Why 'House of the Dragon’ Season 2's version of Blood and Cheese is disappointing
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 1 premiered on HBO on June 16, 2024. The glorious fan-favorite fantasy thriller series made its much-anticipated comeback with an episode that has left the internet divided.
While fans loved most of the episode, some fans were left underwhelmed with the interpretation of Blood (Sam C Wilson) and Cheese (Mark Stobbart) in 'House of the Dragon' as fans who have read George R R Martin's 'Fire and Blood' found the execution less traumatizing than it was in the book.
'House of the Dragon' has some of the most observant fans who keep tabs on every event of the series and Blood and Cheese was one event they were looking forward to with a lot of interest. Here's a look at Blood and Cheese and how the execution disappointed fans.
Who are Blood and Cheese?
Blood and Cheese are killers who work for Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and are tasked with taking revenge for Lucerys Velaryon's (Elliot Grihault) death.
Daemon's brief to them is simple, A son for a son. Daemon wants Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) killed but when Blood and Cheese reach the Red Keep through a secret passage, they aren't able to find Aemond and stumble upon Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban).
Since Helaena's son and daughter have similar physical appearances, they ask Helaena who the boy among them is as Daemon wants a son for a son. They kill her son Jahaerys who is the heir of Helaena's brother and husband King Aegon II Targaryen.
The execution differs from the book as in the book, they make Helaena choose between two sons and inflict psychological damage on her. This was a mellowed-down version of the events from the book and fans were having none of it.
Fans unhappy with Blood and Cheese execution in 'House of the Dragon'
Fans took to the internet to express their dissatisfaction over the events of Blood and Cheese. A Reddit user said, "Respectfully, but Blood and Cheese was so underwhelming". Another Reddit user added, "Idk how to feel about the change to make B+C not Team Black/Daemon's intent and to be rather a decision made by Blood and Cheese themself. I don't love the whole "War was just fueled by a misunderstanding" thing this show is really leaning into ("Song of Ice and Fire" prophecy with Aegon, Aemond not intending to kill Lucerys rather just losing control, etc).
Another Reddit user said, "The show isn’t as intense or impactful as in the books. I thought things would change in Season 2 but Blood and Cheese were so lame." Another Reddit user added, "They softened Blood and Cheese so much. I wanted to see the choosing," referring to the choice Helaena has to make in the book.
People also thought that the event lacked emotion, A Reddit user said "blood and cheese was not as a good as i thought it was gonna be tbh. could’ve been much more emotional". Another Reddit user added, blood and cheese emojis was very underwhelming. I expected more pain with choosing"
Some users appreciated Phia Sabian's performance as Helaena in the event though. A Reddit user said, "I want to applaud Phia Saban for how she handled Blood and Cheese. We know Helaena is on whatever the Westeros equivalent of the spectrum is, and the way that she handled it was excellent, with a mix of fear, bewilderment, shock, and sorrow. I can understand why some will disagree, however."
Ryan Condal gives a justification for Blood and Cheese
Ryan Condal, the showrunner of 'House of the Dragon' spoke about why the event was changed and how the presence of child actors affected the event. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said, "We knew that we would be challenged to get performances out of children that young — as a person who has kids around these ages, I'm intimately familiar with all of that."
He further added, "Then there are things that you can and cannot expose children to on a movie set. If you were to try to perform a faithful rendering of that story, you'd be challenged from all angles in terms of getting a performance out of a child. A lot of times it seems like the kid is going through that, but you're using clever cutaways and insert shots.", as per the source.
Fans did understand his point but were still not fully satisfied with the justification. A Reddit user said, "Interesting but mostly-understandable reasoning for why the incident is actually LESS traumatizing than it was in the book." Another Reddit user commented, "Yeah Condals point about the struggle of putting child actors through an accurate adaptation of Blood & Cheese is true. Also the timeline isn’t quite the same from the books which changes the ages of the children."
How to stream 'House of the Dragon' Season 2?
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 is available for streaming from Sunday, June 16, on HBO and Max.
One needs Max membership to watch this captivating series. If you don't have access, a basic Max subscription with ads costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. For an ad-free experience, the subscription is $15.00 per month or $149.99 for a year.
With the ad-free tier, users can download up to 30 shows or movies for offline viewing. Max also offers an 'Ultimate' subscription tier, which is ad-free and permits streaming on four devices at once.
'House of the Dragon' trailer
'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Episode 1 premiered on HBO on June 16, 2024.