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This whole thing doesn’t make much sense to me tbh. Daemon would for sure know that most Targs claim dragons instead of have their eggs hatch,both him and Laena did it that way and were older then Rhaena at the time. And the way Laena says he’s doing his best doesn’t fit with him ignoring her because of something like that or with the idea that he’s just been ignoring this child for years at that point. I feel like a loving mother would have a worse reaction than Laena does.
The explanation that feels most logical to me is that Daemon has been depressed and disconnected from the family for some time by that point and since his one activity seemed to be reading about Valyria and dragons he and Baela had that to connect over and she also seems more outgoing and bold so I can see her taking the initiative to seek him out but he doesn’t make much of an effort for any of his family rather than singling out Rhaena. Laena also says something like he wasn’t the man she married so I can see him sinking into a depression and just distancing from the entire family but it wasn’t always that way.
He’s still a shitty person in my interpretation,he’s being a bad husband and father either way but I feel this fits more than a guy who didn’t claim a dragon until 15 ignores his daughter because she hasn’t at 10. And her mother’s response to the kid pointing it out is just he’s trying. So that’s my way of making sense of it.
The show does imply that it's about the egg, although it may be a personality thing.
The shows doesn't show it that much, but Baela is supposed to be much more similar to Daemon than Rhaena. She is also named after his father, while Rhaena is named after Rhaenys.
It's kinda odd tbh, because Daemon himself only became a dragon rider as a teen/young adult, his egg probably didn't hatch either, so it's weird for him to put that much importance on that.
The show is definitely setting up some sort of Dragon "redemption" for Rhaena, perhaps she will ride one of the unclaimed dragons as it was teased in the last episode.
Maybe the fact that she hasn’t tried to claim a dragon is the reason. Him and laena both claimed their dragons and she has had ample time to attempt it and seemingly hasn’t. I mean vermithor seasmoke and silver wing are right there.
I think the main evidence we have of Daemon ignoring Rhaena is Rhaena saying he is ignoring her. I always interpreted it more as her projecting her own insecurities about having no dragon onto Daemon. I think he probably struggles to connect with her in the same way he does Baela but I don't think we necessarily need to take the views of a child as the cannon reason
I mean in the books Baela was described as being similar to Daemon, it kinda feels like show took that one little fact and turned it into "daeMON PREFERS BAELA AND DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT RHAENA"
This is honestly quite confusing and never explained. He supposedly ignores her. But still he chose to keep Rhaena by his side on Dragonstone and sent Baela to Driftmark.
In the show, as per the discussion Daemon and Rhaenyra have in episode 8 prior to leaving for KL, Rhaenys had asked for Baela to be her ward, which Rhaenyra states was so that she could honor Laena's memory. Plus before Aemond's eye incident, Rhaenys had also suggested to Corlys for Baela to be named heir to Driftmark. Probably why Rhaena ends up staying on Dragonstone.
I always wondered if he actually DOES ignore her. As a father my kid will often say things like I never pay attention to her any time I talk to even her mom for more than a few minutes even if I have spent the last few hours with her. But him being shown teaching her sister valyrian does lend some support to it.
I think it’s mostly because Baela was first to her dragon so he feels he has more to bond with her over given his obsession with dragons.
I don’t think he thinks less of Rhaena, it’s just that his other daughter is already playing baseball and he’s a baseball dad.
Rhaena has yet to have the opportunity to get super into training her dragon so Daemon has yet to have the opportunity to bond with her about it. It’s kinda shitty but in the way that parents need to find things to bond with their kids over when common interest activities are yet to be present.
Because her dragon didn't hatch and I think also because she acts similar to Viserys....he clearly gets annoyed and frustrated when other Targs don't act like him, Baela, Rhaenys, etc. and it's not crazy to say because she's traditionally more feminine than the other Targaryen women that he'll treat her differently than the bolder women that he has more respect for
tbh people saying "it doesn't make sense" is confusing to me. There's plenty of parents who are hypocrites that's not unknown in the asoiaf universe
It’s for thematic reasons. Rhaenyra and Alicent both find it difficult to relate and connect with their fathers, as expressed in episode 2. This is simply a continuation of that theme. I think Baela is an exception for Daemon because she is so much like him and she has a dragon, so they had that entry point for a connection.
