Warning! This piece contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 including the finale!
House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood, and although the retelling is largely faithful, some significant changes have been made along the way.From a complete rethink of the infamous Blood and Cheese scene to important changes at the Battle of Rook’s Rest, here are 54 ways Season 2 of House of the Dragon differs from the source material.
House of the Dragon wastes no time getting into the Fire & Blood alterations, ending the second season’s first episode with a climatic moment worthy of its Game of Thrones lineage. The Blood and Cheese scene, in which a City Watch guard and a ratcatcher behead Aegon Targaryen’s infant son, still maintains violent horrors, but what we see on screen plays out quite differently to how it does in Fire & Blood. Here’s everything that’s changed:
Blood and Cheese
- Daemon is the instigator of the murder in both mediums, but in the book he didn’t personally hire Blood and Cheese. He used Mysaria to relay the message.
- Blood, the Gold Cloak Daemon hires, was actually a former member of the City Watch in Fire & Blood, not an active one.
- The actual deed plays out differently and is much, much crueler in the book. Not only is Helaena present, but her mother Queen Dowager Alicent is also there, bound and gagged by Blood and Cheese.
- In the show, Alicent is “occupied” with Criston Cole. These two characters don’t have a romantic relationship in Fire & Blood.
- Aegon and Helaena have three children in the book, not just the twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. There’s also a younger child called Maelor, who makes for a vital difference in the scene.
- Instead of Blood and Cheese trying to guess who’s the boy and heir to the throne, in the book they grab both boys (Jaehaerys and Maelor) and force Helaena to choose who dies – appearing to have no preference and no consideration to the fact that Jaehaerys is the current heir.
- Under much duress (including a threat of rape for Jaehaera), Helaena chooses the younger son Maelor to die. Blood then kills Jaehaerys instead, mocking Maelor about his mother picking him to die. It’s nasty stuff.
- In the aftermath of the Blood and Cheese incident, the show depicts King Aegon personally killing Blood after his confession, as well as hanging all the Red Keep’s ratcatchers, including Cheese. In Fire & Blood, Aegon isn’t directly involved with killing Blood. As for Cheese, despite being the target of a City Watch manhunt, he manages to escape.
The Greens
The aftermath of the Blood and Cheese incident leaves Team Green wounded, with King Aegon immediately taking action in both the show and the book. There are, of course, differences in how both formats deal with the fallout.
- In House of the Dragon, Otto Hightower is dismissed as Aegon’s Hand for his angry response to Aegon killing all the ratcatchers. That doesn’t happen in Fire & Blood. Instead, Otto is dismissed and replaced by Cole due to Otto's diplomatic approach and lack of results. Somewhat like the show, Aegon wants a man of action – “A steel fist”.
- Once Aemond becomes Prince Regent in the show, he orders Otto to be reinstated as his Hand. This also doesn’t happen in Fire & Blood, with Criston Cole remaining in the role during this period.
- Otto Hightower is also briefly seen in the final episode of Season 2, looking worse for wear in a prison. In Fire & Blood, despite his dismissal, Otto rarely actually leaves King’s Landing.
- One time he does leave though is to strike a deal with the triarchy attempting to solve the issue of Corlys’ blockade in the Gullet. In House of the Dragon, this deal is negotiated by Tyland Lannister instead.
- Tyland wins over Admiral Lohar in these negotiations. Lohar is a woman in House of the Dragon, but a man in Fire & Blood.
- Back in King’s Landing, HotD’s Aemond becomes Prince Regent after the council’s debate on who’s more suited to the role: Aemond or his mother, Alicent. In the book, however, Alicent is never in contention and everyone immediately agrees it should be Aemond.
- After obtaining power, one of Aemond’s first decrees in the show is that the gates of King’s Landing are closed. In Fire & Blood, it was actually Alicent who gave that order.
- Something Alicent doesn’t do in the book is attend the secret meeting with Rhaenyra at King’s Landing in a last attempt at peace – which she does, albeit reluctantly, in House of the Dragon.
- The second meeting at Dragonstone also doesn’t happen, as well as her willingness to concede to Rhaenyra and desire to leave King’s Landing with Helaena.
