Posted on 08/25/2022 9:35:35 AM PDT by Morgana
Writer's Note: Spoilers!
You could see this coming a mile away. I avoided all “spoilers” on Monday since I wasn’t able to watch the premiere episode of the Game of Thrones prequel spinoff House of the Dragon until Monday evening.
Anywho, after watching the episode, “The Heirs of the Dragon,” while there were sprinklings of post-modern feminism throughout the episode, it wasn’t overwhelming to the point that justified a proper eye-roll. But there was one scene that I just knew was going to be talked about — the primitive C-section scene.
The writers couldn’t have made it any clearer that the whole thing was an allegory for the typical leftist abortion trope of, “in the event of the mother being in mortal danger.”
These days, there’s no reason for an abortion, because you can still have the baby and save the mother. However, in the time period of the show, about 110 A.D., you either had the choice of losing both mother and baby or at least having the chance of saving the baby but not the mother.
‘King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) was given the choice between losing both his wife, Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke), and saving the prospective heir to his throne should the child be a boy. ‘Viserys’ chose to try and save the child, which meant putting his ‘Aemma’ through an absolutely pre-medieval C-section:
GRAND MAESETER MELLOS: During a difficult birth it sometimes becomes necessary for the father to make an impossible choice.
KING VISERYS: Well, speak it.
MELLOS: To sacrifice one or to lose them both. There is a chance we can save the child. A technique is taught at the Citadel which involves cutting directly into the womb to free the infant. But the resulting blood loss…
VISERYS: Seven Hells, Mellos. You can save the child?
MELLOS: We must either act now or leave it with the Gods.
There was no way to save either or, not in those primitive times, even taking into account it’s fiction. Unfortunately, the baby also died post-birth. But that was where the controversy began.
I figured viewers might be critical, not upset, that a clear abortion trope was inserted into the show, even though the show is fantasy — and therefore, NOT REAL.
Of course, the helmet-wearing intelligentsia on social media were upset and offended that Aemma didn’t have a choice…even though in that time period, as mentioned earlier, the only choice was to possibly save the child or lose both.
House of the Dragon can be seen every Sunday evening on HBO and HBO Max.
Yeah, it's supposed to. Game of Clones ping.
Looking forward to the series.
And it seems, so are many others.
The abortion was performed by a noble muslim character played by Morgan Freeman, who sliced open the belly of the wife one of Robin Hood's band of merry men. Of course it was heroic, empathic music swelled, the mother was soon seen lovingly snuggling the baby, and there was no onscreen hemorrhage. Because Hollywood.
Future ruler born via Caesarian section. Where have I heard that before? Oh, it was Julius Caesar legendarily born by the procedure named for him. And from literature there was McDuff "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripped".
Actually an ectopic pregnancy would justify an abortion
Yes and I tried to not read anything into it. Pretty normal assumption that in medieval times a Lord or King would put the life of his potential heir over that of their wife.
There are just so many examples of out dated tropes that Hollywood promotes. Watch any movie where one of the characters is a teacher. The teacher will drive home in some run down 30 year old car and live in a total hovel - the message being that teachers are under paid.
Yep. And C-sections go way back, almost always performed on either mothers who had died while in labor or were beyond saving and almost all of these resulted in the death of the mother.
The first record of a C-section that was survived by both child and mother wasn't until the end of the 14th century, and even after this, survival was likely a rare occurrence until the development of antibiotics.
As recently as the mid 19th century, C-sections still had an 85% fatality rate for the mother.
I watched it last night. My only thoughts during the c-section scene were “ how that baby and mother could’ve been saved with modern medicine.
I don’t know if I’ll watch any more episodes.
The jousting scene was pretty good. I was hoping the king’s evil prince brother would get skewered, but he survived to plot another day.
Maybe I WILL continue to watch it.
It certainly is a counterpoint to “Resident Alien”…🙂
All 4 of our kids were c-sections due to complications of a normal birth. It is surgery so it is to be taken seriously. After the 4th the doctors warned my wife about further c-sections especially because we had children late in life.
“However, in the time period of the show, about 110 A.D...”
You shouldn’t be allowed to write about GoT or spinoffs if you aren’t even aware that they are not set on planet earth, and do not use the Roman calendar.
I was just about to say the same. While it's been said the GOT takes inspiration from the Plangents and the War of the Roses, it's not a historical drama.
As would an incomplete miscarriage prior to fetal viability but with a fetal heartbeat, where the woman's water has broken but no labor has started, and the woman has become septic. It's rare, but it does happen.
and that winter is always coming.
The morally depraved vs. the morally depraved.
Like the envirowhackos pushing electric cars vs. envirowhackos opposing mining for the elements necessary for them to exist.
That to
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