Warning! The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2 and Fire & Blood, the show’s source material.
Fire & Blood author George R. R. Martin reveals that he had arguments with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal over the changes to the Blood & Cheese sequence. The first Game of Thrones spinoff premiered in 2022 and recently returned for season 2 earlier this summer. The sophomore outing gets off to a violent start by depicting the gruesome Blood & Cheese storyline, which features the two titular assassins (played by Sam C. Wilson and Mark Stobbart) breaking into King’s Landing to assassinate the young Jaehaerys (Jude Rock).
Changes from the book, however, resulted in the scene being polarizing for audiences.
In a since-deleted blog post on his Not A Blog, Martin delves into the behind-the-scenes process for House of the Dragon’s Blood & Cheese adaptation, revealing that he had disagreements with Condal over how to pull the sequence off. The disagreements stemmed from excising the young Maelor, Helaena’s (Phia Saban) other child, from the scene, which Martin felt “weakened the sequence.” Practical and budget considerations ultimately won out, however, and Martin concedes that he does like Blood & Cheese as it turned out. Check out excerpts from Martin’s blog below:
When Ryan Condal first told me what he meant to do, ages ago (back in 2022, might be) I argued against it, for all these reasons. I did not argue long, or with much heat, however. The change weakened the sequence, I felt, but only a bit. And Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it; they did not want to deal with casting another child, especially a two-year old toddler. Kids that young will inevitably slow down production, and there would be budget implications. Budget was already an issue on HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, it made sense to save money wherever we could.
Moreover, Ryan assured me that we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him. Queen Helaena [Phia Saban] could still give birth to him in season three, presumably after getting with child late in season two. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and acquiesced to the change.
I still love the episode, and the Blood and Cheese sequence overall. Losing the “Helaena’s Choice” beat did weaken the scene, but not to any great degree. Only the book readers would even notice its absence; viewers who had never read FIRE & BLOOD would still find the scenes heart-rending. Maelor did not actually DO anything in the scene, after all. How could he? He was only two years old.
What Martin’s Blood & Cheese Criticisms Mean For House Of The Dragon
Is The Spinoff Following In Game Of Thrones’ Footsteps?
By and large, House of the Dragon season 2 reviews have been positive, with critics and audiences alike praising the show. Season 2, for example, has an 83% critics’ score and 74% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, though, the Blood & Cheese sequence was widely criticized on social media for Maelor’s absence and how this removed the choice that Helaena makes of which of her children will be murdered. Martin may be happy with the final episode, but the reception to Blood & Cheese is concerning given the response to later seasons of Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones season 8 was infamously divisive, and a broad reason for this is that it lost the complexity and nuance of earlier seasons. Season 8 wasn’t pulled from Martin’s source material, while House of the Dragon season 3 and 4 will be, but the spinoff’s Blood & Cheese sequence removes a degree of storytelling complexity. This change affects not only the sequence itself but will impact Helaena Targaryen, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), and Alicent Hightower’s (Olivia Cooke) storylines moving forward, removing the motivation for certain key events, namely Helaena’s suicide.
Our Take On House Of The Dragon’s Blood & Cheese Sequence
Why Fire & Blood Readers Could Be In For Disappointment
As someone who has not read Fire & Blood, I found House of the Dragon’s Blood & Cheese sequence gripping and horrifying in all the best ways. Upon learning how the moment plays out in the book, however, it’s not hard to see where the criticisms are coming from. Changes will always be necessary when adapting a book into another medium and, broadly, House of the Dragon has been successful critically and in terms of viewership. This is a promising sign for the show’s future and Condal’s ability to funnel this grand story into seasons of television.
Martin’s blog does, however, raise some valid concerns, namely how changing events and characters in season 2 will determine what events from his book can be included in later seasons. The response to Blood & Cheese, then, could end up being indicative of how future seasons of House of the Dragon are received. While those who didn’t read the book may end up thrilled with the results, those who did may end up less pleased.