Warning: Major spoilers through "House of the Dragon" season three, episode two.
"House of the Dragon" has returned for its third season, continuing its tradition of expanding on the source material.
HBO's flagship "Game of Thrones" spinoff is based on George R. R. Martin's "Fire & Blood," a fictional history of House Targaryen. The book is written as an overview of major events during the dynasty's reign.
Unlike Martin's main series ("A Song of Ice and Fire," which inspired "Game of Thrones"), "Fire & Blood" is not told from the major characters' points of view but is recounted in retrospect by maesters, members of the royal court, and other third-party observers.
Thus, "Fire & Blood" readers don't get definitive causes or clear motivations for why characters take certain actions — and, in some cases, the book may be missing key in-universe information. As the "Fire & Blood" narrator frequently notes, not even eyewitness accounts are entirely reliable. His sources often disagree, each saddled with unique baggage, blind spots, and biases.
This means the TV writers hired for HBO's adaptation had a lot more leeway with the story and an opportunity to create a consistent canon of events.
So let's take a closer look at some of the pivotal "House of the Dragon" deaths so far, and how they compare to the details found in "Fire & Blood."
Aemma's final moments of life are made more brutal by Viserys opting for a C-section.
In the show: Director Miguel Sapochnik says the scene that killed Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke) was designed to show how King Viserys (Paddy Considine) "effectively murdered" his beloved wife.
When Aemma goes into labor, her baby is facing the wrong direction, and the maesters can't get it to turn. This means Aemma will certainly die, but there's a small chance they can save the baby by cutting it out of her.
The maester offers the choice to Viserys, who picks the surgery without consulting Aemma or telling her what's about to happen. Instead, she's dragged down on the bed and restrained while the maester cuts open her belly. She bleeds to death as the baby is "born."
In the book: Death by childbirth is fairly commonplace in Westeros, and it's treated as such in the text. "Fire & Blood" provides no details or context to Aemma's death, and doesn't mention Viserys being a part of the labor and delivery process at all:
"Queen Aemma was brought to bed in Maegor's Holdfast and died whilst giving birth to the son that Viserys Targaryen had desired for so long. The boy (named Baelon, after the king's father) survived her only by a day, leaving king and court bereft."Rhea's death in the book is regarded as a "hunting accident" instead of cold-blooded murder.
In the show: In season one, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) is married to Lady Rhea Royce (Rachel Redford), though neither is particularly happy about it.
Hoping to marry his royal niece instead, Daemon sneaks up on Rhea during a hunting trip and spooks her horse. After she's thrown, Rhea is paralyzed from the neck down and unable to fight back. She lobs insults at Daemon until he picks up a rock and bashes in her skull.
In the book: According to the historical record, Rhea's death was "a tragic mishap." Daemon is not suspected of being involved:
"The 'bronze bitch' of Runestone, Lady Rhea Royce, fell from her horse whilst hawking and cracked her skull upon a stone. She lingered for nine days before finally feeling well enough to leave her bed…only to collapse and die within an hour of rising."Joffrey is killed by Criston in both the show and the book, but in "Fire & Blood," his death happens under the guise of a tourney.
In the show: While still teenagers, Lord Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate) and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) agree to get married — not out of love, but duty to their families. They also secretly agree to keep their marriage open, since Laenor is gay, and Rhaenyra is having an affair with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel).
Ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), Laenor's lover, outs himself to Criston as the future king consort's boyfriend. Big mistake.
Cole, embarrassed and infuriated by the exposure of his own secret tryst with Rhaenyra, lashes out and beats Joffrey to death in the middle of the wedding welcome feast.
In the book: "Fire & Blood" historians recall that Joffrey was killed by Criston during a tourney, during which Criston had been "fighting in a black fury" against all his opponents. Joffrey's relationship with Laenor isn't mentioned as a possible motivation for his death:
"Cole's favorite weapon was the morningstar, and the blows he rained down on Ser Laenor's champion cracked his helm and left him senseless in the mud. Borne bloody from the field, Ser Joffrey died without recovering consciousness six days later."Harwin and Lyonel canonically die in a fire at Harrenhal, but the show clarifies the arsonist.
In the show: House Strong controls Harrenhal, the largest castle in the Riverlands. It's where Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr) and his father, Lyonel Strong (Gavin Spokes), meet their doom after leaving King's Landing in season one.
"House of the Dragon" makes it clear who to blame: Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), a sneaky man who wants leverage on Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke), hires two miscreants to set the castle ablaze in one of the show's most egregious acts of kinslaying. As an added bonus, with his older brother and father both dead, Larys inherits Harrenhal.
In the book: Harwin and Lyonel are indeed killed in a mysterious fire at Harrenhal, but Larys is floated as just one of several suspects for the arson:
"Shortly after their arrival, a fire broke out in the tower where they were sleeping, and both father and son were killed, along with three of their retainers and a dozen servants. The cause of the fire was never determined. Some put it down to simple mischance, whilst others muttered that Black Harren's seat was cursed and brought only doom to any man who held it.Many suspected the blaze was set intentionally. Mushroom suggests that the Sea Snake was behind it, as an act of vengeance against the man who had cuckolded his son. Septon Eustace, more plausibly, suspects Prince Daemon, removing a rival for Princess Rhaenyra's affections. Others have put forth the notion that Larys Clubfoot might have been responsible; with his father and elder brother dead, Larys Strong became the Lord of Harrenhal.The most disturbing possibility was advanced by none other than Grand Maester Mellos, who muses that the king himself might have given the command. If Viserys had come to accept that the rumors about the parentage of Rhaenyra's children were true, he might well have wished to remove the man who had dishonored his daughter, lest he somehow reveal the bastardy of her sons. Were that so, Lyonel Strong's death was an unfortunate accident, for his lordship's decision to see his son back to Harrenhal had been unforeseen."Like Aemma, Laena's cause of death isn't detailed in the book beyond childbirth. The show gives her a fiery end.
