The fourth chapter of “House of the Dragon 2,” titled “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” premiered on July 7 and featured a legendary fight between members of the Green Council and the Black Council riding their dragons, namely the Aegon II. , Rhaenys and Aemond Targaryen. However, the book “Fire and Blood” reveals that this period saw significant changes for the TV series. Below, we explain the details.
“House of the Dragon 2” rewrites Rook’s Rest Battle with key changes
It all started at the Battle of Rook’s Rest, where Ser Criston Cole, along with his army, decided to attack the castle there to provoke his enemy into sending a dragon. The strategy worked, as Rhaenys offered to go with Meleys. At the same time, we see Aegon II preparing to join the war on his own accord, feeling useless for not coming up with workable plans and appearing as a “weak” king to his Council.
As soon as the attack begins, Rhaenys appears with her dragon and shortly afterwards Aegon II appears riding Sunfyre, which surprises Cole as the monarch’s arrival was not planned. After an intense battle, we see Sunfyre seriously injured. This is when Aemond arrives with Vhagar, who was part of the original plan.
In the books Aemond does not burn his brother on purpose.
Although it looked like Aemond would help his brother, he suddenly betrays him and makes his dragon breathe fire, causing Sunfyre to fall. However, this act never occurs in the play “Fire and Blood”. In the book, the two brothers work together to take down Meleys, which they do after a fierce battle, although Aegon suffers wounds and burns all over his body.
Likewise, in the TV show, once Rhaenys dies, Aemond seems to want to finish off his brother by stabbing him with a dagger when he’s almost dead. However, he doesn’t because Criston Cole interrupts him. This assassination attempt is not even in the book.
In “House of the Dragon”, we have seen how Aemond has a latent resentment towards Aegon II, since he thinks he would do a better role as king and his whole life has been humiliated by his comments. So her trying to kill him makes sense in the series.
In the book, after the event of Rook’s Rest, Aemond simply ascends to the Iron Throne as Prince Regent due to his brother’s serious injuries, ruling for about a year. There is no mention of hatred towards Aegon II.
This little detail adds a lot more drama to the Targaryen family relationship, since Aemond would have every intention of becoming king, even if it means killing his own brother. Additionally, in the TV narrative, Aegon II has no male heirs, so Aemond has the right to remain on the Throne.
While the new trailer for the chapter doesn’t reveal what will happen to the crown or whether Aegon will stay alive in the TV drama, it would make sense to honor those two events to give way to the conflict between Aemond Targaryen and Daemon’s uncle.
Did you like these changes or do you think they were overkill?
Source: univision
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
