It looks like there is a whole bunch of scenes that never made it into the final cut of the Game of Thrones prequel’s first season, and it only suffered because of it.
House of the Dragon fans have long been up in arms over a number of deleted scenes they believed were crucial for the show’s storytelling and character development.
Aside from the show’s decision not to show Daemon comforting his daughters after their mother Laena’s death, there is another crucial scene that fans feel was a crime to cut. All of the deleted scenes have been listed in an extensive Twitter thread by @theblacks_, but one of them could change everything in the show.
One of the main points of conflict between Rhaenyra Targaryen’s Blacks and Alicent Hightower’s Greens is the strained relationship between the duo’s children. Alicent believes that Rhaenyra would have been a threat to her and her family had she become queen; Rhaenyra, for her part, is portrayed as someone who doesn’t go out of her way to change that impression.
Well, according to one of the deleted scenes, that was not entirely true. In episode 3, young Rhaenyra, portrayed by Milly Alcock, was supposed to spend some time with little Aegon II Targaryen, putting him on her lap and teaching him how to say her name properly.
Some fans believe the scenes were cut simply to demonize Team Black.
“I find it funny that ALL deleted scenes are just team black characters such as Rhaenyra being friendly with baby Aegon, Baela speaking with Rhaenys, Daemon with his daughters, Daemon mourning his brother and daughter, Daemon comforting Rhaenyra… it smells weird,” Twitter user VISVNYA noted.
Other fans note that the deleted scene could have at least established some kind of relationship between Rhaenyra and Aegon, since the show has not spent any time developing that.
“Removing this scene is so egregious when the Dance [of the Dragons] is meant to be framed as a civil war between Rhaenyra and Aegon but their relationship in the show is basically non-existent. Any important character moments between them in the future are not going to carry any weight,” another Twitter user argued.
House of the Dragon Season 2 will begin filming this March, with a premiere date to be announced by HBO.