Beware the Butterflies - George R.R. Martin's view on House of the Dragon [audio]

back in July I promised you some further thoughts about blood and cheese and maor the missing after my commentary on the first two episodes of Hot D season 2 a son for a son and R near of the cruel those were terrific episodes well- written well directed powerfully acted a great way to kick off the new season fans and critics alike seemed to agree there was only one aspect of the episodes that Drew significant criticism the handling of blood and cheese and the death of Prince J Harris from the commentary I saw online opinion was split there the readers of Fire and Blood found the sequence underwhelming a disappointment watered down from what they were expecting viewers who had not read the book had no such problems most of them found the sequence a real gut Punch Tragic horrifying nightmarish Etc some reported being reduced to tears I found myself agreeing with both sides in my book Aon and Helena have three children not two the twins Jaris and Jara are 6 years old they have a younger brother malor who is two when blood and cheese break in on Helena and the kids they tell her they are debt collectors come to exact revenge for the death of Prince lucer a son for a son as Helena has two sons however they demand that she choose which one should die she resists and offers her own life instead but the killers insist it has to be a son if she does not name one they will kill all three of of the children to save the life of the twins hilena names malor but blood kills the older boy Jay Harris instead while cheese tells little malor that his mother wanted him dead whether the boy is old enough to understand that is not at all certain that's not how it happens on the show there is no malor in House of the Dragon only the twins both of whom look younger than six but I am no sure judge of children's ages so I can't be sure how old they are supposed to be blood can't seem to tell the twins apart so Helena is asked to reveal which one is the boy you would think a glance up his PJs would reveal that without involving the mother instead of offering her own life to save the kids Helena offers them a necklace blood and cheese are not tempted blood saws Prince Jar's head off we are spared the sight of that a sound effect suffices in the book he lops the head off with a sword it is a bloody brutal scene no doubt how not an innocent child is being butchered in front of his mother I still believe the scene in the book is stronger the readers have the right of that the two killers are cooler in the book I thought the actors who played the killers on the show were excellent but the characters are crer harder and more frightening in Fire and Blood in the show blood is a gold cloak in the book he is a former gold cloak stripped of his office for beating a woman to death book blood is the sort of man who might think making a woman choose which of her sons should die is amusing especially when they double down on the wanting cruelty by murdering the boy she tries to save book cheese is worse too he does not kick a dog true but he does not have a dog and he's the one who tells mayor that his mom wants him dead I would also suggest that Helena shows more courage more strength in the book by offering her own life to save her son offering a piece of jewelry is just not the same as I saw it the Sophie's Choice aspect was the strongest part of the sequence the darkest the most visceral I hated to lose that and judging from the comments online most of the fans seemed to agree when Ryan condal first told me what he meant to do ages ago back in 2022 might be I argued against it for all these reasons I did not argue long or with much heat however the change weakened the sequence I felt but only a bit and Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it they did not want to deal with casting another child especially a 2-year-old toddler kids that young will inevitably slow down production and there would be budget implications budget was already an issue on House of the Dragon it made sense to save money wherever we could moreover Ryan assured me that we were not losing Prince meor simply postponing him Queen Helena could still give birth to him in season season 3 presumably after getting with child late in season 2 that made sense to me so I withdrew my objections and acest to the change I still love the episode and the blood and cheese sequence overall losing the halena choice beat did weak in the scene but not to any great degree only the book readers would even notice its absence viewers who had never read Fire and Blood would still find the scenes heart-rending mord did not actually do anything in the scene after all how could he he was only 2 years old there is another aspect to the removal of the young princeling however those of you who hate spoilers should stop reading here spoilers will follow at least for the readers among you if you have never read Fire and Blood maybe it does not matter because all I am going to spoil here are things that happen in the book that may never happened on the series starting with meor himself sometime between the initial decision to remove move malor a big change was made the prince's birth was no longer just going to be pushed back to season 3 he was never going to be born at all the younger son of Aon and Helena would never appear most of you know about the butterfly effect I assume yes