Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra) responds to criticism of House of The Dragon’s brutal birth scenes

Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon season 1 is finally at an end. Both the pilot and the finale showcased a brutal birthing scene. While in the pilot, Viserys watched his wife Aemma die after being opened up to save the baby, losing both of them in the process, in the finale, we see Daemon ignoring Rhaenyra’s calls during the birth of their baby, and the baby’s death thereafter.

However, the show’s realistic and graphic birthing sequences have also received backlash from some of the fans. Emma D’Arcy, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in the series, recently opened up about the criticism in an interview with GQ magazine. D’Arcy said, “I haven’t seen loads of it to be honest. But I take real issue with the idea that we shouldn’t see women in labour depicted with gritty realism, and blood, and placentas. Especially on a show where part of its USP is big, gory battle sequences.”

“What it feels like is that we want women to conform to a certain image. Which is interesting, insofar as acting is concerned, because, there’s also a lot of fun to be had getting to do the big physical, physically demanding sequences. And it’s interesting that maybe sometimes that is not afforded to female characters.”

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