Production for House of the Dragon season 2 is set to start in March and casting for one particularly infamous, yet pivotal scene may have begun.
According to the Film & Television Industry Alliance (FTIA), season 2 of House of the Dragon will begin filming on March 6 in Spain (no cities specified as of it) and London. The show’s profile also lists Alan Taylor as director, though we know from an announcement made last August that he’ll also be serving as executive producer.
In more speculative news, Redanian Intelligence reports that casting for one of House of the Dragon‘s most morbidly anticipated scenes may be underway. ***SPOILERS for season 2 and Fire and Blood below ***
House of the Dragon is looking for 3-4 year-old twins with shoulder-length blond hair to film for a few days between April and June. More than likely, this casting is for Jaehaerys and Jaehaera Targaryen, Helaena’s children and Blood and Cheese’s victims. Now, in Fire and Blood, Helaena is forced to choose between her eldest son, Jaehaerys, and her youngest, Maelor, as per Daemon’s vengeful promise: “a son for a son.” There’s been no sign of Maelor in the show so far so it seems likely that the powers that be at HBO have chosen to limit the number of traumatized children on House of the Dragon by omitting Maelor and forcing Helaena choose between her twins, instead. A child for a child.
And this may not be the only adaptational liberty taken with this scene. An audition tape recently surfaced of an actor named Samuel Edward-Cook reading for the the role of Cheese (code-named Charlie C).
Samuel Edward-Cook auditions for the role of Cheese in season 2: according to the tape, the plan is to ‘kidnap Prince Jaehaerys’
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SPOILERS! In the book he is beheaded. pic.twitter.com/X3u9phUnC2
— 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒 ＆ 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐘 (@theblacks_) January 28, 2023
It’s a little hard to hear, but at 00:19, the person reading off screen says, “To kidnap a royal fucking prince, where do you think we’re going to find him?” This has stirred up concern among fans that the murder of Jaehaerys (the presumed “royal fucking prince” in question) will be yet another character decision turned misunderstanding. I’ll admit, the prospect of House of the Dragon changing Jaehaerys’ murder into a kidnapping-gone-wrong doesn’t thrill me. However, considering Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon‘s longstanding practice of giving actors fake scripts for auditions in order to prevent leaks, I’m not putting much stock in the precise wording of Edward-Cook’s tape.
