House of the Dragon vs Fire & Blood: Book changes in Episode 205

Episode 5 of season 2 of House of the Dragon is not a worthy successor to Episode 4, the season’s best so far. Episode 5 stalls and barely moves the plot forward, providing context that would work favorably in a 20-episode season, but not in one with only eight chapters.

The action we see in Episode 5 is mostly written ad hoc for the show and differs greatly from what is told in the source material, the book Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. Let’s take a look at those differences.

Dragonstone-Driftmark relations

In the immediate aftermath of Princess Rhaenys’s death at Rook’s Rest, the book tells us of a spiteful altercation between Lord Corlys and Rhaenyra, with the Sea Snake holding his wife’s death in battle against the Queen. The series shows Corlys having a similar sentiment, but we only see a grieving husband haunting his hall and the streets of Spicetown, considering abandoning Rhaenyra’s cause. He relays these thoughts to his granddaughter Baela, who defends Rhaenyra, understanding that Rhaenys gladly chose and embraced her glorious end, just as Laena had done and how Baela hopes to.

In need of loyalty from her strongest ally, Rhaenyra asks Baela to offer Corlys the title of Hand of the Queen. In the book, it’s Jace who makes his grandfather Hand. At this point in the story, Fire & Blood confines Rhaenyra to grief and has Jace take center stage, so it’s him making Corlys the Hand. I do enjoy the show making Rhaenyra more present, and I liked how it’s a conversation between her and Jace at the end of the episode that leads to the idea of finding other Targaryen-blooded people to claim the riderless dragons. They’re not quite at the concept of the dragonseeds, but they’ll get there soon enough.

Alicent discovers the patriarchy is real and she doesn't like it

In King’s Landing, the Green Council almost unanimously declares Aemond the Prince Regent – almost, because Queen Dowager Alicent puts her own name forward as a candidate. She is wary of her son Aemond, and genuinely afraid of what he may accomplish if left unchecked on the Iron Throne. While her concern for the Seven Kingdoms is appreciated, the idea that the council who rejected Rhaenyra as Queen on the basis of her sex could accept Alicent as Regent is ludicrous to entertain. I don’t blame Alicent as a character, but rather whoever has been writing her this season. Her presence could be erased from the story altogether and nothing would change. I wish that these award-winning writers cared enough to find any worthy storyline for a character they chose as one of the two leads of the show.

Back to the story, it was sad seeing Alicent hope to find support in Larys and Criston and realize that the two men would rather be in Aemond’s good graces than remain in her confidence; after all, it’s clear to everyone on the Council that Alicent’s voice is of very little consequence. In the book, Aemond is also made Prince Regent by Criston Cole, and no mention of Alicent as a candidate is made, though it’s important to point out that Aemond is not Aegon’s heir in the book, where the king’s other son Maelor exists.

Unnecessary trouble in Harrenhal

Daemon’s storyline, if we can even classify it as one, is completely made up and differs from the book at every turn. He is still being plagued by absurd nightmares and visions sent by Alys Rivers, and again I wonder: does Daemon think he should endure them because she might reveal more of his future? At any rate, the writers making Daemon dream of intercourse with his own mother is a bit too much even for House of the Dragon, and I see little point in it.

Does Alys Rivers believe she is untangling all of Daemon’s issues, in a weird, Westeros version of proto-therapy? So far, she has made him face his own mortality, his guilt in the shape of young Rhaenyra blaming him for his mistakes and later dying at his hand, the late Laena asking him if he has been looking after their daughters, and now his supposed mommy issues? If Daemon is still consuming whatever concoction Alys makes, I would urge him to stop. Whatever the reason for this prolonged torture (of us viewers and of Daemon), Fire & Blood states that Daemon was untouched by Alys’s magic.

In one scene, Ser Simon Strong brings up Harrenhal’s lack of funds, saying that Larys Strong has taken the gold of House Strong with him. Daemon’s refusal to write to Rhaenyra for coin reminded me of last season, when he categorically refused to ask his brother Viserys for help in the Stepstones out of an excess of pride. At any rate, this issue also doesn’t exist in the book, where it is clearly stated that, “In addition to the castle, Prince Daemon at a stroke had captured the not-inconsiderable wealth of House Strong.”

This episode also twists the order of events to worsen Daemon’s situation: here, Daemon suggested that the Blackwoods conduct guerrilla warfare to get the Brackens to turn Black, when in the book, Ser Willem does that of his own accord before the Battle of the Burning Mill, which happened in Episode 3, long before Daemon spoke with Ser Willem:

"In the riverlands, raiders out of Raventree, flying Rhaenyra’s banners, crossed into the lands of House Bracken, burning crops, driving off sheep and cattle, sacking villages, and despoiling every sept they came on (the Blackwoods were one of the last houses south of the Neck who still followed the old gods)."

