These changes will shock anyone who hasn't read the book! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the biggest differences between HBO’s “House of the Dragon” and its source material, “Fire & Blood!”
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00:00None of it needs be this way in truth, Rhaenyra.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the biggest differences
00:07between HBO's House of the Dragon and its source material, Fire and Blood.
00:12This secret, it's been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time.
00:18Number 10. The interrupted coronation.
00:21The king is dead.
00:22Following the death of King Viserys in the show's first season,
00:25the greens enact a plan to place Aegon on the throne over Rhaenyra.
00:29In the book, they keep Viserys' death a secret for days,
00:32planning Aegon's coronation while trying to ensure the loyalty of other houses.
00:37And when the day comes, the crowning goes off without a hitch.
00:41That's because Rhaenys and her dragon are not in King's Landing when Viserys dies.
00:45They're at their home in Driftmark.
00:47But in the show, Alicent has to break the news while keeping Rhaenys captive,
00:51in the hopes of swaying her to the other side.
00:54If we overmatch, Rhaenyra will be tempted to strike us and war will ensue.
00:59Without your dragon, she may be persuaded to negotiate.
01:02After breaking out, Rhaenys and Maelys interrupt Aegon's coronation,
01:06erupting from below and taking the lives of many citizens.
01:22Number 9. The Lord of the Tides.
01:24I love my brother, but we must be honest with ourselves.
01:30We may greet his ship to find him gone, and who will take the Driftwood throne?
01:34When Corys Velaryon was injured in the show,
01:37the succession of his home Driftmark was hotly debated.
01:40With Laenor and Laena already gone at this point,
01:43the claim went to Rhaenyra's son Lucerys.
01:45There were many who took issue with this,
01:47considering the true lineage of Lucerys, especially Corlys' brother Vaemond.
01:52The true and impeachable blood of House Velaryon runs through my veins.
01:56In the book, his proclamation against Lucerys' heritage
02:00brought an intense reaction from the Black Queen.
02:02She sent Daemon to capture Vaemond, remove his head, and fed his remains to her dragon.
02:08He also had five cousins who backed up his claims,
02:11who had their tongues removed by King Viserys because of it,
02:14forever becoming known as the Silent Five.
02:17However, show versions of the king and his daughter are a bit less prone to violence.
02:22He can keep his tongue.
02:24Number 8. Laenor's Happy Ending
02:26You are an honorable man with a good heart.
02:32It's a rare thing.
02:33The showrunners decided to give at least one character a happy ending.
02:37In season one, Rhaenyra devises a plan that will work in both her and husband Laenor's favor.
02:43She and Daemon conspire to fake Laenor's death so that he can run away with his lover Karl.
02:48But in the book, there's nothing fake about his demise.
02:51Karl actually does kill him.
02:53Why are you in my father's hall?
03:01You have always looked down on me.
03:02Since some events are unclear in the book,
03:05rumors for his reasoning range from jealousy over Laenor falling for someone else
03:09to Daemon paying Karl as part of a power play.
03:12Regardless, it's a much more tragic end for the character.
03:15There's no burned body to raise any questions either.
03:18Laenor is stabbed at a fair in front of multiple witnesses.
03:28Number 7. The Battle of Rook's Rest
03:31What would you have me do, mother?
03:35Do simply what is needed of you.
03:39Nothing.
03:40While the outcome of the battle is the same in both versions,
03:43the circumstances are quite different.
03:45In the show, Kristen Cole sets a trap,
03:48with Aemond and Vhagar lying in wait for a dragon of Team Black
03:51to come to the rescue of Rook's Rest.
03:53Everyone is surprised though when King Aegon and Sunfyre show up to battle Rhaenys and Maelys.
04:03However, the source material states Aegon was part of the surprise attack,
04:07not left behind in King's Landing.
04:09The change is part of a greater divide between the king and his brother,
04:13who waits to join the fight until he can try to take Aegon out.
04:17However, the book makes it unclear which dragon burns him,
04:20as all three are fighting at once.
04:32Number 6. Daemon's Visions at Harrenhal
04:35Upon arriving at Harrenhal in season 2,
04:37Daemon had a pretty easy time capturing the castle.
04:40But he got more than he bargained for.
04:43Although the location had been described as haunted in Game of Thrones,
04:51this series showed the proof of it.
04:54Most of Daemon's arc within the castle walls
04:56featured him experiencing strange visions that severely messed with his head.
05:00These included seeing a young version of Rhaenyra, whom he would later behead,
05:15and an incredibly uncomfortable sensual experience with his own mother.
05:20While as twisted as Daemon also is in Fire and Blood,
05:23these hallucinations are a show-only invention.
05:26At the very least, if book Daemon did have visions,
05:30he never told anyone,
05:31as Fire and Blood is written from the perspective of historians.