there was a movie with that title a few years back it's a familiar Concept in Chaos Theory as well but most science fiction fans were first exposed to the idea in Ray bradberry's classic time travel story A Sound of Thunder where in a time traveler from the present panics and crushes a butterfly while hunting a T-Rex when he returns to his own time he discovers that the world has changed in huge and frightening ways one dead butterfly has Rewritten history the lesson being that change begets change and even small and seemingly insignificant alterations to a timeline or a story can have a profound effect on all that follows malor is a 2-year-old toddler in Fire and Blood but like our butterfly he has an impact on the story all out of proportion to his size the readers among you may recall that when it appears that rira and her blacks are about to capture King's Landing Queen Allison becomes concerned for the safety of Halen's remaining children and takes steps to save them by smuggling them out of the city the task is given to two knights of the King's Guard sir Willis Fel is commanded to deliver princess Jara to the baratheons at Storm's end while malor is given over to Sir Ricker Thorn to be escorted across the Mander to the protection of the high tower Army on its way to King's Landing Willis fell delivers J Hara safely to the baratheons at Storm's end but sir Rickard fares less well he and malor get as far as bitter bridge where he is revealed as a King's Guard in a Tavern called the Hogs head once discovered sir Rickard fights bravely to protect his young charge and bring him to safety but he does not even make it across the bridge before some crossbows bring him down Prince malor is torn from his arms and then sadly ripped to pieces by the mob fighting over the boy and the huge reward that rira has offered for his capture and return will any of that appear on the show maybe but I don't see how the butterflies would seem to prohibit it you could perhaps make sir Rickards Ward be Jara instead of meor but jiara can't be killed she has a huge role to play as aegon's next Air could make maybe make meor a newborn instead of a 2-year-old but that would scramble up the timeline which is a bit of a mess already I have no idea what Ryan has planned if indeed he has planned anything but given mayor's absence from episode 2 the simplest way to proceed would be just to drop him entirely lose the bit where Allison tries to send the kids to safety drop Rickard Thorne or send him with Willis fell so jiara has two guards from what I know that seems to be what Ryan is doing here it's simplest yes and may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules but simpler is not better the bitter Bridge scene has tension suspense action Bloodshed a bit of heroism and a lot of tragedy Rickard Thorne is a tertiary character at best most viewers as opposed to readers will never know he is gone since they never knew him at all but I rather liked giving him his brief moment of heroism a taste of the courage and loyalty of the King's Guard regardless of whether they are black or green the butterflies are not done with us yet however in the book when word of Prince mayor's death and the grizzly manner of his passing PP 5 to5 reaches the red keep that proves to be the thing that drives Queen Helena to Suicide she could barely stand to look at meor knowing that she chose him to die in the Sophie's Choice scene and now he is dead in truth her words having come true the grief and guilt are too much for her to bear in Ryan's outline for season 3 Helena still kills herself for no particular reason there is no fresh horror no triggering event to overwhelm The Fragile young queen and the final butterfly follows soon thereafter Queen Helena a sweet and gentle soul is much beloved by the small folk of Kings Landing rira was not so when rumors began to arise that Helena did not kill herself but rather was murdered at R's command the commons are quick to believe them that night King's Landing Rose in bloody Riot I wrote on p506 of Fire and Blood it is the beginning of the end for rira's rule over the city ultimately leading to the storming of the Dragon Pit and the rise of the shepherd's mob that drives rira to flee the city and return to Dragon Stone and her death malor by himself means little he is a small child does not have a line of dialogue does nothing of consequence but die but where and when and how that does matter matter losing maor weakened the end of the blood and cheese sequence but it also cost us the bitter Bridge scene with all its horror and heroism it undercut the motivation for Helena suicide and that in turn sent thousands into the streets and alleys screaming for justice for their murdered Queen none of that is essential I suppose but all of it does serve a purpose it all helps to tie the story lines together so one thing follows another in a logical and convincing manner what will we offer the fans instead once we've killed these butterflies I have no idea I do not recall that Ryan and I ever discussed this back when he first told me they were pushing back on aegon's Second Son malor himself is not essential but if losing him means we also lose bitter Bridge Helena suicide and the riots well that's a considerable loss and there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come if House of the Dragon goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for seasons 3 and four girl