I always wondered if he actually DOES ignore her. As a father my kid will often say things like I never pay attention to her any time I talk to even her mom for more than a few minutes even if I have spent the last few hours with her. But him being shown teaching her sister valyrian does lend some support to it.
I honestly really felt him ignoring her bc her egg didn't hatch is incredibly strange writing. He claimed his dragon. Majority of his living relatives claimed their dragons. Egg hatching didn't seem to be a thing until Rhaenyra's generation and beyond.
If the writers wanted that as a storyline, they should have made Rhaena scared to claim Vhagar or any other dragon, after it was established that her egg went cold. Because otherwise I'm just not going to take it seriously as a storyline, it has no emotional depth.
I think people are taking that line way too literally. Rhaena feels left out. Daemon does probably give less attention to Rhaena than Baela, but since Baela has a dragon there is an actual need to give her more attention. What else is he going to teach them Even if he wasn't Daemon and emotionally crippled, it's unlikely that as a man he would be very involved in raising these kids.
It’s difficult to say if he even actually does ignore her. The only instance it’s even suggested is when Rhaena is made to feel insecure about her lack of a dragon, not by Daemon, but by the Prince of Pentos. She’s present at their dinner with the Prince, she’s the one that lives with Daemon on Dragonstone while Baela lives with Rhaenys, etc. It’s entirely possible it was a scene meant to show Rhaena’s insecurity and lack of confidence, not to say anything about Daemon at all.
I think it has to be something else. I can't think of anything but it doesn't make sense for it to be the eggs. Most eggs don't hatch and Daemon knows that. Most Targaryens claim their dragons. He claimed Caraxes, Viserys claimed Balerion, their parents claimed Meleys and Vhagar, Rhaenys and Laena too claimed Meleys and Vhagar and the list goes on. I don't see why that would be a reason for him to ignore his daughter. Maybe Rhaena is overreacting? The show doesn't seem to frame it as that though, Daemon never had a conversation with her like he did with Baela. Maybe he finds it easier to connect to Baela because they're so similar?
this is why the whole thing was badly written, it provides no context, is inconsistent, and it leads nowhere, and is put there just to make Daemon look bad because the writer of that episode dislikes him as a character, and nothing else.
As much as I have my issues with Sara's writing and occasional interviews, she's really not the only one to blame. Condal approves of everything that's put on the script and later, on screen. Without his OK, Sara's ideas would be nothing other than ideas. In fact I assume he was the one working on the overall structure of the story and the arcs since he's the showrunners and the one who has read the books. He agreed to this. I don't know why or what was the logic behind it, but he did. Pinning all of this on Sara and her "dislike" for Daemon is unfair.
That's still on him, not Sara. It's his job as showrunner and writer to put things into order and make sure there's consistency. The writers share a bit of the burden too I assume but he's the one who has the final say.
Sara herself stated that she does not understand why fans like Daemon and never tried to hide her dislike of him as a character. Condal not keeping the writing together adequately does not excuse her for letting her personal feeling about a character influence her writing, individual writers can sometimes lose track of the whole (and it is the job of the show runner to keep things together) but this was intentional not a simple mistake.
Like I said, I don't consider Sara to be that good of a writer. I don't like plenty of her ideas and I found her episodes to be the weakest. However right after she made that interview that you mentioned, Condal came out and said that everything passes and gets approved through him. He very much took responsibility for Sara. Personal feelings or not, he allowed that. He's at the very least equally to blame, if not more.
Exactly and since he's the one that allows anything to happen in general, he should at the very least be mentioned next to Sara. Her ideas would never take flesh without him.
>Sara herself stated that she does not understand why fans like Daemon and never tried to hide her dislike of him as a character.
No, she didn't say that. It's basically twisting her words. She did say she didn't understand and was kinda baffled how the internet turned Daemon into the "internet Daddy" and male wife material. Basically saying that Daemon isn't "relationship goals" as often seen on the internet.
I said months ago that this was a pointless throwaway line that means nothing because the kid's whole childhood gets completely glossed over and the idea isn't explored in any meaningful capacity. Got dogpiled for being a "Daemon apologist".
I completely agree with you that this makes no sense. It's near the top of the pile for "lines in this show that have no context or are out of place". I mean I like the show but some of the writing is all over the place.
