One of them was a childbirth scene with Queen Aemma Targaryen (Sian Brooke) and King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) at her side. Series creator Ryan Condal and co-showrunner/director Miguel Sapochnik revealed in a new interview with PopSugar that they showed the scene to several women to see if it was too violent, though none 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, which featured plenty of controversial moments Birth: One of them was a childbirth scene with Queen Aemma Targaryen (Sian Brooke) and King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) at 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 surviving child 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 mother Aemma and son Baelon dead. After Aemma is unable to push the child out of her due to the breech birth, Viserys is told by the Grand Master (David Horovitch) that the child can survive through a medieval version of C-section. King: Queen Aemma tried for years to give King Viserys a son to serve as heir to the Iron Throne, though the only surviving child was Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) While Visesrys tells the Maester to perform the technique, he does not tell his wife, killing her in the process, and while the child initially survived, Baelon died shortly after his mother. Sapochnik admitted that the scene was the “topic of much discussion” and several different versions of it were shot. “It seemed important to highlight something that was kind of the most traumatic event … it’s what’s tearing this family apart,” he said. Doesn’t Tell: While Visesrys tells the Maester to perform the technique, he doesn’t tell his wife, killing her in the process, and while the child initially survived, Baelon died shortly after his mother “And more importantly than anything else, Viserys doesn’t give his wife, Aemma, a choice, and that’s something that seems very important,” he added. She acknowledged that the scene might have made people uncomfortable, revealing: “We intended to show it to as many women as possible and we asked the same question: ‘Was it too violent for you?’ “And unanimously, the answer was no. Often the answer was, “No, if anything, there should be more,” Sapochnik said. More: “And unanimously, the answer was no. Often the answer was, “No, if anything, there should be more,” Sapochnik said “It raises a point that . . . it’s a real trigger for women, which is this idea of choice and not being able to choose,” says Sapochnik. “She was basically murdered by her husband. And that’s a good indication of the state of play in this world we inhabit,” he added. “This seemed like the right time to visually draw that parallel between the two, the male and the female race. One fights on the battlefield, the other for survival, sometimes from the person closest to her,” he added. Murder: “She was basically murdered by her husband. And that’s a good indication of the state of play in this world we inhabit,” he added
