Some ‘House of the Dragon’ Viewers Wanted an Episode 1 Trigger Warning, and They’re Right to Be Upset
House of the Dragon didn’t waste any time courting controversy once it hit the air. HBO’s Game of Thrones spinoff series, which covers the events of House Targaryen hundreds of years before GoT, premiered with a no-filler episode that set the action in motion. The House of the Dragon premiere also included a graphic scene that had some viewers calling for a trigger warning, and they’re right to be upset.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 1.]
The ‘House of the Dragon’ premiere included a graphic depiction of a cesarean section
House of the Dragon showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal wanted to depict birth as a battlefield in the debut. They succeeded as “The Heirs of the Dragon” included a graphic depiction of a cesarean section performed on queen Aemma Arryn. Her baby — the king’s son — sits in a breech position and likely would have died during labor.
The scene isn’t just graphic, though. King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) orders the C-section without consulting the queen. She dies, and so does the child moments later.
Game of Thrones pushed the boundaries with its depictions of violence, and House of the Dragon is following suit. According to Mental Floss, some viewers felt HBO should have included a disclaimer or trigger warning about the forced C-section and the resulting deaths, and they have a point.
Why ‘House of the Dragon’ should have included a trigger warning about the C-section scene
The House of the Dragon premiere included warning labels for adult content, adult language, graphic violence, nudity, and strong sexual content. Viewers likely came to the show knowing what to expect, but HBO needed to provide a trigger warning disclaimer about the c-section scene.
A successful pregnancy can bring postpartum depression, SIDS, and other traumatic side effects. Graphically showing a violent c-section that kills both the mother and child is on another level, though. There’s a chance it wasn’t just a few but thousands of women who tuned into House of the Dragon only to be traumatized by the scene.
According to the CDC, nearly 20,000 children died during childbirth in 2019. That’s nearly 55 per day, on average. And that’s just one year of data. Hundreds of thousands of viewers could have been forced to watch a horrific scene without warning. There’s a reason the CDC lists several support resources along with the data — because losing a child during labor is traumatic.
HBO should have included some sort of trigger warning. It didn’t have to provide a specific spoiler about the content, just that something potentially upsetting would follow. Something such as, “Warning: This episode includes a graphic depiction of childbirth that some viewers may find distressing.” How hard would that have been?
We already provide warnings about other potentially dangerous or upsetting content. Video game makers include seizure warnings in games. Disney+ includes disclaimers about insensitive depictions of minorities and indigenous characters. HBO could have done the same with a generic trigger warning about House of the Dragon‘s traumatic scene.
‘Game of Thrones’ included its share of controversial moments
House of the Dragon is related to the Game of Thrones book series. The new show focuses on one book by author George R.R. Martin, who helped develop it for HBO. House of the Dragon tells a different part of the story of Westeros. Still, it’s just like its predecessor when it comes to violence and controversial moments.
Game of Thrones included dozens of shocking, controversial, and disturbing moments during its run. Martin took inspiration from the brutality of medieval history in his books. HBO didn’t scale back when it aired GoT. Cersei’s walk of shame doesn’t rank as one of the most disturbing moments, which indicates how violent some scenes were.
The brutality in House of the Dragon mirrors Martin’s source material, and HBO has every right to broadcast what it wants. But when the show graphically depicts something such as a traumatic birth, the network should include a trigger warning so House of the Dragon fans don’t have to relive their agony.
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