House of the Dragon casting blonde-haired child twins; Blood and Cheese is coming?

House of the Dragon is gearing up to film its second season, and fansite Redanian Intelligence brings us a juicy tidbit from the set. HBO is reportedly looking for blonde twins aged 3-4 with shoulder-length hair to film for a few days sometime between April and June of this year.

“Blond twins with shoulder-length hair” suggests Targaryens; every other character is a Targaryen, after all, and they all tend to wear their hair long.

But who are these specific Targaryens? Let’s get into some SPOILERS for George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood below.

What is Blood and Cheese on House of the Dragon?

This casting is probably for Jaehaera and Jaehaerys Targaryen, the twin children of the recently crowned king Aegon Targaryen and his sister-wife Helaena. Jaehaera is a girl and Jaehaerys a boy. We saw them briefly in a quick moment from Episode 9, “The Green Council.” They also have a younger brother, Maelor, whom we haven’t seen onscreen yet.

Jaehaera and Jaehaerys feature prominently in a harrowing scene from Fire & Blood. In revenge for the death of Rhaenyra’s son Lucerys at the hands of Aemond Targaryen, Rhaenyra’s husband Daemon puts a revenge plot into motion: he reaches out to his former paramour Mysaria, now an information broker in King’s Landing. She hires a pair of men known to history only as Blood and Cheese. Blood was a former sergeant in the City Watch and Cheese a former rat catcher in the Red Keep, so he knew its hidden passages well.

Cheese leads Blood through the Red Keep up to Alicent Hightower’s chambers. They bind the dowager queen, and then wait for Helaena to visit her mother with her children, as she does every day at dusk. Blood and Cheese subdue the group, and then give Helaena a choice: which of her sons — Jaenaerys or Maelor — does she want to die in repayment for the death of Lucerys Velaryon? After offering herself and being refused, she chooses Maelor. Blood kills Jaehaerys instead. Blood and Cheese leave without harming anyone else.

When will filming on House of the Dragon season 2 begin?

It’s a pretty harrowing scene I don’t expect the show to leave out, brutal as it is. In Fire & Blood, the murder happens very soon after Aemond kills Lucerys, so I’d expect it pretty early in the season.

House of the Dragon writer Sara Hess commented on the Blood and Cheese scene before. “I don’t think you will be disappointed.” “Disappointed” means something very odd in this context.

It’s also worth noting the filming dates: sometime between April and June. We’ve heard that filming on season 2 could begin as soon as March, but it’s possible it’s been pushed back to April. In any case, it starts soon. New episodes should be out in 2024.

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