Mess with a book fan’s favorite story, and prepare for the fiery fallout.
House of the Dragon, HBO‘s television adaptation of George R.R. Martin‘s 2018 novel Fire & Blood, continues to alter things from the source material, sparking online outrage from viewers — and Martin himself.
After Season 2 aired in 2024, the author and producer wrote on his personal blog that there were “larger and more toxic” changes coming in Seasons 3 and 4. Fans now believe he was referring to storylines involving beloved dragons Dreamfyre and Sunfyre, and Steve Toussaint‘s Corlys Velaryon.
Director Nina Lopez-Corrado addressed the changes with Entertainment Weekly, saying, “We do deviate just a little bit in Episode 7 from what’s originally in the book and, personally, from a character standpoint, what Ryan and the writers did in terms of that really helped evolve the character storylines from what was in the book. I know that’s a very controversial thing to say for diehards, but I think some of the storylines that you’re gonna see in 7 that’ll carry on into 8 were really executed strongly by the writers and also by the actors.”
Here’s an explainer on the major House of the Dragon Season 3 book-to-screen changes.
Dreamfyre
In the novel, Helaena (Phia Saban), the daughter of Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke), has a strong bond with her dragon and is often depicted riding on its back. However, the TV show, which is overseen by showrunner Ryan Condal, has mostly presented Helaena as a character who fears the corruption of dragons.
That’s why book fans were confused in Episode 7 when Helaena, a dreamer who can often see the future, had a vision of herself flying atop Dreamfyre in the dragonpit at King’s Landing. The girl shouts, “Dracarys!,” the High Valyrian word that instructs the scaly creatures to breathe dragonfire, to fight back against the soldiers charging at them.
“Helaena has such a strong feeling about the dragons and she’s torn because she thinks that they do change people and that they’ve changed their whole world, essentially,” Lopez-Corrado explained. “So when she sees herself on the dragon and sees Dreamfyre basically take out all of King’s Landing, internally for her it burns deep. … I think she knows that deep down inside, because she is a Targaryen, there almost is no positive outcome to anything that’s happening in regards to this war in this family. And the dragons, as long as they exist, are going to keep this inner turmoil inside of the Targaryens.”
“Not them doing a complete 180 from the original and book-accurate Dreamfyre … WTF is this show even doing?” a fan of the novels asked on social media.
Taking issue with the appearance of Dreamfyre, an X user posted, “I’m confused. Dreamfyre is supposed to be one of the most beautiful dragons alive. Did the writers deliberately make her look like a nightmare or did the budget run out before they finished the CGI?”
Sunfyre
Also in Episode 7, former King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) was unexpectedly reunited with his dragon, Sunfyre, who apparently met its maker last season during the Battle of Rook’s Rest. With Aegon just moments from certain death at the hands of Rhaenyra’s followers, Sunfyre emerged from the woods and unleashed flames on the citizens, saving the royal’s life.
Once again, this scenario never happened in the novel. Instead, Martin wrote about how Sunfyre barely survived Rook’s Rest by eating scraps until Aegon’s supporters eventually discovered it.
“I think he truly did believe that Sunfyre was dead, and I think Sunfyre was very close to being dead,” Lopez-Corrado revealed. “During the time period in which he was lying there, he did rejuvenate so that he was able to come back. I think a part of his healing process truly had to do with the fact that when Aegon was there, he was gonna die. So I think it helped him rejuvenate enough strength to come back and save him. I think it 100% has to do with the Targaryen line and the connection they have with the dragons. It was a huge, huge reason in the return of Sunfyre.”
On social media, a book reader stated, “I respect the idea of saving the plot and sticking to the books, but there’s truly a better way to make this play out.”
“This is where the writing fails (again),” another viewer wrote about the Sunfyre story. “The writers wanted this resurrection plot so they have the dragon appear dead to literally everyone then come back. And I bet money they won’t explain it.”
Corlys
Another big change this season has to do with Corlys. Following a rift with Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) when she fails to legitimize his bastard sons, Corlys goes out on his own and is soon kidnapped by the duplicitous Ormund Hightower (James Norton). None of that occurred in Fire & Blood.
One fan on social media called what’s happening to Corlys the show’s “biggest character assassination” so far. That sentiment was echoed by a viewer who declared, “Book Corlys, they did you so wrong.”
Another show watcher wrote, “Corlys screaming about bastards in the courtyard is a total invention that radically breaks away from the source material … the book version of Corlys would never crash out in public like this.”
Gold Derby asked Toussaint about his thoughts on the Corlys-Rhaenyra dynamic in Season 3, and he said, “Since she became the declared heir to the throne, it’s always been a complicated relationship. … While he acknowledges her claim and the fact that she is, on the whole, trying to do the right thing, he feels he’d be better off further and further away from her. Later on, he has to assess the sacrifice that he feels he has made for her cause, and the lack of return for it. And that does cause him to reassess where he is at, and what his role should be in this whole conflict.”
‘Disappointing’
Condal has yet to respond to the outrage over the Season 3 alterations, but he told EW in 2025 that it was “disappointing” to hear Martin speak negatively toward the show.
“I will simply say I’ve been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire for almost 25 years now, and working on the show has been truly one of the great privileges of, not only my career as a writer, but my life as a fan of science-fiction and fantasy,” Condal said at the time. “George himself is a monument, a literary icon in addition to a personal hero of mine, and was heavily influential on me coming up as a writer.
“I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, really strong collaboration for a long time. But at some point, as we got deeper down the road, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way. And I think as a showrunner, I have to keep my practical producer hat on and my creative writer, lover-of-the-material hat on at the same time. At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that’s my job. So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday.”
The Season 3 finale of House of the Dragon airs Sunday night on HBO.
