Why THAT Rhaenyra Birth Scene Had To Happen
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WARNING! This post contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 10 and George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood!Just as the series began, House of the Dragon’s season 1 finale includes a horrifying birth scene for Rhaenyra Targaryen, which calls back to the show’s themes of women’s expected roles in the realm. Rhaenyra has had five relatively easy births in House of the Dragon, with episode 6’s depiction of Joffrey’s birth being a rare happy moment – until Alicent makes her walk to her chambers. However, the birth of Rhaenyra’s daughter Visenya is painful, abrupt, and traumatizing, as Rhaenyra tragically pulls the deformed stillborn baby from herself and cradles her.
While House of the Dragon episode 10’s birth scene is graphic, it reflects the premiere’s violent childbirth involving Rhaenyra’s mother Aemma Arryn. Aemma was killed when maesters cut her open to remove the child, with the scene cutting between Aemma’s mutilation and the brutal tourney. House of the Dragon’s season 1 finale includes a similar parallel as Rhaenyra’s screams are intercut with flashes of Syrax, suggesting the dragon feels her pain while also symbolizing the blood of the dragon inside her. Aemma remarked that the birthing bed was the woman’s battlefield, indicating Rhaenyra’s violent miscarriage – as instigated by Viserys’ death and Aegon stealing the Iron Throne – was the first real battle of the Dance of the Dragons.
Related: House Of The Dragon’s Birth Scene Delivers On Its Darkest Promise
Why Rhaenyra Refuses Any Help During Visenya’s Birth
This is the first time that Rhaenyra has had a complicated birth, and understands that it’s far too early for Visenya to be coming. Likely wanting some sort of control over the situation, Rhaenyra pulls her baby out in order to stop the pain. Considering her mother Aemma was killed when the maesters tried to cut the baby out, Rhaenyra also likely sought to pull out Visenya herself in order to prevent the same thing from happening to her. If the birthing bed is the battlefield, Rhaenyra needs control rather than help from the midwives.
Rhaenyra wasn’t going to let herself die during House of the Dragon episode 10’s birth scene, and felt that only she had the power to get the baby out quickly. While she didn’t have complete control over this situation, Rhaenyra had just lost her father Viserys and the Iron Throne, with Visenya’s birth being the one thing at the moment she could do alone and at her own direction. Rhaenyra needed to get the baby out, and in her rage and urgency, only she could accomplish this. Even when wrapping Visenya before her funeral burning, Rhaenyra rejects any help from the silent sisters – only she will hold her daughter.
Why Rhaenyra’s HOTD Episode 10 Birth Scene Was Important
The graphic nature of Rhaenyra’s birth scene in House of the Dragon episode 10 aligns with the show’s exploration of women’s expected battles in Westeros. It’s a devastating moment in which Rhaenyra’s grief and anger have brought on the early delivery of her stillborn child, and she’s left alone in this intense and life-threatening moment. As Daemon is planning the war downstairs, Rhaenyra is already fighting a horrifying battle while he ignores her screams. This was truly Rhaenyra’s first combat in the Targaryen civil war, and it ended in the death of her child.
In George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, it was Visenya’s death that led her to take revenge on the greens. However, Lucerys’ death still left her inconsolable in her grief, with Daemon taking it upon himself to exact brutal vengeance. Rhaenyra blamed Visenya’s death on the greens, stating that they would pay for murdering her only daughter. Rhaenyra said she didn’t want to spill first blood in House of the Dragon, but in Fire & Blood, she perceived the greens as having already done so by inducing Visenya’s violent birth. Visenya’s stillbirth is important as it hardens Rhaenyra, fueling her need for revenge against Aegon’s green party.
Next: House Of The Dragon: Why THAT Birth Scene Was So Important