House of the Dragon\u2019s timeline and character relations are a bit all over the shop<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
After the opening sequence of House of the Dragon concludes, we see a screen grab that tells us the current timeline of the series is set in the 9th<\/sup> year of King Viserys\u2019 reign, 172 years before the birth of Daenaerys Targaryen. It seems like a simple enough thing to say, but it is an entirely different story when you consider the fact that the TV show is not the books and the dates are significantly different between the two of them. Characters in Game of Thrones had to necessarily be aged up due to some of the- let\u2019s just say visceral scenes- simply being outright illegal if the producers had stuck to George\u2019s script to a T.<\/p>\nAs a result, characters like Daenaerys and Jon Snow- who are 15\/16 years old in the Dance of the Dragons- are about that old when Game of Thrones begins. So Daenaerys\u2019 birth date is a bit of a toss-up, because if it was 284 AC- like in the ASOIAF continuity- then House of the Dragon would canonically be set in 112 AC. This would make sense, as Rhaenyra would be 15 years old by that point, which is about as old as Milly Alcock looks in Heirs of the Dragon as it is. But considering the age issue, the official Game of Thrones birth date for Daenaerys is 281 AC, which would put House of the Dragon somewhere around 109 AC, which becomes a problem for a few reasons.<\/p>\n
First, the Heir\u2019s Tourney canonically takes place almost a year before Aemma Arryn even \u201cdelivers\u201d Viserys\u2019 son; in fact, it is most likely the tourney that was held in honour of Viserys\u2019 ascension at Maidenpool in 104 AC where he declared his son by Aemma would be his heir, because a year later, the queen died in childbirth, and was shortly followed by the son Viserys had desired for so long.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Queen Aemma manages to stay alive for 9 years of Viserys\u2019 rule, far more than her Fire & Blood counterpart. Also, Rhaenyra and Alicent\u2019s relationship, their ages, and the relationships that they develop with the people of King\u2019s Landing are markedly different from the books. For instance, Jaehaerys\u2019 final two years were spent mistaking Alicent for his estranged daughter Saera, but if we are correct about the show\u2019s timeline being 109\/110 AC, then that would imply that Viserys succeeded his grandfather immediately after the Great Council\u2019s conclusion.<\/p>\n
The fact that Alicent carries a book with her to read to the king might be a nod to this condensation of events. And the Triarchy is also merely mentioned by Lord Corlys as a potential threat at a Small Council meeting, where in the books they were one of Westeros\u2019 biggest naval enemies by this point.<\/p>\n
So you can see that certain liberties have been taken when it comes to chronology and character relations, especially with regards to the Royal Family. Though most of the major events remain the same, they\u2019ve been workshopped around to fit a more linear timeline than the sprawling tome that is George\u2019s original creation. And speaking of changes to chronology and continuity, one of the biggest changes from book to show is sitting on Viserys\u2019 Small Council.<\/p>\n
Lord Corlys Velaryon was not on Viserys\u2019 Small Council<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
One of the most ambitious and charismatic leaders that House of the Dragon is going to feature heavily throughout the series is Lord Corlys Velaryon. Known to the people of Westeros and beyond as the Sea Snake, Corlys was perhaps the greatest sailor and captain that the Seven Kingdoms had ever known.<\/p>\n
He stepped on his first ship at 6, and by 16 was a captain himself. Corlys conducted 9 grand voyages across the Known World, as far as Ib & Asshai, and came back with so many treasures in his holds that he became the richest lord in all of Westeros, despite House Lannister\u2019s goldmines. Lord Corlys served as the Lord Admiral of King Jaehaerys\u2019 Small Council in the books, but after his son Laenor\u2019s claim was passed over at the Great Council, he quit his position and retreated to High Tide with his wife and children.<\/p>\n
By contrast, it appears as though House of the Dragon is determined to have all the drama play out at King\u2019s Landing, because not only are Corlys and Rhaenys living at court, he is also butting heads with King Viserys on matters more urgent than feasts and tourneys. It is Lord Corlys who brings up the issue of the Triarchy to the Small Council first, a concern that Otto and his cronies immediately dismiss.<\/p>\n
When Daemon puts together his City Watch, Corlys backs his actions as being the right call before a tourney that is meant to be in the name of the Royal Heir. And when the matter of succession is discussed after the funeral of Queen Aemma and Prince Baelon, Corlys is the only person on the Small Council who reminds Viserys that he already has an old, male heir hidden in plain sight; Daemon himself.<\/p>\n
In Fire & Blood, the alliance between Corlys and Daemon was borne out of a need that they both shared, but it was forged outside of the walls of King\u2019s Landing. In House of the Dragon, it is looking likelier by the day that Corlys and Daemon will ally with each other in the walls of the Red Keep itself, and personally, we think it is a great call to have the most-ambitious man of Westeros be the voice of dissent on a Council that is obviously filled with yes men and manipulators.<\/p>\n
