House of the Dragon season 2 will include a dark storyline that culminates in the show’s most harrowing moment, and it will catch viewers off guard.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon season 2 will have what will likely be the show’s most horrifying moment, and it’s unlikely viewers will be prepared for it. As is to be somewhat expected from a Game of Thrones show, House of the Dragon season 1 had plenty of its own bloody and brutal scenes, ranging from childbirth to the battlefield to fire-breathing beasts. Still, for all the violence and pain that’s already been doled out to characters audiences readily came to root for (RIP, sweet Harwin Strong), it’s nothing compared to what House of the Dragon season 2 has in store.

As the Targaryen civil war The Dance of the Dragons begins in earnest, there’ll be more battles, more bloodshed, and many more deaths to come. But the worst of all will be House of the Dragon‘s Blood and Cheese. The former is a butcher and the latter a ratcatcher, and they’re sent to get revenge for Aemond Targaryen killing Lucerys Velaryon; a son for a son. Their method of doing so is to sneak into the Red Keep, and force Helaena Targaryen to choose one of her and King Aegon II’s sons to be murdered. It’s a dark, twisted, and traumatic moment, but there’s another reason audiences won’t be ready.

Blood & Cheese Will Likely Happen Surprisingly Early In House Of The Dragon Season 2

Blood & Cheese will be one of the biggest – if not the biggest – moments in House of the Dragon season 2. Based on Game of Thrones structure, and House of the Dragon season 1 (as well as general serialized TV storytelling), that would mean it comes very late in the season, around episode 8 or 9. Although not impossible that happens, it’s highly implausible. Blood & Cheese happens fairly early in the Dance of the Dragons – in the book Fire & Blood, it’s just a few pages after Aemond kills Lucerys – and it’s been directly set up by House of the Dragon season 1’s ending.

It’s more likely, then, that Blood and Cheese happens in the first half of House of the Dragon season 2. A fair bet would be episode 2 or 3, after a premiere and maybe another episode to deal more with the fallout from and reactions to Lucerys’ death. Having it happen so early, when most viewers will be expecting a gradual build-up and relative safety in the story, would make the traumatic event even more horrifying. That not only lends it greater impact, but massively raises the stakes for the rest of the season and allows for a lot of time to properly explore the ramifications of the revenge.

Blood & Cheese In HOTD Season 2 Can Repeat A Game Of Thrones Season 4 Trick

Although Blood & Cheese will be like House of the Dragon’s Red Wedding (or perhaps the burning of Shireen Baratheon) in some ways – a shocking event few see coming, inflicted upon a character who doesn’t deserve it – it’s another set of nuptials that it could mirror in happening so early. Game of Thrones season 4 broke the show’s episode 9 rule, with one of the most stunning events coming in episode 2, “The Lion and the Rose,” – the death of Joffrey Baratheon. Joffrey – up to that point, Game of Thrones’ greatest villain – dying in season 4 was surprise enough. That it would happen in just episode 2 is almost unthinkable.

Blood & Cheese may not change House of the Dragon’s story in such a fundamental way. The character who dies – Jaehaerys is beheaded, despite Helaena choosing her and Aegon’s youngest child, Maelor – is not a character audiences know. Helaena herself, who is left traumatized and never recovers, exists more on the periphery of the Dance of the Dragons rather than being a key figure in it.

But in terms of shaking up the status quo, it will do something similar to the Purple Wedding. Likewise, this will ramp up the war, leading to more thirst for revenge, more violence to meet violence, and all characters will become darker for it. Much like Joffrey’s death, Blood & Cheese will be an early shock (albeit a far less satisfying one) that shapes so much of what’s to come in House of the Dragon season 2.

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