House of the Dragon featured plenty of disturbing imagery in its first season. From death in childbirth to on-screen beheadings, there's no shortage of terrible things happening in the world of Ice and Fire. One particularly haunting scene involves Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) giving birth to a stillborn daughter with draconic features which was actually a prosthetic crafted by Barrie Gower, who has shown the prop off in more clarity.
In House of the Dragon, when Rhaenyra is pregnant with her sixth child, she goes into labor far too prematurely upon learning her brother Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) has been crowned and usurped her title. She refuses to let even any midwife near and gives birth to a girl, Visenya, who is consigned to the funeral pyre shortly after.
Prosthetic designer Barrie Gower (who also brought Vecna to life) shared an image of the prop used for the baby on his Instagram. Though it cannot be seen for long on-screen, the picture of the prop shows just how draconic the baby actually is. As a warning, the image may be upsetting or triggering for some viewers, so discretion is advised. Noseless and scaled, the baby is a disturbing reminder that House Targaryen's claim to being the "blood of the dragon" may be more literal than most catch on to.
In the books, the death of her daughter incites Rhaenyra to harden her heart further against her stepmother and half-siblings. House of the Dragon depicted Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey, then Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra as being closer than its source material, and Rhaenyra does not fully harden her heart until the death of another child, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault).
The depiction of the character recalls the birth of Daenerys' (Emilia Clarke) son Rhaego in season 1 of Game of Thrones. He's said to have been born eyeless and winged, but the audience never sees the child themselves to confirm it isn't a horrific slander to hurt Daenerys. House of the Dragon has chosen to introduce book elements like the Prince That Was Promised into the show universe, and the presence of dragon-like children being born into House Targaryen is another element the show chose to adapt.
The child hints at some very disturbing history for House Targaryen, though House of the Dragon probably won't cover it. It's implied in the books that Valyrians were into some seriously dark magic. It's also implied that dragons are creatures created by Valyrians, making them unnatural.
House of the Dragon is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Barrie Gower/Instagram