House of the Dragon Season 3: 7 Worst Changes From Fire & Blood, Ranked

House of the Dragon season 3 has finally concluded with the finale episode, and thank heavens for that. The show still boasts some cool moments, but most of it is tedious television. The last couple of seasons of Game of Thrones were terrible, but even they weren’t this dreadfully dull.

Here are some of the biggest and worst changes from George R. R. Martin’s source material in season 3, which premiered in June. More and more, the show appears to deviate from Fire & Blood, and nearly all of the changes hurt the show. Martin himself said it is not his show anymore in a blog post he went on to delete. The list below is ranked from the least damaging change to the most damaging change.

7 Daeron Being Declared King Makes Little Sense

James Norton being cast as Lord Ormund Hightower guaranteed that Ormund will have a bigger role in the show. He was revealed in the show to be this squeamish man who is allergic to bad smells and, it seems, good sense. Instead of supporting the claim of Aegon II, he put forward Daeron, youngest of Viserys and Alicent’s children, as the king, for he harbored a visceral hatred of the Targaryens.

But antagonizing not just the Blacks but also eventually the Greens would be suicide. Once they are done fighting amongst themselves, whoever survives will turn on Ormund, and even Hightower, the seat of his house and the tallest structure in the Seven Kingdoms, will not be able to withstand sustained assault of dragonfire.

6 Corlys Velaryon’s Sidelined Agency

Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake and the greatest seafarer ever, was curiously passive in House of the Dragon season 3. Instead of being the man of action he is known as in the books, he had other people taking action on his behalf. 

This is in contrast to Fire & Blood, where he is not just someone merely standing beside Rhaenyra. He does rebel against her but is then captured by Ormund’s man, John Roxton. He then spends an unknown number of days in dungeons before eventually being freed by Ser Gwayne Hightower. And then he is snatched away by Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), as a prisoner. Let’s hope season 4 changes that.

5 Two Betrayers Become One Betrayer

Two of the Dragonseeds in House of the Dragon season 3 became important weapons for the Blacks this season: Ulf White and Hugh Hammer. But both were destined to betray Rhaenyra, and the seeds were planted earlier in the season. Then, only Ulf does the betraying. He makes his dragon Silverwing spew fire on the Blacks. He was earlier rudely awakened by Ormund, and he burns him alive as well.

Condensing the two betrayers into one takes away from the complexity of the situation. It also makes Rhaenyra’s decision, a desperate gamble, less catastrophic.

4 Turning Alys Into a Prophecy Machine Weakens Her Mystery

Alys Rivers is one of the strangest and most enigmatic figures in the book. And by the time House of the Dragon season 3 ends, we know almost a little too much about her. While Martin took care to imbue her character with mystery and magic, the showrunners abandoned it all by the end. Now, we know she is the wife of Harren Hoare, also called the Black, the man who built Harrenhal Castle.

3 Rhaenyra’s “Prince That Was Promised” Messiah Complex

The showrunners have been accused of shoehorning the Prince That Was Promised or Azor Ahai mythology from GoT and its source material, A Song of Ice and Fire, in House of the Dragon. And it still doesn’t make sense. 

In the finale of season 3, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) gave an impassioned speech about how she is the Prince That Was Promised who was prophesied to fight the sinister darkness that lurks far North (likely meaning Beyond the Wall). Co-creator Ryan Condal has said that it was intended to make her descent into tyranny look believable (via The Hollywood Reporter). It would have a greater effect if GoT had not fumbled the storyline involving the Others. 

2 Rhaena Replacing Nettles Ruins Daemon’s Best Relationship

In Fire & Blood, Nettles is the one who befriends Sheepstealer by feeding him sheep. She also develops a fascinating relationship with Daemon that may or may not be romantic. In any case, she earns Daemon’s affection and respect. Their relationship is hard to pin down, which is what makes it work so well. But the show replaced her with Rhaena, and the relationship becomes just another familial relationship between an absent father and an estranged daughter. 

1 Alicent Helping Rhaenyra Take King’s Landing Undermines the Dance

Alicent (Olivia Cooke) helps Rhaenyra take King’s Landing in a bloodless takeover. The entire premise of the Dance of the Dragons is the bitter enmity between the two women. Alicent was the one who decided, upon her father’s urging, that Viserys wanted Aegon II to rule on his deathbed. She was the one who set the Dance in motion.

The show has always framed their relationship differently from Fire & Blood, but this change takes it too far and radically changes the story for the worse.

What do you think was the worst change from Fire & Blood in season 3? Let us know your ranking in the comments!

House of the Dragon season 3 in its entirety is now streaming on HBO Max.