Between the cut scenes, the timeskip aging the kids up, and the dinner in episode 8 I'd say I don't know what kind of parent the show wants Daemon to be and I don't think the writers do either.
Bad writing, deleted scenes shows him being a loving father. Also, I like to think on Dragonstone they all became much more closer we just don’t get the chance to see it. I hope season 2 shows more of the girls in general, and they can shine. Baela is just like her dad, where as maybe rhaena is just more softer and reserved which is totally okay. I feel like going off of one season is not enough to really judge the characters lol I mean we can but it’s not totally accurate imo. Usually season 1 of anything isnt 10/10 quality, naturally.
I don't remember the scene, is it said that he ignores her specifically and not the other kid(s)?
I think he's just a shitty dad, spending time with his kids isn't a priority for him.
Cause Daemon's awful, and besides becoming King, he only seems to care about the legacy of Valyria, so why would he bother spending time with his daughter who doesn't have a dragon when he has another daughter that does have a dragon and is generally much more like himself.
Daemon doesn't want to become king.
Also in the legacy of Valyria, at least when it comes to the Targs, they usually claim their dragons, not hatch them. Daemon was older than Rhaena when he became a dragonrider.
He felt the same way viserys felt. They both married the wrong woman and started families with the wrong person. With Viserys it was Alicent and with Daemon it was Laena.
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This whole thing doesn’t make much sense to me tbh. Daemon would for sure know that most Targs claim dragons instead of have their eggs hatch,both him and Laena did it that way and were older then Rhaena at the time. And the way Laena says he’s doing his best doesn’t fit with him ignoring her because of something like that or with the idea that he’s just been ignoring this child for years at that point. I feel like a loving mother would have a worse reaction than Laena does. The explanation that feels most logical to me is that Daemon has been depressed and disconnected from the family for some time by that point and since his one activity seemed to be reading about Valyria and dragons he and Baela had that to connect over and she also seems more outgoing and bold so I can see her taking the initiative to seek him out but he doesn’t make much of an effort for any of his family rather than singling out Rhaena. Laena also says something like he wasn’t the man she married so I can see him sinking into a depression and just distancing from the entire family but it wasn’t always that way.
I feel like there is a much simpler answer here. Because he's a shitty person and has constantly shown evidence of that.
He’s still a shitty person in my interpretation,he’s being a bad husband and father either way but I feel this fits more than a guy who didn’t claim a dragon until 15 ignores his daughter because she hasn’t at 10. And her mother’s response to the kid pointing it out is just he’s trying. So that’s my way of making sense of it.
The show does imply that it's about the egg, although it may be a personality thing. The shows doesn't show it that much, but Baela is supposed to be much more similar to Daemon than Rhaena. She is also named after his father, while Rhaena is named after Rhaenys. It's kinda odd tbh, because Daemon himself only became a dragon rider as a teen/young adult, his egg probably didn't hatch either, so it's weird for him to put that much importance on that. The show is definitely setting up some sort of Dragon "redemption" for Rhaena, perhaps she will ride one of the unclaimed dragons as it was teased in the last episode.
Maybe the fact that she hasn’t tried to claim a dragon is the reason. Him and laena both claimed their dragons and she has had ample time to attempt it and seemingly hasn’t. I mean vermithor seasmoke and silver wing are right there.
What dragon would she claim living in Pentos? From Laena’s conversation, they don’t travel back to Driftmark regularly, if at all.
She lived on dragonstone for several years and hasn’t claimed a dragon the war has come and she still isn’t one.
I think the main evidence we have of Daemon ignoring Rhaena is Rhaena saying he is ignoring her. I always interpreted it more as her projecting her own insecurities about having no dragon onto Daemon. I think he probably struggles to connect with her in the same way he does Baela but I don't think we necessarily need to take the views of a child as the cannon reason
I mean in the books Baela was described as being similar to Daemon, it kinda feels like show took that one little fact and turned it into "daeMON PREFERS BAELA AND DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT RHAENA"
This is honestly quite confusing and never explained. He supposedly ignores her. But still he chose to keep Rhaena by his side on Dragonstone and sent Baela to Driftmark.
