It was the scene that was branded \u201cheinous\u201d by Alicent Hightower actress Olivia Cooke and dreaded by fans of George RR Martin\u2019s Fire and Blood<\/a>, but House of the Dragon\u2019s<\/a> Blood and Cheese<\/a> didn\u2019t quite shock in the way viewers expected<\/a>.<\/p>\n The iconic scene from the novel, featured at the end of season 2 episode 1, A Son for a Son, sees Daemon Targaryen<\/a> (Matt Smith) seek bloody revenge on the Greens for the death of Lucerys Velaryon<\/a> (Elliot Grihault) at the hands of Aemond Targaryen<\/a> (Ewan Mitchell).<\/p>\n He hires two assassins, the imposing Blood (Sam C Wilson) and rat-catcher Cheese (Mark Stobbart), who has an unrivalled knowledge of the Red Keep.<\/p>\n In the show, Daemon tells them to find Aemond and, when asked what to do if he can\u2019t be found, we don\u2019t hear Daemon\u2019s reply. However, it later becomes clear that he told them: \u201cA son for a son.\u201d<\/p>\n So, as Blood and Cheese sneak into the Red Keep (and make their villainous natures all the more clear by their horrible treatment of a dog), they find King Aegon\u2019s<\/a> (Tom Glynn-Carney) wife, Queen Helaena (Phia Saban), and her children, twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. Perfect \u2013 a son for a son. So far, so faithful.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where the big change comes in, making the scene so much less brutal but so much more meaningful. In the books, Aegon and Helaena have a younger son, Maelor. So, when Blood and Cheese threaten the children, they force Helaena to choose which son should die.<\/p>\n But it gets worse. After Helaena painfully makes her choice, picking Maelor, Blood and Cheese gleefully kill the other son, Jaehaerys, before taunting Maelor with the knowledge that his mother wanted him to die.<\/p>\n Maelor being taken out of the equation in the show means that Helaena\u2019s choice is (while still awful) rather less heinous. While she still has to make a choice in whether she truthfully tells Blood and Cheese which child is a boy, it feels less in her control, and there\u2019s no taunting of the children afterwards. The children are also younger in the show, meaning Jaehaerya is too young to really understand what happened to her brother.<\/p>\n Of course, that\u2019s not to say it isn\u2019t still a horrific scene. Helaena still witnessed the brutal murder of her young son and is left traumatised and grief-wracked \u2013 not to mention that we as viewers hear the bone-chilling sound of Jaehaerys\u2019s head being cut off by Blood and Cheese.<\/p>\n From this moment on, we see parallels between Helaena and Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen <\/a>(Emma D\u2019Arcy), the two mothers who have lost their innocent children to the brutality of the Dance of Dragons<\/a>.<\/p>\n While some fans have been left underwhelmed, though, the exclusion of Maelor means this moment could be all the more meaningful. In both the book and the show, Aegon\u2019s heir is brutally murdered \u2013 but only in the show is he now left without a male heir entirely.<\/p>\n With no younger son left, the Greens\u2019 position is suddenly so much more precarious. With Aegon throwing caution to the wind and threatening to lead the charge into battle himself, it\u2019s all his mother and grandfather (Otto Hightower<\/a>, played by Rhys Ifans) can do to keep him safe. Now that mission is even more crucial due to the lack of male heir.<\/p>\n Of course, Jaehaera, Aegon and Helaena\u2019s daughter is still alive. But the entire crux of the Greens\u2019 claim to the throne was that Aegon was Viserys\u2019s male heir \u2013 as opposed to Rhaenyra, his named female heir.<\/p>\n To name Jaehaera as Aegon\u2019s heir would be to inadvertently fortify Rhaenyra\u2019s claim to the throne, an impossible way forward for them. It\u2019s an ironic and tragic position for the Greens to be left in, and their next move must be calculated incredibly carefully.<\/p>\n But why is Maelor missing from the story? Showrunner Ryan Condal opened up about that choice, and it\u2019s all down to trying to tell so much of the story in season 1.<\/p> He told RadioTimes.com:<\/a> \u201cEssentially we made 30 years [of history] happen in 20 years, and that just meant some of the youngest kids in the story weren\u2019t yet around or are younger than they are in the books. Rhaenyra and Daemon\u2019s children, for one, and then certainly Halaena and Aegon. Maelor is just not yet in the narrative in this story.\u201d<\/p>\n But, after such a tragedy, will all family members want to be part of this next move? Helaena actress Saban hinted that might not be the case, telling RadioTimes.com<\/strong>: \u201cHelaena essentially bought the social agreement that she would do what was necessary for the royal family in return for relatively being left alone and that she\u2019d be safe in her marriage to her brother, that she\u2019d be left to her own devices in return for heirs.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this season, she\u2019s realising that it\u2019s not true and it\u2019s not a fair bargain. She\u2019s realising that maybe she\u2019s not willing to sacrifice what she needs to sacrifice for this family of absolute wrong\u2019uns!\u201d<\/p>\n So, will Blood and Cheese and the death of Jaehaerys tear the Greens apart? Or will they unite in tragedy?<\/p>\n [squirrel-affiliate-playlist squirrel_playlist_id=\u201d610\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n House of the Dragon season 2 continues on Sky Atlantic and\u00a0NOW<\/a> on 24th June 2024 \u2013 find out more about\u00a0how to sign up for Sky TV<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Fantasy<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n Some fans were underwhelmed with the iconic scene. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":53364,"template":"","categories":[6,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/06\/house-of-the-dragons-blood-and-cheese-moment-may-be-less-brutal-but-its-more-meaningful-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Some fans were underwhelmed with the iconic scene.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/53363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Phia](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/phia-saban-2-ab33aae.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"phia-saban")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/0169HOTDS02-faebb9c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"House")
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