‘They beat each other senseless’: House of the Dragon director discusses shocking child violence scene

A director of House of the Dragon has spoken out about some of the violent scenes in the forthcoming Game of Thrones spin-off.

Set to launch on Sky Atlantic on Monday 22 August, the fantasy drama series will tell the story of the Targaryen civil war that took place roughly 300 years before the events portrayed in Game of Thrones.

Miguel Sapochnik, who previously directed well-reviewed Game of Thrones episodes such as “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards”, recently recalled one of the more memorable moments of filming.

“I had a scene where five kids between the ages of nine and 12 had to beat each other senseless,” he told Metro at the London red carpet event for the show on Monday (15 August).

“It took three days to shoot and then one of them stabs another, and so it was quite, quite taxing.”

Previously, actor Steve Toussaint, who portrays Coralys Targaryen in House of the Dragon, gave advance hints about the levels of violence and sex that would be included in the series – and noted that neither element would be used superfluously.

He explained: “There is some sex in it. There is going to be violence because it is a violent world. But we’ve tried not to be gratuitous.”

House of the Dragon will premiere at 2am on Monday 22 August. The episode will then be repeated at 9pm on Monday, and will be available to stream on Sky and NOW after its initial airing.