Rhaenyra and Viserys\u2019 relationship seems to be more distant than it is described as being in Fire & Blood<\/strong><\/h2>\n The discussion on relation dynamics isn\u2019t over yet because one of the biggest changes from book to show, so to speak, is the way Viserys treats Rhaenyra. In Fire & Blood, all accounts agree that Viserys doted over Rhaenyra and indulged her in all things, to the point she was called The Realm\u2019s Delight in her young age. When she turned 8, Viserys named her his cupbearer and after the death of Aemma and Baelon, he named her his official heir.<\/p>\n
Though part of the motivation was to rein in Daemon\u2019s ambitions and teach him a lesson in how to treat family, another part of it was Viserys\u2019 love for Rhaenyra. Even after re-marrying to Alicent, Viserys never disowned Rhaenyra as his heir, even going so far as to say that Alicent wanted her sons to succeed him as opposed to his daughter towards the end of his own life. This is different from what is shown in House of the Dragon because there, Viserys is about as distant from Rhaenyra as a father can be.<\/p>\n
Sure, she is his cupbearer and his somewhat constant companion during court and council, but Rhaenyra herself seemed to be a lot closer to her mother, and while she always loved her father, she knew that the only thing that would make him truly happy was a son. Viserys also spoiled his daughter by not reprimanding her for being late to every official occasion, but he never particularly showed any active interest in cultivating her future alongside her.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s only after losing Aemma and Baelon and hearing reports about Daemon\u2019s comments following their deaths that Viserys decides he wants to get closer to the child he does have and names Rhaenyra his heir. It will be very interesting to see how their relationship unfolds from this point forward because we know that Viserys will marry again, and that his second marriage will cause friction between his wife and his daughter. How he chooses to deal with it is what ends up becoming the catalyst for the Dance, after all, so pardon our morbid curiosity.<\/p>\n
House Hightower\u2019s family dynamics are slightly different<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
This one is a small thing but the Hightower Family\u2019s dynamics are slightly different in House of the Dragon. While it is never outright stated that Alicent\u2019s mother was dead in Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon confirms that implication directly. Otto Hightower himself remains the second son of the Hightower Family, with his brother Hobert being the Lord of Oldtown, but the order of his sons is changed to make the family composition more sensible for the show.<\/p>\n
In Fire & Blood, Gwayne Hightower is the youngest of Alicent\u2019s brothers, but in Fire & Blood, he is the oldest of Otto Hightower\u2019s brood. We\u2019ve already addressed the fact that Alicent is also much younger than her Fire & Blood counterpart, but one other thing that House of the Dragon outright \u201cconfirms\u201d for us is something that is only implied in the book. It was debated that the reason that Otto brought Alicent to court was to position her as the next Queen of Westeros, no matter how scandalous her relationship with Jaehaerys might have been.<\/p>\n
After the Old King passed away, that focus shifted to King Viserys, and it was even said that Alicent had seduced the Young King long before marrying him. House of the Dragon effectively kills two birds with one stone; it sets up Otto as the ultimate Machiavellian villain by having him convince his daughter to visit the grieving Viserys\u2019 chambers late at night in her dead mother\u2019s dress.<\/p>\n
It is very clear that while Otto puts on the front of a loving father, in truth his only desire is power. That desire makes all his children mere pawns in his game, and that game might also include the maesters because while it is not overtly hinted at, there are subtle indications throughout House of the Dragon that seem to suggest an alliance between the Citadel and the Hightowers aimed against the Targaryens; a theory that has been prevalent in the ASOIAF community for over half a decade now.<\/p>\n
Though it has nothing to do with the Hightower family personally, it has everything to do with them politically, because they have been the patrons of the Citadel since it was established and this virtually confirms the speculation that the Hightowers and the maesters have a political conspiracy in place against the Targaryens and the rest of the Westerosi High Lords in general. This point will become more apparent when Rhaenyra\u2019s Maester Gerardis makes his entry to the series, so we\u2019ll end this line of thought right here.<\/p>\n
Daemon vs Criston Cole was more organized in Fire & Blood<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Though the cocksure showdown between Prince Daemon Targaryen and Ser Criston Cole was everything it should have been, it did go down a bit differently than the events described in Fire & Blood. There, it is said that Cole defeated Daemon twice separately; once in the melee competition, and once during the joust, which earned him his place in the Kingsguard of Viserys Targaryen and the distinction of becoming Rhaenyra\u2019s personal white knight.<\/p>\n
A melee competition is highly structured with several rounds that end only after multiple opponents have been defeated, and Ryan and Miguel did a great job of showing us just how an actual joust works; none of those non-splintering lances from Season 1 of Game of Thrones were used in House of the Dragon\u2019s production, obviously. In the show, they turned the contest between Daemon and Criston into sort of a call back to Loras Tyrell unhorsing The Mountain and the preview of Clegane Bowl before it actually happened in Season 8.<\/p>\n
