House of the Dragon's Defining Trait: Uncomfortable Sex Scenes
Fans of Game of Thrones may have found the lack of uncomfortable sex scenes in the first few episodes of House of the Dragon a little…well, out of the ordinary.
Despite it being a prequel to the original show and featuring a series of time jumps not seen in the original series, House of the Dragon almost instantly had the look and feel of Game of Thrones, albeit with its own angle. Just not with so much sex.
And let's face it, some of the sex scenes in the first series of Game of Thrones were not really necessary to the storyline. Although you might argue that they were important for scene setting and introducing what was going to be a key tenet of life in Westeros over the coming 8 seasons of the show. Certainly the graphic nature of the action in Game of Thrones – not just in its sexual content – was something that made it different and almost gave the show its own genre.
House of the Dragon, though, had seen far less sexual in nature when the series first began.
At least until episode 4. "King of the Narrow Sea" very much had the feel of uncomfortable sex scenes which, along with violence and death, were very much a feature of Game of Thrones. In fact, there were three important sex scenes that were pivotal to the story in this one episode. And two of them were what you might call 'Game of Thrones level uncomfortable'.
There was the familiar Westerosi sight of familial sexual relations between uncle and niece, Daemon and Rhaenyra, and the not uncommon sight of a couple who appear to share no level of intimacy whatsoever. I'm talking here about Viserys and Alicent.
Oh, and there's a pretty significant age gap between both couples too for an added sense of 'this is so wrong.'
And that theme carries on into the third uncomfortable sex scene in episode 4. There is a weird power dynamic in the scene that sees Rhaenyra seduce Ser Criston Cole. There is, of course, an age gap. But there is also the role Ser Criston plays as the princess's sworn protector.
In all three scenes, regardless of how icky they may feel, there is at least a sense that they are leading somewhere in terms of the story. And, as we now know, that was absolutely the case.
So, with series 2 to come, it seems that, while the gratuitous sex associated with Game of Thrones may not be such a feature of House of the Dragon, uncomfortable sex scenes may well remain a staple.