House Of The Dragon returned to the box last week for its third season, after captivating fans with its first two offerings.
The HBO show features major cast members including Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans and Fabien Frankel.
It’s framed for pushing the boundaries with its visceral gore, complex moral ambiguities and unapologetic exploration of dark, Shakespearean family trauma.
But despite being a fan favourite, the show has seen no shortage of scandals.
Most recently, House Of The Dragon has found itself in hot water over an ageism row as it was revealed that Olivia has a tiny age gap with Tom Glynn-Carney, who plays her son in the series.
Despite the two playing mother and son, there is only actually only a one-year gap between them with Olivia, 32, and Tom, 31.
House Of The Dragon misses the mark again as Olivia Cooke sparks ageism debate – after HBO show was blasted for ‘sexual violence’ and ‘disturbing’ plotlines (pictured Olivia and her on-screen son played by Tom Glynn-Carney)
The HBO show is framed for pushing the boundaries with its visceral gore, complex moral ambiguities and unapologetic exploration of dark, Shakespearean family trauma
Addressing their closeness in age, Olivia noted it was ‘odd’ as she asked: ‘Does Hollywood just not want to see women age?’
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, she said: ‘When I found out that Tom Glynn-Carne was auditioning for my son, I was like, “Oh, I was like, are they gonna like recast Alicent again and like, like do another age jump? How’s this gonna work?”‘
Josh asked: ‘Where are you at with it now? They’re wonderful actors.
‘I love them with all my heart. I think spiritually, me and Tom are related. It’s odd, isn’t it?
‘I feel many things about it. I feel like God, is this just like the industry? Is it just Hollywood? They don’t want to see women age, you know?
‘I think it’s a big leap for the audience to make, or maybe I’m just a fantastic actor. Let’s go with that.’
It’s the latest scandal to engulf the series.
Despite the show breaking boundaries with its graphic portrayal of sex scenes, stories of rape and incest and even gory depictions of child murder, fans have now claimed its ‘disturbing’ storylines have ‘gone too far’.
One reviewer last week said there was one scene in one of the first four episodes that ‘sickened her’ and made the whole audience ‘gasp in unison’.
Reviewer Sabrina Barr penned in Metro: ‘House Of The Dragon has never been afraid to push the boundaries – the opening episode of season one included a tragic birth scene that’s truly one of the most horrifying sequences I’ve ever watched on TV.
‘In season two, Daemon Targaryen [Matt Smith] had sex with his own mother in a bizarre Harrenhal-induced dream sequence [Harrenhal is an infamous castle in Westeros]. But this latest vomit-inducing moment might take the biscuit.’
One reviewer last week said there was one scene in one of the first four episodes that ‘sickened her’ and made the whole audience ‘gasp in unison”
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The highly-anticipated series three premiere saw Ewan Mitchell’s character Aemond kiss his mother Alicent (Olivia) on the lips during a tense conversation.
Following the scene, one fan wrote on X that it was ‘the most disturbing scene in House of the Dragon’.
While another admitted it was ‘very awkward to watch’ and left them ‘speechless’.
Speaking about the storyline, the actors revealed they were just as surprised as viewers by the unexpected romantic twist.
Ewan even admitted the controversial twist ‘kind of makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit’.
He told People: ‘Yeah, it’s kind of shocking.
‘It’s quite a difficult pill to swallow, isn’t it? Kissing your mom on the lips, especially in that way. I think what you see in that scene in episode one is that skewed love.
‘I mean, Aemond, growing up, he never felt like he was loved enough by his mom and his family around him, and a kid needs that unconditional love to develop a balanced view of themselves.
‘And Aemond, because he never had that, he’s got a very skewed perception and a very strange way of showing love.’
Despite the controversy surrounding the scene, Ewan added he also saw it as a ‘tremendous challenge and an opportunity to show Aemond in a new light’.
While getting to film it with co-star Olivia, he said: ‘Working with Liv Cooke in that scene is just – it’s a masterclass working with Liv Cooke in any scene, yeah she’s a real one.’
Showrunner Ryan Condal meanwhile explained to Entertainment Weekly how Aemond is ‘somebody that was traumatised at an early age by his brother by taking him to a brothel long before his brain could probably process what was happening’.
‘As these things do, that trauma then manifests a certain way in his behavior as an adult,’ he added.
‘While I don’t think that Aemond is necessarily in love with his mother, I don’t think he’s able to separate the feelings that he has for her from these other male feelings that he experiences.’
Olivia also reflected on shooting the scene, and admitted it was ‘quite odd for both of us’.
She mused: ‘There has been this Oedipal undercurrent — unbeknownst to Alicent. And I think it’s shocking.’
Some fans vowed to boycott the upcoming episodes, while critics who have had a preview of what’s to come have revealed the fantasy show made them ‘physically sick’
Many had already said that they would boycott the upcoming season after being left severely disappointed by the ending of series two back in August 2024
Many fans had already said they would boycott the upcoming season after being left severely disappointed by the ending of series two in August 2024.
The 70-minute finale – entitled The Queen Who Ever Was – didn’t provide the spectacle that many Game Of Thrones fans had come to expect from season finales.
