{"id":281265,"date":"2026-06-29T16:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/281265\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:44:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:44:55","slug":"house-of-the-dragon-vs-fire-blood-book-changes-in-season-3-episode-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/281265\/","title":{"rendered":"House of the Dragon vs Fire & Blood: Book changes in season 3 episode 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 2.<\/p>\n

If the second episode of season 2<\/a> of\u00a0House of the Dragon<\/a>\u00a0centered around the aftermath of the death of Prince Jaehaerys, the second episode of season 3 deals with the ripples that the death of Prince Jacaerys brings about. Curiously, both episodes were written by Sara Hess and directed by Clare Kilner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

HOTD’s newest chapter has great cinematography but a weak script, with many moments coming across as inconsistent and unnecessary to the plot \u2014 one such gratuitous scene is Lord Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy) attempting to assault Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower<\/a> (Olivia Cook). The only consequence it has is landing Jasper in the dungeons and later being executed by Daemon, but there could have been a myriad of other ways to enact that that didn\u2019t involve Alicent nearly getting raped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How does episode 2 of season 3 of\u00a0House of the Dragon\u00a0compare to\u00a0Fire & Blood<\/a>\u00a0by George R.R. Martin<\/a>? Most plotlines do not exist in the book, while some scenes that are described in detail by Martin are very different here, due to the show taking a different approach to the story. Let\u2019s recap the episode and take a look.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Phoebe<\/p>\n

Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen) in House of the Dragon season 3. Photograph by Theo Whiteman\/HBO.<\/p>\n

Grieving Jace<\/p>\n

After Jace\u2019s (Harry Collett) death<\/a>, Vermithor, Silverwing, and Seasmoke join the Battle of the Gullet<\/a> and contribute to Team Black\u2019s victory over the Triarchy<\/a>, despite their losses. In book canon, they participated in the battle from the start, while Baela (Bethany Antonia) and Moondancer didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The show gifts us an excruciating scene when Rhaenyra Targaryen<\/a> (Emma D\u2019Arcy) sees Jace\u2019s body \u2014 thankfully cleaned of blood and arrows. In full denial over what she is seeing, the Queen asks her dead son what he has done, like a mother scolding a young son for a mischievous prank. D\u2019Arcy\u2019s performance will pierce through every viewer\u2019s heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eaten up by guilt, feeling responsible for Jace\u2019s death, Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell)<\/a> flies back to the Vale on Sheepstealer and begs Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) for asylum; Lady Jeyne grants Rhaena her blindness. Rhaena choosing a life of self-exile hiding in the Vale echoes her much more comfortable stay at the Eyrie in the book, where she is Lady Arryn\u2019s ward for the entire duration of the civil war.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The episode\u2019s only (much needed) comedic scene sees Daemon (Matt Smith)<\/a>, his Riverlands army and the Winter Wolves<\/a> celebrating their victory with a funny little ballad called \u201cFish Feed\u201d and it felt very\u00a0A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/a>-coded. I would like to start a petition to HBO to release the full version of the ballad (and of the various songs from AKOTSK<\/a>, while we\u2019re at it). The levity of the moment is interrupted by the arrival of Daemon\u2019s season 2 bestie and castellan of Harrenhal, Ser Simon Strong (Simon Russell Beale), who hands the Prince a message delivered by raven from Rhaenyra informing him of Jace\u2019s passing, and summoning Daemon home. The Prince charges his men to march to King\u2019s Landing and to leave a garrison at Harrenhal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Gayle<\/p>\n

Gayle Rankin in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Ollie Upton\/HBO.<\/p>\n

Before Daemon leaves the Riverlands, he has an ambiguous parting with Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) in which she asks to be granted Harrenhal. Daemon almost laughs at the absurdity of the request, but promises he may get the queen to grant Alys some other reward. I wonder, is this when Alys turns sour toward Daemon and switches side to the greens? From\u00a0Fire & Blood,\u00a0we do not know of Daemon and Alys interacting; their entire dynamic and Daemon\u2019s arc from season 2 are original to the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sonoya<\/p>\n

Sonoya Mizuno (Mysaria) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Ollie Upton\/HBO.<\/p>\n

Back At Dragonstone<\/p>\n

Finally back on Dragonstone, Daemon has to contend with his former lover Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), who is now Rhaenyra\u2019s closest advisor \u2014 and lover<\/a>, a fact that Daemon senses right away and that leads to two spoken sparring matches. Reunited with his wife, who is understandably harrowed in her grief over losing yet another child to this war, Daemon gives Rhaenyra exactly what she needs: not comfort, but a reason to get up and put an end to all this; a promise for the future, but also a way to avenge her children\u2019s deaths; above all, his rock-solid support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to reinvigorate Rhaenyra, who dons Jace\u2019s sword and announces the plan to what little remains of her Council. It\u2019s ludicrous that Lord Celtigar still tries to caution her \u2014 even if Alicent\u2019s plan is a trap, what better chance will Rhaenyra have than the present moment, with King\u2019s Landing undefended, six grown dragons, and Daemon at her side? Why even write her council\u2019s hesitation, at this point?<\/p>\n