In the show: Just like Aemma, Lady Laena Velaryon (Nanna Blondell) is unable to safely deliver her baby. A medieval C-section offers a tiny chance for the baby's survival, and Laena's husband, Daemon, is given that option.
But Laena takes her fate into her own hands and opts for a dragonrider's death. While still in labor, she orders her dragon, Vhagar, to incinerate her.
In the book: Laena officially dies of "childbed fever" and apparently doesn't make it to Vhagar in time:
"During her final hour, it is said, Lady Laena rose from her bed, pushed away the septas praying over her, and made her way from her room, intent on reaching Vhagar that she might fly one last time before she died. Her strength failed her on the tower steps, however, and it was there she collapsed and died."Laenor fakes his own death in a big change from the book.
In the show: Even after marrying and having children with other people, Daemon and Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) are drawn to each other. They want to make it official as husband and wife, but Rhaenyra is trapped in a lavender marriage with Laenor (John MacMillan).
Daemon and Rhaenyra seem to conspire to kill Laenor so they can finally be together — and that's what Laenor's mother long believed — but the show reveals that Laenor was in cahoots with the couple all along.
Daemon kills a High Tide castle servant while Laenor and his lover, Qarl, stage a sword fight in the main hall. After another servant runs to get help, Daemon presumably helps Laenor dress the body of the dead servant in his own clothes, and they burn the servant's face beyond recognition.
Laenor and Qarl sneak away to Essos with Daemon's help, leaving the realm to gossip about the tragic and fishy death of Rhaenyra's husband.
In the book: Qarl stabs Laenor in broad daylight. Rumors spread that it was an act of passionate jealousy, or maybe a murder plot, but no damning evidence was ever collected:
"Ser Laenor Velaryon, husband to the Princess Rhaenyra and the putative father of her children, was slain whilst attending a fair in Spicetown, stabbed to death by his friend and companion Ser Qarl Correy. The two men had been quarreling loudly before blades were drawn, merchants at the fair told Lord Velaryon when he came to collect his son's body. Correy had fled by then, wounding several men who tried to hinder him. Some claimed a ship had been waiting for him offshore. He was never seen again."In the book, Otto Hightower is executed as a traitor. The show makes his death more climactic by having Rhaenyra swing the sword.
In the show: After he's unceremoniously removed as Hand of the King by his grandson, King Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), viewers barely see Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) until his death.
Otto tells his daughter, Alicent, that he's returning to House Hightower's seat in Oldtown, though she finds it odd that he doesn't answer any of her letters.
Upon Rhaenyra's return to King's Landing, we discover that Otto never made it home. He was captured and imprisoned in the Red Keep's dungeon by none other than Larys, Aegon's master of whisperers.
Otto is brought before Rhaenyra, and Daemon urges her to execute Aegon's former Hand as a traitor. "If you wish to rule," he says, "show them you do not waver."
Unfortunately, Rhaenyra was raised to be a lady, not a knight. She has never beheaded anyone — let alone the father of her childhood best friend. She panics and misses Otto's neck on her first stroke, burying her sword in his shoulder blades. On her second stroke, Rhaenyra cuts off Otto's head, choking back sobs.
In the book: When Rhaenyra takes the Iron Throne in "Fire & Blood," it's said that she set about "rewarding her friends and inflicting savage punishments on those who had served her half-brother." Otto is simply listed as the first traitor to die under Rhaenyra's rule, sans any grisly or personal details:
"Queen Alicent was fettered at wrist and ankle with golden chains, though her stepdaughter spared her life 'for the sake of our father, who loved you once.' Her own father was less fortunate. Ser Otto Hightower, who had served three kings as Hand, was the first traitor to be beheaded."
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Kim was an entertainment correspondent for Insider. She was best known as Insider's resident "Game of Thrones" analyst, and authored "The Unofficial Guide to Game of Thrones." Kim moderated panels for the annual Con of Thrones fan convention and made guest appearances on podcasts including "Night's Cast," "Bald Move," and "Game of Owns." She co-hosts the "House of the Dragon" unofficial recap podcast "A Cast of Kings."Kim covered other sci-fi and fantasy series, including "Stranger Things," "Dark," "Westworld," "The OA," and more. Kim graduated from Hunter College with a degree in cultural anthropology.
Callie Ahlgrim is a senior reporter at Business Insider who writes about pop culture, with a special focus on the music industry.As a cofounding member of BI's music vertical, Callie has covered a range of hot topics at the intersection of art, celebrity culture, and business: the political implications of Bad Bunny's success; the symbolism of Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show; the impact of Beyoncé's blockbuster country album; the mythology of Frank Ocean; the promotional power of TikTok; the brand strategies of stars like Morgan Wallen, Addison Rae, Chappell Roan, and Katy Perry; the modern challenges of making money as a musician; and more.Callie is a two-time finalist at the LA Press Club Awards, most recently earning second place in "Commentary Analysis/Trend, Music, Online" for "Taylor Swift's new era."She graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, a Bachelor of Arts in English, and a minor in Spanish. She previously wrote columns for Man Repeller and Elle magazine.
