“House of the Dragon” continued making its own alterations to George R.R. Martin’s source material in the third season of the HBO series.
The “Game of Thrones” prequel has been given quite a lot of flak for the many changes it has made – whether it be including a prophecy teasing the flagship series, or cutting out entire characters. The third season was no different. Tons of things big and small were changed by the time the credits rolled on the penultimate season, that a full running list could prove taxing. But it’s worthwhile to track the largest changes that could have ripples leading into Season 4 of “House of the Dragon.
These are the biggest changes in “House of the Dragon” Season 3.
The Great Betryal, Halved
During The Battle of Tumbleton, Team Black suffers unexpected losses when two of Queen Rhaenyra’s dragonseeds turn on them for Team Green. Both Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer unleash their dragons on the army amidst the battle for the small town after being spoken down to and promised a higher standing if siding with the Hightowers.
In the show, only Ulf is made to seem like the obvious betrayer. His drinking time with the boys is cut way down by the constant needs of Rhaenyra and Daemon – to say nothing of the fact that he is belittled by Daemon in his own neighborhood – so its no shock when he turns his dragon Silverwing on his former allies during the battle. It’s only a partial betrayal in a couple ways though. First, Ulf does not discriminate – he uses his dragons on both armies once he’s in the air. But second, and more notably, Hugh does not join him in the betrayal. He shows up at the battle against orders but does not join in the attack on the Blacks. Instead he enters the city to save his family only to find them dead at the hands of his invading army. That’ll likely catalyze him into changing sides in the final season but a change is a change.
Corlys Captive
Corlys being kidnapped by the Hightowers and held prisoner at Tumbleton was a storyline made up entirely for the show. The Sea Snake does end up in chains at one point during the Dance of the Dragons war but it occurs later in the story. Corlys does not get caught on his back foot following Rhaenyra’s return to King’s Landing and he is not ever held at Tumbleton or even there for the battle itself when it occurs.
Aegon Back on the Board
In the books, when Aegon fled King’s Landing following The Battle of the Gullet he just did a quick swap with Rhaneyra. She took the Red Keep and Aegon went to Dragonstone where he hid as a common fisherman and sat out the war until Sunfyre – whose death was never faked like it was briefly in the show – finds him and he gets motivated to rejoin the fight.
In the show, Aegon trudges across the Riverlands, briefly hiding at Rook’s Rest as a commoner, but decides to make a final suicidal stand against forces headed to Tumbleton. His now-alive dragon makes its return and Aegon takes it not to Dragonstone but to Harrenhal. There he talks with his brother who has been brought to his knees by his time at the hold. Despite knowing that Aemond is the reason he was burned half to death – another thing that didn’t happen in the books – he decides the two can join forces to fight Rhaenyra. Aegon never really left the board but the show is placing him in more direct opposition of the Queen right away for the final season.
Aemond Yearns for His Mom
Yeah this one…whoa. Another thing that was created wholesale for the show and was never a part of the original text. Incest and yearning for a direct family member is not new territory for shows set in Westeros but the mother-son angle of this one was a skin-crawling development for Season 3. Aemond kisses Alicent before he leaves for Harrenhal in the finale and then later at the haunted hold, Alys Rivers further manipulates the prince by appearing as his mother for an extremely troubling sex scene. Could have done without this change, in all honesty.
Rhaena vs. Nettles
Last season confirmed that the dragonseed Nettles was not going to be a character that existed in the show, and rather Daemon’s dragonless daughter Rhaena would be the one to finally tame the wild dragon Sheepstealer. That happens at the end of Season 2 but her Season 3 arc is wildly different. She is at The Battle of the Gullet but her untrained and tamed dragon ends up being a hindrance and leads to Jace’s death. This causes Rhaena to spend most of the season in hiding until Daemon discovers her. He keeps the news a secret from Rhaenyra but that only lasts so long and her learning of it drives a further wedge between the two.
While swapping which characters ride on which dragons seems like an innocent enough change, this one is having more and more ripples into story beats than most.
The Prince Who Was Promised
Rhaenyra officially titled herself The Prince Who Was Promised in the Season 3 finale – a drop that comes directly from the prequel leaning into the Targaryen rulers knowing a prophecy that would turn out to be the events of “Game of Thrones,” which itself was show-created.
In Season 1, after announcing Rhaenyra to be his heir, Viserys confided in his daughter a secret that only Westeros’ rulers knew — a prophecy passed from Aegon the Conqueror called “A Song of Ice and Fire” that told of a coming darkness that would take the entire kingdom united to defeat. This prophecy is what plays out in “Game of Thrones.”
Rhaenyra spins this tale on the entirety of Westeros needing to be unified but — as has been the theme all season — that her dragon might and numbers are the only way to survive. Then she shocks both those in attendance and readers of George R.R. Martin’s books when she claims herself as The Prince That Was Promised, a mythical hero said to be a savior for the world.
In “Game of Thrones,” Melisandre talked often about finding the Prince. Stannis Baratheon thought for most of his time in the story that he might be the Prince, but book fans maintained convinced that Jon Snow was the true claimant to the title. That did not prove to be true in the HBO adaptation but who knows what George planned for the books.
Helaena’s Death
This is the one Martin seemed most concerned about following his blow-up about Season 2 back in 2024. Helaena’s son Maelor had not been born and in the books it’s her young son being killed by a rioting group of King’s Landing residents that ends up with her jumping from the windows of The Red Keep.
Helaena still takes her hop off a high place in the show, but here she’s only pregnant with who was likely Maelor and instead does it following a series of dreams that show her possible futures and fates – all seem largely doomed to die bloody. She leaves one last warning (or threat) to Rhaenyra in the form of an embroidery, and then ends her life.
