Phia Saban and Olivia Cooke talk about Blood and Cheese in new episode of the Game of Thrones podcast

In the first episode of House of the Dragon Season 2, a shocking event unfolds at the end. Prince Jaehaerys is murdered by assassins Blood and Cheese, who are hired by Daemon with Mysaria’s help. The episode concludes with a haunting image of Helaena clutching Jaehaera, looking terrified.

In the coming weeks, Helaena will be deeply affected by this event. However, Queen Alicent Hightower will also be traumatized, as she couldn’t prevent the tragedy. She was with Criston Cole, who was supposed to guard Helaena and her children. Phia Saban and Olivia Cooke discussed the episode and their characters’ reactions to the horrific event on the official Game of Thrones podcast.

Read More: Who are Blood and Cheese? House of the Dragon sets up a disturbing storyline

Phia Saban and Olivia Cooke on Blood and Cheese

Phia Saban and Olivia Cooke appeared on the official Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon podcast, hosted by Greta Johnson and Jason Concepcion. You can watch the full video here:

Phia Saban reacts to the episode

Phia Saban was asked about her role as Helaena, how she reacted to learning about her character’s fate, and her response to Blood and Cheese. Saban said:

“There’s so many Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon fans in the world, even before the show existed, that if you sort of give people a sniff that you’re in something like House of the Dragon, and then they know that world at all, and you say, “Oh, I’m playing Helaena,” they’re like, “You know what happens to you, right?” I was being told by people on the train that I was sitting next to.”

Stream House of the Dragon on Max | Save up to 20%

Stream House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones and more HBO Original series on Max. Sign up and save up to 20% with an annual plan.

Subscribe Now

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

“And I did know. I’d seen it all a lot. Yeah, so I kind of knew it was coming in that sense. But nothing prepares you for opening it up and being like, “Okay, they’re doing that episode one. That’s punchy. And I just really liked when I read in the scripts how simple they made it. It’s all just set in the present, in the immediate moment. And, you know, there’s not, like, too much dialog. They’re not trying to do too much with it. I think, hopefully, they just wrote something simple that speaks for itself.”

Read More: Ryan Condal doesn’t think Blood and Cheese episode is like the Red Wedding

Olivia Cooke reacts to the episode

Olivia Cooke was asked whether Alicent anticipated the Blacks’ extreme measures for revenge and what her reaction was to the event. Cooke said:

“No, I don’t think so. I think Alicent is expecting retaliation, and I think she’s probably expecting, you know, an eye for an eye. I think– I think she can probably sense that Rhaenyra is going to go after one of her sons, but killing an innocent child is the most shocking thing in the world. But I think, more than that, Alicent just holds herself accountable for it all because she was having sex with the head of the Kingsguard, and the castle should have been on lockdown, and it wasn’t. There was a real breach in security, and she completely takes that on as her own fault.”

Read More: Cheese kicked a dog and became one of the most hated characters in House of the Dragon

Surfshark VPN 86% OFF + 3 months free!

Surf the web all across the world without tracking, secure your devices from threats, & guard your accounts' security.

Get Surfshark

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.