The cameras are officially rolling on the second season of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon, which means we’re that much closer to seeing Rhaenyra Targaryen and her followers try to take back the Iron Throne from her half-brother Aegon. If you’ll remember, season 1 ended with Rhaenyra’s half-brother Aemond Targaryen killing her child Lucerys Velaryon (Aemond’s dragon Vhagar pulled the trigger, so to speak, but it amounted to the same thing). So no more Mrs. Nice Rhaenyra in season 2.

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This sets up a crucial scene from George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood that fans fully expect to see in the second season. Without spoiling things too much, members of Rhaenyra’s team want revenge for Luke’s death. They reach out and hire a couple of guys history knows only as Blood and Cheese. Cheese used to work as a rat-catcher in the Red Keep, so he knows the secret passageways well. The pair sneak into the Red Keep intending to take “a son for a son.” Do they succeed? Watch and find out.

In any case, it sounds like the writers on House of the Dragon have been doing their homework when it comes to the character of Cheese, as showrunner Ryan Condal recently hinted during an episode of his podcast The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, which is about movie and TV props. “We’ve been doing a lot of R&D, I’ve been investigating a lot of rat traps recently, so I will say that. And they’re very cool. That goes more to book-readers more than anything else, but stay tuned.”

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Expect historically accurate rat traps in the second season of House of the Dragon

Ellie Murphy, who serves as the Action Prop Supervisor on House of the Dragon, was on the podcast as a guest. Murphy also weighed in:

There’s like a whole mood board of rat catchers through the ages. There’s one particular one with a guy with them all on a stick and like a string of rats. It’s brilliant. But there’s one guy on YouTube who, I kid you not, has like a million and a half followers, and he just shows you how to make rat traps from around the world and historical rat traps.

I’m guessing they’re talking about this guy:

Even absent oblique hints about historically accurate rat traps, we know the Blood and Cheese scene is coming; in fact, we’ve heard a report about who the show has cast to play Cheese: British actor Mark Stobbart. Now all that’s left is to see him and Blood in action when House of the Dragon airs on HBO and Max sometime in 2024.

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