House Of The Dragon Season Two has officially kicked off with its first episode “A Son For A Son”, which featured the highly-anticipated Blood and Cheese scene. Unfortunately, the show’s adaptation of the traumatic murder did not please fans.
Woah! Hold ya dragons. This article will feature House Of The Dragon Season Two, Episode One spoilers. You’ve been warned.
It’s that time of the year again when your fantasy fiend friends hibernate around a computer/TV screen, feasting their eyes on another show packed with dragons, medieval boning, incest and murder.
It’s the return of House Of The Dragon, and Episode One of Season Two has already garnered a bunch of reactions surrounding the premiere’s gruesome ending.
I won’t get too into a ‘yuge recap of the whole episode, but here’s what House Of The Dragon fans are buzzing about.
What is the Blood and Cheese scene in House Of The Dragon Season 2, Episode 1?
To give you a quick TL;DR on the Blood and Cheese scene — specifically the TV interpretation and not the Fire & Blood version — it is a brutal murder that takes place at the end of Season Two, Episode One.
Cheese (Mark Stobbart) and Blood (Sam C. Wilson) are the names of two assassins — not a delicious charcuterie board paired with a Bloody Mary — who are employed by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) to kill Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) out of revenge for killing Rhaenyra Targaryen’s (Emma D’Arcy) son Luke (Elliot Grihault) at the end of Season 1.
However, when they find the royal family’s home and head upstairs, they are undforuntately met with an empty room. Cheese comes across a servant, sets up a rat trap, and rushes off to find Blood holding Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) at knifepoint.
Cheese goes on to say something along the lines of “Oi bruv we’re here for son for a son, she ain’t a son obviously” (I know he didn’t say that but it’s what I like to imagine) to which Blood replied by signalling to the two sleeping children. Unfortunately, our charcuterie-named heathens, they can’t tell the gender of either child.
As they struggle to decipher which one is the son, Helaena tries to offer up her necklace to deter them from murder but it ain’t good enough.
The queen then points towards one of the children, who is revealed to be Jaehaerys, who is then brutally murdered.
Although you don’t see the killing, we watch Helana pick up the other child and leave the room to the sounds of squealing and disgusting sawing.
House Of The Dragon fans react to the Blood and Cheese scene
Fans of the beloved series are seemingly underwhelmed with the harrowing scene, with some netizens labelling it as “insanely anticlimactic” in comparison to the Fire and Blood book — which is much, much darker than the TV version.
You see, in the Fire and Blood version of the Blood and Cheese scene, Helaena has three children. Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, a set of six-year-old twins, and a two-year-old son named Maelor
After offering herself up for death and listening to disgusting rape threats against the little girl, Queen Helana chooses Maelor to die, thinking that he wouldn’t remember the murder due to his young age. However, in a heartless act, Blood and Cheese chooses to kill Jaehaerys.
You hear that, little boy?” Cheese tells Maelor. “Your Mumma wants you dead,” he says, beheading his older brother.
How fucking wild? Anyway, here’s how some of the fans reacted to the Blood and Cheese scene in the House Of The Dragon.
blood and cheese was insanely anticlimactic
— neptune !! (@bluixi) June 17, 2024
blood & cheese was so underwhelming. pic.twitter.com/KONTGKzojX
— kendall roy’s ghost writer (@visenyasdaughtr) June 17, 2024
blood and cheese is much more tragic in the book. helaena is in tears begging them to kill her instead and heres just like “yeah its that one”
— kate 🍉🍉🍉 (@toaster_rodeo) June 17, 2024
That episode was boring and they didn’t do Blood and Cheese justice #HouseOfTheDragonpic.twitter.com/teBlJIXHF4
— kira ☂︎ 🍉 (@shivmcavoy) June 17, 2024
I need yall to read what Blood and Cheese do in the book. They are way more violent to Helaena when they make her choose in front of all 3 kids. She chooses Maelor bc he’s younger so they murder Jae in front of her so Maelor will always know his mother chose him to die 💀
— Shein CDM (@youdoingtoomuch) June 17, 2024
blood and cheese delivery didnt gag i fear
— kenn ♱ (@daenyrasm) June 17, 2024
pic.twitter.com/EIRQNVT4ka
I’m so sorry but blood and cheese was a really weak traumatic scene
— 🐱 (@asoiafattherite) June 17, 2024
another thing that they didn’t adapt about blood & cheese was helaena asking them to kill her instead. she didn’t offer some damn necklace. i know blood & cheese are supposed to be slow but cmon now.
— kendall roy’s ghost writer (@visenyasdaughtr) June 17, 2024
cersei dying under a pile of bricks had more impact than blood & cheese and i’m not even joking
— liv (@forcersei) June 17, 2024
blood & cheese was a chop. this season already tanking and it’s been 1 episode. ryan condal and sara hess you WILL pay for your crimes #HouseoftheDragon
— tanyel (@nba_yb_tv) June 17, 2024
pic.twitter.com/3u6qPDv8VE
TV adaptations are always going the ruffle the feathers of book lovers. However, when it comes to this scene, I think I’m on the book lovers’ side.
The OG Blood and Cheese murder scene in the book felt more high stakes, traumatic and gruesome than the show — even though the blade sounds grossed me out.
Hopefully, the showrunners will win over the House Of The Dragon crowd with its upcoming episodes.
You can catch House Of The Dragon, Season Two on BINGE.
Image source: BINGE