05:37Number 5. The Missing Jester
05:40By the time it was over, thousands were dead.
05:44And it was a disaster for the Targaryens as well.
05:47They never truly recovered.
05:49Fire and Blood is written like a history book,
05:51citing the accounts and writings of several individuals throughout.
05:54One person present for most of the Dance of Dragons is a jester,
05:58a dwarf named Mushroom.
06:00He performed at court under King Viserys,
06:02and stayed with Rhaenyra at Dragonstone,
06:05with his position gaining him access to the political plans
06:08and gossip of those he served.
06:09Although some of his claims are pretty outlandish
06:12and contradicted by other sources,
06:14some are included in the show.
06:16Mushroom is the first to break the news on Rhaenyra's affair with Ser Harwin Strong.
06:21I will be a stranger when we meet again.
06:25However, while he was present for many of the war's events,
06:29the show has left him out entirely.
06:32Not this little man. This little man is going home.
06:36Number 4. Rhaena's Role
06:38Rhaena, I need you to be the mother to them that I cannot.
06:45While Baela and her dragon Moondancer play important roles
06:48in the Targaryen civil war,
06:49her dragon-less sister Rhaena is sent to flee with Rhaenyra's younger children.
06:54In the book, she does eventually get a dragon,
06:56albeit only after one hatches from the eggs she's carrying.
07:00Her arc begins this way in Season 2, but deviates significantly.
07:05At the Vale, Rhaena learns of a wild dragon,
07:07whom book readers will know as Sheepstealer.
07:10It is large and formidable, but alas wild.
07:17Alas.
07:18One of the most vicious dragons in existence,
07:21Sheepstealer later gains a rider in the book, a young girl named Nettles.
07:25However, by tracking and finding this dragon,
07:28the show implies that Rhaena will have a much larger role in the battles to come,
07:33and that Nettles will likely be left out.
07:39Number 3. Helaena's Choice
07:41The mother knows.
07:42The moment when Blood and Cheese take the life of a young Jaehaerys
07:46is even more disturbing in the book.
07:48There, the two assailants break into Alicent's bedchambers,
07:51who isn't present in the show.
07:53They wait for Helaena to arrive with her children and give her an impossible choice.
07:58In the series, the duo is looking for Aemond,
08:01but settles for forcing Helaena to point out her son,
08:04as he and his sister are twins.
08:06What if we can't find him?
08:12However, in the book, she's made to choose between Jaehaerys and the younger Maelor,
08:17who has been left out of the show.
08:19She chooses the younger prince, but Blood and Cheese take Jaehaerys' life instead.
08:23This sends Helaena spiraling into madness,
08:26not standing to be around her remaining son for having chosen his death.
08:30They killed the boy.
08:32Number 2. Rhaenyra and Alicent's Relationship
08:35You're always like this when you're worried.
08:37Like what?
08:39Disagreeable.
08:40Just like Game of Thrones,
08:41House of the Dragon has altered the ages of several characters.
08:45The biggest change that came from this is the relationship between Rhaenyra and Alicent.
08:49In the book, Alicent was 18 when she married King Viserys,
08:53himself also younger than his actor, Paddy Considine, at 29.
08:57I intend to marry.
09:05The Lady Alicent Hightower.
09:07Additionally, Rhaenyra was only around 8 when this happened.
09:11The age divide means there was no childhood friendship in the book as seen in the show.
09:16The two actually got on well at the beginning of the marriage,
09:18with things souring when Alicent began having children.
09:22The change has offered a deeper connection between the characters,
09:25exploring the pains of a lost bond.
09:28I know you do not have that desire within you.
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09:47Number 1.
09:48The Conqueror's Dream
10:00Within the lore of Game of Thrones,
10:02Aegon the Conqueror took over Westeros because he had the power to do so.
10:06However, House of the Dragon provides a different reasoning,
10:09and one that is never uttered in the source material.
10:12Aegon had a vision showing the decimation of the living
10:14by what viewers know to be the White Walkers.
10:17You told me it was our duty to hold the realm united against a common foe.
10:22The only way to prevail would be to unite the kingdoms behind a Targaryen dynasty,
10:27and Aegon's dream was passed down from ruler to ruler.
10:30Since there have been prophets within the Targaryen lineage,
10:33the inclusion makes sense.
10:35It was also author George R.R. Martin's idea
10:38to create a strong tie to the previous series
10:41while also looking at the Iron Throne as a burden.
10:44Aegon the Conqueror's dream.
10:48He called it the Song of Ice and Fire.
10:52Did you spot any other huge differences between House of the Dragon
10:55and its source material?
10:56Let us know in the comments.
10:58I have dead.
11:00And I find it stimulating.
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