Differences between books and TV series - Season 6

While the storylines for Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister caught up with the current novels by the end of Season 5, many other storylines did not. The Greyjoy and Tully/Frey, and Samwell/Gilly/journey to Oldtown subplots are pushed back from the fourth novel, A Feast for Crows. The Arya and Bran subplots continue from the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons, along with parts of the Davos, Small Council, Dorne, and Meereen subplots.

The Red Woman

 * Myrcella, Doran Martell, Trystane, Areo Hotah and maester Caleotte are alive. Ellaria and the Sand Snakes never plotted to harm any of them.
 * Myrcella was attacked by Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne. She survived but was permanently disfigured. At that point, she is on the way back to King's Landing, accompanied by Nymeria Sand, and Trystane remains at Sunspear.
 * Davos, Alliser Thorne and Eddison Tollett are not present at the Wall in the immediate aftermath of Jon Snow's assassination: Davos was sent earlier by Stannis to the White Harbor; Thorne was sent by Jon to scout beyond the Wall, and he has not returned yet; Eddison Tollett was sent by Jon to Long Barrow, assigned as the chief steward.
 * No Bolton soldiers catch up with Theon Greyjoy and Jeyne Poole (Ramsay's wife in the books).
 * Theon and Jeyne are found by Mors Umber instead of Brienne and Podrick and are sent to Stannis' camp. Stannis plans to execute Theon and send Jeyne (who is still impersonating Arya Stark) to the Wall before he attacks Winterfell. Theon also reunites with his sister Asha (Yara) who has also been captured by Stannis.
 * Arya is not routinely attacked while she is a blind beggar. Instead, she is attacked daily by a man she cannot see while cleaning dead bodies in the House of Black and White. The attacker turns out to be the Kindly Man, who is Jaqen in the TV series.
 * Kevan, not Jaime, tells Cersei the news about Myrcella. Cersei believes Tyrion is responsible. At that point, Jaime is not present at King's Landing, therefore he has no idea about what happened to his daughter. He is in the Riverlands, leading the Lannister troops to Riverrun.
 * The bloodriders Aggo and Rakharo, not Jorah and Daario, go to search for Daenerys. Daario is currently held a hostage by the Yunkai, and Jorah is with Tyrion as a member of the Second Sons.
 * Cersei never comments in the books that Myrcella's personality is the opposite of hers.
 * Myranda does not exist in the books. Two of Ramsay's servants, Yellow Dick and "Little" Walder Frey, are killed in Winterfell by unknown people (presumably Mance Rayder and the spearwives). Ramsay's reaction to the murders is rage, not sorrow.
 * Doran never says he was jealous of Oberyn.
 * Brienne and Pod are searching fruitlessly for Sansa at the Riverlands, while she is safe in the Vale. They never meet the Stark girls and Theon, and are not involved in the events at the North.
 * Jaime loathes Cersei for sleeping with many different men.
 * Cersei discusses Maggy's prophecy with Qyburn, not with Jaime.
 * Jeyne Poole (replaced by Sansa in the series) broke several ribs after Theon landed on top of her. Also, the tip of her nose turns black from frostbite.
 * There are no ships in Meereen. The three ships Daenerys had were taken apart at her command to build siege machines for conquering the city. Any ships that were at the harbors of Meereen during the siege either fled or were destroyed by Daenerys' troops.
 * There are no characters named Qhono, Ahko and Zanrush.
 * The Dothraki khal Daenerys encounter is Jhaqo, not Moro.
 * Areo Hotah always watches every visitor of Doran, especially the Sand Snakes, very carefully. He never acts so carelessly like in the show.
 * Tyrion and Varys are not in Meereen. Varys's location is unknown throughout the fourth and fifith novels, he appears only briefly at King's Landing; Tyrion, who has not met Daenerys so far, is in the camp of the Second Sons with Jorah.
 * During Daenerys's absence, Meereen is ruled by a council whose members are Ser Barristan Selmy, Grey Worm and more of Daenerys's loyalists.