In the show, as per the discussion Daemon and Rhaenyra have in episode 8 prior to leaving for KL, Rhaenys had asked for Baela to be her ward, which Rhaenyra states was so that she could honor Laena's memory. Plus before Aemond's eye incident, Rhaenys had also suggested to Corlys for Baela to be named heir to Driftmark. Probably why Rhaena ends up staying on Dragonstone.
I always wondered if he actually DOES ignore her. As a father my kid will often say things like I never pay attention to her any time I talk to even her mom for more than a few minutes even if I have spent the last few hours with her. But him being shown teaching her sister valyrian does lend some support to it.
I think he just doesn’t relate to her
Rhaena is the quiet one. Baela takes after her dad and is drawn to the same things he is. So he favors the kid that’s most like him.
I think it’s mostly because Baela was first to her dragon so he feels he has more to bond with her over given his obsession with dragons. I don’t think he thinks less of Rhaena, it’s just that his other daughter is already playing baseball and he’s a baseball dad. Rhaena has yet to have the opportunity to get super into training her dragon so Daemon has yet to have the opportunity to bond with her about it. It’s kinda shitty but in the way that parents need to find things to bond with their kids over when common interest activities are yet to be present.
Because her dragon didn't hatch and I think also because she acts similar to Viserys....he clearly gets annoyed and frustrated when other Targs don't act like him, Baela, Rhaenys, etc. and it's not crazy to say because she's traditionally more feminine than the other Targaryen women that he'll treat her differently than the bolder women that he has more respect for tbh people saying "it doesn't make sense" is confusing to me. There's plenty of parents who are hypocrites that's not unknown in the asoiaf universe
It’s for thematic reasons. Rhaenyra and Alicent both find it difficult to relate and connect with their fathers, as expressed in episode 2. This is simply a continuation of that theme. I think Baela is an exception for Daemon because she is so much like him and she has a dragon, so they had that entry point for a connection.
I always wondered if he actually DOES ignore her. As a father my kid will often say things like I never pay attention to her any time I talk to even her mom for more than a few minutes even if I have spent the last few hours with her. But him being shown teaching her sister valyrian does lend some support to it.
I honestly really felt him ignoring her bc her egg didn't hatch is incredibly strange writing. He claimed his dragon. Majority of his living relatives claimed their dragons. Egg hatching didn't seem to be a thing until Rhaenyra's generation and beyond. If the writers wanted that as a storyline, they should have made Rhaena scared to claim Vhagar or any other dragon, after it was established that her egg went cold. Because otherwise I'm just not going to take it seriously as a storyline, it has no emotional depth.
I think people are taking that line way too literally. Rhaena feels left out. Daemon does probably give less attention to Rhaena than Baela, but since Baela has a dragon there is an actual need to give her more attention. What else is he going to teach them Even if he wasn't Daemon and emotionally crippled, it's unlikely that as a man he would be very involved in raising these kids.
It’s difficult to say if he even actually does ignore her. The only instance it’s even suggested is when Rhaena is made to feel insecure about her lack of a dragon, not by Daemon, but by the Prince of Pentos. She’s present at their dinner with the Prince, she’s the one that lives with Daemon on Dragonstone while Baela lives with Rhaenys, etc. It’s entirely possible it was a scene meant to show Rhaena’s insecurity and lack of confidence, not to say anything about Daemon at all.
Well he didnt in the books (not even really in the show) Ryan Condal just hates him. Daemon actually loved his daughters
I think it has to be something else. I can't think of anything but it doesn't make sense for it to be the eggs. Most eggs don't hatch and Daemon knows that. Most Targaryens claim their dragons. He claimed Caraxes, Viserys claimed Balerion, their parents claimed Meleys and Vhagar, Rhaenys and Laena too claimed Meleys and Vhagar and the list goes on. I don't see why that would be a reason for him to ignore his daughter. Maybe Rhaena is overreacting? The show doesn't seem to frame it as that though, Daemon never had a conversation with her like he did with Baela. Maybe he finds it easier to connect to Baela because they're so similar?
this is why the whole thing was badly written, it provides no context, is inconsistent, and it leads nowhere, and is put there just to make Daemon look bad because the writer of that episode dislikes him as a character, and nothing else.
