Editor’s Note: The following article contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1.
The success ofHouse of the DragonSeason 1 inspired much anticipation for Season 2. Since the first season concluded, fans have been discussing what will happen in the new season that is finally here. As the prequel toGame of Thrones, expectations are high, and with a legacy of sudden and bloody plot twists,House of the Dragonhas a lot to live up to.Game of Thrones' violent Red Wedding surprised viewers despite the show’s reputation, but canHouse of the Dragonaccomplish a similar plot twist? Luckily, the show is based onFire & Blood,George R. R. Martin’s in-universe historical record, so the fans know there will be plenty of violence in the upcoming episodes. Still, with fictional historical documents written in the novel by unreliable narrators, the creators must decide what direction to take the plot, and of course, as an adaption,things are bound to change.
Though they played with the characters' ages and changed a few things, the first season mostly stayed true to the book (or as close as they could with different versions of the story in the same book). Though there is sure to be some variation, fans are looking forward to certain plot points fromFire & Blood, worrying thatthey will be edited or forgotten for the show.One event of particular interest to fans is referred to as Blood and Cheese.For those in the know, both expectations and dread were high going into Season 2. But fans who haven’t read the book or have forgotten the brutal details may have been blindsided by the tragic events around Blood and Cheese at the end of the first episode of Season 2.
House of the Dragon
The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO seriesGame of Thrones.Based on George R.R. Martin’sFire & Blood,House of the Dragonis set nearly 200 years beforeGame of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.
Who Are Blood and Cheese and Why Did They Kill Jaehaerys in ‘House of the Dragon’?
In Season 2, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) announces that she wants Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) dead as retribution for Lucerys' (Elliot Grihault) death, yet the rider of Vhagar isn’t an easy target. In an attempt to support his wife’s war (and rid his enemies of their most fearsome dragon),Daemon (Matt Smith) initiates an assassination attempt on Aemond. After reuniting with and imprisoningMysaria(Sonoya Mizuno), Daemon makes a trade with her — freedom for information.She tells him of a gold cloak guard who hates the Hightowers and a rat-catcher who needs money to pay his debts. While the names of these characters are not given, they are credited as Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and Cheese (Mark Stobbart). Daemon sneaks into the city and bribes these two to kill Aemond using the rat-catcher’s knowledge of the castle’s tunnels. But there is a slight issue: the rat-catcher doesn’t know how to navigate the upper levels of the castle where the family lives. When they reach this part of their mission, the assassins are blind, wandering the castle until they come across Helaena (Phia Saban) in the nursery with her twin children, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera.
Eager to get their task done,the assassins decide that the head of the King’s son will satisfy Daemon’s requestof “a son for a son,” so they change their target. But the young prince looks too much like his sister. Holding Helaena at knifepoint, they force her to identify Jaehaerys. Helaena points to one of the children, and as the intruders take his head, Helaena sneaks out with the other, escaping to her mother’s room, where she discovers Alicent and Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) having sex. Helaena cowers in the corner with her daughter, and the episode leaves the mother still processing her heartbreak. As Blood and Cheese has only one death, it may be less bloody than themany battles the Dance of the Dragons will include, but the torment of Helaena and the murder of a small child make it darker than anything else in the show.
The Events of Blood and Cheese Are Even Darker in ‘Fire & Blood’
House of the Dragoncertainly makes some changes to the book version of Blood and Cheese, but it keeps the devastating nature of the crime. It’s important to acknowledge thatFire & Bloodis written as several different historical accounts, giving it the benefit of hindsight in its story. The book explains that when Daemon learns of Luke’s death,he plots the revenge of “a son for a son.“Rather than focusing on Aemond, the actual offender, he seems to blame Luke’s death onAegon (Tom Glynn-Carney)as the Green’s king. However, this could be because the narrator knows what actually happened rather than the exact message that Daemon sent. Regardless,the show’s choice for Daemon to focus his anger on Aemond makes more logical sense.
