How House of the Dragon Season 2 is Different from George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood

House of the Dragon Season 2 returns to our screens with a lot more going for it, including dragons, House Targaryen drama, and some changes from George R.R. Martin’s original works. Fire and Blood.

Some of these changes build on the changes made in Season 1, the biggest of which are: House of the Dragon It’s a narrative TV show, Fire and Blood It is presented as a historical record. The differences in format are: Fire and Blood It operates on long time scales spanning centuries, House of the Dragon It allows you to delve deeper into certain scenes or character moments, or flesh out “historical” ambiguities.

A good example of this is the relationship between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma Darcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), whose tense relationship in the show is strengthened by the added element of them growing up together and then becoming bitter enemies. This strong writing choice continues in season two, but there are also plenty of new departures from season two. Fire and Blood We’re on the way. Which ones work well and add depth to the story of Dance of Dragons? Which ones are less successful? Let’s analyze them.

The biggest differences are: House of the Dragon Season 2 and Fire and Blood.

Episode 1: Back at the Wall!

Harry Collett and Tom Taylor in “House of the Dragon.”
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

House of the Dragon Season 2 kicks off with images of snowy forests and the familiar sounds of Ramin Djawadi’s Winterfell theme, and for fans of the Starks, that can only mean one thing: we’re really back.

Though Season 1 was mostly spent around Dragonstone and King’s Landing, it’s fun to revisit the far north of Westeros. In the Season 1 finale, Rhaenyra’s eldest son Jacaerys (Harry Collett) flew there to meet with Lord Cregan Stark (Tom Taylor) at Winterfell, and by the time we catch up with them at the start of Season 2, they seem to have become good friends. They tour the Wall, joke about the time Torrhen Stark bowed the knee to Aegon the Conqueror, and discuss how the North can support Rhaenyra’s war effort.

House of the Dragon It skips a lot of ground before getting to Jace and Clegane’s alliance. Fire and Blood Martin’s work contains several conflicting accounts of Jace’s time at Winterfell. Among his many historical “sources,” Grand Maester Mankun wrote in his book: Telling the truth The two became inseparable and swore a blood oath as brothers, Septon Eustace claims, but Jace urged Cregan to convert to the Faith of the Seven. The most scandalous story of all is, of course, that of the court jester Mushroom, who claims that Jace fell in love with and married an illegitimate girl named Sara Snow, despite being engaged to his cousin Reyna (Phoebe Campbell). This season is only eight episodes long, House of the Dragon Perhaps you haven’t had time to immerse yourself in all this northern drama – the Ball of Dragons is coming up! But you still probably aren’t done seeing the last of Clegane Stark.

Episode 1: Alicent Hightower and Christon Cole’s passionate affair.

Olivia Cooke in “House of the Dragon.”
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

An unexpected move (and of course Fire and Blood), Queen Dowager Alicent and Commander-in-Chief of the King’s Guard, Christon Cole (Fabian Frankel), are engaged in an affair that may have been going on for years, as Alicent maintains that they should never have another relationship (though it seems unlikely that this will work). for a whileSo when did this affair begin? When did Kor have second thoughts about breaking his Kingguard vow of chastity? When did Alicent decide, “Ah, enough is enough,” and start doing exactly what she hated Rhaenyra for doing?

Alicent and Christen’s hypocrisy here doesn’t bother me, as it fits their overly righteous personalities perfectly, and it makes sense that something would happen between them — they’re basically always together, and their shared animosity towards Rhaenyra gives her a sweet psychosexual twist. Plus, as Alicent faces the increasingly unpredictable men around her, including her son Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), it makes sense that she’d try to reclaim her power elsewhere.

what do What bothers me about this change is that Christon is having sex. He doesn’t deserve it. Don’t be nice to Christon.

Episode 1: Let’s talk about Blood and Cheese.

Fear Saban from House of the Dragon.
Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

Arguably one of the darkest scenes in movie history. House of the Dragon and game of thronesTwo assassins, Simply Blood (Sam C. Wilson) and Cheese (Mark Stobbart), sneak into the Red Keep and murder Aegon and Helena’s (Fia Saban) infant son Jaehaerys, carrying out this brutal act at the behest of Daemon (Matt Smith), who wishes “a son for a son” in revenge for the death of Lutharis (Elliot Grihall).

In the book, Blood and Cheese forces Heleyna to choose which of her sons she wants killed. After failing to volunteer herself, Heleyna chooses her youngest son, Maelor, because Jaehaerys is the heir to the Iron Throne. In a nasty twist, Blood and Cheese kills Jaehaerys instead, telling Maelor that his mother wants to kill him.

Things play out a little differently House of the DragonBut the end result is the same: Jaehaerys dies and Helena is traumatized for life. First, Aemond was the original target in the Blood and Cheese show. This change complicates the blame for Jaehaerys’ death; Daemon is exonerated. a bit Just as Vhagar’s unauthorized bite in the season 1 finale signifies Aemond for funding child murder. Technically He didn’t kill Luceris, but if the child is dead then the technicalities don’t matter.

Instead of finding Aemond, Brad and Cheese stumble upon Helena and the twins Jaehaerys and Jehaera. (Mailor was cut from the show entirely.) They quickly decide that the Targaryen son is as good as anyone, and they get Helena to say which of her children is Jaehaerys. Helena points to Jaehaerys, but Brad wonders for a moment if she is trying to betray them. After all, why would Helena give up the heir to the throne so easily? She must be referring to Jaehaerys. But Cheese sees through Helena’s bluff and correctly deduces that Helena is targeting her son. Thus, Jaehaerys falls victim to the Dance of Dragons.

This version of the Blood and Cheese scene is a bit like the original, with Helena still being forced to make an impossible choice and trickery involved. But there’s another element of tragedy here. Judging by the rat-centric remarks at the beginning of the episode, it’s likely that Helena foresaw Blood and Cheese’s arrival in a precognitive dream, meaning she had plenty of time to think about this moment and perhaps even prepare for it. Her attempt to keep Blood and Cheese off Jaehaerys’ scent was a last resort to thwart the inevitable outcome. But her actions fail, turning a horrific scene into something even more sad.

This article will be updated from time to time House of the Dragon Season 2 is still airing, so be sure to check back each week to see what’s different in season 2. Fire and Blood.

New Episodes House of the Dragon It airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.