How House Of The Dragon Season 2 Changed Events From The Books

House of the Dragon adapts George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, making notable changes to the story, including new character relationships and altered key events.

By Shovan Roy

Published on Aug 09, 2024 | 08:07 PM IST | 30K

House of the Dragon (PC: IMDb)

The transformation of a cherished novel into a television series is always an arduous task. That’s something the fans of Game of Thrones have become only too familiar with. However, when the show no longer had George R.R. Martin's source material to rely on dropped off considerably. The final season aired in 2019 and received much flak. Nonetheless, the first spin-off show, House of the Dragon, has done better than this one did. This series is based on Martin’s Fire & Blood and chronicles the history of the Targaryen family; nonetheless even this show led by GoT veteran Ryan Condal has made some substantial changes to it.

Adapting a non-traditional narrative

Fire & Blood is not your usual book. Unlike A Song of Ice and Fire that is written as a typical narrative piece, Fire & Blood feels more like historical records. This makes adapting it into a TV series even more complicated. It is not so much about personal journeying but more about events that shape the dynasty of Targaryens in their entirety (Condal et al., 2022). Despite this, Condal and his team have made some notable changes in the second season of House of the Dragon that focuses on a civil war within Targaryen known as Dance Of The Dragons period, here are some of them.

Alicent Hightower’s secret romance

One major difference involves Alicent Hightower who becomes central to the plot through her relationship with Ser Criston Cole during Season 2 of Game Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon television series. In Season One Alicent’s friendship with Rhaenyra Targaryen breaks up after Rhaenyra sleeps with Ser Criston one night stand while she was drunk at a melancholy wedding party for her other cousin’s celebration. That causes a rift between them which leads to the conflicts in season two.

The second season reveals that Alicent, now a widow, is secretly involved with Ser Criston. This is not found in Fire & Blood. The book focuses more on political maneuvers and the civil war rather than personal relationships. By putting this affair into it, the show creates something new from the original material. In this additional twist, while chaos reigns around him Ser Criston remains focused on Alicent.

The brutal murder of Prince Jaehaerys

Another thing that differentiates what the show did from the book is how they handle Prince Jaehaerys killing. At the end of season one Lucerys Targaryen gets killed by his uncle Aemond Targaryen. Rhaenyra takes a desperate step and sends assassins to kill one prince only. Butchers known as Blood and Cheese do not find Aemond but capture Helaena Targaryen, Alicent's daughter along with her two young children Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera instead.

In front of Helaena, prince Jaehaerys falls headless in the show. Although brutal, this scene is even worse in terms of its description according to the book. Fire & Blood describes how Helaena had to choose between her sons. She chooses to spare her younger son’s life but instead Jaehaerys gets beheaded by assassins.

Additionally, there is also Alicent who was bound and gagged during his murder in her bedroom but she was there for it back home unlike being elsewhere enjoying herself with Criston as shown on TV series Game Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon.

Helaena and Alicent’s sympathy tour

The show also displays a scene that is not in the book. There is deep shock for Helaena after her son’s murder. Grief overtakes her so intensely she almost gets stuck in catatonia. However, her grandfather, Otto Hightower, takes advantage of this and uses her pain as a weapon against the enemy side. She and Alicent are forced by him to parade through King’s Landing with a town crier announcing that Rhaenyra had killed Prince Jaehaerys.

This scene does not exist in Fire & Blood. It increases the stakes between two factions on the show. Additionally, it sheds some light on Otto’s limitless ambitions to win over his own family at all costs. This brings an added layer of anguish to Helaena’s already troubled character.

Mysaria's role in the Cargyll Twins' conflict

In the twins Erryk and Arryk Cargyll's conflict, Mysaria becomes an important figure in this television series. In Fire & Blood, Mysaria who is known as the White Worm has a minor role. On the other hand, she joins Team Black in House of the Dragon and ends up being close to Rhaenyra Targaryen. Her actions are key to what happens on-screen.

The twins find themselves on opposing sides during the Targaryen civil war called The Dance of Dragons; played by actual brothers Elliot Tittensor (as Arryk) and Luke Tittensor (as Erryk). Aegon receives support from Arryk while Erryk remains loyal to Rhaenyra.

During one episode of Ser Criston Cole fakes Arryk out as though he is Erryk making them appear identical and sends him off to Dragonstone with orders to kill Rhaenyra instead . When Mysaria turned up the plot, warned Erryk and his brother, the latter fatally battled each other. Such a fight takes place in this book, but Mysaria is not in it.

Daemon's visions at Harrenhal

Another major difference is Daemon Targaryen’s time at Harrenhal. In season 2 of House of the Dragon Daemon remains isolated from Rhaenyra and lives in the dilapidated castle of Harrenhal. The scene also illustrates how he starts hallucinating that does not exist in Fire & Blood.

