized he was losing?

He changed the subject, of course. He changed it to one which he knew would irritate his adversary: Daemon’s horrible marriage to Rhea Royce.

How exactly was Daemon’s marriage to Rhea Royce any of Otto’s business and how did it have anything to do with Daemon’s excellent capability to lead the City Watch? It wasn’t and it didn’t. Otto’s only intention here was to get a rise out of Daemon and taunt him with a subject he knew would be upsetting to him.

And it worked, if only temporarily. Daemon was getting angrier by the minute, and rightfully so, at the way Otto was butting into his personal life. Because when logic and facts fail you, you move to something personal, right Otto?

Unfortunately for him, Otto miscalculated. He thought he would be able to win some points by hitting below the belt, since the whole point of why he called the Council meeting backfired on him. Otto made a mistake and messed with the wrong person. Clearly provoked, Daemon turned things around and put Otto in his place by bringing up his dead wife. He could hit below the belt too. No problem. And then…

The expression on Otto’s face, like “How dare he bring up my dead wife even though I started it by changing the subject of this precise Council meeting and taunting him with his own marriage problems?”

Game. Set. Match. He taunts a dragon and then is surprised when he gets burned (kind of like his own daughter). His greed, hunger for power, terrible reasoning and betrayal of the ruling House are what will get his head chopped off.

[hail-dondus]

House of the Dragon Finale/Series thoughts

As someone who finished Fire and Blood a few days ago… oh boy do I have some thoughts.

Obviously spoilers below the cut for all of S1 and for F&B, don’t read if you don’t want spoilers, etc etc.

Oh fucking BOY what a goddamn mess

Let’s get the rant/complaining out of the way first:

Just to be clear, the cast are all amazing, my complaints are NOT directed at them, I love them, they did the best with what they had. The writers, however: 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻

The writers so wanted to make Team Green as likeable as possible, it’s actually pathetic, and they basically whitewashed every single one of their actions instead of allowing them to do morally bad things - instead, everything was a misunderstanding or an accident.

Like hear me out, the reason Team Green is even interesting to read or watch is BECAUSE of the bad things they do. That’s literally ten times more interesting than “oopsie daisy! Accidentally started a war” and no one actively choosing to do anything

All of the key Team Green players have basically no agency, it’s actually sad: this is especially obvious in regards to Alicent and Aemond

In F&B, Alicent intentionally ignored Viserys’ wishes of putting Rhaenyra on the throne and put her r*pist son on there instead. In HOTD, it’s “Alicent misunderstood the ramblings of a clearly delirious and dying man and is not in the wrong”. Also in F&B, she is much older than Rhaenyra, who is only 10 when Alicent and Viserys marry - which makes it kind of funny because Alicent is literally beefing with a 10 year old. But in HOTD, they aged Rhaenyra up and Alicent down to be the same age, and invented some “they were clearly lesbians” BS for no reason - and no, it’s not me being “homophobic”, the fact is that Rhaenyra and Alicent’s friendship/relationship has constantly reminded me of a toxic friendship that I was in for more than half of my life, so no, I don’t ship that thank you very much

By the way, accusing Daemyra fans of being homophobic because we don’t ship Rhaenicent is so fucking dumb, most of us are gay/lesbian/bisexual/not straight?!? And most of us are mad that they erased Laena/Rhaenyra in favour of some toxic nonsense with Alicent

I don’t even like Alicent but the whole Larys-foot-scene was so unnecessary. What was the point in showing her as a victim even after her husband’s death? What was the point in showing yet another example of abuse? I’m so tired of shows using abuse and violence against women for shock value or plot drama, it’s so gross and it’s never treated seriously or with the sensitivity it deserves. This whole show has basically made the female characters defenceless weak victims and made the men key players

And no, I’m not saying victims of abuse/assault are weak or whatever. I’m saying that the show has gone out of its way to make every single female character a victim instead of showing any of them actively making any decisions/taking any action, and instead of giving them actual character development. And I’m also saying that this show hasn’t dealt with the topic well, it’s been very mishandled.

