‘House of the Dragon’ Finale: Every Major Book Change in Season 2
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale and George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood.]
House of the Dragon Season 2 ended on the brink of a major battle from George R.R. Martin‘s Fire & Blood, teeing up the already greenlit Season 3 for a violent start.
In a change from the book, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) became the final pawn that put Rhaenyra’s (Emma D’Arcy) imminent strike on King’s Landing into motion. They met in secret once again, this time at Dragonstone, where Alicent begged for Rhaenyra to take King’s Landing and put an end to the war she started when placing Aegon on the throne. The tide had already shifted in Rhaenyra’s favor, as Daemon (Matt Smith) successfully raised an army in the Riverlands, she found three new dragonriders for Seasmoke, Vermithor, and Silverwing, and Corlys’ fleet stood at the ready to attack from the sea.
The next major events of the Targaryen civil war brewed in House of the Dragon Season 2, setting the stage for the major conflict to break out next season. But there were many changes to the book plot made in the process. Here, we break down all of them.
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Blood and Cheese Went Down Very Differently
The gruesome murder of Aegon and Helaena’s son, Jaehaerys, in the premiere excluded their third child, son Maelor, from the plot entirely. In the book, Blood and Cheese force Helaena to choose which son would die under threat of rape of her and her daughter, Jaehaerya. She chooses Maelor, the youngest, but they kill the eldest son and heir, Jaehaerys, anyway.
Maelor isn’t born in House of the Dragon. Creator Ryan Condal told TV Insider that “Maelor is not yet around in the story,” implying that he could be born in future episodes (this season or beyond). But Aegon says in the finale that his penis burned off when he was burned at Rook’s Rest, so there’s zero chance that Aegon and Helaena will make more children together now.
Criston and Alicent's Affair
Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) and Queen Dowager Alicent don’t have a secret affair after Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) death in the book. Rhaenyra and Criston’s romance in Season 1 was also not explicitly written in the book. However, it does say that they had a falling out. The reason is unknown. Who’s to say it wasn’t because of heartbreak? Alicent and Criston, however, don’t have anything like this to go on in the novel.
Alicent and Rhaenyra's Secret Meeting
After Alicent steals the throne for Aegon in the book, she never sees Rhaenyra again for as long as they both live. Their closeness in the series is a creative liberty the show took — and its best one at that. More on their finale reunion below.
The Hull Brothers Are Aged Up
Addam (Clinton Liberty) and Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim) are teenagers aged 15 and 16 in the novel. They were aged up to adults for the series. Salim told TV Insider that the aging was a good choice because younger Alyn would have wanted father Corlys’ (Steve Toussaint) attention and love, but adult Alyn not wanting their connection makes for more ripe drama.
Daemon's Harrenhal Visions
Daemon did, indeed, raise an army at Harrenhal after great effort, but his visions in the series aren’t something that would be logged in Westeros history books. Because the series is creating personal stories that defined Targaryen history, these creative liberties make sense. But these visions are still not mentioned in Fire & Blood nonetheless. They were quite the fun interpretation of the books saying that Harrenhal is cursed, though. And it gave an excuse to bring back Milly Alcock, Nanna Blondell, and Considine, as well as introduce Daemon and Viserys’ mother, Alyssa (Emeline Lambert), in ghost form. We’re not complaining!
The vision where he sees the Song of Ice and Fire from Aegon the Conqueror’s dream play out — featuring the three-eyed raven, the white walker Night King, and Daenerys Targaryen when her dragons are born — definitely never happened either. But the Game of Thrones connection was welcome nonetheless.
Daemon's Relationship With Alys Rivers
Daemon doesn’t have a significant relationship with Alys (Gayle Rankin) in the book like he does in the show. The importance of their time together in Season 2, however, is highlighted when Helaena appears at the end of the Song of Ice and Fire vision. It seems that learning about Alys this season was in part about Daemon, but also in part to show another person who has the same abilities as Helaena, though Helaena’s abilities were never really explained before.
