The first episode for "House of the Dragon" season 2 has dropped and social media is already filled with reactions from viewers along with memes. One of the things that fans are pointing out is that the show changed a major aspect of the books, particularly the actions in "Blood and Cheese."
An Alternative to a Major Death
It goes without saying that there will be spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the latest episode, it's best to table this article for now. The season 2 premiere has already started out with an intense ending, and it's more or less what the readers of the book have expected.
Nicknamed Blood and Cheese, fans of the book ("Fire and Blood") the show was based on already recognized two of the newly introduced characters in the show. They are two assassins hired by Daemon Targaryen to fulfill Queen Rhaenyra's wish, which is to kill a son from Team Green.
In the show, Rhaenyra actually has a son in mind, namely Aemond Targaryen. As explained by showrunner Ryan Condal: "It felt like Rhaenyra, despite being in grief, she's looking for vengeance, but she would choose a target that would have some kind of strategic or military advantage."
By taking out Aemond, she would be able to punish him for the murder of her son Lucerys Velaryon, and would also remove a dangerous enemy since Aemond rode the biggest dragon in the realm, as mentioned in Gizmodo. He was also a capable fighter who could do a lot of damage.
This brings us to the assassins. In the books, Daemon instructed them to kill a son for a son with no real target. They then ask Aegon's sister-wife, Helaena, to choose which child dies. As she offered Maelor (who was not in the show), Blood and Cheese decapitates Jaehaerys anyway.
In the show, the assassins hired who was a mercenary and a rat catcher who knows his way through the halls, appear to both be incapable of doing what they were told. In failing to find Aemond, they instead go for the young prince and heir of Aegon II.
Condal explained that it was their "job as adapters to try to find the objective line through this to bring the audience into the narrative as we see it having been laid out," considering that there are "three different viewpoints on the history that don't line up with one another."
What That Could Mean
Although the outcome is still the same, changing the events that led to Prince Jaehaerys' death could mean that the showrunners could also soften other scenes that might be too gruesome or violent for television.
One of them is Rhaenyra's death, which was already spoiled by Joffrey Baratheon in "Game of Thrones" for those with a good memory. The good news is that Rhaenyra does eventually sit on the Iron Throne, as mentioned in CBR, but it won't be for long.
She was eventually forced to flee since people did not accept her rule. Upon her return to Dragonstone, she would find that Aegon II was already waiting for her. It is where she would meet her violent death by being killed and consumed little by little by Aegon's dragon, Sunfyre.
The scene was so much that Rhaenyra's lady-in-waiting was said to have "gouged other own eyes at the sight." Showrunners could change how the Queen dies or if she does at all. They could stay true to the narrative but will not show the actual act, just as they did with Jaehaerys.