Daemon, after being unhorsed by the known Criston Cole, went after him with Dark Sister and was instantly defeated by the marcher knight yet again, thanks to his trusty \u201cMorningstar\u201d. It will be very interesting to see how their relationship unfolds as the season progresses because in Fire & Blood, Daemon and Criston end up becoming the objects of affection of one of the most-important women in Westerosi history, and the choices all parties involved end up making add fuel to the sparking embers of the Dance with gusto.<\/p>\n
All of the prophecies<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
And we end this list with an entry that feels like a bit of a cop out but is also the most-blatant difference from book to screen; that being all of the prophecies that we hear of in Heirs of the Dragon. The Targaryen family has been known to have prophetic dreams since before the Doom of Valyria. In fact, it was Daenys the Dreamer\u2019s dreams that saved them from doom and made them the only living dragonlords in the world, so dreams are an important part of their lives. Because Fire & Blood is a master’s account of the first 150 years of Targaryen rule, it is decidedly unreliable.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019ve seen Game of Thrones and not read George\u2019s books, then you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking that Dany was the only one who had \u201cdragon dreams\u201d in the main timeline. But the fact is, all Targaryens possess some degree of clairvoyance, and have dreams that can describe either current events or things that are going to happen far into the future. House of the Dragon\u2019s first episode gave us the low down on just how deep this \u201cability\u201d runs by giving us not one, but two prophecies that have shaped\/will shape the course of Westerosi society. The first is a dream Viserys recalls to his wife Aemma while she is preparing for birth.<\/p>\n
He tells his wife that he saw his son come out of her wearing a crown, and when he placed the boy upon the Iron Throne, all the dragons roared as one. Viserys interpreted this to mean his son would become as great as his own grandsire; instead, it was an implication of mourning, and the dragons roared in his dream not out of joy but out of grief over the deaths of Aemma and Baelon.<\/p>\n
This goes to show you just how tricky interpreting dreams and visions can be; they are high risk and high reward, just like most magic in George\u2019s world. The second is a prophecy handed down to the Targaryen Kings since the Conquest, and has far more reaching consequences than the Dance; because according to Viserys, Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros because he foresaw the Second Long Night and realised that only a Targaryen King could effectively tackle such an event. So he set his sights to the west of Dragonstone, conquered six kingdoms and opened diplomatic channels with the seventh, and unified the western continent into one powerhouse that could fight the War for the Dawn 2.0 unencumbered by petty politics.<\/p>\n
This prophecy was called the Song of Ice and Fire by the Conqueror, and has been passed down from King to Heir since the Iron Throne was established. In a single episode, House of the Dragon managed to portray just how important the power of prophecy was for the Targaryens, and we suspect that it will continue to feature heavily throughout the series.<\/p>\n
Not only that, we might end up seeing some honest-to-god dragonlord magic if House of the Dragon dares to indulge some of the nastier parts of Fire & Blood. Needless to say, we are lapping up every drop of content that Ryan and Miguel are throwing our way, not just because it all looks and feels amazing, but because finally, someone who respects the source material has a chance to have a go at adapting it to his heart\u2019s content.<\/p>\n
Marvelous Verdict<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
The changes from Fire & Blood to House of the Dragon are several, and in no way are they insignificant, but they do not take away from the essence of the story. Episode 1 of House of the Dragon gave you everything you needed to know about the coming conflict without ever being too gratuitous or in-your-face about any of it, and that is probably what made it work so well for us.<\/p>\n
Personally, we can\u2019t wait to see how the remaining 9 episodes adapt George\u2019s work because while the differences are subtle, they are there for sure and we don\u2019t want to stop covering them anytime soon. And with Ryan & Miguel- some of the best creative minds to have worked on Game of Thrones- at the helm of the project, we are confident that they can pull off a nuanced cinematic re-telling of the most-brutal civil war in Westerosi history. All that\u2019s left for us to do is to wait and watch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The global fandom for both Game of Thrones and The Song of Ice and Fire was divided when House of the Dragon was initially revealed. The prequel had the support of half of them, while the other half was extremely apprehensive in the wake of the disastrous final season of Game of Thrones. However, Ryan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":49429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[703],"tags":[20321],"class_list":{"0":"post-49417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mvs-exclusives","8":"tag-biggest-differences-between-fire-blood-book-and-house-of-the-dragon-episode-1"},"yoast_head":"\n
10 Biggest Differences Between Fire & Blood Book And House of the Dragon Episode 1! - Marvelous Videos<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n