For the first time since Game of Thrones ended in 2019, fans returned to Westeros with the new prequel series House of the Dragon, which featured plenty of controversial moments.
One was a childbirth scene with Queen Aemma Targaryen (Sian Brooke) and King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) by her side.
Series creator Ryan Condal and his co-showrunner/director Miguel Sapochnik revealed in a new interview with PopSugar that they showed the scene to a number of women to see if it was too violent, although no one said it was.
Controversial: For the first time since Game of Thrones ended in 2019, fans returned to Westeros with the new prequel series House of the Dragon, with plenty of controversial moments
Childbirth: One was a childbirth scene with Queen Aemma Targaryen (Sian Brooke) and King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) by her side
Queen Aemma had been trying for years to give King Viserys a son to serve as heir to the Iron Throne, though the only child to survive was Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock).
King Viserys is convinced this time that Aemma will finally give him the male heir to the throne he’s always wanted… but the scene ends with the deaths of both mother Aemma and son Baelon.
After Aemma is unable to push the child out of her due to the breech delivery, Viserys is told by the Grand Maester (David Horovitch) that the child can survive via a medieval version of a Caesarean section.
King: Queen Aemma had been trying for years to give King Viserys a son to serve as heir to the Iron Throne, although the only child to survive was Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock).
While Visesrys tells the Maester to perform the technique, he doesn’t tell his wife, with the procedure killing her, and while the child initially survived, Baelon died shortly after his mother.
Sapochnik admitted that the scene was “the subject of much discussion” and they shot several versions of it.
“It seemed important to highlight something that was the most traumatic event…it’s what breaks that family apart,” he said.
Doesn’t tell: While Visesrys tells de Maester to perform the technique, he doesn’t tell his wife, with the procedure killing her, and while the child initially survived, Baelon died shortly after his mother
“And more importantly, Viserys doesn’t give his wife, Aemma, a choice, and that’s something that seems very important,” he added.
He acknowledged that the scene may have made people uncomfortable, revealing, “We made it a point to show it to as many women as possible and asked the question, “Was this too violent for you?”
And unanimously the answer was no. Often the answer was: “No, if there is something, it must be more,” said Sapochnik.
More: ‘And the answer was unanimously no. Often the answer was: “No, if there is something, it must be more,” said Sapochnik
“It’s a point that . . . hits a real trigger for women, what this idea of choice is and that she can’t choose,” says Sapochnik.
“She was effectively murdered by her husband. And that’s a good indication of the state of things in this world we live in,” he added.
‘I thought it was an opportune moment to visually draw that parallel between the two, the male and the female struggle. One fights on the battlefield, the other fights for survival, sometimes from the person closest to her,” he added.
Murder: ‘She was effectively murdered by her husband. And that’s a good indication of the state of things in this world we live in,” he added