House of the Dragon showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal opened up about the importance of that traumatic birthing scene in Episode 1 and how they prepped the scene before airing it.
In the series premiere, King Viserys is forced to make a life-altering decision for his wife, Queen Aemma Targaryen, as she endures childbirth complications: save her life or the baby's.
King Viserys ultimately decides to save his unborn child's life, forcing the Grand Master, who's essentially a doctor in his own right and a medical advisor, to perform a medieval caesarian, without his wife's permission.
Before debuting the brutal episode, Miguel and Ryan screened the episode for numerous women to gauge their reactions and feelings toward the scene.
"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?’” Miguel told PopSugar. “And unanimously, the response was ‘no.’ Often the response was ‘If anything, it needs to be more.’”
“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."
The showrunners went on to discuss the battlefield comparisons in the episode. The birthing scene would switch to a jousting tournament happening outside the castle. This was a way of demonstrating the parallels between the male and female struggle.
"One’s fighting on the battlefield, the other’s fighting for survival — sometimes from the person closest to her.”
Unfortunately, both Queen Aemma Targaryen and their newborn son die during childbirth. King Viserys ultimately named his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir.
