All the deleted scenes from House of the Dragon season 1

With the first season of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon behind us, it’s time to start whiling away the days until season 2 comes out sometime in 2024. Whenever the show’s sophomore outing releases, it’s likely to look quite a bit different than season 1, which traced the history of House Targaryen over the course of nearly 30 years using time jumps.

As you might expect, some hard decisions had to be made in order to tell that decades-long story in a way that would fit comfortably within 10 episodes of TV. From interviews with various creatives, we know that there were several deleted scenes from House of the Dragon season 1. What might it have looked like if we’d gotten to see Daemon Targaryen comfort his children in the wake of their mother’s death, or young Rhaenyra Targaryen help her best friend Alicent prepare to marry her father?

Through interviews, snippets of footage, and social media posts, we can put together quite a bit of information about some of the deleted scenes from House of the Dragon season 1. Let’s start at the beginning with a scene cut from the series premiere, “The Heirs of the Dragon”:

The death of Baelon Targaryen

House of the Dragon came out of the gate swinging in its season premiere, letting viewers know that they were back in Westeros and things would get bloody and complicated. The most brutal moment is without a doubt the forced C-section death of Queen Aemma Arryn. As her labor to bring forth her son reaches a deadly impasse, King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) makes the decision to have the baby forcibly removed from Aemma’s womb. However, young Baelon Targaryen doesn’t long outlive her. On the show, we hear the newborn baby gurgling in a disconcerting way and then cut to his body on the funeral pyre besides Aemma.

It’s a difficult, emotional moment, and it originally went on for longer. “What we shot was 10 times more brutal than what you saw. He was 10 times more devastated than what you saw,” Paddy Considine told Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “There was a scene that didn’t make the cut where I’m sitting on the bed, there’s blood on the bed, and I’ve got the dagger. And one of the maesters…the thing he comes to tell me actually is that Baelon hasn’t lived.”

"And so Viserys is hit with this double whack of devastation of his wife and then the kid, you know his son. Then there was this sense of like…’huh.’ You know like that cruel twist of fate of like I’m not surprised."

The deaths of Aemma and Baelon is already one of the most traumatic moments on House of the Dragon. Considine says that cutting the moment where King Viserys finds out about Baelon’s death “was probably the right choice really.” The moment still packs plenty of emotion.

Daemon wasn’t ready for the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy

One of the most intense moments in the House of the Dragon season finale is when Daemon Targaryen strangles his wife Rhaenyra in a fit of rage after she reveals that her father Viserys had told her about the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy, something she assumed he also told Daemon. Despite not believing in prophecies, Daemon is clearly upset by the idea that his brother Viserys withheld what he viewed as vital information from him. It’s one final insult from the great beyond.

As it turns out, there was a scene originally planned where Viserys tried to tell Daemon about the Song of Ice and Fire, only for him to decide against it when it became clear that the young Daemon was too hotheaded to grasp its importance.

“There was a scene that was deleted after Aemma (Sian Brooke) died, where Viserys meets with Daemon and he tries to hint at this idea of prophecies and what the gods mean to him,” Considine revealed to The New York Times. “He was trying to get some idea where Daemon’s at with his beliefs, but the tone of the scene was never quite right. There’s no way that Daemon would even connect to that — he’d laugh Viserys out of the room. He’s not into dreamers or things like that.”

If we had gotten that scene, it would have added even more weight to Daemon and Rhaenyra’s clash in the finale. But if Considine says it didn’t feel quite right, we believe him.

Rhaenyra and Alicent work out their differences about her marriage to King Viserys

Our next deleted scene is a twofer. In Episode 2, “The Rogue Prince,” King Viserys announces that he will be marrying Alicent Hightower, his daughter’s best friend. When she hears this, Rhaenyra storms out of the small council room. The next time we see Rhaenyra and Alicent is in Episode 3, after the wedding has happened and years have passed.

