Many questioned whether the scene was necessary
As expected, House of Dragon is not pulling any punches with its first season, which saw a woman forcibly give birth halfway through episode one.
Many viewers of the Game of Thrones spinoff took to social media after the first episode aired in the early hours of Monday morning. In the first episode, Matt Smith’s Prince Daemon Targaryen demonstrates what Game of Thrones fans came to love about the original show, the gratuitous violence.
After a trip to the brothel, Daemon gets to work as the captain of the Gold Cloaks and rounds up most of the criminals in the city of Kings Landing. He chops some hands off, beheads a man and watches on as penis after penis is hacked off. During a jousting tournament later on in the episode, he also butchers and cheats his way to the top spot.
Arguably the most shocking moment of the episode involved King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and his heavily pregnant wife, Aemma Targaryen (Sian Brooke). You see, despite already having a very capable daughter, Viserys wants a male heir and has pushed his wife through five miscarriages in 10 years. She said this is her last attempt, and sadly she was right.
To say Aemma “died during childbirth” is an understatement… Aemma Arryn/Targaryen was killed during childbirth by her husband … I’ve never imagined c-sections being that brutal #HouseoftheDragon
— Mo (@moxie31_) August 22, 2022
Viserys has to choose between his wife and his unborn baby, which could, in turn, be a girl. He chooses the baby, and the nurses then hold Aemma down as the baby is cut out of her. Both mother and baby die, spurring the king to name his daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) as his sole heir.
The scene was undeniably intense, with many viewers sharing their shock online.
Targaryen women waiting for Viserys to show in the afterlife after what he did to Aemma https://t.co/EDQ1R3mjKq
— MadreMonstere (@monstere_madre) August 22, 2022
“I was not at all prepared to see Aemma Targaryen like that,” wrote one fan.
Another suggested: “HBO really needs to reckon with how much they clearly hate women. Killing Aemma Arryn like *that* was wholly unnecessary.”
A third added: “The childbirth sequence juxtaposed with the joust was incredible. The fate of Aemma Targaryen…”
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