Paddy Considine Says House of the Dragon Childbirth Scene Was Even More Brutal and Emotional to Shoot

The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon’s first episode The Heirs of the Dragon.

House of the Dragon premiered on August 22 and old fans of the Game of Thrones series and prospective viewers flocked to check out the new HBO show. The first episode features all elements that one would come to expect from the prequel, as it introduces the setting and the main characters.

The episode also contains a traumatic scene involving Sian Brooke’s Queen Aemma, who is pregnant. She has troubled labour and her husband, Paddy Considine’s King Viserys makes a difficult decision which made audiences uncomfortable.

Viserys decides to have his wife go through a Caesarean section so that he can have his child, who he is convinced is a boy. He desperately needs a son who can be an heir down the line. Unfortunately, this is of course done without Aemma’s consent, and there are no safe medical techniques to use for such a complicated surgical procedure. Aemma dies in the graphic scene, and Considine told Insider during a roundtable interview that the scene was even more brutal to see on set while shooting.

Considine praised Sian Brooke’s performance and said her small role leaves a big impact on the story.

The first episode has been received well by critics. I gave the episode a score of 7/10 in my review, writing that elements such as backstabbings, political struggles, and family drama will keep viewers hooked to the show.