HBO is currently in pre-production on the second season of House of the Dragon, and we’re starting to get some leaks. For instance, actor Samuel Edward-Cook uploaded an audition tape to Vimeo, and those who have read George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood may be able to guess who he’s playing.
The audition tape has since been taken down, but we describe it below. Beware MAJOR SPOILERS.
Cook has made various small appearances in television shows since 2012, notably Peaky Blinders and Innocent. If he’s posting this audition video online, it probably means he didn’t get the role on House of the Dragon, but his tape can still tell us things about what’s to come.
The title of the project is listed as Red Gun 2, which is the code name for House of the Dragon season 2. The character “Charlie C” is also an alias. Based on his dialog, it seems likely that Cook was auditioning for the role of Cheese. In Fire and Blood, the book that House of the Dragon is adapted from, there is a storyline in King’s Landing involving two characters known only as Blood and Cheese. Acting according to a plan formulated by Daemon Targaryen and Mysaria, they infiltrate the Red Keep to get revenge for the death of Lucerys Velaryon, which we saw at the end of season 1.
During the audition, Charlie C appears to be someone who works in the castle. He is being persuaded by someone else to reveal the location of the royal apartments. After some initial reluctance, Charlie C agrees bring the other person upstairs.
In the second scene, Charlie C and the other person are poking around the royal quarters trying to find the “prince.” The other party reminds Charlie C that he won’t get paid unless they find the prince.
In Fire & Blood, Cheese is a former ratcatcher who used to work in the Red Keep. He knows all about the secret passages in and out of the castle, so he’s hired to escort Blood — a former member of the City Watch — inside. It’s possible that the script that Cook is reading won’t be the final version we get in the show, but it still provides plenty of fodder for speculation.
What do Blood and Cheese do in Fire & Blood?
After Lucerys dies in Fire and Blood, Daemon Targaryen contacts Mysaria in King’s Landing, who organizes a revenge mission on behalf of the blacks. She hires Blood and Cheese to infiltrate the Red Keep and assassinate one of the royal family members.
Blood and Cheese are successful in their mission. They tie up Alicent Hightower, Helaena Targaryen and her three children. Blood then demands that Helaena choose which one of her children will die, and she begs that they kill her instead. They threaten to kill them all if she does not make a decision, and she points to her youngest son Maelor. Blood then kills her eldest son Prince Jaehaerys and escapes with Cheese.
These events will probably play out a bit differently in House of the Dragon, but clearly they’re coming.
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