House Of The Dragon Director Reveals The Key Takeaway From Episode 4’s Intimate Scenes

The fourth episode of “House of the Dragon” brings the errant conquering hero Daemon back to the troubled court of King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). Determined to offend his King, Daemon whisks the royal daughter off for what he intends to be a shocking tour of the city’s low-life underbelly. But the Princess is visibly excited instead of being appalled at the carnal pleasures on display at a local brothel. No longer in charge of the situation, the deflated Daemon is suddenly uninterested in coupling with his niece. Left hanging, as it were, Rhaenyra ends up seducing the very willing Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).

Commenting on this “Inside the Episode” featurette posted on YouTube by HBO, director Claire Kilner said she wanted to give the sexual encounters on this episode a distinctively feminine POV, noting that she considered the effort a major responsibility to take on as a female director. “I’ve grown up watching how male directors have directed sex scenes, and as a woman, I have to really think about how to shoot it because my go-to images are ones that I grew up with, which aren’t necessarily from a woman’s point of view.” As for the director’s opinion of the primary takeaway from the intimate scenes in this fourth installment of “House of the Dragon,” Kilner says plainly, “I think what it’s saying there is that young women want sex as much as young men.”