Helaena's Prophetic Abilities
Helaena seems to be conscious of her presence in Daemon’s vision and experiencing it in real time all the way back in King’s Landing. In the book, Helaena is never said to have to have the gift of foresight. Helaena and Alys suddenly seem to have a lot in common.
Rhaenys' Death at the Battle of Rook's Rest
This and Blood and Cheese were the biggest departures from the source material this season. The dragon battle at Rook’s Rest does involve Aegon and Sunfyre, Rhaenys and Meleys, and Aemond and Vhagar in the book, but it’s the brothers against Rhaenys in that fight. The show changes this moment so that Aemond betrays Aegon here, watering down Rhaenys’ final stand in the process.
In the novel, all three riders and their dragons crash to the ground during the clash. The fall kills Rhaenys and Meleys, brutally wounds Aegon and Sunfyre, and Aemond and Vhagar survive. Aegon’s body is horrifically damaged in this fight, just like in the show. Rhaenys knew this fight could mean her end in both the book and show, but she basically drags Aegon down with her in the book. Rhaenys had Meleys bite down on Sunfyre’s neck, and then Vhagar plunged down on her from above in defense, causing all three of them to fall.
Aemond Doesn't Betray Aegon
Aemond does become Prince Regent as Aegon heals, but he didn’t betray his elder brother to get there in the book. Season 2 took great efforts to make Aemond the clear villain.
Rhaenyra and Mysaria Kiss
There’s no romantic or sexual relationship between Rhaenyra and Mysaria in the book. In fact, Mysaria continues her sexual relationship with Daemon while serving as Rhaenyra’s mistress of whisperers. Rhaenyra knows of this in the book and seemingly approves. Given the queer subtext House of the Dragon has baked into the show with Rhaenyra and Alicent, incorporating this context with Rhaenyra and Mysaria is a great addition.
Rhaena and Sheepstealer?
Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) spends all of the Season 2 finale searching for a wild dragon. Because she’s tracking it by following the charred bodies of sheep, it seems she’s going to encounter an important dragon from the book, Sheepstealer. Rhaena does get a dragon eventually in the novel, but it’s not this one. Rather, hers is named Morning, and Sheepstealer’s rider is a woman named Nettles.
Nettles hasn’t to be introduced into House of the Dragon, and it’s not yet known if this major book character will be included at all. If the dragon Rhaena found in the finale is, in fact, Sheepstealer, some fans are worried that they’re nixing Nettles and giving Rhaena her dragon. But we didn’t see Rhaena try to claim this dragon in Episode 8, she just finally found it. So it’s possible that the dragon could reject her next season.
Sunfyre Doesn't Die
In another massive book change, Aegon says in the finale that his dragon is dead. No one corrects him, so it’s to be presumed that he’s right. But we also haven’t seen Sunfyre since Rook’s Rest, meaning we haven’t seen his dead body. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Aegon is wrong, because Sunfyre is involved in one of the most pivotal events of the book that the show’s plot has not yet reached. We dare not reveal that story here, as non-book readers shouldn’t have that spoiled. But just trust us when we say that Sunfyre dying would be a colossal change.
Alicent Doesn't Go to Dragonstone
The last scene of the season was another secret meeting between Rhaenyra and Alicent that didn’t happen in Fire & Blood. Again, these secret meetings wouldn’t be known to history, so this is an acceptable change. But it’s a major shift for Alicent as she offers to help Rhaenyra take King’s Landing, giving Rhaenyra her consent to kill Aegon in the process.
This was Alicent trying to set things right after her actions started this civil war. Now, she wants to fade into obscurity with Helaena and Jaehaera. The final moments of the episode also showed Aegon being smuggled out of King’s Landing by Larys (Matthew Needham) as the book states, but he didn’t have his daughter with him. Instead, it seems Alicent will be the one to try and get her girls out of King’s Landing before Rhaenyra’s forces can attack.
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