Basically… Let let women be evil! Let women be fucking unhinged!

Then there’s Aemond: his character defining moment is him becoming a kin-slayer and murdering his teenage nephew in that Storms End moment. He celebrated the fact he did it. But in HOTD, it’s painted as “oops he didn’t mean to! He just couldn’t control his dragon!”… which is so lame for him as a character, like what makes him and Team Green interesting is that they do awful things. It being reduced to accidents is just so lame.

The fact that people out there are actively stanning Aegon II even after seeing the scene of the maid sobbing after being r*ped AND knowing he’s done it before… y’all are sick. Literally sick. And I also blame Sara Hess for basically saying “yeah he’s a r*pist but we can still redeem him”, like no??? Shut the fuck up and stop trying to say we should like a r*pist?!?!

It’s so painfully obvious that the writers for each episode all disagreed with each other and never tried to work together because characterisation is all over the fucking place

In one episode you’ve got writers like “daemon is evil and I don’t know why people like him”, and then another it’s “he loves his family and he’s got light sides too”… it’s a MESS

Can I just say that Rhaenyra has also been diminished and denied any agency as a character either; we saw some of that fire and fierceness in her when she was younger, but then when older she kind of just became really complacent and lost that fire. And that’s not me blaming Emma, they did great with shitty scripts they had, but it’s a problem.

Like you seriously think that book!Rhaenyra would have just accepted being choked?!? She’d have fucking murdered the man who did that

WHICH BRINGS US TO DAEMON

Matt Smith clearly pissed someone off at HBO because how is it that every single scene that shows Daemon in a remotely positive light is deleted?!? Eg. Hugging his daughters, comforting Rhaenyra after Visenya, etc. Matt Smith HAS to have somehow rubbed someone the wrong way because that poor man has been done so dirty

Matt Smith is quite frankly the ONLY one who fucking understands Daemon at this point, judging by his interviews, even GRRM is getting the side eye from me at this point given how he signed off on this travesty of an adaptation, especially given that he said Daemon is his favourite Targaryen

Daemon would NEVER hurt Rhaenyra is the thing (not unless it was in a kinky way), and anyone who respects the source material knows that. Are they the healthiest couple? No, not in the slightest, but this is the world of ASOIAF, pretty much no couple is 100% healthy in this universe, and they were actually one of the healthier examples quite frankly (as opposed to Aegon/Helaena, Sansa with Joffrey and Ramsey, etc)

“Why are you so surprised he choked Rhaenyra? He killed his first wife” — that’s just it, in F&B he was nowhere NEAR the fucking Vale when Rhea fell. Like the book made it painfully clear that he was not there when she fell and died several days after… but the show had to make him evil somehow, because apparently feminism is now “all men should be evil”.

By the way, you think a little OOC choking is gonna stop me shipping them and writing fanfics for them? Bitch, you wish, I’ve shipped pairings with worse problems than a little tension-charged choking

One thing I will say is that at least the show made their relationship less of a probable “groomer” thing. Although, in the context of the world of ASOIAF, a teenage girl would be considered of age and married off - by modern standards, no, that’s wrong, but that world isn’t running by modern standards so 🤷🏻 but yeah, I felt like the show made it less like Daemon was grooming her at the start and more like they had a chemistry simmering under the surface that they were both playing around with? Idk

Also, no, don’t give a fuck that they’re uncle and niece: incest is quite literally a Targ tradition, literally all of them marry their brothers/sisters/uncles/aunts/cousins etc. In real life? Absolutely agree, in real life that’s gross and I don’t condone that, but this is a FANTASY show. Also, if you’re watching a show about a family that is literally built on incestuous relationships, then don’t complain when there’s incest 🤡

This show has given the show-only fans brain rot because they literally saw Rhaenyra go “I’m not a child, I want you” to Daemon and STILL think he forced her into their marriage, like no sis, girlie was gagging for him and I don’t blame her!

