House of the Dragon: The Best Changes from the Book—And the Worst
House of the Dragon season one is over, but the breakdowns, analyses, and theories are not. Dragons, magic, and prophecies aside, House of the Dragon is essentially a theatrical drama—and a tragic one at that. GRRM’s fictional history is rife with betrayal, suffering, and intrigue, all of which make for great television. The book was almost made to be adapted—as a fictional history book told from the perspective of a bias religious man, Fire & Blood is an unreliable account of fake history. This gave the showrunners room to fill in the gaps and retell the story from different angles without completely going against the book. They took creative liberties to change a couple of important elements in the book—and some of them made the show even better for it.
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Here are our picks on the best changes from book to screen.
Rhaenyra and Alicent Weren’t Friends
In the A Song of Ice and Fire universe, Alicent was a decade or so older than Rhaenyra. Their relationship was very much that of stepdaughter versus stepmother. It was a cliche trope, one that the HOTD showrunners improved by giving the two a genuine love and friendship for each other—at least in their youth. The actors of the younger versions of Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey) even shared on the House of the Dragon official podcast that they interpreted their characters to have queer, romantic feelings for each other. This change only leveled up the elements of betrayal in the show.
Laenor Didn’t Survive
In the book, it was made pretty clear that Laenor Velaryon (John Macmillan) died. Although there’s one line that insinuates he faked his death, the book’s narrative leans heavily on the belief that he died. In the show, Rhaenyra and Daemon plotted for Laenor to fake his death and enjoy freedom in LGBT-friendly Essos. It’s a pretty huge diversion form the book, but it isn’t unwelcome. Laenor might be the only character to get a happy ending in this show. And the irony doesn’t escape us that he had to leave the entire continent to get it.
Daemon Didn’t Want War
Oddly enough, the book claims that Daemon (Matt Smith) wanted to fight the Dance of Dragons with words first instead of weapons. The show switched things around, making Daemon the trigger-happy figure set on burning people to the ground. Instead, it’s Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) who hesitates to launch into full-scale war. The change fits their characters more than the original plot as we doubt the Rogue Prince would prefer diplomacy over dragon fire anyway.
Daemon Made a Spectacle of His Return from the Stepstones
In the show, Daemon wins the war of the Stepstones in a glorious one-on-one battle with the Crabfeeder, but his return to King’s Landing is far from celebratory. He returns with barely any spectacle, strutting through the great hall with a makeshift crown. In the book, Daemon made a grand entrance, arriving on the back of Caraxes in the middle of a tournament to hand Viserys his crown. We didn’t get the same spectacle in the show, but in retrospect, the event had little impact in the book. Instead, it seems like the scene was replaced by Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) and Meleys when they quite literally crashed Aegon II’s coronation by erupting from the floors of the dragonpit.
Alicent Let Viserys Rot
In the show, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) actually shows some attachment to the man who married her as a child bride. Perhaps all those years forced some sort of affection from her, as it’s pretty clear that she mourned Viserys’ (Paddy Considine) death. It’s a far cry from the book, where Alicent let Viserys’ corpse rot. While she planned with the Green council to usurp Rhaenyra’s throne, Viserys dead body was bloating and rotting in the Red Keep, where he stayed until the Green’s completed their plot. The change gave more layers to Alicent and Viserys’ strange relationship, which only adds to Alicent’s brilliant and complicated characterization in the show.
Aemond Killed Lucerys Intentionally
In the book, it’s made clear that Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) and Vhagar killed Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) and Arrax in a dragon battle, but the mechanics are less clear. Episode 10 reframed the events as an accident. The boys both lose control of their dragons, and the situation ends with Vhagar snapping Lucerys and Arrax in half. With one bite, the Greens declared war. Aemond is heard shouting at Vhagar to stop as he only intended to scare Lucerys, not kill him. Framing the whole event as an accident infuriated some fans, but the change actually plays into the larger lore of ASOIAF. In GOT, we learned “A dragon is not a slave.” In the earlier episodes of HOTD, Viserys tells Rhaenyra, “The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.” So the huge change from the book might actually have more merit than the original way it was written.
Viserys Was a Lame King
In the book, Viserys was a good man but a forgettable king. Only a couple of pages were dedicated to Viserys’ life in Fire & Blood, and most of it was quite vague. From what we can gather, book Viserys loved his family, wanted peace, and trusted his advisors. And that’s pretty much it. The showrunners and actor Paddy Considine filled in all the gaps in his character and delivered something even better than the book. In fact, even GRRM agrees. He texted Paddy Considine, “Your Viserys is better than my Viserys.” Now that’s validation.
And the Worst Change Was...
The Big Misunderstanding
The worst change in the show might be the biggest change of all. In the book, the Greens usurp the Blacks purely out of greed and politics. There’s no mention of prophecy or legacy. Meanwhile, in the show, Viserys unknowingly whispers the Song of Ice and Fire to Alicent moments before he dies, and Alicent believes that he’s talking about their son, Aegon. She then launches a crusade based entirely on a misunderstanding. While the alteration adds even more righteousness to the storyline, the fact that the war was built on a mistake feels egregious. Perhaps it was intentional to add even more tragedy to the mix. If that’s the case, then it worked.
House of the Dragon will return on HBO GO sometime in late 2023 or 2024.
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