House of the Dragon creators have explained why they needed the birthing scene in episode one of the hit show, which was met with criticisms by some viewers due to its graphic nature.
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Speaking about the horrific scene, in which Queen Aemma is killed by an emergency C-section against her wishes, showrunner Miguel Sapochnik told Insider: "We did make a point of showing it to as many women as possible and asked the very question, 'Was this too violent for you?' And unanimously, the response was 'no.' Often the response was 'If anything, it needs to be more.'"
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He continued: "We shouldn't 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. 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."
What did you think of the scene?
Speaking about the scene on Twitter, one person wrote: "That birth scene was not only hard to watch, it was triggering. I was in labour for 36hrs with my firstborn, thank God I had him young because it took me over a decade to be able to think about getting pregnant again. This birth scene was just too much."
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Queen Aemma is killed during childbirth
Another person added: "I’m [expletive] sorry but watching and hearing a HORRIFYINGLY graphic FORCED birth without the mother's consent happen the way that it did on television ESPECIALLY with everything going on in this world right now… like y’all, I’m actually nauseous and about to cry. #HouseoftheDragon." What did you think of the scene?
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