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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