WARNING: This article contains spoilers for “House of the Dragon.” Read at your own risk.
The prequel to HBO’s “Game of Thrones” titled “House of the Dragons” has already reached the small screens. It has since sparked talks among netizens, especially the series premiere’s shocking childbirth scene.
Mail Online reported that the showrunners of the material, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, talked about the matter during a recent interview. As noted, they revealed they showed the “controversial” scene to several women before the show’s debut on HBO.
The scene, which the publication described as “harrowing,” featured Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke) attempting to deliver a son, Baelon, who is in the breech position.
Amid childbirth, the Grand Maester (David Horovitch) told King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) that their son could survive through a Caesarian section. Upon learning the advice, he ordered the Grand Maester to perform the C-section without telling his wife.
The scene consequently showed Queen Aemma screaming in anguish as she was being cut open, while blood poured out of her abdomen. Despite begging them not to do it, they held her down and operated on her.
Aemma later bled to death, although their son, Baelon, initially survived. But, he died shortly after his mother.
Speaking during a roundtable interview with Insider, along with other publications, Miguel Sapochnik shared that they showed it to “as many women as possible” and asked them whether the scene was “too violent.” He stated that the response was “unanimously” no, adding that “often the response was ‘if anything, it needs to be more.’”
The director of the premiere episode of the “House of the Dragon” continued that they felt it was crucial to highlight the scene. He explained that it is the “most traumatic event that ‘breaks the family apart.’”
Sapochnik asserted that it was also “really important” to highlight the scene where Aemma was given the lack of choice.
The publication later quoted the showrunner, saying, “We should not be shying away from this thing that’s happened because it’s raising a point that seems to hit a real trigger for women, which is this idea of choice.”
It continues, “She doesn’t get to choose. She’s effectively murdered by her husband. And that is a good indication of the state of play in this world that we’re inhabiting.”
Elsewhere in the exchange, Sapochnik noted that the “House of the Dragon” team spent time ensuring the scene would not glorify it and that “it felt ‘horribly real’ without being excessive or dwelled upon.”