See what House of the Dragon characters look like in the book and series

Who thought they had abandoned Westeros after the finale — disastrous, including - of Game of Thrones got it wrong. Now, with the arrival of the series House of the Dragon, spin off family focused Targaryen, it is impossible not to board the first boat, dragon or direwolf back to the world of medieval fantasy.

Despite the resemblance to Daenerys and Viserys, the characters in House of the Dragon appear as a different family. Instead of looking for the glory of the ancestors, it is possible to see up close the grandeur of the house that bears the coat of arms with the three-headed dragon.

But as the world of Westeros is huge and there is no shortage of family intrigue here, it can be difficult to follow and know how to differentiate between the characters of House of the Dragon. Or even understand where the spin off of Game of Thrones and its entire universe created by George RR Martin. But do not worry! We'll explain it straight to you below.

CAUTION: From here, the night is dark and full of spoilers.

What book is House of the Dragon based on?

A série House of the Dragon, Meaning The Dragon House in Portuguese, was based on the book fire and blood, written by George RR Martin. While Game of Thrones is based on the literary saga The Chronicles of ice and Fire, the new series uses the other book as a backdrop.

Em The Chronicles of ice and Fire, Martin chronicles the events that lasted throughout the seasons of the famous original series. However, even with five volumes published so far, the saga is still not It was completed. So if you were disappointed (most likely yes) with the end of the series, you can rest assured: the books may have a different ending.

The important point is that Game of Thrones had material to develop over several seasons, as it was made on top of five books, some with more than 800 pages. The Targaryen saga, however, was published in just two volumes – and is already considered finished.

House of the Dragon focuses on the silver-haired family 300 years after the events of Game of Thrones. That is, Fire and Blood takes a close look at the power of the kings who ruled Westeros, terrorized with their dragons and built the iconic Iron Throne.

As the regnal years of the Targaryen dynasty progress, we approach Aerys II, the crazy. The name is not strange: he is the king killed by Jaime Lannister, who was of his royal guard and gave Cersei's twin the title of regicide.

Although we are talking about only two books, the vastness of events could yield several seasons to this series. There is still to unfold the famous Dance of the Dragons — the battle that resulted in the deaths of the giant creatures — and the entire fall of the empire of the most powerful family in Westeros. 

The adaptation of Fire and Blood

The book tells the story of the Targaryens from the beginning. We follow Aegon II, the Conqueror, ruling the Seven Kingdoms after the Targaryens became the only dragon family to survive the Destruction of Valyria.

However, House of the Dragon starts out differently. A century has passed since the Targaryen Dynasty. Now the focus is on the decision of the successor to the throne. The governor of the Seven Kingdoms, Jaehaerys I, the Sage, played by Michael Carter, is old and on the verge of death.

And the first episode was exactly what fans needed: epic scenes, dragons and the breathtaking script for anyone who has closely followed the weekly releases of Game of Thrones episodes. However, if you expect a completely faithful adaptation of the book, you may be disappointed.

Main differences between the series and the book of The House of the Dragon

The decision of who succeeds the dynasty of A Casa do Dragão

Despite what is shown in House of the Dragon, King Jaehaerys was not in the Council's final deliberation. The king, in the book, is already weakened and would not be able to participate in the ceremony or deliberation because of his advanced age. The king grew old and lay in bed until he died.

Another important point in the deliberation of who will succeed King Jaehearys. In House of the Dragon, Viserys (Paddy considine), competes against Rhaenys (Eve best). In Fire and Blood, because of Rhaenys' gender, Viserys is an opponent of Rhaenys' son Laenor (Matthew Carver).

House of the Dragon character changes

In the dispute for the throne of the family, there is a difference of who competes against Viserys. Instead of being Rhaenys, the book places Laenor Velaryon as a possible heir, as her mother is ruled out just for being female. In this case, the medieval fantasy book kept the patriarchal trait of not allowing the woman to assume the throne if she already had a son.

A curious point is that, so far, it is not reported that Viserys' wife, Aemma (played by sian brooke), is actually from House Arryn. In case you don't remember: the family has a bird as a shield and is the original home of Catelyn Stark.

However, despite being of House Arryn, Aemma also has the blood of Targaryen royalty, which causes her to have the same silver hair. Speaking of which…

Silver hair and lilac eyes

This was one of the main physical differences of the adaptation — both in House of the Dragon and in Game of Thrones. In the books, the Targaryens have silver hair and lilac eyes. Although the hair appeared that way on screen, the eyes characteristic of the dragon family remained only on the pages written by George RR Martin.

"Why does it matter?" It may not seem like much, but the Targaryens had a culture of only marrying each other to maintain their “blood purity” and, therefore, their physical characteristics. So incest was not only common among the dragon family, but encouraged and even mandatory. Aegon I the Conqueror, for example, married his two sisters.

Age difference

Viserys Targaryen appears as an older man in House of the Dragon, while in the books he was only 26 years old. He became known as “The Young King” when he ascended the throne.

In the series, we also see the growing friendship between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) and Lady Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey). In the books, however, Alicent is 10 years older than Rhaenyra, while in the series they appear to be the same age group. In reality, Rhaenyra should be seven years old, while Alicent would already be considered an adult, at 17.

