'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon': Why was Baelon's birth intercut with Daemon's jousting scene?
Spoilers for 'House of the Dragon' Episode 1
'House of the Dragon' first episode had been all over the headlines for many reasons and one of them is Milly Alcock's stellar performance. The 22-year-old who is playing Rhaenyra Targaryen has bloomed into her character and created a fan base for herself from the first episode. The creators, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, may have sensed that it was best to release a behind-the-scenes video explaining the choices they made in the show, as they realized there may be a little backlash from the audiences for some scenes. Nevertheless, the series has lived up to the expectations and has given fan more of what they always wanted. Wonder what? Dragons and a house full of Targaryens!
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Return to King’s Landing. pic.twitter.com/gFpG5eY3zi
— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) August 24, 2022
Condal explains, “The things the Great Council should tell you is that this is a patriarchy and that the men of the realm want to keep the men in power.” This gives us an immediate understanding of the conflict that’s going to be the crux of the series. Paddy Considine who plays King Viserys doesn’t think he “was a guy who sought the crown or wanted it. It came to him.” And that he only wants to keep the peace in the kingdom which makes him something akin to Ned Stark in the original series.
Condal further goes on saying, “It was Miguel’s idea to intercut the birth with the specific fight. Because Aemma tells Rhaenyra early in the story, ‘the child bed is our battlefield.’” So the scene is meant to create the illusion of different kinds of battlefields. While the makers wanted to portray “how difficult the childbirth was” it was also to “dramatize the terrible position that Viserys is put in.” As fate decrees, Aemma and the child Baelon both die leaving Viserys devastated. However, Sapochnik says, “Rhaenyra is finding herself unable to be the child, to be the one that’s being looked after. Suddenly she’s having to play the adult role.” Milly Alcock who is playing the younger version of the princess thinks it's “quite traumatic” that she’s cremating her mother and brother. Condal adds, “It’s the real final moment for her being forced to say goodbye in that way.”
Lastly, Sapochnik explains that Viserys' decision to choose Rhaenrya as the heir was “in part out of guilt for what he did to Aemma and in part out of love.” While Considine explains that Viserys is “very protective of Rhaenrya” and at the same time, he can “see the potential within her to be a great ruler” and thus he goes against the grain in naming her heir. We see right from the start that Rhaenyra is in a "comfortable position" nonetheless. Alcock reveals her true state of mind after all that has happened, “She sees it as the first time that she feels she’s good enough for her father. She is also the first woman ever to be named heir. Viserys was named heir over someone who should’ve deserved it, Princess Rhaenys. So, she kind of feels like there’s a reprimand in that." However, Sapochnik doesn’t think “Rhaenyra has any idea what she’s getting into.”
'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon' airs every Sunday at 9 pm EST. You can watch it on HBO or stream it on HBO Max.