I literally don’t care what the show runners and writers say, they’ve proven they don’t know what the ever-loving fuck they’re talking about: I am going to continue firmly believing that the reason Daemon left suddenly at the brothel is because he didn’t want to fuck her in a dirty brothel because he knew she deserved better than that - that, and he realised that she was still very young and inexperienced, and he didn’t want her to jump into it spur of the moment only to regret it later. If Rhaenicent shippers can believe Alicent and Rhaenyra are in love (lmfao) and that Alicent cut her arm open out of love (🤡) I’m allowed to believe this if I want to!

I will admit that leaving her there with her pants down was a shitty thing to do, but hey, it’s Daemon, he’s morally grey and that’s why we like him! I’m going to theorise that he had to get out of there as soon as possible because he knew if he stayed, he’d do something he’d regret (like taking her against a wall)

The fact that Baela and Rhaena had barely any lines, especially in the last episode, is fucking disgusting. Like truly disgusting. The show had time to show us that disgusting feet scene as well as Aegon wanking out a window but NOT to give those two girls any lines??? Especially since they’re black???

Also, Baela in F&B is described as having cropped her hair as short as a boy's, so it would not whip about her face when she was riding, and as being a tomboy - not just as a child but as an adult too. We saw a little of that when she was younger but they seem to have abandoned that since aging the kids up?!?

By the way, Laena was done SO dirty by the writers; changing her death from childbirth to basically offing herself was… definitely a choice. On the one hand, yes, showing her dying in childbirth five episodes after Aemma dying in childbirth may be repetitive, but guess what? That’s life for women in this universe! And it’s like she decided that it’s more honorable to kill herself than die in childbirth, like the way she talks about not wanting to die giving birth is very… off. It’s like the writers are saying it’s not feminist to die giving birth or some shit???

I do genuinely feel like some of the time skips (especially the one after Rhaenyra and Laenor’s wedding) were a mistake. I personally didn’t feel connected to most of the characters who died because we didn’t get to actually spend that much time with them or get to know them. Like Harwin??? Laena??? A lot of what happened between time skips was simply told and not shown, which is lazy storytelling quite frankly.

The way that Visenya’s death was handled was so bad, oh my god?!? They didn’t even mention her name, the fact Rhaenyra in E1 had named the baby in Aemma’s stomach Visenya if it was a girl, also the fact that Dark Sister (Daemon’s sword) was wielded by Visenya in the days of Aegon the Conquerer… none of that is there. It just comes and goes like it’s nothing.

Also the fact that Daemon’s grief over the simultaneous deaths of his brother and his daughter are just… brushed over completely. It just really pisses me off because men’s feelings are often brushed aside when it comes to miscarriages/stillbirths, and also for any kind of loss quite frankly; we got two quick shots of him on the beach and that’s it. And we know Matt Smith shot more because there’s photos of him on the beach shooting it, doing all kinds of shit like on his knees in the water etc. It hits especially hard considering a) he already lost Laena and their third baby under similar circumstances, b) he’s also grieving his brother, and c) according to leaks, he was supposed to comfort Rhaenyra after she gave birth to Visenya. They were supposed to have a moment of grief together… and HBO/this show shat all over that.