Alicent and the Targaryens

In addition to the age difference point, the series also shows the two as court mates, friends and with an extremely close relationship.

With Alicent's introduction to the court and her rapprochement with Rhaenyra, it is possible to see a move by the Hightowers to join the royal family in order to seal Alicent's marriage to the Targaryens. Alicent marries Viserys, Rhaenyra's father. 

The friendship between the two, however, does not exist in the books. This indicates that the series is moving towards a more complex relationship between them, as it created this bond before the circumstance of Alicent and Viserys' marriage.

Alicent also has another role in the book: she was responsible for taking care of King Jaehaerys in the books, while he was bedridden. She would read to him for days to soothe the dying king. The series does not focus on that, but rather on Alicent's relationship with the young King Viserys.

In the book, it's not clear, but the series made a point of showing that Otto Hightower's goal in bringing Alicent to court was to prepare her as the next queen of Westeros.

This was shown with Alicent's relationship with the dying Jaehaerys. However, when the old king dies in House of the Dragon, her father guides her to go to Viserys' quarters and thus become involved with the young king.

One gossip that has apparently been left out is why Ser Otto Hightower hates Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith): he would have taken Alicent's virginity. This "fact" is considered a rumor, as even the book signals that this could be false information released by the court.

The relationship between Viserys and Rhaenyra

While in the books Viserys' love for his daughter Rhaenyra is made explicit with his desire to make her an heiress, the series presents him as distant from her.

In the adaptation, King Viserys is only interested in his daughter after the death of his wife Aemma and son in childbirth. During the first moments of House of the Dragon, the king doesn't pay enough attention to Rhaenyra, which would explain her rapprochement with Alicent in the HBO version.

Even dragons are different characters

The Game of Thrones spin-off also differs from the book in terms of the depiction of dragons. An example is with Syrax, the female dragon of Rhaenyra. In the series, the majestic beast appears with Rhaenyra and is later given over to the dragon keepers. Already in the books, Syrax is considered a "cut" dragon - that is, one of the most pampered dragons, as well as its owner.

And when we imagine that little Targaryen has a strong personality, she would never leave her dragon to her caretakers. 

Another interesting point in the scene is that the keepers communicate with Syrax in Valerian, showing the dragons' important relationship with the ancient language.

Different timelines between book and series

In the series, we are then transported to the ninth year of King Viserys' reign first. As explained on screen, the period takes place 172 years before the death of Aerys II, the Mad King, and before the birth of the Daughter of the Storm, First of Her Name, Mother of Dragons and Liberator of Slaves: Daenerys Targaryen. 

Daenerys, for example, is 15 years old when Game of Thrones, the first book, begins and she is sold by her brother to the Dothraki. So she was born in 284 BC, so The House of the Dragon takes place in 112 BC. However, with Daenerys' birthday being moved to 281 BC for age reasons (for the film adaptation), House of the Dragon would take place in 109 BC. 

"And why is that a problem?" With that date, the tournament chronologically becomes one year before the birth of Viserys' son. Going by the books, it's as if the tournament was made exactly to celebrate the rise of Viserys, in 104 BC However, with that chronology, it's as if Aemma stayed alive for another nine years in the world of House of the Dragon, for example, much more than his experience in the book Fire and Blood. 

That is, even though it seems small, the timeline is still a difference between the adaptation and the original creation by George RR Martin.

Corlys Velaryon was not of the Small Council

Known as the Sea Serpent, Corlys (steve toussaint) was not a member of the Small Council as shown in House of the Dragon. Instead, he was one of the greatest navigators in the Seven Kingdoms. Known for being restless and adventurous, it's hard to imagine he would accept being called upon from time to time to sort out royal bureaucracies rather than exploring the seas of Westeros.

Hightower: The difference in the family

House Hightower is considered one of the oldest and most powerful houses in Westeros, rumored to be as wealthy as the Lannisters. In the portrayal of the family members in the series The House of the Dragon and in the book Fire and Blood, however, some points were changed for the HBO adaptation.

In the literary work, Alicent's mother's death is never directly said, however, in House of the Dragon, her mother's death is not implied but stated as fact.

Another change is in the age of Gwayne Hightower. Alicent's brother appears in the books as the youngest in the family; in the series, however, he is described as the oldest. 

Will the changes affect the series?

For now, the differences between the book and the adaptation are small. And as always with adaptations: they are natural. 

To learn how these exchanges will affect the history and unfolding of the Targaryen family with upcoming episodes of House of the Dragon. At least so far, the essence filled with dragons, grandeur and family drama hasn't left anything to be desired for the general public.

And the next episodes?

And you can be sure: the series will still have many dragons and battles, but the backbone remains human conflicts, love, hate and all the character development that make us hate, love, cheer and want to see someone die somewhere. of the series' episodes. George RR Martin himself guaranteed it. Now, just wait for the next episode!

Three episodes of House of the Dragon, or The House of the Dragon, are now available on HBO Max. The chapters of the Targaryen saga are released in the streaming every Sunday at 22pm.

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Also access other related content on Showmetech. See our review and everything that happened in the most recent episode of The House of the Dragon.