Painted Dog

I can see that to some extent as well to be honest. I do not see him as a traitor and think he felt Rhaenyra turned on him and I think he didn't like that she turned on Dragonseeds either (at least he felt the order to kill Nettles was wrong). I felt like he saw killing Aemond as accomplishing what he set out to do as well. It's an obsession, but not an unjustified one. Aemond was a legitimate threat to his family along with there being a vendetta (and part of the vendetta may even have been over him taking Laena's dragon). Killing Aemond was also an FU to everyone, "you're going to call me a traitor but I just took out your biggest enemy."

I always felt like Daemon's decision to take on Aemond was about his desire to die a hero and go down in history in the most dramatic way possible. Not because he was suicidal over a woman. He was spending time with Nettles as what he saw as the best bet to take Aemond down (surviving a one on one battle was always going go be near impossible against Vhagar). The obsession was more with Aemond than anything. There's a weird mirror or connection between Aemond and Daemon so that they always were going to try to kill each other even if Rhaenyra was out of the picture (The show seems to be emphasizing this too with how Aemond looks). When the options were removed to keep hunting in a way that he'd survive, Daemon sped up the timeline and added in an extra-dramatic blaze of glory. I felt like Rhaenyra turning on the Dragonseeds was a terrible and hypocritical act considering she'd happily kill or wage war for her own bastards. They were allies (not even well-compensated) and it was especially unfair in the case of Addam and Nettles who had not been proven disloyal. Early on, she would have had killed those who gossiped about her, but in the end would kill someone else over gossip. Made me go from liking Rhaenyra to really disliking her.

Even if Rhaenys and Corlys suspected Daemon of being involved in Laenor's death, wouldn't the prospect of Baela and Jace being heirs to the Iron Throne be plenty of motivation to join Team Black? I mean Corlys is devoted to his legacy and grandkids consistently throughout the story and Rhaenys is shown in the episode as very protective of the girls. Add to that it looks like Corlys' brother is making a play to contest Driftmark. I mean he is using the Eulogy to openly imply that Laenor's kids are bastards (and ignores Laena's girls presumably). The only response this gets is Daemon's laugh (the timing of it follows Vaemond's insult). The Jace-Baela betrothal would satisfy the need for both the Velaryon blood and the name to inherit but it needs their parents to agree to it. Of course then it would get harder to be allies without that there, which could add to why things were more troubled later. But I'll join in hoping we see plenty of scenes with Jace before we lose him. I think I'm more just Team Bastard than Team Black or Green. Hopefully they will do them all justice on the show.