Home

 * Hodor's real name in the books is Walder, not Wylis. It is unknown if he ever spoke normally. He does not appear in Bran's visions.
 * Ned Stark appears younger in Bran's visions than his onscreen appearances in the show, but not as a child.
 * Euron wears an eyepatch over his left eye. It is unknwon what is beneath it.
 * Balon's death takes place off-screen, and before Robb's death.
 * While Asha suspects that Euron Greyjoy killed Balon and confronts him about that, it is not confirmed.
 * Tommen is unaware of the humiliation his mother went through.
 * Theon never had any remorse for the atrocities he committed, including the murder of the miller's boys and their mother (in the show they were orphans).
 * The conversations between the High Sparrow and Jaime and with Tommen do not occur in the books.
 * Cersei never raised Tommen to be strong, on the contrary: whenever he showed signs of backbone or defiance, Cersei ruthlessly suppressed him by having his whipping boy Pate beaten, or forcing Tommen to whip him himself, threatening to have Qyburn rip Pate's tongue out if Tommen refuses.
 * The Glovers did not retake Deepwood Motte. Stannis and his new recruits, the Northern Mountain clans, liberated Deepwood Motte to restored it to the Glovers. Nearly all Asha's troops and ships were destroyed and she was taken captive by Stannis. It happened after Balon's death, not before it.
 * Following the liberation of Deepwood Motte, there is still one stronghold in the north held by the ironborn - Torrhen's Square, conquered by Dagmer who is still alive in the books.
 * Asha criticizes the invasion to the North on two separate occasions: when she speaks with Victarion and during the Kingsmoot, but never said that to her father.
 * It is not Tyrion but Quentyn Martell, Doran's son, who ventures into the catacombs to take possession of Daenerys's dragons, but fails and the dragons escape. He is set on fire by Rhaegal and dies of his burns four days afterwards.
 * Balon's body is in very poor shape after it washed ashore: bloated and broken, his eyes were eaten by crabs.
 * The seat of the ironborn kings is called the Seastone Chair in the books, not Salt Throne.
 * Wun Wun kills someone by striking him against a wall, but it happens before Jon's assassination.
 * Only Astapor requests assistance from Daenerys, against Yunkai. Yunkai recruites an army and acts against both Astapor and Meereen.
 * There is no Harald Karstark in the books. Arnolf Karstark, Rickard's uncle and the castellan of Karhold, collaborates with the Boltons not because of Rickard's death, but because he plots to take over Karhold. He pretends to be Stannis's ally, but his scheme is exposed by his great-niece Alys.
 * The dragons do not fast in Daenerys's asbence. They are hungry as ever for meat, including human.

Oathbreaker

 * Sam has three sisters, not one.
 * The baby is not Gilly's, but Mance Rayder's. Jon forced Gilly to take the latter, while leaving her own baby in Castle Black, to prevent Melisandre from sacrificing him. Gilly has not given a name to her baby since he is not two years old.
 * Gilly never tells Sam that he is the father of her son.
 * The scene at the Tower of Joy is not revealed in Bran's vision, but in Ned Stark's feverish dream, when he is lying injured after the bloody brawl with Jaime.
 * Oswell Whent was with Arthur Dayne and Gerold Hightower at the Tower of Joy, and they faced off against seven Northmen, not six.
 * There is no mentioning in the books that Arthur Dayne ever used two swords at once.
 * It is unknown who was killed by whom and how at the Tower of Joy, only who survived - Ned Stark and Howland Reed.
 * No Khal Savo is mentioned in the books.
 * Vala and Dom do not exist in the books.
 * No one except Cersei and Qyburn knows the true identity of Ser Robert Strong.
 * Cersei commands Qyburn to have the "little birds" spy on the kinglanders only, not all over Westeros.
 * No one questions Jaime's right to attend the Small Council. He rarely does because politics bore him.
 * Olenna Tyrell left King's Landing before Margaery was arrested, and has not returned.
 * Olenna Tyrell never had a seat at the Small Council.
 * The conversation between Tommen and the High Sparrow does not occur in the books.
 * Walder Frey is not one of the people in Arya's death list.
 * Greatjon Umber is alive. He was taken captive by the Freys at the Red Wedding.
 * Smalljon Umber is dead. He was killed in the Red Wedding.
 * It is Hother Umber who bends his knee to the Boltons, because his nephew Greatjon is held hostage. His brother Mors, who joins Stannis, is the one who hates the wildlings because one of them kidnapped his daughter.
 * Osha, Rickon and Shaggydog went to Skagos. They never encountered the Umbers.
 * The Three-Eyed Raven does not warn Bran of staying too long in the visions.
 * The fall of Astapor takes place on-screen.
 * Pycelle objects to granting Qyburn a title of lord, not to his appointment as Master of Whisperers.