- Speaking of Halaena, it’s been hinted since Season 1 that she’s a Targaryen dreamer, but that’s confirmed in the Season 2 finale when she tells Aemond she not only saw what he did to Aegon, but also the visions of his fate. Not only does this conversation never happen in Fire & Blood, but the idea of Helaena being prophetic is non-existent.
- In a fit of rage, Aemond burned down Sharp Point in House of the Dragon. This event also doesn’t take place in Fire & Blood.
Rook’s Rest
The huge spectacle at the end of Episode 4, the battle of Rook’s Rest, has equal significance in both the show and the book, and although the broad strokes are the same there are a few small, but important differences:
- In House of the Dragon, Aegon isn’t involved with the battle plan at all, with his arrival on Sunfyre surprising everyone on Team Green. In Fire & Blood, however, Aegon’s involvement is very much orchestrated, with a planned two-on-one dragon ambush.
- Equally, because of the plan, it’s never implied in the book that Aemond intended any harm to Aegon or was happy to watch him fail.
- In House of the Dragon, after Sunfyre and Aegon have fallen, Rhaenys makes one last bold attempt to take on Vhagar and Aemond. She eventually falls to her death after Meleys is mortally wounded. In Fire & Blood, though, it’s dragon fire that kills Rhaenys, and all three dragons fall in a moment of chaos, with only Vhagar rising from the smoke and dust triumphantly.
Harrenhal
Daemon’s adventures at Harrenhal take up a huge chunk of Season 2, but the passage in Fire & Blood is extremely simple by comparison: Daemon arrives, takes charge, and then recruits the Riverlands for Rhaenyra’s cause without too much trouble. Things that happen in House of the Dragon that aren’t mentioned in the book are:
- Daemon’s nightmares/visions.
- Daemon ordering House Blackwood’s attack against their longtime rivals, the Brackens.
- Daemon’s open desire to be King, ditching the consort title.
- Daemon never met with a conspiring Ser Alfred Broome.
- Daemon never met Oscar Tully.
- Daemon also never met Alys Rivers in the book. In fact, the only real mention of Alys at this point in Fire & Blood is that Daemon was immune to her powers, and little was heard from her while he was at Harrenhal.
- In House of the Dragon, it’s Alys who’s causing Daemon’s visions – visions that help sway his loyalty back to Rhaenyra when he sees glimpses of the future including White Walkers, Daenerys and her three dragons, and Rhaenyra taking her place on the Iron Throne. Aegon the Conquerors’ Song of Ice and Fire is clearly illustrated to Daemon in the show, but the book never has any mention of this prophecy.
In House of the Dragon, Daemon also has to contend with the politics of the Riverlands, dealing with the freshly anointed lord, Oscar Tully. However…
- In the book, Oscar Tully was actually the great-grandson of Grover, not the grandson and heir to Riverrun.
- Grover supported the Greens’ claim, unlike the show’s Grover, who Oscar claims wishes to remain loyal to his oath with King Viserys.
- House Tully also remained neutral in the war at this stage thanks to the orders from Grover’s grandson, Elmo.
And yes, Elmo, Grover, Oscar… House Tully are only missing Ser Cookie Monster of House Sesame at this point.
The Blacks
While Daemon is off on his recruitment adventures, Rhaenyra and Team Black have their own issues to contend with. But as you’d expect by now, there are some slight alterations from what happens in Fire & Blood.
- In House of the Dragon, the White Worm Mysaria proves to be an ally to the Blacks after she warns them about the infiltration of Arryk Cargill under the guise of his brother, Erryk. In Fire & Blood this warning does not occur.
- Mysaria also doesn’t meet Rhaenyra until much later in the story.
- During House of the Dragon, Mysaria not only becomes Rhaenyra’s closest confidant, but also a romantic interest. This doesn’t happen in the book at all.
- Fire & Blood’s writing structure allows for multiple accounts of what happened, and perhaps none are more varied than the battle between twin brothers, Arryk and Erryk Cargill. All witnesses/authors agree that, like in the show, the battle took place, but in the book the multiple accounts of the fight always end with both brothers killing each other. In the show it’s clear Erryk was the victor, but he decided to immediately fall on his sword after slaying his twin.
