WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON EPISODE FOUR
House of the Dragon viewers were left feeling seriously grossed out by the latest instalment of the hit fantasy series, having found an incestuous storyline between Daemon and his teenage niece Rhaenyra a ‘disgusting’ step too far.
Of course, fans of Game of Thrones should know the horrors to expect from the franchise by now, thanks to its reputation for brutal violence and wild sex scenes.
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But it seems that these well-worn tropes still weren’t enough to prepare some viewers for the latest episode, which saw Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) exposed to her first sexual encounter – with her uncle, no less.
We saw as Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) helped her sneak out of the palace to enjoy the sights of Downtown King’s Landing by night, each dressed in disguise so that they could mingle with the commoners without blowing their cover.
Their adventure initially seemed poignant and sweet – a doting uncle helping his niece experience a liberated, wider world that her royal duties had always prevented her from seeing.
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However, things took an inevitably x-rated turn when Daemon took Rhaenyra into one of his much-frequented brothels, where naked strangers writhed around in ecstasy as the young princess watched on in awe.
As the sexual tension reached a climax, the pair started kissing and stripping down, but just as Rhaenyra pulled her trousers down, a frustrated Daemon had a sudden epiphany and stopped himself from following through, bolting immediately after.
While they thankfully never quite made it to, ahem, penetrative sex, fans felt they’d seen enough to leave them feeling very uncomfortable indeed.
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One viewer tweeted: “This house of dragons episode is quite disgusting. I’ll never understand the need for incest like this shit weird as hell every time.”
Someone else said: “House of dragon episodes 4 was disgusting, the Princess almost got f**ked by her uncle, what is sexy about that?”
A third wrote: “Why does Rhaenyra and Daemon have chemistry, WHY?!?! F**king Game of Thrones normalizing incest for me isn’t the plot twist I was hoping for 2022.”
Another commented: “This Rhaenyra Targaryen girl still looks extra young I don't care how many time skips they give us. Furthermore, this Targaryen incest is extra gross.”
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A fifth hadn't even seen the episode yet and was already feeling weird about the storyline, saying: "I haven’t started watching #HouseOfTheDragon and feel sick that some of you are stanning incest like this. He is her uncle."
Others simply pointed out that this was simply the nature of the beast, with one tweeting: "Why everyone are so shocked with the incest? They’re Targaryen. I mean we saw cersei and Jamie and they where twin #HOTD."
Another agreed: "How are people getting mad about incest in #HOTD, did you learn NOTHING from watching Game of Thrones?"
UK viewers can catch House of the Dragon on Sky Atlantic and NOW, while the show will be available in the US on HBO and HBO Max.
Featured Image Credit: HBO/SkyTopics: TV and Film, House of the Dragon