Of course, Daemon is unable to get an army to the castle, so he chooses a more subtle method of vengeance.The book claims Daemon notified Rhaenyra that he was plotting to avenge her son, but in the show, he acts in secret. But in both versions, Daemon employs two lowborn assassins for the task. Their names have been lost to time, but they are referred to as Blood and Cheese, inspiring the name of this tragedy. Cheese is a rat-catcher in King’s Landing with knowledge of the passageways, like in the show, but inFire & Blood,and Blood is a butcher and disgraced former sergeant of the City Watch known to be capable of great violence, not the bitter gold cloak from the show. Yet their unique skills make them the perfect choices for Daemon’s nefarious plan.
Blood and Cheese don’t balk at the idea of killing a member of the royal family. In fact, they take it upon themselves to make it as dark as possible,resulting in a story even darker than what happens inHouse of the Dragon. Cheese gets them into the castle undetected, and they are able to follow the queen’s pattern. Every evening, Helaena takesher three children, Jaehaerys, Jaehaera, and Maelor, to visit their grandmother, Alicent. Aware of this, Blood and Cheese hide in Alicent’s room, killing the maid and imprisoning the dowager queen until Helaena and her children arrive. They slay Helaena’s guard and block the exit before telling Helaena tochoose which of her sons they will kill as retribution for Luke’s death, putting the poor queen through psychological torture before initiating the gory revenge. Helaena offered her own life, but they refused, insisting it must be a son and threatening that if she refused to choose, they would rape her daughter and then kill all three children.
With no other option,Helaena is forced to choose between her two sons. She names her youngest son, Maelor, who, at two years old, doesn’t fully understand what is happening. But Blood and Cheese’s torment doesn’t end there. They verify to clearly tell Maelor that his mother chose him to die beforeturning around and killing Jaehaerys instead. Without causing further physical harm to the royal family, they leave, taking Jaehaerys' head along as proof that their mission succeeded. After the unnecessarily violent death of Aegon’s son and heir,each faction has a personal stake in the war, which becomes about revenge as well as power. WhileHouse of the Dragonchanges the initial target and cuts Helaena’s younger son, (who never appeared in the show despite being referenced in Season 1’sopening sequence), the story is still similar.Blood and Cheese are less sadistic about it,though, needing Helaena to identify which child is which rather than trying to force her to pick which she likes better. However, the result is the same because Helaena knows whichever child she indicates will die. Both versions make the unnecessary bloodshed a tragedy that is far from over, even after the danger passed.
Who Is Daeron, Alicent’s Other Missing Son From ‘House of the Dragon’?
What do you mean there’s ANOTHER Targaryen?
What Are the Repercussions of Blood and Cheese?
Beyond Jaehaerys’ death, Blood and Cheese leaves a lasting impact on all involved. Though the result inHouse of the Dragonhas yet to be revealed, it will certainly change Helaena and the young child who lost her twin. It also changes the succession of the Greens, makingAemond the heir, asAegon has no other son. Of course, there is more information about Blood and Cheese’s lasting impact in the book. Maelor becomes heir to the throne, but he is forced to live with the knowledge that his mother chose him to die. And Jaehaera is traumatized after seeing her twin brother’s murder. Helaena can’t bear to look at Maelor because of the choice she was forced to make and falls into a deep depression.After many more losses, Helaena kills herself. Rumors spread that she was murdered, leading the smallfolk to riot against Rhaenyra, calling for justice for Helaena and her sons.Blood and Cheese results in the first event for which the smallfolk want justice.
But the more immediate result is to make theGreens more bitter towards the Blacks. The war became personal for Rhaenyra with Luke’s death, and the same goes for Aegon and his family after Jaehaerys' murder. The trailers have already shown Aegon’s new determination in the war, which is likely spurred by these events. Like Rhaenyra,Aegon responds to the destruction of his family with more violence, escalating the war. The tragedy takes a toll on the family.
While the franchise is no stranger to violent deaths,Blood and Cheese reaches a new level, even for the notoriously dark franchise.House of the Dragonmade a few small changes to the story, cutting the extreme psychological torture, but Blood and Cheese was plenty horrific to watch (and listen to). Even with a handful of tweaks, Blood and Cheese is a horrifying and heartbreaking moment, as it should be.The gruesome part of the Dance is critical to the story. It’s just one of many shocks that will occur in Season 2, but it remains the most critical one. As the most significant event in the premier, Blood and Cheese sets the tone for the new season and really the entire bloody war to come.
House of the DragonSeason 2 is available to stream on Max in the U.S. with new episodes on Sundays.