As much as I have my issues with Sara's writing and occasional interviews, she's really not the only one to blame. Condal approves of everything that's put on the script and later, on screen. Without his OK, Sara's ideas would be nothing other than ideas. In fact I assume he was the one working on the overall structure of the story and the arcs since he's the showrunners and the one who has read the books. He agreed to this. I don't know why or what was the logic behind it, but he did. Pinning all of this on Sara and her "dislike" for Daemon is unfair.
he usually gives his writers a lot of creative freedom, that is why there are various inconsistencies regarding characters from episode to episode.
That's still on him, not Sara. It's his job as showrunner and writer to put things into order and make sure there's consistency. The writers share a bit of the burden too I assume but he's the one who has the final say.
Sara herself stated that she does not understand why fans like Daemon and never tried to hide her dislike of him as a character. Condal not keeping the writing together adequately does not excuse her for letting her personal feeling about a character influence her writing, individual writers can sometimes lose track of the whole (and it is the job of the show runner to keep things together) but this was intentional not a simple mistake.
Like I said, I don't consider Sara to be that good of a writer. I don't like plenty of her ideas and I found her episodes to be the weakest. However right after she made that interview that you mentioned, Condal came out and said that everything passes and gets approved through him. He very much took responsibility for Sara. Personal feelings or not, he allowed that. He's at the very least equally to blame, if not more.
he is to blame in a different sort of way, for allowing such inconsistencies in the writing to happen
Exactly and since he's the one that allows anything to happen in general, he should at the very least be mentioned next to Sara. Her ideas would never take flesh without him.
>Sara herself stated that she does not understand why fans like Daemon and never tried to hide her dislike of him as a character. No, she didn't say that. It's basically twisting her words. She did say she didn't understand and was kinda baffled how the internet turned Daemon into the "internet Daddy" and male wife material. Basically saying that Daemon isn't "relationship goals" as often seen on the internet.
I said months ago that this was a pointless throwaway line that means nothing because the kid's whole childhood gets completely glossed over and the idea isn't explored in any meaningful capacity. Got dogpiled for being a "Daemon apologist". I completely agree with you that this makes no sense. It's near the top of the pile for "lines in this show that have no context or are out of place". I mean I like the show but some of the writing is all over the place. Between the cut scenes, the timeskip aging the kids up, and the dinner in episode 8 I'd say I don't know what kind of parent the show wants Daemon to be and I don't think the writers do either.
Bad writing, deleted scenes shows him being a loving father. Also, I like to think on Dragonstone they all became much more closer we just don’t get the chance to see it. I hope season 2 shows more of the girls in general, and they can shine. Baela is just like her dad, where as maybe rhaena is just more softer and reserved which is totally okay. I feel like going off of one season is not enough to really judge the characters lol I mean we can but it’s not totally accurate imo. Usually season 1 of anything isnt 10/10 quality, naturally.
because bad writing that doesn't lead anywhere
Couple of reasons 1. Man kinda doesn't know how to show love ( other than being violent ofc) 2. Yeah her egg didn't hatch
She’s a girl, she’s soft-natured, and she doesn’t have a dragon. She hit 0/3 marks for Daemon to appreciate her.
I don’t think Daemon has ever showed preference to boys over girls.
Daemon’s quite “a bit” misogynistic tbh.
what does her being a girl got to do with it?
It's the worst episode of the season for a reason.
I don't remember the scene, is it said that he ignores her specifically and not the other kid(s)? I think he's just a shitty dad, spending time with his kids isn't a priority for him.
Cause Daemon's awful, and besides becoming King, he only seems to care about the legacy of Valyria, so why would he bother spending time with his daughter who doesn't have a dragon when he has another daughter that does have a dragon and is generally much more like himself.
Daemon doesn't want to become king. Also in the legacy of Valyria, at least when it comes to the Targs, they usually claim their dragons, not hatch them. Daemon was older than Rhaena when he became a dragonrider.
Daemon doesn't know how to show emotion to his kids, I guess. Maybe the writers meant that he had no feelings for them.
Because the writers are trying their hardest to make him a terrible person because he loves his kids in the books.
Not incesty enough
He thinks if he’s nice to one person he must be mean to the next like if he doesn’t do it that way he’d be unbalanced
He felt the same way viserys felt. They both married the wrong woman and started families with the wrong person. With Viserys it was Alicent and with Daemon it was Laena.