House of the Dragon vs Fire & Blood: Episode 2, “The Rogue Prince”

The second episode of House of the Dragon, titled “The Rogue Prince” after George R.R. Martin’s 2013 novella about Daemon Targaryen which was then incorporated into 2018’s Fire & Blood, follows in the steps of its predecessor, “The Heirs of the Dragon,” when it comes to adaptation. This week’s episode adapts roughly three pages of Fire & Blood (pp. 360-363 of my Harper Voyager hardcover edition, to be precise). There are very few changes, most of which are not terribly important. Let’s explore them!

Daemon Targaryen’s passive-aggressive exile

At the top of the episode, we learn that Prince Daemon has been camping out at Dragonstone for “half a year,” just as he did in the book. Also like the book, he announces his intention to marry his paramour Mysaria of Lys and claims a dragon’s egg to give the child they’ve conceived together. In House of the Dragon, he has also brought his gold cloaks with him to serve as his own garrison guards. Obviously, taking King’s Landing’s city watch away from the capital is an even more serious affront than simply styling himself Prince of Dragonstone and “occupying” the island illegally. As Daemon himself points out to his niece, that title should technically still be his until Rhaenyra comes of age. One could argue that a king’s proclamation supersedes law, and isn’t this matter the real dilemma at the heart of this story?

The main difference in the show is that Mysaria is not really with child at all; it was a ruse Daemon excogitated to get his brother’s attention. Mysaria didn’t even know he had said he planned to marry her; Daemon was just hoping the announcement would be scandalous enough to make Viserys talk to him. When we see Mysaria and Daemon talk privately, she is wroth with her lover for jeopardizing her wellbeing and her safety. We finally learn more about her; she’s lived in terror after being sold as a prostitute against her will, and she’s with Daemon not because she’s an idle girl in love with her Rogue Prince, but because he promised her safety.

Otto vs Daemon vs Rhaenyra

In the book, we only learn that Viserys “commanded [Daemon] to return the egg … or else be attained as a traitor,” but it doesn’t give us the details. In the show, Viserys intends to go talk to his brother himself, only to be stopped by his Hand, who volunteers to go in his stead. The whole sequence on the bridge — including Rhaenyra’s appearance — is a show addition, and a great one. It captures Rhaenyra’s willful nature and ratchets up the tension between Daemon and Otto. In the end, Daemon surrenders the egg to Rhaenyra, and bloodshed is avoided.

In Fire & Blood, Viserys also orders Daemon to “return to his lawful wife,” Lady Rhea Royce, and to “send his whore away.” In the book, Daemon obeys; he regrettably goes back to the Vale for a while and sends Mysaria back to Lys. On the ship to Essos, Mysaria loses their child during a storm. In the show, after the return of the egg, Daemon and Mysaria are allowed — at least for the time being — to stay on Dragonstone. Although given that Daemon is teaming up with Corlys to make war in the Stepstones, he probably won’t stay there for long.

Baelon’s dragon egg

Last episode, Queen Aemma pointed out that Rhaenyra had chosen a dragon egg for her unborn sibling, one that reminded her of Vhagar. This is the same egg that Daemon steals, the egg that he gives back to Rhaenyra. There is no mention of this in the book, although it doesn’t change anything of consequence. The egg being green could be a nice bit of foreshadowing; if Rhaenyra holds on to this egg, it’s highly possible that she will give it to her firstborn child. Credits for this wonderful theory go to Twitter user @SayaSnow95.

The brides of King Viserys

House of the Dragon operates on a slightly different timeline than Fire & Blood. On the show, Lady Laena Velaryon, the beautiful and clever daughter of Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys Velaryon, has not yet become a dragonrider. Just like in the book, when she is 12 years old she is one of the potential matches considered as King Viserys’ new bride. In the show, Viserys is visibly uncomfortable at the idea of marrying a girl so young, and it’s clear he only entertains the idea so as not to offend Corlys and Rhaenys.

Viserys understands that a match with Laena would be politically advantageous, but he refuses to marry a girl younger than his own daughter and — against the judgments of his advisors– instead announces his betrothal to Lady Alicent instead. On the show, Alicent is only a few years older than Laena, although it’s hard to say exactly how old she is. In the book, Alicent is 19 when she gets married to Viserys.

One detail I absolutely loved: in Fire and Blood, at 12 Laena is described as being “more fond of flying than boys.” The show has Laena ask Viserys about Balerion the Black Dread and then Vhagar, the largest living dragon and eventually the one she will ride.

Episode 2 changes some things about the source text, but preserves its nuance. I am confident that Episode 3, “Second of His Name,” will do the same.

And that’s it for this episode! Did you notice any more differences or easter eggs? What did you think of these changes?

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