SPOILER Breaks Down House of the Dragon’s Premiere Death Scene

(Spoilers ahead for the series premiere of House of the Dragon on HBO.)

The series premiere of House of the Dragon kicked things off with dragon flights, action-packed fights and, in true Game of Thrones fashion, a gruesome death scene.

When Queen Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) goes into labor, the nurses realize the baby is breached, forcing King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) to make a difficult decision: sacrifice his wife to save his heir or let the baby, presumed to be a male, die. 

To ensure his family’s future on the Iron Throne and get the son he so desired, he painfully watched as the child was cut out of Aemma’s belly, resulting in her death. He later learns his sacrifice was for naught, as the baby died hours later.

If you thought the scene was hard to watch, Brooke revealed “it was exhausting” to film while breaking down her bloody death on the latest episode of E! News’ digital series While You Were Streaming.