The problem of violence in "House of the Dragon"

When 'House of the Dragon' aired on HBO, there was no doubt in the minds of 'Game of Thrones' fans that the series would be just as bloody, ruthless and violent.

"House of the Dragon" debuted with its metaphorical medieval pistols akimbo, featuring a graphic caesarean section, jousting tournament, and a scene in which criminals are dismembered as punishment. The final episode, "Second of His Name," again features footage of soldiers being eaten alive by crabs, culminating in the defeat of the "Crab Feeder" (Daniel Scott Smith) at the hands of Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), who arrives on the battlefield dragging a severed torso, entrails trailing behind.

Content warning or not (the episode contained a warning for graphic violence, among other things), “House of the Dragon” is clearly trying to outdo its predecessor and itself with graphic spectacle. George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood" quickly lays out the events of this chapter in Westerosi history, but adapting it for the screen means depicting scenes often described in a few words or sentences, such as Daemon's justice, or add new items, like crabs. The show's graphic content and glorified violence is choice – and not always historically accurate. At this point, the violence in TV fantasy like "The House of the Dragon" is more emblematic of "Thrones" itself than of the actual medieval era.

HBO and the showrunners have recently faced backlash for comments about the show's purported realism – which not only reflects but is forced to depict medieval-era violence and misogyny as depicted in the texts by George R.R. Martin. But Martin's work itself isn't a bastion of medieval verisimilitude, not least because, you know, dragons. Claims of accuracy in a fantasy world are conscious choices about what is and isn't believable enough for audiences and creators. Martin and HBO's imaginations of the Middle Ages differ from reality and from each other.

Steve Toussaint in "La Maison du Dragon"

HBO

“Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” take place in an imaginary world,” medievalist and modernist Kavita Mudan Finn told IndieWire. “This world must have an internal logic and that is partly where this misconception occurs. The universe in which these stories take place is so dense, immersive and fascinating that it is very easy to let this slippage happen and fall into the trap of thinking that it reflects some kind of reality that it does not. ."

According to Dr. Shiloh Carroll, author of "Medievalism in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones", the problem with any generalization about the Middle Ages is that the era covers...