Neither is a traditional novel with a story directly experienced through the eyes of any character.
These sources frequently disagree on major events, for which no true version exists.
And thats leaving out the commentary and bias that Yandel and Gyldayn interject.
That sounds like a fun concept, but it was ultimately abandoned for a more straightforward approach.
Co-creator and showrunnerRyan Condalclaimed thatWere taking the approach [of] playing with the history as it was written.
Essentially, saying that this is the objective truth that happened.
Image via HBO
But the show doesnt really work as that; it cant.
Its a new version all on its own.
Viserys himself is gaunt, sickly, andnot much of a king.
Image via HBO
Over this unhappy court, the clouds of war can only make a grim scene grimmer.
Viserys is said to reign over the height of Targaryen power.
Blacks vs. Greens
It’s not just Viserys whose nature is changed.
Image via HBO
Shes significantly older than Rhaenyra, and the two were not childhood friends.
One might find that too big a leap in too short a span of screen time.
But the show has at least been consistent in making her more guided than a guide.
Image via HBO
Rhaenyra’s attitude toward the Iron Throne has also been altered.
There’s not much sign of her book counterpart’s hot temper or preoccupation with her rights.
Besides characters, details of time and place were played with throughout Season 1.
Image via HBO
House Velaryon
From King’s Landing to Driftmark, changes abound.
From his youngest days, he took to sailing like a fish to water.
Yet those are the choices the show made in adaptingCorlys and Daemons war in the Stepstones.
Image via HBO
On the page and the screen, Corlys is an ambitious man who takes his houses repeated rejections poorly.
It was their son, Laenor, who was considered for kingship.
Some finer details are reworked with the Velaryons too.
Image via HBO
But the change thats most animated the Internet is the Velaryons race.
Who Died, and How?
As of Episode 9, six major deaths have been significantly altered fromFire & Blood.
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The first is Aemma Arryn’s.
The second significantly altered death is Laena Velaryon’s.
Again, the cause of death is the same: childbirth.
But Martins Laena delivers a malformed child who soon dies while on Driftmark.
Laena then makes her wayto Vhagar and orders herself burned alive.
Leanor stages his own death with Correy and flees across the Narrow Sea.
It’s apparentlyan honest mistake, albeit one she probably could have realized with a bit of thought.
Fifth is the death of Rhaenyra’s third child by Daemon.
It’s Rhaenyra’s reaction that is changed.
“She was my only daughter,” the queen says, “and they killed her.
They stole my crown and murdered my daughter, and they shall answer for it.”
Last is the murder of Luke Velaryon.
