House of the Dragon (2022)

What earned the score

• Female Succession Against Male Preference

  Rhaenys is passed over because she is a woman, and Rhaenyra’s claim is questioned on the same basis even after Viserys names her heir. The series makes gendered succession a driver of the royal conflict, framing women’s exclusion from the throne as a central grievance.

• Motherhood as Female Service

  Aemma tells Rhaenyra that bearing children is how women serve the realm. The line presents a traditional, sex-specific duty as the expected purpose of royal women.

• Spoiler Reveals a plot point Show Hide

  Women as Military Power

  Women occupy military command and combat roles: Lohar leads a fleet, a young woman takes charge of a dragon, Rhaenyra plots a takeover, and a mother volunteers for a dangerous battle to protect her son. The series repeatedly casts women as the strategists, commanders, and protectors in its war story.

• Spoiler Reveals a plot point Show Hide

  Gay Identity Rewrites Marriage

  Laenor is gay, so he and Rhaenyra agree to an open marriage; they later fake his death so he can flee with his male paramour. His sexuality shapes both the marriage arrangement and the characters’ later decisions.

• Spoiler Reveals a plot point Show Hide

  Same-Sex Attraction on Screen

  Rhaenyra displays same-sex attraction and kisses a woman in Season 2. The series adds an on-screen same-sex romantic beat to her character.

• Royal Rule as Engine of Plunder

  Daemon’s Gold Cloaks seize and execute men in Flea Bottom without trials, and the king’s council ultimately overlooks the violence as a show of strength. The Crown is framed not as a source of justice but as a coercive institution that fuels insecurity and leaves ordinary people’s property at the mercy of whoever holds power.

Details

The Targaryen dynasty is at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins when King Viserys breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm.

Starring

Matt SmithEmma D'ArcyOlivia CookeJames NortonSteve Toussaint

Genre

Sci-Fi & FantasyDramaAction & Adventure

Release Date

Aug 21, 2022

Parents Guide

• Sex Severe

  Graphic incest, orgies & sex parties with graphic full nudity.

  Foot fetish depicts female feet used for male sexual pleasure.

  Explicit Nunsploitation, Sexual Corruption in Religion & Polyandry.

  Romanticizes relationships between adult men and underage teen girls including Child Brides used for procreation. Glamorizes incestuous relationships with adult men and underage teen girls.

  Graphic sex and graphic full nudity in brothels and intimate encounters.

  Exotik.

• Violence Severe

  Soldiers murder people with swords, chopping limbs and heads off.

  A woman who's in labor has her womb cut open to take out the child. Blood is shown with screaming.

  A dismembered torso of a character is dragged out by another character after they presumably fought each other.

  Several shots of men being nailed to posts and fed alive to crabs. This is brief but disturbing.

  Heads are crushed and limbs are shattered using blunt weapons.

  Many soldiers are burned alive by dragons, some are seen screaming and running while engulfed in flames, others are completely disintegrated.

  A character is shown with sores and necrotic tissue and missing fingers.

  A character's eye is slashed open.

  A character and their dragon are snatched from the sky and torn to shreds by another dragon.

  Blood, mutilated flesh, other gruesome images common. Many killings and brutal attacks: hitting, screaming, vicious removal of body parts, and disemboweling. Weapons include swords, knives, other medieval contraptions. A woman is cut open to save her unborn baby.

• Profanity Severe

  f**k, s**t, c**t, cock, wh**e, and wench are used alongside lesser profanity like b**tard and b**ch.

  There is occasional strong language and frequent crude insults, though profanity is less common than the violence.

• Drugs Mild

  Alcohol use.

  Constant drinking of wine and beer which is quite normal considering the setting.

  Wine is consumed frequently at feasts, councils, and private gatherings, and many characters become intoxicated.

• Frightening Scenes Severe

  One antagonist has burns and sores covering his body, and wears a mask that appears to be fused to his face. He does not speak and carries himself in a very unnerving way.

  Multiple miscarriages are depicted in the show.

  Not as depressing and dark as "Game of Thrones", but still pretty violent and gory.

  The scene with the miscarriage in the first episode is intense and probably hard to watch for most of the viewers, due to its very graphic and explicit depiction and leading to the death of the mother and the newborn.

  Rated TV MA for strong brutal violence and grisly images, language, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, and some drug use.

  A violent childbirth scene with graphic medical gore is one of the most disturbing moments in the series, alongside dragon attacks, executions, and scenes of torture.

  Helena Targaryen's death is so sad.

  Jace death is sad.

  Suggested MPA Rating (US Viewers only): R for strong brutal medieval warfare and violence including grisly images, language, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, and some drug use.

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