While it had its share of surprising moments – including a bold gambit by Queen Dowager Alicent Hightower (Olivia) and a shockingly unclaimed Iron Throne – many were left disappointed.
‘WHERE IS THE REST OF THE EPISODE????’ tweeted @ashx_s0ul along with a picture of a cat captioned, ‘Sobbing in Valyrian’.
The first season ended with the shocking deal of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) son Lucerys Velaryon at the hands of Aemond Targaryen (Ewan), which set the stage for the ‘war’ to come.
Still, fans didn’t get much in terms of actual battle action in season two, which is a primary reason why many felt underwhelmed.
And now, as a result, some fans have revealed their plans to boycott the new series.
Also in the cast are Sonoya Mizuno, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham.
New cast members include Annie Shapiro, Tom Cullen, Tommy Flanagan, Dan Fogler, Joplin Sibtain, Barry Sloane and James Norton.
Previously, fans shared their excitement as a very violent season three trailer dropped – with warring soldiers butchered and burned alive.
Writing in the YouTube comments section, one fan penned: ‘Now we are talking.’
Another added: ‘This season is dark and full of terrors.’
A third shared: ‘My boy, Daemon finally getting the Action he deserves!!’
A fourth chimed in: ‘This series is so dark, so tragic and epic…pure gold.’
While a fifth agreed: ‘This looks better than season 2. Let’s hope it delivers.’
It’s not the first controversy the show has been caught up in.
In 2022, an executive on the show had to clarify comments made that the show would ‘depict sexual violence’.
‘I’d like to clarify that we do not depict sexual violence in the show,’ writer and executive producer Sara Hess told Vanity Fair at the time. ‘We handle one instance off-screen, and instead show the aftermath and impact on the victim and the mother of the perpetrator.
‘I think what our show does, and what I’m proud of, is that we choose to focus on the violence against women that is inherent in a patriarchal system,’ she said in a statement to the publication.
‘There are many “historical” or history-based shows that romanticise powerful men in sexual/marriage relationships with women who were actually not of an age to consent, even if they were “willing,”‘ Sara continued.
‘We put that on-screen, and we don’t shy away from the fact that our female leads in the first half of the show are coerced and manipulated into doing the will of adult men.
‘This is done not necessarily by those we would define as rapists or abusers, but often by generally well-meaning men who are unable to see that what they are doing is traumatic and oppressive, because the system that they all live in normalises it. It’s less obvious than rape but just as insidious, though in a different way.’
It came after House Of The Dragon director Miguel Sapochnik discussed how sexual violence against women would be shown on the series.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sapochnik said production ‘pulled back’ on how much sex appeared, yet still gave a look into how sex was a casual part of life.
‘Violence against women is still very much part of the world,’ The Hollywood Reporter reported in the story.
Sapochnik said they approached the matter ‘carefully, thoughtfully and [we] don’t shy away from it. If anything, we’re going to shine a light on that aspect. You can’t ignore the violence that was perpetrated on women by men in that time. It shouldn’t be downplayed and it shouldn’t be glorified.’
In 2022, Steve Toussaint responded to racist trolls who claimed he didn’t match author George RR Martin’s depiction of his character, Lord Corlys Velaryon, in the novel the show is based on
When the blockbuster fantasy drama Game Of Thrones first aired 15 years ago, it became known almost instantly for its violent bloodlust and frequent, gratuitous nudity.
From the very first episodes of George RR Martin’s eight-season epic, there were graphic sex scenes, stories of rape and incest, and even gory depictions of child murder.
And that wasn’t the only controversy at the time.
Back in 2022, Steve Toussaint, who plays Lord Corlys Velaryon, responded to racist trolls who claimed he didn’t match author George RR Martin’s depiction of his character in the novel the show is based on, pointing out that people are OK with ‘flying dragons’ but not ‘rich black guys’.
Created by Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, the story is adapted from a portion of Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood.
In the HBO Max series, Toussaint played the leader of the House Velayron, one of the closest allies to House Targaryen and the richest house in Westeros, and a good friend to King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Constantine).
After, Toussaint responded to the nasty critics, explaining that people of ‘his hue’ were a huge part of history.
‘So many people are basing their idea of the history of this country on a few films and stuff that were made in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, which don’t bear any resemblance to the truth,’ he told Men’s Health at the time.
‘Historically, people of my hue and your hue, we didn’t just turn up here in the 1970s or the 1960s.
‘There was a point when the ruler of his country, ‘the Caesar,’ was an African man. There are street names that tell you there were people who looked like us in this country even then, but for some reason, it seems to be very hard for people to swallow.
‘They are happy with a dragon flying. They’re happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich black guy? That’s beyond the pale.’
Toussaint reminded people that the show is not intended to be exactly like the book, and he admitted that he didn’t even read it before playing Lord Corlys.
‘George Martin sent us all signed copies of the book. I was going to read it, then I thought, no. What I have to represent is what they’ve written in the script,’ he explained.
‘They’re going to take liberties with it for dramatic purposes. So I didn’t want to read his interpretation or know what happened to my character.’
Season three of House Of The Dragon airs weekly at 9PM ET/ 6PM PT on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. In the UK, the episodes air on Mondays at 2AM. You can stream it on Sky Atlantic, HBO Max, or NOW TV.
