House Of The Dragon Episode 6 Broke Surprising Game Of Thrones Record
House of the Dragon episode 6, « The Princess and the Queen”, broke a surprising Game of Thrones record in its first five minutes. Set almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon has seen massive success after the first 6 episodes brought back the politics, family drama, and action the franchise was known for after the disappointing final season of Game of Thrones. Rather than waiting a whole season to kill off a main character, House of the Dragon quickly jumped into the Dance of the Dragons with significant deaths and strong performances.
The succession of a new generation of Targaryens begins to take shape in House of the Dragon episode 6, with Alicent and Rhaenyra fully at mental and emotional war with each other as they struggle to have their respective families inherit the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra continues to do as she pleases even though she isn’t fooling anybody with her marriage to Laenor, and now faces the consequences as enemies begin to turn on her children and question their lineage. Although Alicent is not a Targaryen by blood, her and Rhaenyra’s relationship is already becoming a determining factor in the destruction of House Targaryen and resulting turmoil in Westeros. The first move Alicent makes in episode 6 happens directly after Rhaenyra gives birth to her third child – the queen commands to see the child (most likely so she can determine its parentage) and, not willing to go without her child, Rhaenyra walks up to the queen’s chambers herself in one long scene.
That scene is the longest take in Game of Thrones history. The sequence happens at the very beginning of the episode following Rhaenyra as she makes the brutal walk through the palace trailing blood behind her. The five minutes it takes from Rhaenyra giving birth to setting foot in Alicent’s chambers only used two takes, with Mashable reporting each shot is over two and a half minutes long.
Long continuous shots take viewers through Joffrey’s birth and the aftermath in real time as Rhaenyra is experiencing it, emphasizing the tension between her and Alicent and her perseverance even after giving birth. However, the birth scene also speaks to the war Alicent started in episode 5 by wearing a green dress to Rhaenyra’s wedding feast, which is the color her house’s beacons glow when it calls its banners to war. Even after a time jump, Rhaenyra and Alicent’s now soured relationship is made clear in the first five minutes of episode 6 because of Alicent’s backhanded request to see Joffrey and Rhaenyra’s reluctance to look weak in the face of the queen.
House of the Dragon’s graphic birth scene in episode 1 saw the death of Rhaenyra’s mother Aemma in an attempt to give King Viserys a male heir, and episode 6 parallels her mother’s battle with childbirth and producing heirs. The long shots draw out the scene to make Rhaenyra’s walk seem as long as it feels to her and re-establishes her bullheaded determination and resistance to being commanded by her once best friend. While Rhaenyra and Alicent may be separated for a while as Rhaenyra takes her family to live at Dragonstone, their relationship will continue to define the history of Westeros as they battle for succession in House of the Dragon.
Source: Mashable