However, we were originally going to see the immediate fallout of Viserys’ announcement. House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal confirmed to Variety that while a proper wedding for Alicent and King Viserys was never filmed, there was a scene where Rhaenyra helps her best friend put on her wedding dress. HBO even released an image from this scene as one of the early promotional stills for the show, which you can see above.

Also, episode director Greg Yaitanes confirmed on his Instagram that a second scene with Rhaenyra and Alicent was cut, this one an argument they have in the godswood right after Rhaenyra found out that her best friend was going to marry her father.

“Two scenes that unfortunately didn’t make it into the final cut, the aftermath fight between @millyalcock and @theemilycarey — both were quite powerful,” Yaitanes wrote.

It’s a shame these scenes didn’t make the cut, since they would have given us a deeper view into the complicated relationship between Alicent and Rhaenyra.

Rhaenys Targaryen comforts her daughter Laena

Before King Viserys decides to marry Alicent Hightower, he briefly considers marrying Laena Velaryon. Laena is the daughter of Corlys Velaryon, one of the king’s advisors, and his cousin Rhaenys Targaryen. Corlys is the richest men in the Seven Kingdoms, so keeping his favor is crucial. Marrying his daughter could ensure Corlys’ continued support, since it would put Corlys’ family closer to the Iron Throne.

The problem is that Laena is fully 12 years old at this time. She and Viserys share a painfully awkward walk through a garden while Viserys contemplates taking this child to wife. It’s very uncomfortable.

Of course, Viserys opts to marry Alicent Hightower instead, who is merely way too young rather than way way too young. In an image from deleted scene brought to us by the fans at @WtDasoiaf, Rhaenys comforts her daughter after the rejection, although we imagine Laena didn’t need much comforting; it feels like she dodged a bullet there. In the distance, we hear the shriek of the dragon Vhagar, the dragon that Laena will eventually ride after she grows up.

It ends up there are quite a few deleted scenes from Episode 2. Cue up the next one:

Criston Cole being sworn into the Kingsguard

House of the Dragon may not have quite as many blatantly loathsome characters as Game of Thrones did in its heyday, but of those it does have, no one is worse than Ser Criston Cole. Though he began as a stalwart knight, after being rejected by Rhaenyra Criston devolved into a sycophant to Alicent Hightower and the greens. His poor widdle feelings got hurt too bad to forgive that one time a girl rejected him.

Criston is chosen for the Kingsguard in Episode 2 by Rhaenyra, but we never actually see him take his vows. As it turns out, a scene was shot of Criston Cole being sworn into the brotherhood. Once again, we actually have a promotional image from it; see above.

Actor Fabien Frankel revealed to Vulture that this scene didn’t make the final cut, which is a shame, since seeing how seriously Criston takes his vows would have helped us understand why he freaks out later when Rhaenyra “makes” him break them.

“We fought to try and get it back, but it was just a dodgy camera thing that meant it wasn’t in there,” Frankel recalled.

Criston Cole’s rigid devotion to his oaths felt like it came out of left field in Episode 5, when Criston explodes into a violent mass of murderous anger at Rhaenyra’s wedding. Seeing Criston sworn into the Kingsguard probably would have made it all land a bit better. – Dan Selcke

Rhaenrya tries to bond with her infant half-brother Aegon

Finally moving on from Episode 2, we have a deleted scene to talk about from Episode 3, “Second of His Name.” This episode picks up a few years after the last, after Alicent and King Viserys have been married for a while and Alicent has already given birth to a son: little Aegon Targaryen, named after Aegon the Conqueror of old.

After his wife died in childbirth with his son Baelon, Viserys promised his daughter Rhaenyra that she would succeed him on the Iron Throne. But Aegon’s birth throws that into question. Suddenly people are treating Aegon like he’s the heir to the throne and Rhaenyra like she’s a princess to be married off to whomever can offer her father the most advantage. She notices, and she is not happy; she’s frosty around Aegon and Alicent the whole episode through.

