‘House of the Dragon’: It’s Time to Talk About Blood and Cheese
As a fan of George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, I already knew that one day we would have to discuss Blood and Cheese. The two lowly citizens of Flea Bottom were easily the most impactful characters of last night’s House of the Dragon season 2 premiere—even as two powerful families prepared for war. Heinous acts aside, there’s no way we weren’t going to talk about how our new guys had the names Blood and Cheese. Blood and Cheese!
Though HBO’s adaptation of House of the Dragon did not mention the duo’s names out loud, Blood’s and Cheese’s monikers are both just too good not to mention here. Blood (Sam C. Wilson) is a hulking butcher and a former member of the Gold Cloaks, while Cheese (Mark Stobbart) is the castle’s rat-catcher. Both are nicknames, of course, but they’re downright perfect. Unfortunately, the duo are infamous for committing a brutal murder. Hired by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) in the premiere to kill “a son for a son,” Blood and Cheese find their way through the Red Keep to Queen Helaena’s (Phia Saban) bedroom—where they brutally murder her young son, Jaehaerys.
What’s Next for Blood and Cheese?
WARNING. The following contains spoilers from Fire & Blood—and potentially House of the Dragon season 2.
We likely won’t see much of Blood and Cheese following this final act. You can’t murder the king’s heir and live to tell the tale! The shocking episode ends with the squelching sounds of the duo cutting off young Jaehaerys’s head, as Queen Helaena runs away in fear. Blood and Cheese do no further harm in the Red Keep, but the damage is done. In the book, Blood’s and Cheese’s days are numbered.
Just a paragraph after committing the horrifying murder of Jaehaerys, Blood is seized at the gates while attempting to leave the city with the prince’s head in a sack. Under interrogation, he admits that he was ordered to take the remains to Daemon to collect his reward. He also claims that an old prostitute named Misery hired him for the job. He dies after 13 days of torture.
Cheese likely meets his fate after King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) rounds up and hangs every rat-catcher in the city. Though none of the rat-catchers admit to the crime, they don’t have much time before their deaths. It also remains possible that Cheese is not among them. Fire & Blood—which contains the accounts of events from multiple viewpoints—mentions that “no trace” of Cheese is ever found. He might have survived, even if his story ends there. Either way, the war quickly escalates from this point—as viewers will soon see for themselves.
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