See all the deleted scenes from House of the Dragon season 1

The first season of House of the Dragon aired on HBO last year, and it was an immediate hit. Set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, it tells an intergenerational story about the Targaryens, then at the height of their power as the undisputed rulers of Westeros. But as the opening prologue tells us, the only thing that could tear down the house of the dragon…was itself. Nice and ominous, no?

We got a taste of that towards the end of the season, when the eldest daughter and eldest son of the late King Viserys I Targaryen came to the edge of war over which of them will succeed their father on the Iron Throne. But most of the season was dedicated to exploring the buildup to that clash, with the narrative unfolding over the course of many years.

The first season explored a lot, but in a story this complicated, some stuff was bound to get left on the cutting room floor. For some reason, HBO hasn’t released any of them, but we have gotten glimpses, many of them compiled on Reddit by megamindwriter. Let’s take a look!

Viserys tests Daemon to see if he’s ready to hear about the prophecy

In the first episode, King Viserys’ wife Aemma dies and Viserys names his daughter Rhaenrya as his heir. He tells her about a prophecy involving a dark winter where humanity will be put at risk. Only if the realm is united will they be able to withstand what’s to come, which is why a Targaryen has to be in power.

Before Viserys named Rhaenrya, his heir was his younger brother Daemon. In this deleted scene, Viserys toys with the idea of telling Daemon about the prophecy, but sees that his hot-headed brother isn’t receptive. It’s yet another reason why Viserys picks Rhaenrya as heir over Daemon.

Young Rhaenyra and Alicent argue in the godswood

In this deleted scene, Alicent Hightower would find her best friend Rhaenrya Targaryen in the godswood and they would have a fight. There are a couple of deleted scenes involving these two, including…

Rhaenrya helps Alicent prepare for her wedding to King Viserys

In this deleted scene from Episode 2, Rhaenrya helps Alicent get dressed before Alicent marries King Viserys I Targaryen…who happens to be Rhaenrya’s father. It’s awkward.

The relationship between Rhaenrya and Alicent is at the heart of the show and I definitely could have used more scenes between the two of them. I think scenes like these would have helped make sense of their ping-ponging frenemy arc.