Editor's Note: The following article contains major spoilers for the Fire & Blood book.

The Big Picture

  • The highly anticipated second season of House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, is expected to feature the gruesome event known as Blood and Cheese.
  • Blood and Cheese is a tragic event within The Dance of the Dragons, where two lowborn assassins brutally kill a member of the royal family in revenge for Lucerys Velaryon's death.
  • The psychological torture and murder of a small child during Blood and Cheese will have lasting impacts on the characters, leading to deep depression, suicide, and fueling the bitterness between the warring factions.

The success of House of the Dragon Season 1 inspired much anticipation for Season 2. Though not set to premiere until summer 2024, fans have been discussing what will happen in the new season since the first concluded. As the prequel to Game of Thrones, expectations are high, and with a legacy of sudden and bloody plot twists, House of the Dragon has a lot to live up to. Game of Thrones' violent Red Wedding surprised viewers despite the show's reputation, but can House of the Dragon accomplish a similar plot twist? Luckily, the show is based on Fire & Blood, George R. R. Martin's in-universe historical record, so the fans know there will be plenty of blood in the upcoming episodes. Still, with contractions written into 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 from Fire & Blood, worrying that they will be edited or forgotten for the show. One, in particular, is referred to as Blood and Cheese.

Poised to take place early in Season 2, the mysteriously-named event is ominous to new fans who find themselves out of the loop. The infamy of Blood and Cheese is well deserved. As one of The Dance of the Dragon's most tragic events, it has quickly become one of the most anticipated as well. But there is always the fear that it will disappoint. House of the Dragon writer Sara Hess promised in an interview that the gruesome events of Blood and Cheese would appear in the second season. Hess went on to say that the brutal plotline will not disappoint, a statement that is as worrying as it is exciting. The Season 2 teaser trailer hints at the tragedy as well, showing flashes of Helaena (Phia Saban) in a dangerous situation, but it reveals little. For those in the know, both expectations and dread are high. But fans who haven't read the book and don't want to be blindsided or have forgotten the brutal details should research the events around Blood and Cheese before the unexpected tragedy can strike.

house of the dragon poster
House of the Dragon

The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones, telling the story of the Targaryen civil war with King Viserys.

Release Date
August 21, 2022
Cast
Paddy Considine , Olivia Cooke , Rhys Ifans , Matt Smith , Eve Best , Steve Toussaint , Emma D'Arcy , Milly Alcock , Emily Carey
Seasons
2
Creator
Ryan J. Condal, George R.R. Martin

What Causes Blood and Cheese?

Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen, surrounded by smoke in House of the Dragon
Image via HBO

Blood and Cheese is a reaction to the events of the Season 1 finale, suggesting that it will occur early in Season 2. As the Targaryen factions divide, they each look for allies. Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) sends her son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) to Storm's End, where he encounters Alicent's (Olivia Cooke) second son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell). With bad blood between the two, the confrontation doesn't go well. Aemond chases Lucerys on dragon back, until his dragon, Vhagar, swoops in for the kill, officially starting the war. In a slight departure from Fire & Blood, the show made this an accident, blaming Vhagar more so than Aemond himself. But even accidents have consequences, as the Greens will soon learn. In Fire & Blood, Luke's death brings about Blood and Cheese, along with the Dance of the Dragons.

The book explains that when Daemon (played by Matt Smith in the show) learns of Luke's death, he plots the revenge of "a son for a son." Rather than focusing on Aemond, he seems to blame Luke's death on Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) as the Green's king. Unable to get an army to the castle, Daemon chooses a more subtle method of vengeance. Through his spymaster, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), he employs two lowborn assassins for the task. Their names have been lost to time, but they are referred to as Blood and Cheese. Blood is a butcher and disgraced former sergeant of the City Watch known to be capable of great violence. And Cheese is a rat-catcher in King's Landing. Their unique skills make them the perfect choices for Daemon's nefarious plan.

What Do Blood and Cheese Do?

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. With Cheese's past employment, he knows the castle's tunnels, which allow them to get in undetected. Every evening, Helaena takes her 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 to choose which of her sons they will kill as retribution for Luke's death. 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 children. 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 make sure to clearly tell Maelor that his mother chose him to die, before turning 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. As the event has only one death, it may be less bloody than the many battles the Dance of the Dragons will include, but the psychological torture of Helaena and the murder of a small child make it darker than anything else in the show.

What Are the Repercussions of Blood and Cheese?

Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen and Phia Saban as Helaena in House of the Dragon
Image via HBO

Beyond Jaehaerys' death, Blood and Cheese leaves a lasting impact on all involved. 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 commits suicide. Rumors spread that she was murdered, leading the smallfolk to riot against Rhaenyra, calling for justice for Helaena and her sons. This makes Blood and Cheese the first event for which the smallfolk want justice. But the more immediate result is to make the Greens 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 tragedy takes a toll on the family. While the franchise is no stranger to violent deaths, the murder of a child and the torture Blood and Cheese put Helaena through reaches a new level. House of the Dragon may decide to make a few small changes to the Blood and Cheese plot, especially considering the Jaehaerys and Jaehaera in the show are much younger than six, as they are in the book. Maelor himself has yet to appear, but there are three descendants of Aegon and Helaena in the show's opening sequence to confirm his existence. Even with a handful of tweaks, Blood and Cheese will be a horrifying and heartbreaking moment, as it should be. The basic plot point is critical to the story, and one way or another, Blood and Cheese must be the tragedy that people expect. It’s just one of many shocks fans have to look forward to in Season 2.

Season 1 of House of the Dragon is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

Watch on Max