Later, in episode seven, Daemon tells Rhaenyra that he and Laena were "happy enough" in their marriage. In that regard, there was far more love between Daemon and Laena than there ever was between him and Rhea, even if it wasn't entirely romantic.
They have a lot of love for each other and Daemon does still support Rhaenyra despite his temper in this episode. He still bends the knee to Rhaenyra and calls her his queen, and he's the one who delivers the news to her at the end that Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) is dead.
Turns out, Rhaenyra and Daemon are endgame, meaning they have a sexually tense relationship, eventually hook up, and get married—which is pretty significant from a power play perspective considering (1) they both want the throne and (2) their Targaryen union is almost sure to guarantee that happens—even though Alicent ...
In fact, he actually loved Laena Velaryon enough that they were able to enjoy ten years of adventures together while they were frequently riding their dragons throughout Westeros and Essos for a decade. In fact, Daemon admitted to Rhaenyra that he did love Laena.
It was abundantly clear in the season finale that Daemon truly values Rhaenyra as the queen, and it doesn't appear to be for his own gain. All of his actions indicate that he looks to her as his leader even before she's taken power and has every intention to get her to her rightful throne.
While House Of The Dragon episode 4 showed Daemon was able to seduce Rhaenyra by kissing and undressing her, he couldn't fulfill the act due to impotence.
Daemon is said to love his family by both the showrunners and fans but we're only shown his love for Viserys and Rhaenyra. Even Matt Smith has said that they're the only people Daemon cares about.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) finally had sex on House of the Dragon. After teasing their deep connection for weeks, making out in a brothel, and flirting their way through King's Landing, uncle and niece at long last did the dirty.
Rhaenyra's sexual initiation was conducted by Daemon, who “didn't finish” but was expelled and took the blame as if he had. Although she has married another and had other lovers, she clearly has a crush on her uncle, whom she secretly marries (after becoming a widow and mistress).
But, while time may heal all wounds, 10 years certainly wasn't enough time for Alicent's wounds to heal over being lied to by Rhaenyra. We last saw her find out the truth in "We Light the Way" that Rhaenyra lost her virginity to Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Laena and Daemon marry soon after. Laena and Daemon were a power couple, and their marriage was celebrated by nearly all of Westeros and Essos — except for King Viserys and his court, who considered it another sign of Daemon's disrespect.
Daemon was a much more despicable character in George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood book, so a desperate, rage-filled situation leading him to choke someone wouldn't be surprising. However, Daemon was only violent to others in the books, not to Rhaenyra or their children.
Daemon is really angry because Rhaenyra is being passive. In his mind she wants to make peace with the greens when they possibly killed or poisoned Viserys (we see him checking for poison in ep 8 and he accuses Alicent of killing Viserys in ep 10) and they usurped the throne. Something that he very much wants.
Since Rhaenyra saw her mother go through tremendous pain (and eventually die) from trying to produce another heir, “coupling” wasn't on the top of her to-do list. However, watching people get it on was intriguing to her. Then Daemon kissed her. And she was very much interested in that.
We know that while the two came close, they never actually did the deed. Daemon, thrown off by his lack of ability to shock Rhaenyra, left her to get drunk and pass out. While Rhaenyra did go on to sleep with Criston Cole — the big problem of the episode — Viserys (Paddy Considine) was made more cautious of Daemon.
So, let's agree that he is (give or take) 16 years older than Rhaenyra. This places him in his early 30s when we first see him meet his niece. Yes, his niece. His teenage niece who we immediately realise he has a bit of a thing for.
By the time we reach episode six — which occurs more than 10 years later in the show's timeline — Harwin was revealed to be Rhaenyra's primary lover and the father to her three children.
Corr continued: "For an audience to believe us, we have to show all shades of the character. So we spoke about that in great detail and Miguel and Ryan also made it paramount that Harwin very much loves Rhaenyra. He lives his life in service of this love and of his family."
Rhaenyra's Relationship With Criston Soiled His White Cloak
In "King of the Narrow Sea", Rhaenyra seduced Ser Criston after she herself was denied by her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith). She and her paramour spent the night together, and she was warm towards Ser Criston afterward.
In George R.R. Martin's fictitious history of the Targaryen family, we learn that Rhaenyra does eventually have children with her uncle Daemon: two boys named Viserys II and Aegon III, both of whom eventually become king.
Despite marrying Laena out of pure interest, he actually respected her, was faithful to her, and might have even loved her. Also, Rhaenyra loved Laena, they had a beautiful friendship. Daemon and Rhaneyra may be very grey characters, but they never harmed Laena in any way, not even by sleeping together behind her back.
What Does Daemon Targaryen Really Want? In House of the Dragon episode 4's ending, Viserys deduces that Daemon's real motivation in seducing Rhaenyra was to get himself closer to the Iron Throne.
Daemon shows his genuine care and attention to Rhaenyra several times before the two marry. This doesn't take away from the many destructive and inappropriate parts of their relationship, but the books imply that Daemon does love Rhaenyra.
In 97 AC, Daemon married Lady Rhea Royce, the heir to Runestone, but he disliked both her and the Vale of Arryn; Daemon referred to his wife as his "bronze bitch". During the Great Council of 101 AC, Daemon supported the claim of Prince Viserys, as it would make Daemon the heir after his brother.
At the end of the day, Daemon chose Laena and Laena chose Daemon. 'He's trying his best,' Laena told their daughter Rhaena, and that was how she knew Daemon loved them.