Warning: spoilers ahead for the episode 10 finale of House of the Dragon. Content warning for references to baby loss.
House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy has opened up about the backlash the show received over the inclusion of several hard-hitting birth scenes, the latest coming from the season finale.
A few days ago, episode 10 of the Game of Thrones prequel was released, revealing how Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma) reacted to her father’s death and the news that her half-brother Prince Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney) had ascended the Iron Throne behind her back.
Upon discovering what’s happened in King’s Landing, Rhaenyra goes into labour prematurely, before delivering a stillborn baby in scenes that show the child’s bloody body lying on the ground before being cradled by their mother.
This marked the latest in several birth scenes on the show, the first of which showed Rhaenyra’s mother, Queen Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke), being forced to undergo a C-section that resulted in her bleeding to death in episode one.