I’ll write a fic to explore it, I swear-

And now for the bridge scene in E10 because that BULLSHIT deserves its own fucking section

You’re telling me that Rhaenyra is more emotional over a book page she ripped out of a boring old history book twenty fucking years ago than she is about losing her only daughter?!? Than she is about her father’s death?! You can fuck off with that bullshit right now

To me, that’s just more proof of Alicent’s manipulation - it’s a crap attempt but it’s still toxic and manipulative as fuck. “Look, this page from 20 years ago that you ripped out of a boring history book while we were under the tree - we’re friends, remember! Now let my rapist son sit on the throne and we can be friends again 💚”

If I were Rhaenyra, I’d send that page right the fuck back with the words “an eye for an eye, a son for a son” written across it in bold

Like I don’t know how Rhaenicent shippers think that’s a win, that’s literally Riverdale levels of cringey and crap writing, I would be so embarrassed if I shipped that

It does make me laugh that people are ripping that scene apart like literally most of us know how fucking dumb it is - and people are so busy making fun of it that they’re not even that mad about Daemon, so that’s a win in my book

I also need to say something about Rhaenicent shippers in general: yes, maybe there are some Daemyra shippers out there who have been dicks - there are literally shitty people in every fandom. I’m sorry if any Daemyra shippers out there have harassed or bullied Rhaenicent shippers because that’s not okay, most of us don’t condone that. But it’s not like Rhaenicent victims are all innocent because on the Daemyra discord, for nearly two months straight, we’ve had numerous trolls (including Rhaenicent shippers) come into our chats and harass us, saying we’re disgusting and even a few privately messaging me to tell me to end my life over a fucking tv show pairing. Like if you don’t like it, I understand, I truly do - but harassing us over it isn’t okay. Just stick to your corner and we’ll stick to ours.

Anyway, there are some wins out of this whole trash heap:

DAEMYRA 🖤 I’m gonna write the fix it fanfics for you, don’t you worry, it’s my week off this week and I got you

I’m just gonna come out and say it, that brothel scene was hot and you know I’m right, stop booing me

That beach sex scene was beautiful, especially since there’s a copy floating around that’s removed the music and increased the breathing/kissing noises 👀

We got to see Matt Smith’s bare ass, I’m not complaining even if that scene was awkward and uncomfortable as fuck

The acting was phenomenal throughout, I may hate certain characters and also the writers, but I can’t fault how brilliant the actors are

The soundtrack was really top tier the entire show, Ramin Djawadi NEVER misses, every piece of soundtrack absolutely fucking slaps, THANK GOD IT GOT RELEASED TODAY

The Valyrian wedding ceremony was perfect, I just wish we’d seen more of it and heard the words!

DAEMON CROWNING RHAENYRA AND KNEELING TO HER FUCK YEAH

When I say I will defend Caraxes with my life, I mean it, I love that huge boi with his squeaky deviated septum roar

I love the designs of the different dragons and that no two look the same, especially Vhagar - they did not make her pretty and I respect that wholeheartedly

RIP Luke 😭🖤 knew it was coming, still hurts so bad

Kind of shipping Jace and Baela even though I know what’s coming and also that knowing these writers they’ll make him sleep with Sara Snow

And finally…

“I would rather feed my sons to the dragons than have them carry shields and cups for your drunken, usurper cunt of a king.”

Daemon Targaryen, you will always be a fucking iconic legend 👏🏻 it’s also especially fitting given that both of his sons with Rhaenyra become kings!

[dlcnxeio]

SO i found out that Daemon’s redeeming (and imo his best) moments from the show were improvised by Matt Smith.

Looking back, I do find it odd that if we remove these from the show, the writers are leaning more towards painting him as purely evil as opposed to being morally grey.

[theroguedragon3]

Fire & Blood Vs House of The Dragon

Aegon’s Coronation Debacle (RANT)

TW: Mentions of rape

Aegon’s character assassination

Of course, in the book it does not explicitly state that Aegon forced himself on the maid, therefore it is up to the reader to determine the character’s intentions. It doesn’t disprove the fact that it could’ve been consensual, where the girl may have had a crush on a Prince and once, he gave her attention, she willingly coupled with him, while unfortunately getting pregnant as a result (Westeros clearly weren’t aware of the pull-out method🤣).

