“House of the Dragon” continues making interesting deviations from “Fire & Blood” in Season 2

“House of the Dragon” Season 2 has found a number of ways to expand or alter the Dance of the Dragons event told in “Fire & Blood.”

All adaptations change moments big and small from their source material, and the “Game of Thrones” prequel is no exception. The difference with this show is that it adapts a “history” of events that took place after the fact by a number of narrators whose truthfulness is constantly put into question.

On one hand, that’s given the creators and writers the room to frame the show as “what actually happened” during this period of Westerosi history. But on the other hand, it stings when characters act differently than how they were written in “Fire & Blood” and others are cut entirely from the story.

Season 2 has overall been a thrilling improvement to Season 1, and many of the alterations have improved the story overall. These are the biggest changes from “Fire & Blood” to “House of the Dragon” Season 2.

Rhaenyra visits Alicent in King’s Landing

Rhaenyra’s trip to King’s Landing to make one last plea for Alicent to reign Aegon in before the Dance spirals out of control is one of the biggest book departures in Season 2. The pair don’t spend much face-to-face time together once the civil war begins in earnest in “Fire & Blood,” but their conversation at the end of Episode 3 has been a series highlight.

The change makes more sense when Alicent finally learns her mistake in assuming Viserys was muttering about Aegon the Conqueror in the Ice and Fire prophecy rather than his eldest son on his deathbed. The prophecy is also a show creation, so the reveal that Alicent messed up because of that misunderstanding makes sense to come during another show-specific moment.

Blood and Cheese spectators

The gruesome Blood and Cheese moment was one of the marquee events for the show, and although the end result was the same as the book – the brutal beheading of young Jaehaerys – the buildup played out a bit differently.

In the books, Cheese offers Helaena a choice on which child should die between Jaehaerys and her younger son Maelor, who doesn’t exist in the series. Alicent is also present for the beheading rather than being told after the fact by Helaena who interrupts her sex with Criston Cole.

Alicent and Criston Cole’s relationship

Alicent and Criston Cole’s sexual relationship is completely created for the show. In the book, Cole is merely Alicent’s sworn shield and that’s about as far as the relationship extends.

It’s a show change that fits the characters who are known hypocrites – especially Cole – only becoming moreso.

Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s relationship

In another relationship change specifically for the show, Rhaenyra and Mysaria have gotten much closer than ever explored in “Fire & Blood.” Episode 6 ended with the two sharing a kiss after becoming stronger confidants to one another as the Dance unfolds.

The moment was unexpected but far from unwelcome.

Cheese’s fate

Following Jaehaerys’ death in the show, Aegon very quickly burns any goodwill and feeling from the smallfolk by ordering every ratcatcher who worked in the Red Keep – of which there were many due to the abundance of rats in King’s Landing – to be hung. He casts a wide and destructive net and unknowningly does manage to catch and kill Cheese, who’s seen hanging from a building with his little dog sitting at his feet.

In “Fire & Blood,” Aegon orders a roundup of ratcatchers but it’s never confirmed one way or the other if Cheese managed to escape King’s Landing.

Daemon’s Harrenhal trips and Riverlands woes

Daemon has spent much of the second season going on vision quests at Harrenhal. In between confronting the man he’s become and the many family members he wronged along the way, he’s been having a helluva time corralling the Riverlands houses to amass an army to help Rhaenyra.

In “Fire & Blood,” there isn’t much known about Daemon’s time at Harrenhal other than that he went there and gathered said army – and apparently without much fuss. While some have been annoyed by Daemon’s separation from the rest of the story this season, it’s hard to deny that watching him face these internal trials hasn’t been interesting.

Aemond and Aegon at Rook’s Rest

The Battle at Rook’s Rest has been the big spectacle of Season 2, and Aemond and Aegon’s part in the fight ends the same, but the road to it is a bit altered. In the show, Aemond and Criston hatch a plan to trick Rhaenyra into sending a dragon to protect Rook’s Rest only to surprise them with Vhagar and hopefully balance out the dragon math. Unfortunately, Aegon decides to show up with Sunfyre on a whim and throws the whole plan into chaos – but ultimately gives Aemond the perfect excuse to exact some long-desired revenge on his older brother.

In the book, Aemond and Aegon attack Rhaenys and Meleys together and still manage to barely pull out the victory – and still at the loss of Aegon and Sunfyre for the most part.

Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White’s home

A slightly smaller change, but both Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White are residents of Dragonstone in “Fire & Blood” but live in King’s Landing in “House of the Dragon.” In the books, most of the dragonseeds reside close to “home” on Dragonstone, but the show’s choice to not only expand where the dragonseeds live, but also where dragons roam (see: Sheepstealer in the Riverlands) makes the already massive world feel just a bit bigger.

No Nettles

Although this isn’t 100% confirmed (yet), it seems all but certain that Rhaena is taking the place of Nettles as Sheepstealer’s dragonrider.

Nettles was a beloved character from “Fire & Blood,” a 16-year-old girl who never had a confirmed lineage back to Valyrian blood. Her inclusion into the story meant a lot of the mysticism around dragons only being ridable by those with Valyrian blood. From a purely economic standpoint, it makes sense to merge the two characters but losing Nettles stings for many book fans.

Arryk vs. Erryk

Arryk and Erryk’s fight in Rhaenyra’s chambers at the end of Episode 2 is a sad end for the siblings. Despite almost not arriving in time, Erryk manages to get the upper hand on his twin and kill Arryk. In his grief, he falls on his own sword in front of Rhaenyra after apologizing.

There are a couple different ways the Cargyll brothers fight is played out in “Fire & Blood,” according to the sources. Grand Maester Munkun claimed the fight lasted nearly an hour with the brothers dying together in each other’s arms. Mushroom however claims something more similar to the show played out with Erryk making short work of his brother but sustaining a gut wound in the process that he’d die from days later.

Cregan and Jace’s Friendship

Season 2 thrilled when it opened with scenes in the North at Winterfell and later The Wall. We also met Cregan Stark while Jace made his case for the North to ally with Rhaenyra in the war. The scenes were brief but did enough to tease more to come from Cregan.

In the books, Jace’s visit north lasts long enough for him and Cregan to foster a real friendship for each other. It’s noted in “Fire & Blood” that Jace reminds Cregan of a younger brother who had recently died. The two spent much of Jace’s visit hunting, drinking and training together.

Sara Snow is MIA

Another casualty of Jace’s shortened visit to Winterfell, Sara Snow is completely cut from the story. As the last name implies, Sara was a northern bastard to Cregan’s father Lord Rickon Stark. During Jace’s visit, he meets, falls in love with and marries Sara, which breaks his betrothal to Baela. This connection – the legitimacy of which is questioned even in the books – is another reason cited for why Cregan and Jace’s friendship grew so quickly.

Since Baela and Jace’s relationship in Season 2 is one of the only examples of a betrothed pairing who don’t despise one another, it’s fine to lose Sara for the show.

Dany’s Dragon Eggs

When Rhaena is sent to the Vale after Rhaenyra is attacked by Arryk Cargyll, she’s given four dragon eggs to watch over along with the queen’s youngest children. It was confirmed by the episode’s director that three of the four eggs end up being the eggs Dany hatches into Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion in “Game of Thrones.”

The path the eggs took to get into Dany’s possession has always been a bit nebulous, but “Fire & Blood” does imply her eggs were stolen while the Old King Jaehaerys was still alive.