House of the Dragon season three changed these major betrayals, deaths and battles from book

House of the Dragon season three has finally come to an end, and if you’ve read George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood, you’ll know the show has changed loads more than just a few small details.

The main story is still recognisable. Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing, the war keeps getting worse and the Battle of Tumbleton becomes a major disaster for her side. But the way the show gets to those moments is often very different from the book.

Some characters have been combined, some have been moved into storylines they were never part of, and a few major events happen much earlier than they do in Fire & Blood. The show has also created completely new storylines for characters like Aegon, Corlys and Ulf.

So, now that season three is over, here are the biggest changes House of the Dragon made from the book.

Rhaena becomes the rider of Sheepstealer instead of Nettles

In Fire & Blood, the wild dragon is claimed by Nettles, a young dragonseed who becomes closely connected to Daemon. She is one of the important dragonriders who joins Rhaenyra’s side during the Dance of the Dragons.

House of the Dragon removes Nettles from the story completely and gives her storyline to Rhaena instead. That changes quite a lot for Rhaena. Instead of simply being another member of House Targaryen who feels overlooked, she gets a much bigger role in the dragon storyline and has to deal with her complicated feelings about her family.

The show also connects Sheepstealer to events that are completely different from the book. In Fire & Blood, the dragon has no connection to Jace’s death at the Battle of the Gullet, and Daemon never has the same meeting with Lady Arryn that the show gives him.

Criston Cole and Aemond’s relationship changes completely

Criston Cole and Aemond were closely connected during the earlier part of the war, but season three takes their relationship in a very different direction. In the show, the two barely interact at all. Criston arrives at Harrenhal looking for Aemond, only to discover that he is missing. He eventually leaves without finding him.

Fire & Blood gives us a more direct falling-out between the two men. They disagree about how they should go about retaking King’s Landing, which eventually drives them apart.

There is also a much stranger version of their conflict in Mushroom’s account. He claims that Aemond and Criston were fighting over Alys Rivers, who supposedly used love potions and magic to inflame their feelings. The show does not use that storyline.

Criston’s death, however, remains broadly similar. He is killed after the Riverland forces pretend to be defeated and then turn on him. The main difference is that the book names Red Robb Rivers as the archer who kills him, rather than Alysanne Blackwood as in the show.

Aegon’s entire journey after Rook’s Rest is mostly new

Aegon’s storyline in season three is another major change because Fire & Blood barely tells us what happens to him after he escapes King’s Landing. That uncertainty is actually part of the point in the book. Aegon disappears, and readers later discover what happened to him.

The show, understandably, didn’t want to lose one of its main characters for an entire season. So it fills in that gap. After Aemond attacks Aegon and leaves him badly injured, the show follows his attempts to survive while hiding from those who might want him dead. Eventually, he is reunited with Sunfyre.

The book handles this differently. Lord Mooten retakes the area after Rook’s Rest, rather than the group of criminals shown in the series. When Mooten’s men try to kill Sunfyre, the dragon wakes up and kills most of them, including Mooten.

Helaena dies much earlier than she does in Fire & Blood

In House of the Dragon, Helaena dies during the season three finale after jumping from a window. Her death comes much earlier in the story than it does in Fire & Blood. The book also gives Helaena another child, Maelor, before her death. The show removed Maelor from the story, which changes Helaena’s family and also affects the circumstances surrounding her eventual death.

George R.R. Martin previously criticised the decision to remove Maelor, so this is one of the bigger differences between the two versions of the story.

The Battle of the Honeywine never happens on screen

Season three introduces Ormund Hightower and Daeron as major threats to Rhaenyra, but the show skips the Battle of the Honeywine.

In Fire & Blood, this battle gives readers important context about the Hightower army and the people fighting alongside Daeron. Ormund and Daeron’s forces defeat Ser Alan Beesbury and Lord Alan Tarly. Daeron’s dragon, Tessarion, plays an important role in helping save the army from defeat. The battle also introduces characters such as Bold Jon Roxton, who becomes part of the story leading towards Tumbleton.