Firstly, the writer’s decision to actively choose the malicious option on Aegon’s portrayal as a rapist, immediately destroys any arguments on why the viewers should prefer his claim over Rhaenyra’s. The writers could’ve chosen to feature his lesser characteristics with a scene of a woman asking him money to help raise his bastard son, only to brush her off. A guard could inform the Queen of the delicate situation, as she arranges a meeting with her and buys her silence. Alicent’s confrontation with her son, followed by his speech on not wanting this destiny, would allow at least some viewers to feel sympathy, prompting them to side with his claim. Instead, when he gave that monologue, I like most viewers, felt no sympathy and would go on to label him as a rapist.

  Coronation Rant

I’m still in disbelief that the writers managed to once again screw Aegon over during his own coronation scene and by extension Alicent’s passing on the torch moment, to her daughter Helaena, the newly crowned Queen consort.

 His mother, Queen Alicent, beloved of the smallfolk, placed her own crown upon the head of her daughter, Helaena, Aegon’s wife and sister. After kissing her cheeks, the mother knelt before the daughter, bowed her head, and said, “My Queen.”

As much as Alicent’s character is depicted as an evil stepmother to Rhaenyra, this scene depicts her devotion to her children. She was ambitious and willing enough to secure her son’s claim and ensure her daughter would be his future queen. She kisses Helaena’s cheeks in front of thousands of smallfolk, an act of affection, before she crowns her queen and bows to her declaring her as such.

Instead, we’re left with the underwhelming biggest plot hole then the three unreliable narrators combined, when Rhaneys busts through the trap door on Meleys and could have literally ended the whole war before it had even begun. The claims of it’s not her war holds no weight, when she obviously sided with Rhaenyra and allowed her dragon to be used in team black’s planning, by protecting the Gullet, thus being a part of the war.

The writer’s explanation is even worse, where they claim she looked at Alicent protecting her child and was moved by her displayed acts of a maternal love, therefore she didn’t turn them to ash. Um, it seems recollections may vary, and the writers forgot Rhaenys will die battling two of Alicent’s sons, where she clearly didn’t care about being branded a kinslayer, otherwise she could’ve outflown both Sunfyre and definitely Vhagar, as Meleys was the faster dragon. Who knows they may even alter this event, because the source material doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if they choose to make Aemond lose control of Vhagar and she shoots flames at Rhaenys, accidently injuring Aegon in the process, ending with Aemond screams of NOOOOO, with his arm outstretched towards a falling Aegon🙄.

  After the coronation, the remaining Kingsguard escorted Aegon to his mount, a splendid creature with gleaming golden scales and pale pink wing membranes. “Sunfyre” was the name given this dragon of the golden dawn. Munkun tells us the king flew thrice around the city before landing inside the walls of the Red Keep. Ser Arryk Cargyll led His Grace into the torchlit throne room, where Aegon II mounted the steps of the Iron Throne before a thousand lords and knights. Shouts rang through the hall.

I’m not going to lie but I was really looking forward to this scene, I really wanted to see Sunfyre and this would’ve been the perfect opportunity to properly introduce Aegon’s dragon. They could’ve shown the character’s shift from being unwilling and hesitant at becoming King, to basking in the cheers and reminding the people of the strength of the house Targaryen by mounting Sunfyre, followed by the ending shot of him sitting on the Iron Throne, while those he now has power over, cheer for him.

Overall, the coronation was a spectacle for the sake of inserting a shock factor scene, that ultimately crumbles under close inspection and results in poorly written characters.

[abla-soso]

What the HOTD writers are seriously not getting about GRRM's story and about good stories in general:

You can NOT simultaneously write a narrative about "the futility of lust for power and how the throne devours and destroys those who seek it" while writing a narrative about "girl-boss queen who is righteously fighting for her ~birthright~ to rule over people".

These two narratives cancel each other out. You can either have one or the other.

[theroguedragon3]

Literally couldn't have said it better. Both sides were willing to achieve whatever it took to achieve their goal, which was the Iron Throne.