However, in a deleted scene that reportedly “had to be reshot differently at a later date due to unforeseen issues,” Rhaenyra takes a stab at bonding with her little half-brother. While she, Alicent, Aegon and her father are riding in a carriage, Rhaenyra tries to get Aegon to say her name out loud. To be fair to the kid, “Rhaenyra” is a hard name for even full-blown adults to pronounce, so I hope she didn’t take it personally if he got it wrong. But it’s all moot anyway, since the scene never made it to the screen. – Dan Selcke

Daemon Targaryen, bisexual king

In Episode 6, we catch up with Daemon Targaryen and his wife Laena Velaryon across the Narrow Sea, where they’re being hosted in a manse in Pentos. The Prince of Pentos throws lavish dinners for his guests and their children, Baela and Rhaena. He offers the dragonriding family a permanent residence there in the hopes that their dragons will dissuade the Triarchy from attacking the Free City.

While Laena tries to gracefully decline the offer, Daemon wishes to consider it…but the offer wasn’t all Daemon was considering at that dinner. A cut scene reveals Daemon leaning in to flirt with a male servant. Later, in another cut scene, Laena approaches Daemon on the roof of the manse while that same servant sits leaning against his side in a very familiar way. This sequence confirmed that Daemon Targaryen is bisexual in House of the Dragon.

Images of these scenes surfaced shortly after the episode aired, leading to people praising their “bisexual king” Daemon Targaryen.

Daemon comforts his daughters after Laena’s passing

Another scene was cut from Episode 6. After the death of Laena Velaryon, Daemon and his daughters Baela and Rhaena sit, stunned, on the rooptop of the Pentos manse. In the version of the show that aired, Daemon sits across from his daughters while they huddle together, all three mourning the loss of Laena in their own quiet ways.

However, images surfaced after the episode aired of an extended part of that scene where Daemon comforts Baela and Rhaena, hugging them close while they cry.

This is an interesting cut; by removing the scene of Daemon mourning with his daughters, it makes him seem like a much more detached parent. How different might it have felt if we got a truly open moment for Daemon where he just hugged his family members? We’ll never know.

"Official Storyboard with Dreamfyre and Sunfyre together. Showrunners robbed us again. byu/MomijiEli inHOTDGreens"

We get better looks at the dragons Sunfyre and Dreamfyre

In Episode 7, “Driftmark,” most of our characters gather on the island of Driftmark to mourn the passing of Laena Velaryon. And most of these characters are dragonriders, and they all brought their mounts.

In “Driftmark,” we spend a lot of time with Vhagar, the massive dragon that Laena rode when she was alive. It is claimed by the young Aemond Targaryen in a thrilling sequence. But as the storyboard above reveals, we were originally going to get more facetime with Sunfye and Dreamfyre, the dragons ridden by Aemond’s older siblings Aegon and Helaena respectively.

More time with dragons is always better, but I understand that they’re expensive to animate, so I’m not shocked this moment was cut. I particularly would have liked to see more of Sunfyre, since he’s supposed to be the beautiful dragon alive at this time. – Dan Selcke

We see Corlys Velaryon take his wound

In Episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides,” we learn from Ser Vaemond Velaryon that his brother Corlys has taken a wound fighting in the Stepstones. This sparks a tense standoff over who should be declared heir to Driftmark. In the original storyboards for the episode, we actually see Corlys get injured, rather than just hear about it secondhand. – Dan Selcke

Daemon’s final toast to Viserys

One of the most powerful scenes of House of the Dragon season 1 is without a doubt the one where King Viserys I Targaryen struggles onto the Iron Throne to support his daughter Rhaenyra during “The Lord of the Tides.” This scene grew as it was being shot. That part where the crown falls off Viserys’ head and then Daemon picks it up and puts it on his head? That came out of an improvised moment between Matt Smith and Paddy Considine…and it ended up changing a later scene.

During the family dinner that takes place afterward, various members of House Targaryen stand up and give toasts to one another. That includes a toast where Daemon offers some heartfelt words for his brother, but it was cut.

Director Geeta Patel revealed that it was decided that Daemon’s speech undercut the power of the Daemon-Viserys moment in the Iron Throne room, which said everything about their relationship that needed to be said. As such, Daemon’s toast was cut and the dinner scene focused on other characters.

