Why Are People Obsessed With Daemyra? There's a Pattern to It
The House of the Dragon fandom's love for the bizarre relationship between Rhaenyra and Daemon is in fact not as surprising as you might think.
After all the disgust the Game of Thrones fans threw at Jaime and Cersei from Game of Thrones for their incest relationship, it seems that the Daemyra couple (Daemon and Rhaenyra) is the fandom's new, albeit controversial, darling.
How so? Many people are watching Daemyra fans with nothing but bewilderment, considering that a significant part of such shippers consists of Jaime/Cersei haters. The Daemyra camp, however, could not care less: they seem to be ready to rewatch those fancams for ages, while also defending the duo online.
But there is a simple explanation to that, according to some Reddit critics, and it is rooted in... romance novels and fan fiction.
"The real reason people are obsessed is that the dynamic they have is a classic romance novel / fan fiction dynamic, of a dangerous (and sexy) man who is uncontrollable and unreachable finding someone who is different and special, and he's obsessed with her alone. She's his only weak spot, and she alone can "fix" him and bring out his humanity. It's tried and true because it builds so much sexual tension," Redditor Hot-Shallot suggested.
However, fans of such dynamic might want to remember that it actually translates terribly into real life — obviously, not just due to incest. The romantic trope that the Daemyra couple seems to be following in the show works because it has been tested by time and multiple other romantic arcs.
"This dynamic is exactly why Twilight was such a massive success despite being horribly written. It's the same fantasy trope of being chosen which appeals to a lot of female viewers," another Redditor said.
Others argued that there is virtually nothing sexy or romantic about grooming a child, which was exactly what Daemon was doing when Rhaenyra was young, portrayed by Milly Alcock in the first episodes of the show.
No matter what your stance on Daemon and Rhaenyra relationship is, they are heading into yet another tumultuous season as the first chapter of House of the Dragon left no chances for any peaceful resolution of the conflict between two different factions of House Targaryen.