Warning: SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 1, episode 4.
House of the Dragon season 1, episode 4 feels very familiar to Game of Thrones in one significant way. Set almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon has the difficult mission of working both as a prequel and as a spiritual successor to Game of Thrones. Based on George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon shares a lot with Game of Thrones in terms of sets and creative teams, but it was only in episode 4 that House of the Dragon really evoked some of Game of Thrones’ defining traits, which includes violence, unsettling couples, and sex scenes.
Despite being a prequel to Game of Thrones co-created by long-time Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik, House of the Dragon has so far tried to find its own tone rather than mimic the original show. For example, House of the Dragon has many time jumps, a narrative trick that was rarely used in Game of Thrones, but that is essential for the stories of Rhaenyra, Daemon, and Alicent. House of the Dragon also follows a smaller set of characters than Game of Thrones, not to mention the several existing dragons, all of which gives the show a distinct separate tone from Game of Thrones.
Still, House of the Dragon is Game of Thrones’ successor, and “King of the Narrow Sea” makes it clear. One of Game of Thrones’ defining traits, especially in the early seasons, was the abundance of sex scenes, many of which were visually and/or thematically unsettling. While House of the Dragon’s first episode displayed a couple of sex scenes, they were either background shots or very brief moments. House of the Dragon season 1, episode 4, on the other hand, had three significant sex scenes, all of which were central to the episode. Not only that, but two out of the three House of the Dragon episode 4 sex scenes were highly uncomfortable. Daemon and Rhaenyra are uncle and niece, and Viserys and Alicent do not seem to share any real intimacy, ina addition to the age gap in both cases. Still, the edginess of Westeros and the problematic side of its medieval-like setting were part of Game of Thrones' visual identity, which is now being echoed in House of the Dragon.
How House of the Dragon's Sex Scenes Compare To Game of Thrones
Compared to Game of Thrones’ first few seasons, House of the Dragon has so far been moderate in terms of sex scenes. For example, House of the Dragon’s episodes 2 and 3 did not feature any sex scenes or nudity. That was something rare for the first seasons of Game of Thrones, which would feature sex scenes and nudity in almost every episode. In fact, one major difference between the Game of Thrones sex scenes and the House of the Dragon ones is that the latter have so far been essential to the story while the former were sometimes gratuitous, especially in Game of Thrones season 1.
Rhaenyra’s relationship with Daemon and Ser Criston Cole are pieces of the puzzle that will lead to the Dance of the Dragons. As such, more than shock value or a gimmick to emulate Game of Thrones, the “King of the Narrow Sea” sex scenes represent redefining moments for the House of the Dragon plot. Essentially, the graphic scenes in Game of Thrones were used to set the show apart from other similar works of high fantasy, something that its successor, House of the Dragon, does not have to worry about.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays @ 9pm ET on HBO and streams on HBO Max.