Martin writes of this moment:\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Broken by the loss of one son, Rhaenyra Targaryen seemed to find new strength after the loss of a second. Jace\u2019s death hardened her, burning away her fears, leaving only her anger and her hatred. Still possessed of more dragons than her half- brother, Her Grace now resolved to use them, no matter the cost. She would rain down fire and death upon Aegon and all those who supported him, she told the black council, and either tear him from the Iron Throne or die in the attempt.\u00a0“<\/p>\n

George R.R. Martin, Fire And Blood<\/p>\n

Before Rhaenyra takes off on Syrax, it\u2019s significant to note that it\u2019s Mysaria herself who hands the Queen her crown, symbolically making her queen of the people, as the next episodes will show.<\/p>\n

\"Olivia<\/p>\n

Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower) and Phia Saban (Helaena Targaryen) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Ollie Upton\/HBO.<\/p>\n

Rhaenyra (more or less) Triumphant: Taking King’s Landing<\/p>\n

In King\u2019s Landing, Alicent orders the captain of the Gold Cloaks, Ser Luthor Largent (Tom Cullen), and the castle guards to allow Rhaenyra into the Red Keep and avoid bloodshed. In the book, the plan between Alicent and Rhaenyra does not exist and the exact opposite happens: Alicent closes the city gates; Rhaenyra enters King\u2019s Landing thanks to her and Daemon\u2019s strategy, and the Gold Cloaks choose to rebel against the Greens out of sheer loyalty for Daemon, who had been their captain two decades before. The show gives Alicent credit for merits of Team Black, missing out on this iconic scene:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Queen Alicent\u2019s riders got no farther than the gates, where more gold cloaks took them into custody. Unbeknownst to Her Grace, the seven captains commanding the gates, chosen for their loyalty to King Aegon, had been imprisoned or murdered the moment Caraxes appeared in the sky above the Red Keep…for the rank and file of the City Watch still loved Daemon Targaryen, the Prince of the City who had commanded them of old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Queen Alicent\u2019s brother Ser Gwayne Hightower, second in command of the gold cloaks, rushed to the stables, intending to sound the warning; he was seized, disarmed, and dragged before his commander, Luthor Largent. When Hightower denounced him as a turncloak, Ser Luthor laughed. \u201cDaemon gave us these cloaks,\u201d he said, \u201cand they\u2019re gold no matter how you turn them.\u201d Then he drove his sword through Ser Gwayne\u2019s belly and ordered the city gates opened to the men pouring off the Sea Snake\u2019s ships.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Cullen (Luthor Largent) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Ollie Upton\/HBO.<\/p>\n

In the episode, when Rhaenyra and Daemon land in the capital, most guards surrender, and Daemon creates a path for Rhaenyra by killing anyone who stands in their way and opens the door to the throne room for her. In an image that the show keeps referring back to (think Rhaenyra in 1×01, or Alicent in 3×01, or even Daenerys in\u00a0Game of Thrones<\/a>), Rhaenyra starts walking towards the Iron Throne, when green loyalists come to stand between her and her destination. It\u2019s then that the Gold Cloaks led by Ser Luthor arrive and declare for Rhaenyra. It\u2019s not exactly underwhelming, but it would\u2019ve hit harder if Alicent hadn\u2019t ordered it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If she is to officially seize her rightful throne, Rhaenyra must execute Aegon, the usurper. Of course, he is nowhere to be found, but in the Black Cells beneath the Red Keep, Daemon finds someone to execute in Aegon\u2019s place: Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), Aegon\u2019s grandfather, imprisoned in secret by duplicitous Larys as a gift to Daemon himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Fire & Blood,\u00a0Otto was not a prisoner but still part of the court, and the book\u00a0makes no mention of Rhaenyra beheading him directly, only stating that Otto was the first traitor to be executed, followed by Lord Jasper the Ironrod.<\/p>\n