Of everything cut from the show, this makes the most sense. Episode 8 is pretty much perfect as it is.

Ser Harrold Westerling acts on our behalf, insults Criston Cole

Episode 9, “The Green Council,” is all about the fallout from the death of King Viserys I Targaryen. Some of the king’s less scrupulous councilors recommend installing his son Aegon on the Iron Throne, even though Viserys was always clear that he wanted Rhaenyra to succeed him. Master of Coin Lyman Beesbury is the only person who raises any serious objection to this plan. For that, he is killed by Criston Cole, who by this point in the story hates Rhaenyra and does not want to see her become queen.

Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Harrold Westerling is present for this act. Disgusted with the whole affair, he storms out of the room. And that’s the last we see of him. However, there’s a deleted scene later where he runs into Criston Cole in the hallway. “The rats in Red Keep have more honor than you,” he tells him.

You tell that turd knight. – Dan Selcke

Baela proclaims herself a dragonrider

Two of the most underutilized characters on the show are Baela and Rhaena Targaryen, the daughters of Daemon and Laena. By the time the season ends we’re just starting to get a handle on their personalities.

When Vulture asked “The Black Queen” director Greg Yaitanes if there was one cut scene he wished could have stayed in the finale, he described a moment where Baela steps up in the eleventh hour to declare herself ready to fight for her family:

"There’s a great scene between Baela and Rhaenys: Rhaenys is talking about how war is coming and wanting to protect her granddaughter, then her granddaughter stands up and says, “I’m a dragonrider like my father and my mother, and I’m here to fight this war, and I’m not going to run away from it.” I thought the performances were terrific, and I would’ve loved to have seen that scene in there."

More time with Baela Targaryen or her sister would have been great. And since this scene was actually filmed, we may actually get to see it.

Daemon practicing sword-fighting and mourns his daughter

“The Black Queen” is the season 1 finale of House of the Dragon. This is where stuff really starts hitting the fan. Rhaenyra not only hears about her father’s death, but that his advisors in King’s Landing have crowned her half-brother Aegon rather than her. She is pregnant at the time and goes into premature labor. Her daughter is stillborn.

There is a deleted scene where Daemon and Rhaenyra both mourn their child, and Rhaenyra wonders if her death is an omen from the gods. There’s also an additional scene where Daemon practices his sword-fighting in anticipation for the war that is sure to come. Show photographer Ollie Upton posted a really cool image of that scene above. – Dan Selcke

Daemon gets the news of Lucerys’ death

At the end of the season finale, Lucerys Velaryon is brutally chomped to bits by the dragon Vhagar, ridden by his uncle Aemond Targaryen. As Aemond processes the horror of what his dragon has just done, we cut back to Dragonstone. Daemon delivers the news to Rhaenyra, she sees red, and the season ends.

But how did Daemon find out about Luke? “There’s actually another minute to that shot that was cut, which is Daemon getting the news of Luke’s death,” Greg Yaitanes told Empire. “And then we walk with Daemon for a period of time, and watch him process, and see how he’s going to bring that news. Then it was actually Matt’s idea to take her away from the table and bring it by the fireplace, to symbolically have the fire.”

Moreover, in the original storyboards for this scene, Rhaenyra was going to receive the news of Luke’s death while sitting on the Dragonstone throne. When Daemon approaches and tells her about her son’s demise, Rhaenyra lets out a scream of fury as the camera lingers on her face, not unlike what ended up in the final cut. However, after that, the scene cuts to Rhaenyra’s dragon Syrax emerging from the shadows, which is the last shot of the season.

In the actual finale, we end on Rhaenyra’s face, but the shot of Syrax still exists:

Will HBO release the deleted scenes from House of the Dragon season 1?

So far as we can tell, HBO has not put out these deleted scenes in any official capacity, not even on the House of the Dragon season 1 home video release, which came out on December 20. There are bonus features but no deleted scenes.

We would love to see these scenes, so hopefully HBO puts something together sooner or later.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels