House of the Dragon has finally landed, with the first episode featuring one of the most graphic scenes in the franchise’s history.The prequel to Game of Thrones plunged viewers back into the world of Westeros some 200 years before the events of the original series, with the spotlight on the Targaryen family at the height of its rule. You can read our full recap here.While there’s a handful of on-brand gory moments in the debut episode – which is now streaming on Binge – one scene in particular has left fans “eternally traumatised.”The scene, which is shown halfway through the 66-minute episode, sees Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) – the pregnant wife of King Viserys Tagaryen (Paddy Considine) – go into labour.Things aren’t going to plan, with Viserys forced to decide whether to let the birth unfold naturally – potentially losing both his wife and child – or have Aemma cut open while she’s still alive in order to save the baby. He reluctantly chooses the latter given his deep desire to have a male heir.What unfolds is a bloody, nauseating scene where a confused and terrified Aemma is screaming as her baby is cut out of her. The moment has attracted a wave of mortified reaction on social media, with many dubbing it the most “gruesome” scene they’d ever seen:To make the scene all the more unsettling (warning, this is a major spoiler), when the operation is over both Aemma and the child – a baby boy – are dead. Despite his grief, the matter of Viserys’ successor has never been more pressing following the death of his wife and son, with his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra Tagaryen (Milly Alcock) and brother Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) in contention.Viserys initially has a hard time choosing, but by the end of the first episode names his heir. We won’t spoil that here.New episodes of House of the Dragon premiere Mondays at 11am on Binge and Foxtel
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