House of the Dragon Season 2 Leak Hints at Repeating Major GoT's Mistake

House of the Dragon was generally well received by fans and went some way to repairing the damage done by later seasons of Game of Thrones. While it may have been a bit slow at times, the prequel certainly set up the upcoming Dance of the Dragons well and crammed a lot into a single season.

But as filming for Season 2 continues, it appears that we'll be seeing the return of The Wall. Now, anyone who has read Fire and Blood will know that this location does not appear in the book series. And this suggests another departure from the source material – which has some fans fearing the worst.

It's fair to say that Game of Thrones was at its best when it stuck pretty close to the author's original work – and when he was actively involved in writing the show. This makes sense. George R.R. Martin had created a complete narrative that intertwined complex characters and storylines in a world of his own creation.

Regardless of their talent, it was a huge challenge for other writers to work without him and try to maintain consistency. Of course, some of the deviations in GoT occurred while Martin was still a major influence. And it would have been impossible to translate everything from the books to the screen because there is so much content.

But this feels like an unnecessary addition that introduces a new storyline or makes major changes to something in the books. Which begs the question, why?

What is so lacking in the source material that they need to add stuff? Despite the fact that the books are deliberately written from the point of view of unreliable narrators, there is at least enough to go on that doesn't require a new setting.

It's worth noting that Martin has more influence here than in later seasons of Game of Thrones. But deviating from the books is a risky move – especially considering how badly it went for the franchise before.

Even more so when the main thrust of Season 1 was the relationship between Rhaenyra and Alicent – which was itself rewritten for the show – and everything pointed to a focus on the Targaryen civil war, where all the major plot twists and battlegrounds seem to work pretty well on the page. And I'm sure too many people are asking for them to be changed for the screen. In fact, most fans seem to be more concerned with the show respecting the books and being authentic, rather than feeling that the story itself needs to be improved or added to.

Time will tell, of course. But there is a sense that lessons should have been learned about deviating from previous high-profile mistakes.