Trigger warning: forced birth, blood
Game Of Thrones fans have finally got their hands on the first episode of the prequel, House Of The Dragon, and it seems like there's one particular scene that's already causing chaos in episode one.
If you want to watch something that makes the Red Wedding (season 3, episode 9 of GoT) look tame, look no further than 'The Heirs Of The Dragon', which dropped on streaming services on August 21, 2022.
*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD*
In it, Queen Aemma goes into labor during a tournament in King's Landing, which is being held in honor of her unborn baby - the new heir to King Viserys Targaryen I.
When the king is informed the baby is breech, they must make the decision to either leave the outcome of the birth to fate, or allow the medical team to cut directly into the Queen's stomach so they can deliver the baby, knowing that it will kill her.
Eventually, the decision is made and Aemma's baby is pulled directly from her womb, causing fatal blood loss. It's later revealed that their son also died following child birth.
Fans have taken to Twitter to call out the "traumatizing scene", before pointing out that it was basically what Game Of Thrones was known for. As one fan summarised, "House of the Dragon is already disturbing as f***, insane violence, weird sex, crazy ass dialogue, and a screaming lady giving birth who will most likely die, yup GoT is back lol."
Someone else said, "#HouseoftheDragon really showed a brutal forced birth. Damn." and "Just watched the first episode #HouseoftheDragon and that scene traumatised me."
Another put, "The 'birth' scene was easily the most evil and horrific thing I've ever seen. The worst part was that she had no choice. I had to pause and cry."
Speaking about the scene, House Of The Dragon creator George R.R. Martin told Vanity Fair, "That scene is…you don’t want to use the word ‘enjoyable’ for a scene like that, but it’s incredibly powerful.
"It’s visceral and it’ll rip your heart out and throw it on the floor. It has the kind of impact that the Red Wedding had. It’s a beautifully done scene of something horrible.”
Horrible indeed.
House Of The Dragon is now available for streaming.
***
This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com/uk. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
