Tonight House of the Dragon premiered its second episode, and just like last week, it was a big one. From covering the fallout of the Battle of the Gullet, to political machinations in King's Landing and a major power play from Rhaenyra Targaryen, a ton of important events happened that will keep viewers mulling all the implications until next week. However, one thing that didn't happen — at least on screen — was the Battle by the Lakeshore. Instead of this horrific, memorable land battle that resulted in thousands of deaths, House of the Dragon opted for a party at Daemon Targaryen's Riverlands camp with a rowdy song referencing the battle.
That's right, House of the Dragon skipped the Fishfeed. If you haven't read Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, you probably don't know what you just missed out on. Fortunately, I am here to tell you, so we can all be distraught about it together.
What happened at the Fishfeed in Fire & Blood?
Following the Battle at the Red Fork — which we saw the result of in the season premiere — the remaining soldiers loyal to House Lannister regroup at the edge of the Gods Eye lake near Harrenhal. In the book, their hope is to make it to the castle, which has already been captured by Aemond Targaryen and Crison Cole. However, they don't quite make it; instead they're surrounded at the shore of the God's Eye by a joint force of rivermen and Winter Wolves.
With no way out, the Lannister host digs in and tries to send ravens to Aemond for aid. The rivermen shoot all of them down on the wing. What ensues next is the bloodiest land battle of the entire war, where the Winter Wolves and rivermen decide to charge the Lannister host repeatedly, pushing them back into the lake. Many are cut down; the rest drown in the lake. Two thirds of the Winter Wolves are killed, and the rivermen suffer large casualties as well.
While this battle becomes known as the Battle by the Lakeshore, those who survived it call it the Fishfeed, on account of all the corpses in the water. The way Martin refers to it is a far cry from the jolly affair we see in the show; that Fishfeed nickname is spoken of in a haunted manner by men who can't forget the horror they endured by the Gods Eye, even in victory.
Why it was a major mistake for House of the Dragon to cut the Fishfeed
All this is to say, the Fishfeed is a very memorable battle in the novel. It's very difficult for me to imagine anyone looking at the book and deciding this would be a good clash to cut. Budget, pacing, and production realities may have necessitated leaving out the Battle by the Lakeshore, but I think House of the Dragon definitely lost something by omitting it. There are other important battles in the Riverlands, including one called the Butcher's Ball that will definitely be in season 3, but for my money, the Fishfeed is still the best. It's a shame we won't see it on screen.
Rather than cut it completely, I wish House of the Dragon had opted to do some sort of smaller scale adaptation of it, perhaps utilizing a limited point of view so that the show wouldn't need to stage the entire thing. That could have lent to the psychological impact of this visceral battle where thousands died and floated into the reeds. As it stands, the show's version of the Fishfeed seems like it was barely a workout for Daemon Targaryen's army, not only undercutting the impact of the battle, but the overall arc of the war itself.
We'll see what ripple effect this has when House of the Dragon airs the rest of its third season. New episodes drop Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.
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