These visions involve him coming across a younger version of Rhaenyra, seeing his dead brother and even having strange dreams about his mother. In the season finale Alys Rivers led Daemon to a weirwood tree where he sees visions familiar to Game of Thrones fans like Daenerys Targaryen with her dragons and the Night King. These are new on the TV show and are not part of the book.

The Dragon Eggs’ path

Dragon eggs handling has also changed. Rhaenyra sends three dragon eggs to Rhaena Targaryen for safekeeping during the war, through Fire & Blood. However, in House of the Dragon, four are sent and later three get tied to Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. These are Daenerys' dragon eggs, confirmed by director Geeta Patel which appear on Game of Thrones.

Moreover, these eggs match the colors of her dragons. This is something that was added by showrunners to pay homage to the original series. In the book, they go a different way; therefore a sailor named Elissa Fairman steals them and sells them off. It brings GoT fans back to memory lane but not how this part went in the book.

Alicent and Rhaenyra reunited

A reunion between Alicent and Rhaenyra is one of the most touching scenes in season 2 of House of Dragon. Rhaenyra sneaks into King’s Landing in order to confront Alicent and end this war according to what is revealed on TV. The disguised septa finds Alicent at a sept where they both kneel down praying for peace among themselves. The meeting is intense as it emphasizes their chemistry as portrayed by Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy.

However, this scene does not exist within Fire & Blood. In fact, Rhaenyra never invaded King’s Landing in any episodes nor did she have such emotional dialogue with her former friend, says George R.R Martin. Although it adds more drama or depth into their relationship, making this particular episode was quite far from its source material.

Nettles’ absence in the series

The absence of Nettles has been another notable change that fans have noticed about House of Dragons character line up. Nettles rides Sheepstealer which is a dragon in Fire and Blood. She is a dragonseed, the name given to bastards with old Valyrian blood. Additionally, Nettles has an affair with Daemon Targaryen in the same book. However, it appears that Rhaena Targaryen could be taking over some parts of Nettles’s character in the show.

Season 2 ends with Rhaena encountering a dragon that those who have read the books would recognize as Sheepstealer. This might mean that Rhaena will ride on this dragon in Season 3. By doing so, the show may be substituting Rhaena for Nettles thereby disappointing fans looking forward to seeing Nettle’s character on screen.

New relationship between Mysaria and Rhaenyra

Another significant change comes from Mysaria's relationship with Rhaenyra. Episode 6 of season 2, Smallfolk, sees both characters experience something different unexpectedly. They admit their fears to one another and end up kissing which means they are indeed gay within this context of the play. This scene was not originally part of Fire & Blood.

As Sonoya Mizuno explained, neither she nor her co-star initially planned on having a romantic smooch while filming this section; however, when they did it felt right for these fictional personas so they went ahead with it. The latter development adds newness to their bond which was previously not explored in its original content.

The expansive role of Alys Rivers

In the book Fire & Blood, Alys Rivers is not a big deal. Her witchery is common knowledge but her effect on Prince Daemon Targaryen is almost insignificant. The book does mention that when Daemon was at Harrenhal, Alys stayed away and it seemed as if he did not feel any magic from her. Nonetheless, the series takes another angle to show how this character can relate to Prince Daemon much more strongly than in its original source of inspiration.

Through her enchantments, Daemon is able to have foresight on things like Daenerys Targaryen and Night King among others. Moreover, through “House of the Dragon”, viewers are shown that Alys was using alchemy to poison him through his food and drinks. In comparison to her novel counterpart, this depicts a more important role for Alys.

Alicent’s unusual agreement with Rhaenyra

The Queen Who Ever Was, the last episode of season 2 experiences one of the most sensational twists where Alicent Hightower makes an agreement with Rhaenyra Targaryen that shocks us all. Alicent decides that she will make sure that Rhaenyra gets hold of the throne even if her son has to die for it This particular scene contrasts heavily with what happens in Fire & Blood.

Alicent also refuses to surrender after Rhaenyra conquers King’s Landing in defense against Aemond who will come back with fire and blood. Nevertheless, this move by Alicent sets up yet another conflict for Season 3 which gives a fresh outlook on things thus taking us by surprise unlike fans who were familiar with what had been written in the book.

House of the Dragon took some daring bets when adapting Fire & Blood. Through modifications or deletions of key individuals and changing pivotal moments within the story, we see that it is different from its source of inspiration. Even though some people could find these changes somewhat disappointing, others may look at the series in a new light. These adaptations promise to change the way the story of Westeros and its dragon riding Targaryen lords evolves as the series continues.

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