On the show, Rhaenyra must behead Otto in front of the court as a proxy for Aegon, but the show writers decided she would need to hesitate: \u201cI don\u2019t know if I can.\u201d While I\u2019m generally in favor of showing nuance and humanity and empathy, this is the man responsible for every bad thing that ever happened to Rhaenyra, the man who schemed and plotted to take away her rightful throne ever since she was a girl. The show wrote Rhaenyra pitifully hesitating at the prospect of killing the very architect of all her life\u2019s misfortunes. They had her husband remind her of the obvious fact that everyone is watching and that she must do this if she wants to truly become queen. It\u2019s all a bit on the nose. A valid alternative would have been to have Rhaenyra simply command Daemon to behead the traitors, and her husband would have all too been happy to oblige. It would have reminded the court that she can be ruthless when necessary and that she commands the wildest dragon in the Seven Kingdoms, without exposing her hesitation, which will undoubtedly be seen as a weakness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Ollie Upton\/HBO.<\/p>\n

To encourage Rhaenyra further, Daemon hands her his legendary sword Dark Sister, that once belonged to Queen Visenya herself. Justifiably, Rhaenyra is inexperienced at behading and it takes her two strikes to cut off Otto\u2019s head, while Daemon kills the Ironrod in one quick motion. In a scene the show creators no doubt meant to be allegorical, Rhaenyra steps into Otto\u2019s blood and drags red footprints all the way to the Iron Throne. As if the violence and the corruption stem from her and not Otto himself. When Rhaenyra finally sits the Iron Throne, she looks exhausted. Alicent and Helaena are brought in by guards and they see Otto\u2019s head laying on the pavement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the book, their reunion goes very differently:<\/p>\n

Upon seeing that resistance was hopeless, the Dowager Queen Alicent emerged from Maegor\u2019s Holdfast with her father, Ser Otto Hightower; Ser Tyland Lannister; and Lord Jasper Wylde the Ironrod (Lord Larys Strong was not with them. The master of whisperers had somehow contrived to disappear). Septon Eustace, a witness to what followed, tells us that Queen Alicent attempted to treat with her stepdaughter. \u201cLet us together summon a great council, as the Old King did in days of old,\u201d said the Dowager Queen, \u201cand lay the matter of succession before the lords of the realm.\u201d But Queen Rhaenyra rejected the proposal with scorn. \u201cDo you mistake me for Mushroom?\u201d she asked. \u201cWe both know how this council would rule.\u201d Then she bade her stepmother choose: yield or burn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bowing her head in defeat, Queen Alicent surrendered the keys to the castle and ordered her knights and men-at-arms to lay down their swords. \u201cThe city is yours, Princess,\u201d she is reported to have said, \u201cbut you will not hold it long. The rats play when the cat is gone, but my son Aemond will return with fire and blood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Too bad that the literal rats are everywhere in the Red Keep because Alicent\u2019s son Aegon had all the ratcatchers executed last season and didn\u2019t think of introducing cats to do the job.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the show chose not to have Rhaenyra cut herself on the throne, an ill omen that all courtiers would interpret her as not being worthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bethany<\/p>\n

Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen) and Abubakar Salim (Alyn of Hull) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Theo Whiteman\/HBO.<\/p>\n

How it goes with the Velaryons<\/p>\n

At sea, Corlys\u2019s family searches for him, refusing to believe him dead. No one is more desperate than Alyn (Abubakar Salim) who shares a heart to heart with Baela. Jace\u2019s body is not even cold, and the show is already setting up a new bond for Baela. Spoilers from the book and (possibly) next season: Baela refuses to marry a suitable candidate and instead elopes with Alyn, who may have been born a bastard but is her kin. The two will have a stormy love story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Addam (Clinton Liberty) at last finds Corlys (Steve Toussaint) and we get a lovely family portrait of the four of them (only Rhaena is missing); in this scene, Corlys speaks his line from the book, \u201cIf this be victory, I pray I never see another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Matthew Needham (Larys Strong) and Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon Targaryen) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Theo Whiteman\/HBO.<\/p>\n

How it goes with (the two factions of) Team Green<\/p>\n

Predictably, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Larys (Matthew Needham) escape their captivity. This plotline is show-original.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aemond arrives in Harrenhal on Vhagar and annihilates Daemon\u2019s meek garrison there. With no hesitation or remorse, he kills Ser Simon Strong (RIP, sass king) and his sons \u2014 in the book, he gives the old man a sword, in the episode, he commands him to pick up one, which Ser Simon refuses to do. There is still time for a plot twist: before he dies, Simon\u2019s son deals Aemond a deep blow and the self-proclaimed king collapses\u2026 before none other than Alys Rivers, and begs for help. Will she give it? Will she play mind games with Aemond the same way she did with Daemon?<\/p>\n

\"Simon<\/p>\n

Simon Russell Beale (Simon Strong) in House of the Dragon season 3. | Photograph by Ollie Upton\/HBO.<\/p>\n

This episode had its moments, despite the various inconsistencies \u2014 not with the source material, but with itself. I wouldn’t rate it higher than a B, but I am actually curious to hear reactions from people who have not read\u00a0Fire & Blood:\u00a0what did you make of this episode?<\/p>\n

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