House of the Dragon Season 2 Makes Big Deviation From the Book
Not for the first time though…
As a rule of thumb, screen adaptations diverge from their source material pretty significantly. For instance, HBO's Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon's parent show, changed many small details from the books — from characters' appearances to certain plotlines — and even the show's finale had to be written before George R. R. Martin finished the series.
This just goes to show that there's nothing particularly disturbing about showrunners taking a few creative liberties in their adaptations.
House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones, premiered in 2022, garnering a mixed and controversial response from critics. However, it proved to be very popular with the original show's fans — so much so that HBO quickly greenlit a second season, which is now scheduled for release in 2024. Based on Martin's Fire & Blood, the series deviates from the source every so often, and the upcoming Season 2 is apparently going to do just that again.
Let's start by remembering the changes that have already been made. In the book, the Targaryens and Velaryons have silvery hairy, snow-white skin, and purplish eyes while House of the Dragon's cast is more racially diverse, with the Velaryons being portrayed by Black actors.
Storytelling has also been altered. The book is a compilation of different characters' recollections of the events, unsynchronized and distorted by imperfect human memory. Of course, the adaptation had to change this storytelling approach, instead providing viewers with a clear linear narrative of events put in chronological order.
In this light, it is only natural to expect House of the Dragon Season 2 to deviate from its source material some more. A recent video posted on YouTube gives us a glimpse of the second season's set. Surprisingly, it turns out that The Wall is going to be part of the upcoming installment.
As readers may recall, The Wall was never mentioned in Fire & Blood. However, since we saw Jacaerys Velaryon paying Lord Cregan Stark a visit at the end of Season 1, there's no reason why they shouldn't take a trip to The Wall in the upcoming season. Given that the two characters made great friends with one another, it would be appropriate if Cregan decided to show his new pal the greatest construction ever.
However, these are just fan theories at the moment, so The Wall may play a different role in the new season. In any case, it would be exciting for fans to see the fortification again, four years after we last saw it in Games of Thrones.