Viewers have been left in a fiery mood with one particular House of the Dragon scene, calling it 'horrific' as the first episode in the Game of Thrones spinoff series premiered on Sunday.
(Proceed at your own risk - this piece contains SPOILERS)
The scene in question focused on Queen Aemma (played by (Sian Brooke) and the brutal way her husband, King Viserys I Targaryen (played by Paddy Considine), betrayed her during the birth of their child. In his desperation for a male heir, he orders the baby to be delivered by Caesarean section after it is discovered it will be born breach, without informing his wife.
Despite the Queen pleading with the doctors to not perform the procedure, she is held down and operated on. Sadly, both Queen Aemma and the newborn baby die.
Following the gruesome scene, viewers on social media completely lost it in a mix of emotions ranging from pure fear to intense excitement for what is to come in the series.
One user, who was clearly traumatized from the scene, stated: "The 'birth' scene was easily the most evil and horrific thing I've ever seen. The worst part was that she had no choice. I had to pause and cry #HouseoftheDragon."
Another viewer said they would be having nightmares after watching the scene, writing: "The first episode of House of the Dragons giving me nightmares? Yeah this should be a banger for 4-5 seasons [sic]."
"The less that is said about the horrific birth scene, the better. Nightmare inducing," another Twitter user added.
Another viewer wrote: "Still thinking about the birth scene in House of the Dragon. That’s got to be one of the most horrific things shown on TV."
Many other viewers also believed the episode should have come with a trigger warning.
"House of the Dragon should have come with a trigger warning. I had a c-section ten months ago. I did cry, I am shaking. Too much," one viewer shared.
Another viewer shared: "Seriously @HBO where was the trigger warning for #HouseoftheDragon?!?
"I had a particularly difficult birth with my son which ended in an emergency c-section. I couldn't watch the rest of todays episode, I had to leave the room. Some warning would have been nice."
"First ep of House of the Dragon is predictably but still disappointingly violent. That birth scene should've come with a trigger warning considering the state of 'Murica," added another.
Hardcore fans were quick to note that this type of violence is nothing new for the Game of Thrones universe, given that the HBO heavyweight is notorious for the now-infamous Red Wedding - the bloody massacre which involved the deaths of thousands of people.
The father of Westeros himself, George R. R. Martin, spoke about the controversial birth scene in a recent Vanity Fair interview, stating: "That scene is…you don't want to use the word 'enjoyable' for a scene like that, but it's incredibly powerful [...] It's visceral and it'll rip your heart out and throw it on the floor.
"It has the kind of impact that the Red Wedding had. It's a beautifully done scene of something horrible."
While that scene garnered a range of emotions from viewers, it's safe to say that this is just the tip of the iceberg - more bloodshed is coming.