House of the Dragon instead brings these characters into the story later and gives Ormund a much larger role as a villain.

Gwayne Hightower is still alive in the show

Gwayne Hightower’s fate is one of the clearest examples of the show changing a character’s timeline. In Fire & Blood, Gwayne is already dead by the time of the events at Tumbleton. He is killed when Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing.

The show keeps him alive much longer and gives him a role in the events leading up to Tumbleton. That means his storyline from this point onwards is completely new.

The book’s version of his death is also quite specific. When Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing, Gwayne confronts her forces before Luthor Largent arrives and kills him. Luthor tells him, “Daemon gave us these cloaks, and they’re gold no matter how you turn them.” That entire moment is absent from the show because Luthor himself is killed earlier in season three.

Corlys is kidnapped instead of being arrested by Rhaenyra

In the book, Rhaenyra arrests Corlys after he asks her to legitimise his sons Addam and Alyn as true Velaryons. She becomes suspicious that he is plotting against her and wants to use his sons’ supposed dragon blood to challenge her rule.

The show goes in another direction. Instead of being arrested by Rhaenyra, Corlys is kidnapped by Ormund and later returned to the Targaryens as a hostage. He eventually escapes during the Battle of Tumbleton alongside Daemon.

Daemon is at Tumbleton when he isn’t in the book

This is probably one of the biggest changes to the Battle of Tumbleton. In Fire & Blood, Daemon is nowhere near Tumbleton when the battle takes place. Rhaenyra’s forces are instead made up of Riverland lords and Roderick Dustin’s Winter Wolves.

The show puts Daemon right in the middle of the battle. That was a deliberate decision. Ryan Condal explained that Daemon “had to be put at the center” because the show needed to complete his character arc within the season.

Ulf and Hugh’s betrayal is very different

In Fire & Blood, Ulf and Hugh become known as the Two Betrayers after turning against Rhaenyra during the Battle of Tumbleton. They switch sides and help cause a devastating defeat for the Blacks. The book never gives us a definite answer for why they did it. The book’s accounts suggest greed and cowardice as possible explanations, but even the historical record is uncertain.

House of the Dragon gives Ulf a much more direct motivation. He is repeatedly treated with disrespect despite being a dragonrider, and eventually decides that neither side will ever truly value him. He turns on both Daemon and Ormund, killing Ormund with dragonfire.

Hugh is also very different. In the book, he joins Ulf in betraying Rhaenyra and rides Vermithor during the destruction of Tumbleton. In the show, Hugh is much more focused on finding his wife Kat and helping people caught up in the fighting. He doesn’t betray Rhaenyra in season three, although the ending clearly leaves that possibility open for the final season.

Rhaenyra never kills the High Septon in the book

In House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra struggles with the religious opposition in King’s Landing and eventually orders Alyn to kill the High Septon.

None of this happens in the book. Although it does show King’s Landing becoming increasingly unstable after Rhaenyra discovers that the royal treasury is empty and introduces heavier taxes. But she doesn’t order Alyn to murder the High Septon. Also, Septon Eunance doesn’t refuse to crown Rhaenyra because he isn’t living in King’s Landing at this point.

Rhaenyra’s prophecy storyline isn’t in Fire & Blood

House of the Dragon has continued its connection to the prophecy introduced in Game of Thrones, and in the season three finale Rhaenyra declares herself “The Prince That Was Promised.”

Fire & Blood never has Rhaenyra make this declaration. The prophecy itself is not used in the same way in the book, so this is another example of the show adding material to connect its story more directly to the world established by Game of Thrones.

It also gives Rhaenyra another reason to believe that her rule is part of something bigger, which becomes increasingly important as she moves towards the darker parts of the Dance.

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Featured image credit: HBO