House of the Dragon divides fans over Blood and Cheese book change

House of the Dragon has finally flown back onto our screens, and season 2's opening episode has already become a water cooler topic — but perhaps not in the way writers might have hoped.

The HBO series returned in a big way with A Son for a Son which set the stage for the Dance of the Dragons to truly begin, as Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) sought revenge for the death of her son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) in Season 1, and her uncle-husband Daemon (Matt Smith) was more than happy to oblige.

Read more: 'House of the Dragon's latest shocker makes Game of Thrones look tame'

But the first episode's approach to the narrative left some fans wanting, but before we delve into what happened and why some viewers weren't so taken with it — be warned that this article contains spoilers for the first episode of season 2.

The premiere, as appears to be tradition with the Game of Thrones franchise, ends on a shocking note as Daemon enlists the help of ratcatcher and city watchman Blood and Cheese to find Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) and kill him. What he doesn't quite account for is that the villains change the plan when they come across Queen Helaena (Phia Saban) and instead kill her infant son, the heir to the throne.

In George RR Martin's book, Fire and Blood, the death is described in intricate detail, and includes a beheading amongst other shocking moments. So the show's more subtle approach to the scene, and decision not to show the death on screen but rely on sound design to convey the killing, drew some criticism from fans of the book, who felt it didn't recreate the author's word as well as it could have.

Sharing their thoughts on Twitter, one viewer wrote: "Blood and cheese was disappointing, wasn't it? I hate how in an effort to po[r]tray both sides as even, they're making excuses. Aemond 'accidentally' killing lucerys and B&C 'accidentally' killing aegon's son. And they f**ked up helaen' character so bad."

Another viewer shared: "I'm sorry but Blood & Cheese had me unmoved for all it was hyped up", while one viewer complained: "After a full year of waiting for that storyline to unfold, Blood and Cheese scene was such a disappointment. You don't even need that much gore to pull off a horrifying scene like that."

There was one viewer who felt similarly, writing: "The blood and cheese scene failed to live up to it's expected hype. Its was too mild. I was expecting a gory and traumatising scene; just like the red wedding, only to be served with this mediocre performance"

Read more: House of the Dragon S2 review: A fiery triumph

Another compared the shocker to one of Game of Thrones' biggest scenes, Season 4's The Red Wedding, saying: "'blood and cheese is going to be worse than the red wedding' it has been proven once again that nothing in cinematic history can top the red wedding".

One viewer was surprised by the response from book fans to the scene, writing: "There are people on this app that wanted MORE from the Blood and Cheese scene? Seek therapy please."

On the other side of the spectrum, one viewer shared: "Honestly. Blood and cheese. I liked the way they did it. It’s all in the acting. Helena carried that scene." While another person commended Saban's performance in the scene, writing: "the horror in her eyes… this is brilliant acting".

There was one viewer who called the episode "absolute cinema", while one said: "The only thing that saved the scene of Blood & Cheese was Phia’s acting, she had to BREAK her spine to save the scene".

House of the Dragon airs weekly every Monday on Sky Atlantic, at 2am and 9pm.