House of the Dragon boss clarifies Season 2’s “Blood and Cheese” twist

In coverage of House of the Dragon’s Season 2 premiere, showrunner Ryan Condal is talking about the “Blood and Cheese” scene from Season 2. He isn’t teasing some new Season 3 shocker, even though HBO has already renewed House of the Dragon for a third season.

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The “Blood and Cheese” sequence adapts one of the bleakest storylines in George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. In House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 1, Daemon Targaryen sends two assassins into the Red Keep to avenge Lucerys Velaryon’s death in Season 1, pushing the Targaryen split out of the realm of political fracture and into revenge.

Condal said the scene was built like a “heist-sequence gone wrong.” He wanted it to run on stealth, suspense, inevitability, and horror, without crossing into something gratuitous or, as he put it, “outrageously cruel,” especially in a franchise that carries both the brutality associated with Game of Thrones and the scrutiny that comes with showing violence.

If you follow House of the Dragon closely, that distinction matters: “Blood and Cheese” isn’t only a headline-grabbing shock. It’s the clearest sign yet that the conflict between the Blacks and the Greens has moved into a much darker stage, locking both sides into a faster, harsher cycle of vengeance while Season 2 plays a slow burn and saves bigger events, including the Battle of the Gullet, for later.

HBO renewed House of the Dragon before Season 2 premiered. The network also said the opener drew 7.8 million U.S. viewers across platforms on its first night, down about 22% from the nearly 10 million viewers who watched the series premiere in 2022.

You can watch House of the Dragon on HBO and Max.