- Rhaenyra orders Daemon’s daughter Baela to take to the skies on Moondancer in House of the Dragon, which results in her chasing Criston Cole and co. into the forest. None of this takes place in Fire & Blood, with Moondancer still being too small to ride at this stage.
- Baela’s sister, Rhaena, is ordered to take the younger Targaryen children and dragon eggs to the Vale in House of the Dragon. In the book, it’s only Joffrey and Rhaena who take this journey, with Aegon (son of Daemon and Rhaenyra, not the current king) and Viserys staying with Rhaenyra at Dragonstone.
- Because of this, the Vale isn’t offered two (although still very young) dragons: Tyraxes and Stormcloud. In Fire & Blood, it’s only Tyraxes.
- Also on this trip (just like in the book) is a supply of dragon eggs, though the quantity differs. There are four in House of the Dragon and only three in Fire & Blood.
- In House of the Dragon, Rhaena and Joffrey come across signs of a wild, adult dragon living in the Vale, confirmed later by Lady Jeyne Arryn. There’s no wild dragon in this region of Westeros in the book, and Sheepstealer, the dragon in question, actually roams the areas near Driftmark instead.
- It’s implied in the show that Rhaena will claim Sheepstealer and add another dragon to Rhaenyra’s arsenal. This is wildly different from Fire & Blood, where a baseborn girl called Nettles eventually tames the wild beast.
- Unlike the show, this entire sidequest to the Vale is ordered by Jacaerys in Fire & Blood, not Rhaenyra, who takes more of a leadership role after Rhaenyra’s reaction to the deaths of both Lucerys and Rhaenys.
- Jace is also responsible for recruiting Corlys as Hand of the Queen, not Rhaenyra and Baela.
- Jacaerys also puts out the call for dragonseeds in the book, promising successful riders land, riches and knighthoods, something Rhaenyra never does in the show until after the dragons are mounted.
Dragonseeds
House of the Dragon Season 2 spends a healthy amount of time introducing us to the smallfolk, several of which go on to become dragon riders themselves. But, as is tradition, there are some slight differences in the show compared to Fire & Blood.
- Alyn, the bastard son of Corlys Velaryon we meet in Episode 1, didn’t save Corlys’ life in the war for the stepstones. He’s also been significantly aged up, being no more than a teenager in Fire & Blood.
- Alyn’s brother Addam has also been significantly aged up, but his more notable change is how he becomes the rider for Seasmoke. In the show, the dragon seeks him out instead of being boldly claimed at Dragonstone like in Fire & Blood.
- Both Alyn and Addam were recruited to take part in the Red Sowing by their Father, Corlys, in Fire & Blood. In the show, Corlys offers this opportunity to Alyn after Addam’s success, but Alyn declines.
- Before Rhaenys’ untimely death in the show, she confronts Corlys about his illegitimate sons, sharing that she’s known for a long time. In Fire & Blood it’s never mentioned that she has any idea of Corlys’ infidelities and, at first, everyone assumes Addam and Alyn are the offspring of their son Laenor instead.
- In the book, Hugh Hammer, the smith and eventual dragon rider that tames Vermithor, actually lives on Dragonstone, home of the Blacks, not in King’s Landing.
- There is also no mention in Fire & Blood of Hugh having a family…
- … or who his mother is.
- Episode 2 introduces Ulf, who goes on to be the dragon rider who claims Sliverwing. In Fire & Blood, Ulf follows the same fate, but is referred to as Ulf the White due to his pale white hair, something he doesn’t have in House of the Dragon.
- And like Hugh Hammer previously, Ulf was from Dragonstone in Fire & Blood, not King’s Landing.
That’s every change from the book we thought worth mentioning from Season 2 of House of the Dragon. Did we miss anything important? Let us know in the comments, and for everything else House of the Dragon, stick with IGN.
Find all the latest updates on House of the Dragon here. In the meantime, be sure to read our House of the Dragon ending explained.
