Daemons popularity is nothing new we all know that but the gap now between Rhaenyra and Daemon has become so big after s3! It wasn't this huge after s2!
This is a rough jumble of a lot of thoughts that I’ll probably have a more organized flow of later, but I’ve been thinking about why Rhaenyra’s character and arc so far is unsatisfying to me. Part of it is in the cast and crew’s comments regarding Rhaenyra becoming “fascist” and using fascist iconography. Rhaenyra is an absolute monarch in a feudal society - I realize there are feudal monarchs and absolute monarchs, but Westeros has characteristics of both systems, and given that Viserys declared her as heir and that’s that, I’ll use the term absolute monarch. GRRM also describes the Targaryens as absolute monarchs.
Regardless, fascism doesn’t apply here - it’s a modern governmental idea based on a burning sense of nationalism (usually far-right conservatism) that is governed by a dictator. I understand what they’re going for, but they’re wrong, and the fact that Rhaenyra is described as fascist when she is, 1) entitled to her throne by bloodline and the decree of the previous king, and 2) well within her rights to crush the usurping side in a civil war, is ridiculous. As a further example, Sonoya Mizuno said that Mysaria’s outlook is basically that she can’t believe she helped put a fascist in power when that goes against all of her beliefs (because she’s da peepul’s champion). So… it’s not questionable for Mysaria to help to put Aegon in power when she knows of his bastard child fighting pits and other unsavory characteristics, but when Rhaenyra makes the completely right move of firing her, suddenly she’s all “oh no this is terrible”? Mysaria conveniently deciding that having an absolute monarch is bad when said monarch is the first woman and shows even a hint of cruelty is so funny. I hate this implication from the creators that Rhaenyra was a good ruler until she finally decided to take action and do something that they defined as “aligning herself with Daemon” - which brings me to my next point.
Rhaenyra always seems to be defined through the lens of others. For example, this season, the creators kept saying that she was oscillating between two things: Mysaria’s vision and Daemon’s vision of how she should rule. Where’s Rhaenyra’s vision? What is Rhaenyra’s vision? Hell if we know, because she only ever makes decisions based upon what others think or suggest (Viserys, Mysaria, Daemon, etc). Emma D’Arcy herself has been quoted saying that Alicent and Mysaria were Rhaenyra’s moral compasses (lmfao). When we do see her make independent decisions, they’re usually idiotic (Septanyra, sending Alicent to kill Aemond). I keep realizing that, imo, Rhaenyra hasn’t had her own character since…S1? I was hoping we would get more of it this season, especially when we started to see her cruelty - but, nope. They strip her even of that by framing it as her listening to ol’ evil Daemon. She even quotes him when convincing Alyn to kill the High Septon. The only thing we’ve got for her is that she thinks she’s the Chosen One, and even those flames have been fanned by Daemon and, to a lesser extent, Viserys.
Rhaenyra is supposed to be a confident woman who knows what she wants and is secure in her femininity as relating to the throne and her ability to rule. Her descent into cruelty and paranoia is informed by her losses in the war. Instead, she’s adapted as an ineffectual co-dependent who is driven to cruelty by delusions of grandeur and her “devil husband” on her shoulder, and she is now labeled a fascist.
Thanks, I hate it. Again, rough draft of thoughts, but would love to hear others’ opinions, whether in agreement or disagreement.
“No one will rule but Rhaenyra”
all the direct quotes
about meeting Rhaenyra face to face again after storming off:
> "That first meeting with Rhaenyra is going to be very delicate. Of course, he hadn't seen her since the whole 'your kids are bastards' thing. So there's that. I think for him, it's a no-nonsense approach of 'business is business.' We can put aside all of that other stuff because there's a war to be won, and let's just get on with that."
about Alyn:
> "[Corlys will have to] come to terms with the fact that his son almost went all in with Rhaenyra — I don't know that Alyn had any other choice, to be honest. But when Corlys finds out that Alyn was the one who struck down the Septon, he’s going to be very sad and disappointed at that. But like I said, I don't know what else Alyn could have done, frankly. I just think Corlys will see that as another cost. [First it was] his family, and this time it's the cost of his son's emotional wellbeing."
about the war:
> "It’s going to be a very delicate dance for Corlys as he tries to avoid shedding any more innocent blood than is necessary. That scene that we have when Daemon wakes up from that explosion in Tumbleton, and he sees all the innocent people — the mothers and children sort of walking through the aftermath all in states of injury — I think that is trying to bring home the futility and the victims of war. Corlys is at a point now where he's wondering whether it's worth it."
about what he personally wants for Corlys' ending
> "It's going to sound sort of trite, but I would love… I think Corlys has given up on being happy. Once his wife died, there were certain things that he felt he had to fulfill, and then I guess he could go on his ship and just go off into the sunset.
> I'd like him to be happy. I'd like his children to be secure in whatever they're doing so that he can go, 'Well, at least I did that.' I'm trying to think of something really profound to say, but I can't. I just want Corlys to be happy. We'll see. I don't hold out much hope. This is Westeros, after all, but you never know."
about the attempted peace deal:
> "I think for Corlys, it's complicated. That's why he came up with that compromise in that meeting between himself, Gwayne [Hightower], and Daemon. I don't think he had planned to say that initially, but he was listening to Gwayne and thinking, 'Okay, some of this is nonsense, but I can see where this might work.'
> There are some people who will just never accept [Rhaenyra as queen]. But if you give them something, if you throw them a bone, maybe we can make this work."
about supporting Rhaenyra in the future:
> "I don't know if Corlys is necessarily at that stage where he thinks it's never going to work with Rhaenyra as queen. I think that comes to him a bit later, this idea that it's not going to be plain sailing. I think he may start to have concerns about her character around that stage."
For one I’ve always been bothered by the lack of intimacy from this relationship especially since it’s by far the most normal couple in the series. But despite that they seemed to have a strong care for each other. But after Jace died it feels like the only one who’s really pent up on it is Rhaenyra. After the initial scene from her returning from driftmark Baela seems to have completely moved on from it, the boy she’s been betrothed to and grew up with a good portion of her life and she seems to have easily moved on from him. Even in her conversations with Addam she’s upset that her position is unclear now and she’ll no longer be the queen but it feels like overall Jace just wasn’t that important to her, at least as much as I thought he would be.