House of the Dragon's sixth episode certainly brought viewers to the other side of a long offscreen time jump with a bang. One moment in this episode, in particular, stuck out in terms of bridging that time jump, and it took us right back to the series' first episode. When Laena (Nanna Blondell) died in Episode 6, it made it very easy to draw obvious comparisons back to when Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke) died tragically in that horrific birth scene. There's a lot to compare between these two moments, but it's also vital to look at what sets the two apart. The mirrored trajectories between these scenes are important, but ultimately, the difference in these characters’ deaths is even more so.

We all remember Aemma’s death in House of the Dragon’s first episode; it was one of the most impactful scenes in the series thus far, and it was clear that the scene was placed at the end of the first episode to pack an emotional punch, as well as showing us the inciting incident that sets much of the first season in motion. This season has put a lot of focus on Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock, Emma D'Arcy) taking over as Viserys's (Paddy Considine) heir. Of course, the next in line for the throne would've gone differently had Viserys and Aemma's baby boy lived.

Laena and Aemma's Deaths Mirror Each Others in a Tragic Way

house-of-the-dragon-nanna-blondell-2
Image via HBO

In the wake of the time jump that took place between House of the Dragon’s fifth and sixth episodes, it’s clear that in many ways, the series is now embarking on part two of the first season. Time has passed; the characters have aged; while the season’s same issues continue to prevail, there are new problems and concerns, as well. The first episode of this unofficial part two ends with Daemon’s (Matt Smith) wife Laena struggling to give birth and ultimatey leading her to make the choice that results in her death. It’s safe to assume that Laena’s death will set the second part of Season 1 in motion, just as Aemma’s did with part one.

When watching Laena give birth and ultimately die, it was surely difficult for viewers not to think back to Aemma’s tragic death. The similarities between these scenes were obvious and clearly deliberate. In the lead-up to giving birth, neither Aemma nor Laena seemed concerned about the threats that came along with childbirth. Both women were calm, confident, and for the most part, unfazed by any potential problems lurking in the near future. Both Viserys and Daemon are faced with the same impossibly difficult question about their wives and babies: their wives will die, but their babies may live if they're cut from the womb.

While the similarities between these scenes and outcomes are obvious, so is a major difference. In Aemma's case, Viserys makes the difficult choice to go through with having the baby cut from the womb. As a result, Aemma dies a horrific death, and the baby doesn't survive, which was a risk that Viserys was warned about. Laena, unlike Aemma, is able to take her fate (to some extent) into her own hands. Laena is able to die the death she hoped for for herself, rather than being abandoned in an attempt to save her baby.

RELATED: It Actually Doesn't Matter Who the Father of Rhaenyra's Kids Is on 'House of the Dragon'

It's Hard to Ignore Gender Dynamics in House of the Dragon

Sian Brooke as Aemma Targaryen in The House of the Dragon
Image via HBO

In many ways, the push and pull gender dynamics is one of House of the Dragon’s main characters; it is lurking in the background of essentially any plot point where they aren't at the forefront. It's impossible to ignore the role that bearing children plays in this antiquated society, especially for these royal women whose responsibility it is to bear heirs. Dying a tragic death while attempting to fulfill a biologically assigned duty makes Aemma's fate all the more heart-wrenching and wrong. In some ways, Rhaenyra being appointed as heir makes Aemma's death feel even more pointless. Had women been allowed to take over the throne in the first place, would Aemma had ever been in that position? The burden of being a woman was palpably present in Aemma's death scene.

While Laena more or less died in childbirth, as well, her fate was able to look a little different. Just mere moments before Laena's death scene, she explained to Daemon that when her time would one day come, she wanted to die “a dragonrider’s death.” It’s clear based on many conversations that took place over the course of this episode that Laena took riding her dragon, Vhagar, very seriously, and she wanted to feel like herself even in her old age and in her death. The desire to feel like herself even in her most powerless moments exists in stark contrast with the potential she had to die at the hand of her biological duty. Laena has the ending of a person who did what she did and loved what she loved, rather than being treated like a host body or an incubator for a future heir.

Laena's Choice Gave Her Agency That Aemma Lacked

house-of-the-dragon-laena-death

Everything about Laena's circumstances set her up to suffer Aemma's same fate: she was destined to create a male heir out of sheer responsibility and die attempting to bring him into the world. Both Laena and Aemma had the possibility of their baby surviving, but they, themselves, were destined to die. Aemma's ability to choose was stolen from her. Laena made the difficult decision to take the possibility of letting the baby survive out of the equation. In doing so, she was able to take her death into her own hands.

As viewers, we don't actually know what put Laena in the position that Aemma wasn't in; it's unclear how she came to the decision to make her own choice about her and her baby's fate. In Aemma's case, it was all up to Viserys, a man whose grief about losing everything was already setting in. Yet, no matter what circumstances allowed Laena to make her own choices about what would happen to her body, it's clear that there was some kind of change that took place during the time jump that allowed for it. It begs the question whether or not the structural changes put in place as a result of making Rhaenyra heir have changed the way women are looked at in society, as a whole. Whether this is the case or not remains to be seen. Still, it's very possible that these two death scenes aren't just mirrors of each other for the sake of storytelling. It could be that they exist to show us that one tragedy caused a ripple effect that ultimately changed the fate of another.