The first season of House of the Dragon, over its ten episodes and two-month run, brought viewers once again to the continent of Westeros with all of its scheming. In terms of entertainment value, the series simmered and stirred but kept fans glued till the very end. The final two episodes saw the stage getting set for the Dance of Dragons with Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) usurping the throne for her son, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) from the rightful heir, Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). However, war was not declared officially till the finale’s bleak events over the skies of Storm’s End.
During the season finale, Rhaenyra dispatches her sons, Jacaerys (Harry Collett) and Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) to affirm the loyalty of her bannermen. Jace was sent to Winterfell (House Stark) and The Vale (House Arryn), and Luke was sent to Storm’s End (House Baratheon). However, Luke meets his uncle, Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and soon, due to past discretions, the pair end up in a battle in the skies that ends with Luke’s death. Fans of the book already know his mother’s vengeance will be dark and will come in the shape of two characters, Blood and Cheese, which House of the Dragon writer Sara Hess has confirmed, Per Variety, will be featured in the second season. Hess revealed “We are currently writing the finale of Season 2,” Hess told Variety then added about the infamous Blood and Cheese story. “I don’t think you will be disappointed.”
As earlier mentioned, fans of George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood already know the danger these two characters pose. In the aftermath of Luke’s death, the Blacks led by Rhaenyra would employ the services of these two individuals to execute a brutal reparation for the death of her son. Given that the fanbase has been promised not to be “disappointed”, maybe we might be set for a gruesome vengeance scene when the show returns. One that was described by the source material’s Prince Daemon as being “An eye for an eye, a son for a son.”
The entire precipice for the pending war that would tear up Westeros was inadvertently set up by comments made by King Viserys (Paddy Considine) on his deathbed. Considine believes that some fans misunderstood the “difficult” choices made by his character especially regarding his wife, Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke) saying, “[Aemma’s] death… that’s his downfall, really. He never gets over that death. Which is kind of misunderstood by people early on. I think they think I killed my wife. But that wasn’t the case. They were both going to die. They had a chance of saving Baelon, but it meant putting her through a horrific procedure.”
Luke’s death eventually sets off the war that will come to be known as the Dance of Dragons which is the beginning of the end of the Targaryen dynasty’s rule over Westeros. The advent of Blood and Cheese is sure to be a significant part of the coming war, but how significant it will be in the series remains to be seen, House of the Dragon Season 1 is available to watch in full on HBO Max.
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