'House of the Dragon' Fans Shocked by New Episode's Incest and Sex Scenes

The fourth episode of House of the Dragon saw the HBO hit turn to some infamous features that were seen in Game of Thrones: namely, incest and lots of sex.

Viewers took to social media to express dismay, outrage and an array of other feelings. Many were stunned not only by the parties involved but also by the age of a very young lead character engaged in the graphic scenes.

The episode saw Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) take his young niece Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) for an unsanctioned revel in King's Landing. Daemon plies the youngster with alcohol and exposes her to the various debaucheries of the city's underbelly, which culminates in a trip to a brothel.

Inside the pleasure house, young Rhaenyra witnesses all manner of sexual activity, but the most shocking moment occurs when her uncle kisses her passionately. She reciprocates his touches, and he begins to undress her.

The scene clearly struck a nerve with many social media users.

"I know this is the game of thrones universe but that incest scene made me feel ill," wrote one Twitter user.

Another person tweeted that the "excessive amount of incest" on the show is "very unsettling."

Many viewers were reminded of the incest storylines on Game of Thrones between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, whom he later learned was his aunt. Others brought up how GoT's Jaime Lannister was often physically intimate with his sister, Cersei, throughout the show's run.

In the case of House of the Dragon's latest episode, sexual intercourse between the uncle and his niece didn't appear to occur, as Daemon suddenly breaks off from Rhaenyra after he began undressing her at the brothel.

It's unclear why Daemon stopped, though he's been known in the past to suffer from performance issues. But while Rhaenyra is still caught up in the moment, she returns to the castle and seduces her guard, Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).

The sex scene between Rhaenyra and Criston is extremely graphic, and many fans said they found it disturbing.

"Wait, how old is the princess?!" wrote one person. (The show has not indicated exactly how old Rhaenyra is when she seduces Criston, but she's apparently a teenager and possibly under 18.)

Another person tweeted, "How old is that actress? This feels [vomit emoji] #HOTD."

For the record, the actress (Alcock) is 22.

Episode 4 had a lot of people saying on social media that they enjoyed the risqué elements, while others were simply surprised by the amount of sex it contained.

"It's like #hotd took all the sex scenes that game of thrones usually sprinkles throughout the season and just jammed it into one episode and then topped it with being out of pocket," read one tweet.

Daemon's motivations for the seduction of his niece are not made entirely clear. He says later that he intends to marry Rhaenyra, whom King Viserys named as the heir to the Iron Throne. Yet it's not clear if he truly believes the king, his brother, would allow such an arrangement.

For his part, Viserys makes his feelings clear by beating Daemon and banishing him from King's Landing. The king—who is unaware of the sex between Rhaenyra and Criston—also shows he wants no chance of a Daemon offspring as his grandchild when he provides his daughter with a tea to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.