Some time later in the book, it’s Aemond and Vhagar who burn fields and kill peasants in the Riverlands in the book, but never Daemon:

"Vhagar descended from the autumn sky again and again to lay waste to the lands and villages and castles of the riverlords. House Darry was the first to know the prince’s wroth. The men bringing in the harvest burned or fled as the crops went up in flame, and Castle Darry was consumed in a firestorm. Lady Darry and her younger children survived by taking shelter in vaults under the keep, but her lord husband and his heir died on their battlements, together with twoscore of his sworn swords and bowmen. Three days later, it was Lord Harroway’s Town left smoking. Lord’s Mill, Blackbuckle, Buckle, Claypool, Swynford, Spiderwood...Vhagar’s fury fell on each in turn, until half the riverlands seemed ablaze."

I get that the original story provides many parallels between Daemon and Aemond, but I don’t see why Daemon should also be responsible for the ruthless destruction of the Riverlands when he didn’t order it. After all, Aemond is a Daemon wannabe, and I appreciated the shot of the younger Targaryen gazing at the Iron Throne – so close, and yet so far away – in a similar manner to Daemon.

The scene where a dozen of vassal lords and ladies show up at Harrenhal demanding an audience with Daemon in the middle of the night to accuse him of atrocities and declare defiance is impossible to reconcile with book canon, but also out of place for the show. Does nobody fear the Rogue Prince anymore, nor his dragon Caraxes, to the point where they feel entitled to acts that should call for their deaths? Fire & Blood tells a very different story, where the Riverlands (save for House Bracken) fiercely answer Daemon’s call: 

"When Prince Daemon sent forth his call to arms, they rose up all along the rivers, knights and men-at-arms and humble peasants who yet remembered the Realm’s Delight, so beloved of her father, and the way she smiled and charmed them as she made her progress through the riverlands in her youth. Hundreds and then thousands buckled on their swordbelts and donned their mail, or grabbed a pitchfork or a hoe and a crude wooden shield, and began to make their way to Harrenhal to fight for Viserys’s little girl."

Is the show writing a completely new story for Daemon where he can’t take one right step? This narrative where he wants to crown himself King, while also not openly renouncing Rhaenyra, is off and out of character. If Daemon had truly wanted the crown, he had a million opportunities both before and after he married Rhaenyra.

The fact that Rhaenyra and Daemon’s “marital spat” has become common knowledge both at Dragonstone and Harrenhal and is openly and frequently evoked by anyone is soap opera material. Whoever is writing these characters this season doesn’t have much love for them, because this prolonged storyline truly lacks sense and wastes too much time, a luxury this season doesn’t have, with only three episodes left.

Everything else that happens in this episode is either canon-compliant or has zero foundation in the book. Regardless of following the source material or not – we all know that changes can sometimes bear great fruits – it is my hope that the next few episodes will have stronger focus and characterization.

Other thoughts

We finally meet Lady Jeyne Arryn -- dearly missed in episode 1 -- and she makes a formidable metaphorical sparring partner Rhaena, or perhaps something else? I believe they may find common ground in their precarious situations of seeming powerlessness.

That was NOT how I wanted to see Princess Alyssa Targaryen.

The real MVP of King's Landing, Cheese's dog, makes an appearance this episode and I'm sure all our hearts jumped at the sight of him. As George R.R. Martin himself said, adding the dog as a character brought some unexpected humanity to the whole Blood and Cheese ordeal.

The Gold Cloak hearing Mysaria's name and not asking any questions, simply letting Melinda into King's Landing... the power that Mysaria holds over the city is incredible. She and Daemon truly rule the city, and I hope we see the iconic line “Daemon gave us these cloaks,” he said, “and they’re gold no matter how you turn them” from Fire & Blood soon.

Rhaenyra deciding to rely on Baela and Mysaria for advice may be the best thing she's done this season, and I do hope she continues.

I loved the Corlys and Baela interaction. She truly embodies the best qualities of both her parents and grandparents, and Corlys sees that fully. "Granddaughter, I wish to make you my heir.” “I am blood and fire. Driftmark must pass to salt and sea.” No one can say that Corlys did not try to honor Rhaenys's legacy when he names his next heir; he offered it to Baela, and she refused. He likely won't ask Rhaena (sadly), but Rhaenys has made her stance clear: deserving bastards should be rewarded, not hidden away.

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