Who are Blood and Cheese in House of the Dragon season 2?
Olivia Cooke said of the brutal storyline: "Expect the worst."
Warning: Spoilers from the book Fire & Blood ahead.
As excitement amps up for House of the Dragon season 2, fans are clamouring to know just how the story is going to be adapted from the beloved novel Fire & Blood, and one particularly brutal storyline sticks out - Blood and Cheese.
The cast and creatives have been teasing the storyline, with Olivia Cooke, who plays Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, branding the scenes "heinous".
She told Entertainment Weekly: "I'd just say, it is Game of Thrones, expect the worst. Expect the very worst possible, and then double it. I dunno what else to say without heavily spoiling it, but it is heinous.”
So, as we gear up to return to Westeros, here's everything you need to know about Blood and Cheese. Be warned - it's gruesome stuff.
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Once again, this is your final warning for book spoilers!
Who are Blood and Cheese in House of the Dragon season 2?
Blood and Cheese are a duo of assassins hired by Prince Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith) to murder one of King Aegon II Targaryen's (Tom Glynn-Carney) sons.
This is in revenge for the death of Queen Rhaenyra's son Prince Lucerys who, in the novel, was killed by his uncle Prince Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell).
After the news of Lucerys's death reaches Rhaenyra (which we saw in the season 1 finale), Daemon sends her a raven to tell her that her son will be avenged.
Through the means of his spymaster, Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), he enlists Blood and Cheese to kill one of Aegon's sons.
The pair make it into the Red Keep and the bed chamber of Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), killing her bedmaid and waiting for Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) and her children, Princes Jaehaerys and Maelor, and their sister Princess Jaehaera to enter the room.
Blood and Cheese then give Queen Helaena the choice of which son they should kill. She pleads with them to kill her instead, but after being threatened with the death of all of her children, she chooses her youngest, Maelor, to die. Going against her wish, the pair instead kill her eldest son, Jaehaerys.
While the pair make it out of the Red Keep unscathed, Blood is seized days later, and is found with Jaehaerys's head, which he was planning to bring to Daemon for a reward. He later dies, but Cheese and Mysaria are not found.
The storyline might differ slightly in the show - after all, the season 1 finale made a crucial change to Lucerys's death scene.
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In the last episode of season 1, Lucerys is killed by Ameond's dragon Vhagar, despite commands to the contrary from Aemond. In the novel, Aemond knowingly kills Lucerys, but in the series he appears horrified, realising he's made the first move in a civil war.
As for whether the storyline will remain in its full brutal fashion remains to be seen, but of course, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have never previously shied away from gruesome scenes.
Will Blood and Cheese be in House of the Dragon season 2?
Yes, the Blood and Cheese storyline will be adapted, with Alicent Hightower actress Cooke speaking out about the "heinous" scenes.
Condal also recently opened up to RadioTimes.com about adapting various scenes from the books.
He said: "In the making of this series, the one thing that we know and we do have as adapters are these big moments, and we do need to service them in a way to honour the history...
"So I think all the big moments from the books, the things that you expect, you can continue to expect them to be covered and dramatised in some way."
He added: "I read that book for the first time when George [RR Martin] handed [it] to me, and I highlighted all the same things as everybody else - so, trust me as a maker of television that I'm as interested in landing on all those things as people are in seeing them."
Who will play Blood and Cheese in House of the Dragon season 2?
Sam C Wilson will play the imposing Blood, while Mark Stobbart is taking on the role of the smaller and more cunning Cheese.
Wilson is known for previous roles in Dodger and Hanna, while Stobbart has appeared in shows like Line of Duty and The Long Shadow.
House of the Dragon season 2 will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK from 17th June – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
