The Season 2 premiere of House of the Dragon features a scene involving Blood and Cheese, two sinister characters from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire and Blood. The scene, while horrific, is not as graphic as in the book, which is not surprising given the changes made in the adaptation. The book presents a fantastical history of Westeros written by a fictional Maester based on unreliable sources, while the show offers a more true telling of events. The changes in the adaptation are cleverly framed to highlight the discrepancies between the book and the show.
One major difference between the book and the show is the portrayal of Lucerys Velaryon’s death. In the book, Aemond Targaryen sets out to kill the boy, while in the show, it is the dragon Vhagar who ultimately kills him. The adaptation effectively conveys the story in a different light, steering away from the gruesomeness of the book. However, the adaptation of the Blood and Cheese scene could have benefited from a more subtle approach to certain elements, such as the threat of child rape, which is a sensitive and potentially triggering subject.
In the book, Blood and Cheese are tasked with assassinating a target, suggested to be King Aegon or Prince Aemond. They instead target Queen Helaena and her three children, offering her a horrifying choice between her sons Jaehaerys and Maelor. Helaena chooses Maelor to be spared, resulting in the gruesome decapitation of Jaehaerys. This scene, often compared to the Red Wedding in the book, is a pivotal moment in the story, showcasing the wickedness of Team Black and the lack of true heroes in the narrative.
The adaptation of the Blood and Cheese scene in House of the Dragon diverges from the book in various ways, including Alicent’s absence during the event and the execution of Jaehaerys happening offscreen. The emotional impact of the scene is less pronounced in the show due to the viewers’ lack of connection to the characters, a recurring issue throughout the series. The shocking events in the scene do evoke feelings of shock and horror, but lack the depth of emotion seen in similar moments in Game of Thrones.
Overall, the changes made from the book to the show in the Blood and Cheese scene serve to adapt the story for a different medium and audience, offering a slightly less graphic and more digestible version of the events. The show’s framing of these changes as a more accurate representation of the events is a clever approach to the adaptation process. While some elements from the book could have been incorporated more subtly in the show, the overall impact of the scene remains chilling and highlights the dark and unforgiving world of Westeros.
