“House of the Dragon” changed a lot of things about the plot of “Fire and Blood” – but this scene alone deserves admiration from fans

Since its release in 2022, ‘House of the Dragon’ has elicited mixed feelings from its fans – over the few years of its existence, the series has gained immense popularity among those who couldn’t come to terms with the crumpled ending of ‘Game of Thrones’, but has also repeatedly received a barrage of criticism for the often brutal decisions of its creators.

In this respect, the second season even surpassed the first – the plot changes were so obvious that even Fire and Blood author George Martin was furious, not to mention millions of angry fans. The writers did do one thing right, though – they gave the series a new plot twist that made the whole story even more intriguing than ever before.

We’re talking about perhaps the most epic scene of the entire season: the Battle of Rook’s Rest, in which Aemond Targaryen not only kills Rhaenys Velaryon along with her dragon, but also seriously wounds his brother, King Aegon. And while the latter is indeed defeated in battle in the book, George Martin doesn’t reveal all the cards and doesn’t specify how exactly this happened – but ‘House of the Dragon’ doesn’t even try to hide the fact that Aemond wounded his brother on purpose.

In both Martin’s novel and the show, Aemond’s position is quite clear: he is insulted by his brother and all other family members, because he is confident that he himself could become a much wiser ruler than Aegon.

In the book, Aemond also puts forward his candidacy for the role of King Regent, but since there is no indication in Fire and Blood that he openly attempted to overthrow his brother, his proposal does not seem like something only a true villain could make.

The fight scene between Aegon and Aemond thus became one of the few examples of how the show could change angles while maintaining George R. R. Martin’s central vision.