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House of the Dragon Season 3, rather unsurprisingly and in some cases inevitably, makes several changes to the book in its opening episode, “Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood.” The premiere kicks off the season in style, with the final 25 minutes or so given over to the Battle of the Gullet, a spectacular sea conflict between the Velaryon fleet and the Triarchy, with the added complication of several dragons. Of course, most of this is drawing from the source material, but because of changes that had already been made, the show simply doing its own thing, and the necessity of invention, it departs in some key ways. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for the opener, as well as for future events from George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood.
A lot of the relatively smaller changes come before we get to the Battle of the Gullet. Pretty much everything with King Aegon II Targaryen at this stage is invention, since he disappears from view in the book after leaving King’s Landing, before re-emerging elsewhere later on. Aemond Targaryen kissing Alicent Hightower was apparently too disturbing for even Mushroom to include in his testimony, but it’s not a major departure from the power dynamics already at play. Some of the others, though, do have a much bigger impact, and in another timeline would perhaps cause a butterfly effect worthy of a blog post or two.
3) Tyland Lannister Dies At The Battle Of The Gullet
This was a rough episode for House Lannister. Lord Jason was killed by the Winter Wolves, with his head delivered by Roddy the Ruin to Daemon Targaryen (itself a change from the books: Jason dies at the Battle at the Red Fork, and the Wolves aren’t involved there). But even more notable was the death of Tyland, who was betrayed and thrown overboard by Sharako Lohar, sinking into the ocean (and while technically he could still be alive, it seems rather unlikely).
Tyland isn’t even involved in the Battle of the Gullet in the book, as he instead remains in King’s Landing. That’s not necessarily a good thing, as when Rhaenyra takes the city, he’s blinded and gelded, though I guess at least still alive, so there’s that. Later, when Aegon II retakes the city, Tyland is freed and begins advising him again, including encouraging him to kill Rhaenyra’s heir, Aegon the Younger. Despite this, when Aegon III does take the Iron Throne at the end of the civil war, Tyland is a loyal servant and even becomes Hand of the King.
The death of Tyland at this stage is notable for what comes after House of the Dragon, but doesn’t have too much impact on the show’s actual story, which is probably why they’ve done it, since we won’t be seeing much, if any, of Aegon III’s reign. Lohar herself dies at a different point in the book: on the page, where the character is a man, they survive the Gullet, but the Triarchy is in disarray afterward, and he’s killed by a rival. Since that isn’t a story that we’d see on-screen, it makes sense to kill Lohar off here and give a proper conclusion to that story.
2) Aegon & Viserys Are Absent From The Battle
In the book, the prelude to the battle is rather different, as it involves Rhaenyra’s two youngest sons, Aegon and Viserys. They’re sailing to Pentos when the ship taking them comes across the Triarchy warships: Viserys is taken prisoner, but Aegon escapes on his young dragon, Stormcloud, and makes it back to Dragonstone. It’s after that Jacaerys (who doesn’t lock his mother inside) flies into action, accompanied not by Baela on Moondancer, but instead Hugh Hammer on Vermithor, Ulf White on Silverwing, Addam of Hull on Seasmoke, and Nettles on Sheepstealer.
Aegon is only around nine years old in the book when that happens, but he’s about five years younger in the show (and Viserys is younger still), and his dragon isn’t big enough to ride. That itself was a choice made by Ryan Condal and the rest of the team, and it has a knock-on effect here: it wouldn’t have made sense for Aegon to be able to fly away from the battle, and even more so, it wouldn’t have been possible to film those scenes with such young actors.
This doesn’t change the outcome of the battle itself, but does impact what comes next. Stormcloud dies after flying Aegon back to Dragonstone, and it’s the beginning of his difficult relationship with the creatures: later, he’s present when Rhaenya is killed by a dragon, and during his reign, the dragons die out completely, earning him the name Dragonbane.
Though he is still alive in the series, it’s unclear how many future events he’ll be involved in, so this could have an impact on both the current story and events in the future. Similarly, Viserys is thought to have been killed in the battle, he actually ends up in Lys, spending a few years there in secret before returning to Westeros, and it seems like that isn’t going to be part of things at all.
1) Rhaena Replaces Nettles – And Loses Control Of Sheepstealer
Rhaena Targaryen claiming Sheepstealer isn’t a shock, as it was very much set up in House of the Dragon Season 2, but it is a change that leads to further deviations, and ones that will have major consequences. In the book, it’s a young bastard girl named Nettles who claims the wild dragon, having gained his trust by leaving out sheep for him to eat each morning. She is present at the Battle of the Gullet, but there is no account of her not being able to control Sheepstealer, nor of the dragon attacking other dragons.
This is the decision that will have the biggest ripple effect. The end result of Jacaerys Velaryon’s death is the same, but now there is someone else to be blamed for it beyond the Triarchy. It isn’t known who the rider on Sheepstealer is – only Jace saw it was Rhaena – but Rhaenyra will no doubt want them found, and if/when she learns it’s Daemon’s daughter, that’s going to cause a lot more family drama. The same is true for Baela, given that her sister is now partly responsible for the death of her betrothed, so the fallout is going to be very different from the book.
The removal of Nettles also has another tangible impact, which is in Daemon’s story. In Fire & Blood, Nettles and Sheepstealer accompany Daemon and Caraxes to the riverlands, where they search for Aemond and Vhagar. The two become extremely close, with some sources saying Daemon comes to care for her as a daughter, but others that they become lovers. It’s the latter that reaches the ear of Rhaenyra, which makes her even more paranoid, factoring into some of her decision-making as ruler (and even wanting Nettles dead).
That storyline can’t be done in the same way given it’s Rhaena, who is very much Daemon’s daughter and someone Rhaenyra knows. They might still do something with her and Daemon, but it means major departures for the futures of all these characters. Condal has explained replacing Nettles with Rhaena, saying:
“It just felt to us that because again, this story is told in point of view, that it felt more apt as this is a family story to where we had the opportunity to involve one of the family members in the storyline. And because Rhaena has been set up since Season 1 as the member of this family who doesn’t have a dragon and basically her sole identity is the Targaryen kid who doesn’t have a dragon, it felt like that was a character that we had already set this long runway for that it could be very satisfying for the TV audience that didn’t have an experience with the book at all to see that character claim a dragon and then in a very, I think, Game of Thrones and Westerosian kind of way, to reap the consequences of having her wish come true. It’s a very monkey’s paw kind of moment for Rhaena. She gets her great wish and it becomes her greatest nightmare.”
Some of that is understandable, and it does help streamline what’s already an expansive cast, but Nettles is a great character, very different as a dragonrider from the others, and her role with Daemon is important, so it’s a real shame to lose that. Hopefully, what they’re going for with Rhaena and Sheepstealer long-term works, and justifies that choice.
New episodes of House of the Dragon Season 3 release on Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.
What do you think of HOTD‘s book changes? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the Forum!
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