So this Throat thing CONFUSION ... ? The "i wanna choke you but also low-key kiss and eat and have you" kinda execution of this scene? wtf
^ let me just say when we were told there was choking, i was imagining it in a real "i wanna kill you" kinda way - UNTIL I actually SAW IT. . . and i'm more confused than before.
So we got THIS and uhm...... I mean, you DO NOT look exactly like this, if you ACTUALLY seriously wanna choke someone (also, he's only holding her throat/jaw with ONE hand, btw, the other one holding her close to him by her arm). You do not almost touch her forehead with yours in an intimate manner while trying to actually "choke her" at the same time, holding her close to you with your lips almost touching...
This scene CONFUSES the shit out of me, cuz if they wanted to make it him actually wanting to choke her, they failed big time, okay?! - i mean, not sure what Hess's direction was or what Matt Smith wanted to show there (or was it him trying to soften Hess's direction?!) but this looks more like Daemon kinda wants to devour/kiss/crush/or have her on the table near there or ALL of it at the same time ? like her wants to shake her until she remembers, WHO she is, who he is, and who THEY are,...
like... his lips are so close to hers, it's giving a weird confusing message: choking or kissing, loving or hating. (or it was just horribly directed/acted out, with actors/direction having different opinion on what it should be and this turned to be the compromise...?)
Y know this CHOKING scene is like a weird slightly more messed up version of THIS actually:
and then Daemon pushing her off him is kinda similar to him pushing her off him kinda violently back in the brothel when he was frustrated with himself and their overall situation (STILL, with him then proceeding to plead Viserys to let him marry Rhaenyra and repeating that if he could have anything, he wanted Rhaenyra, to take to wife, wed her in the tradition of their house etc. Right after he had violently pushed her off him and left her alone in brothel. (Doesn't remind you of this scene a bit, anyone?)
Again, we have kinda the same thing in ep 1x10 ... there was this kinda choking BS, Daemon frustrated with EVERYTHING, there's frustration and hurt that he was not trusted, not told of the prophecy, then it was probably him thinking Rhaenyra was further endangering them, their family, by refusing to act since he was super convinced of the inevitability of war and the greens wanting their necks (which Rhaenys had actually warned them was the case right at the beginning), and there was his helplessness and fear and frustration and inability to act and he was once again left out of an important family thing and he was like a lion in a cage and yeah well.... we got what we got but PLEASE, i don't think you can say he wanted to hurt her. Cuz if he did, then he also wanted to hurt her at the wedding in ep5 or in the brothel in ep4 which we know was not the case.... still, Daemon is unhinged when hurting and helpless.
Still, the next scene we get with them is our devastated loyal loving supporting husband Daemon coming to inform his love of his life wife of what'd happened... and she knows just by looking at him ONCE.
And there they are, standing TOGETHER, holding hands, by each other's side as they always have. So no guys? they DID NOT magically stop loving each other after one fight. Rhaenyra had witnessed several of the unhinged Daemon excesses so it was not much of a surprise to her... Also, as Viserys once said "Daemon, Rhaenyra, they share the blood of the dragon, they're restless, chaotic..."
So i do not think Daemon magically became an "abuser"... i think these have been his extreme impulses in his most critical on a verge kinda moments all throughout s1. But never once did he actually want to hurt her, mind you.
Still, 1x10 being his absolute most critical moment after all their losses + death all around them + greens after them, the fear of their end/downfall nearing, Rhaenyra reluctant to act, him depending on her word, further realizing his own helplessness... and yeah, we got THAT:
...still, i think they SHOULD HAVE MADE THAT SCENE a little less menacing, change the MUSIC-make it less creepy, and also make Daemon's pain a little more visible afterwards/during it, make him breakdown right there in front of her right after.... for example...... to make it all CLEAR.
But no . This had him look like a violent without reason bipolar madman. I really think Matt did all he could to soften it the way he knew Daemon would... cuz Matt Smith actually understands Daemon, unlike certain Sara Hess.
I still do hate this scene, it's definitely the strangest scene of 1x10 hands down, cuz it's confusing the shit out of me: the need for this scene to be included like this, as well as its general confusing unclear execution.
And I BLAME Sara Hess. Period.
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