One scene in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 3, distinctly reminded me of George R.R. Martin’s novels in a subtle way neither TV series has accomplished so far. House of the Dragon and its parent show, Game of Thrones, are based on Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire books, which are regarded as some of the fantasy genre’s most prolific works. Martin constructs his world with immense detail, establishing entire cultures, languages, and histories to the degree that readers like myself can truly dive into and analyze. But there’s importance to the little things, too.

An aspect of House of the Dragon’s second season that I’ve appreciated so far is its attention to the minor houses and castles that make up Westeros. This was an area I found that Game of Thrones, particularly in the later seasons, greatly overlooked. Despite House of the Dragon’s book changes, I find that the show embraces its source material in ways Game of Thrones never had time to, with an apparent focus on subtle details like military strategy and, in one scene, food.

House Of The Dragon’s Harrenhal Scenes Remind Me Of GRRM’s Food Descriptions

Simon Strong’s Introduction Involves A Discussion About Harrenhal’s Venison & Peas

In season 2, episode 3, Daemon captures the cursed castle of Harrenhal, and we’re introduced to Ser Simon Strong, played delightfully by the great Sir Simon Russell Beale. He welcomes Daemon to his table and invites him to dine, speaking of his venison, the chef’s peas, and the lack of redcurrant. It’s a charming scene, and it reminded me of George R.R. Martin’s lengthy, detailed food descriptions in the A Song of Ice & Fire series.

I find Martin’s writing style to be compact and easy to read, with a focus on sharp dialogue. As much as I admire fantasy authors like J.R.R. Tolkien or Robert Jordan, I’m partial to ASOIAF in that I’m spending a majority of my reading examining conversations, as opposed to lengthy descriptive text to build the world. But if there are two things that Martin will spend a good number of words describing in detail, they’re sex and food. His descriptions of feasts are enough to make the mouth water, and they serve a purpose in his text.

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Why The Food Scenes In A Song Of Ice & Fire Are Important

Food Is Crucial To Character And World Design In ASOIAF

Food in A Song of Ice & Fire is vital to world-building and character-building. There’s a clear line distinguishing the haves and have-nots in Westeros, with food often demonstrating the gluttony and ignorance of the nobles. Passages in A Game of Thrones show Lord Commander Jeor Mormont complaining about eating the same venison meal for days in a row, showing the dire straits of the Night’s Watch. Meanwhile, King Robert Baratheon sends the realm in debt for feasts, parties, and tournaments.

Food speaks to the lifestyle of leadership. During a siege, Stannis Baratheon eats horses, dogs, and rats with his men to survive, while King Joffrey Baratheon holds feasts while the people of King’s Landing starve to death. It will be fascinating to see this dynamic change even more during winter in The Winds of Winter when food becomes even more scarce. House of the Dragon’s subtle detail with Simon Strong exemplifies this aspect of the novels, and I appreciate the show all the more for it.

How Else House Of The Dragon Lives Up To GRRM’s ASOIAF Books

House of the Dragon fixes a couple of Game of Thrones mistakes.

HBO’s House of the Dragon is set in the same universe as Game of Thrones, yet I believe the former is arguably a slightly more faithful adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s ASOIAF than the latter. Although House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones cover very different periods, the new series took into consideration some of the criticism the original show received regarding the portrayal of Westeros and the world of ASOIAF as a whole. The biggest example of this is the Iron Throne, which looks different in House of the Dragon compared to Game of Thrones.

The Iron Throne in House of the Dragon is bigger and more imposing than the one in Game of Thrones. While it is not as large as the one described in the books, it is a more faithful recreation of the Iron Throne as envisioned by George R.R. Martin. Another small but important detail is the inclusion of “the Rhoynar” whenever a king is being announced. I was disappointed that Game of Thrones would often only use “King of the Andals and the First Men,” but House of the Dragon has fortunately mentioned “the Rhoynar” a couple of times.

House Of The Dragon’s Biggest Difference From Fire & Blood Makes It Even Better

House of the Dragon can be seen as the “true story” of the Dance of Dragons.

George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based, presents itself as an in-universe history book that documents the full history of House Targaryen in Westeros. This in-universe historical research was done by Archmaester Gyldayn using several sources. Those include the Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling by Grand Maester Munkun, and the verbal testimony of Mushroom, a court fool who claimed to have inside knowledge. On many occasions, Fire & Blood presents two or even more versions of an event and points out that the sources are conflicting.

From whether a character whose body was never found was actually alive to what words were said before an execution, Fire & Blood does not have all the answers and leaves a lot for readers to decide – similar to any real history book. When bringing the Dance of the Dragons, arguably the second most important event accounted in Fire & Blood after Aegon’s Conquest, to the screen, HBO was bound to make some big changes to the source material. House of the Dragon does not present itself as the result of a Grand Maester’s research but rather as the “true story” as it happened.

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My favorite way of looking at House of the Dragon is as if it is the definitive version of the Dance of the Dragons, whereas Fire & Blood is a more contradictory narrative due to its different sources. This also serves as an in-universe explanation for House of the Dragon’s book changes – maybe not everything in Gyldayn’s research was accurate after all. After the astonishing success of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon likely has more freedom to embrace all sorts of aspects of George R.R. Martin’s ASOIAF books, even though it also makes some big changes to the source material.

House of the Dragon

Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria. The popular HBO spinoff show first starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series is Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.

Cast

Jefferson Hall , Paddy Considine , Fabien Frankel , Ryan Corr , Eve Best , Gavin Spokes , Graham McTavish , Steve Toussaint , Olivia Cooke , Sonoya Mizuno , Bill Paterson , Matthew Needham , Emma D’Arcy , Matt Smith , Rhys Ifans , David Horovitch

Release Date

August 21, 2022

Seasons

2

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