Book of the Stranger

 * Sansa, Brienne and Podrick have never been to Castle Black.
 * Jeyne Poole, still impersonating Arya, is sent to Castle Black at Stannis's command.
 * There is no mentioning in the books that Sansa was horrible to Jon, only that they have never been close as he and Arya have.
 * Sansa has no ambitions to rebuild Winterfell. She is oblivious to the events outside the Vale, and has no idea who currently holds Winterfell.
 * In the novels, Daenerys is not immune to fire. In fact, she badly burns her hands after riding Drogon out of Meereen.
 * There is no negotiation between the Yunkai lords and Daenerys, and no envoys come to Meereen. Hizdahr travels to Yunkai, and delivers Daenerys their terms for peace: the demand compensations for the damages they suffer as a result of disruption of the slave trade; that Yunkai will resume slaving as before, rebuild Astapor as a slave city, and Daenerys must not interfere; and that she will marry Hizdahr. They do not demand her to leave Meereen. Danenerys does not like the terms they posed (especially the second), but complies without any bargaining. Following Daenerys's departure, the Yunkai pose one more demand - that the dragons will be destroyed.
 * No one complains that Daenerys accepts the terms posed by Yunkai.
 * It is not Grazdan mo Eraz (Razdal mo Eraz's analogue book character), but Xaro who offers Daenerys ships to travel to Westeros.
 * Theon has no idea his father died or that the kingsmoot takes place. He is held captive in Dreadfort at that time.
 * Theon has not returned to the Iron Islands. After escaping from Winterfell, he is brought to Stannis's camp, where he re-unites with Asha, who is also held prisoner there.
 * Aggo is one of Daenerys's bloodriders. He and Rakharo went to the Dothraki Sea to look for her.
 * It is not Jorah who contracted the greyscale but Griff, one of the people who travelled with Tyrion.
 * There is no mentioning in the novels of the High Sparrow's past and father.
 * Littlefinger never gives Robin any present.
 * Littlefinger never threatens to have Lord Royce killed.
 * Robin never did any strenuous physical activity, like practicing archery, as the slightest physical exertion caused him to have seizures. He is never fostered at Runestone.
 * Yezzan paid 5,000 silvers for Tyrion.
 * None of the Good Masters of Astapor survived by that point: those who were killed by Daenerys's troops or Cleon, were slain when the Yunkai destroyed Astapor.
 * Jon receives Ramsay's letter and decides to go and fight him before, not after his men attack him.
 * The contents of Ramsay's letter are entirely different: Ramsay claims that he killed Stannis and destroyed his host; that he holds Mance Rayder captive and skinned the six spearwives; he demands Jon to deliver him his bride (Jeyne Poole), Theon, Melisandre, Selyse, Shireen, Mance's baby son and sister in law Val. He has no complaints to Jon about allowing the wildlings to pass the Wall.

The Door

 * Brienne has never encountered Littlefinger.
 * Brynden never retook Riverrun - Robb placed him in charge of the castle before going to the Twins.
 * There is no mentioning in the books that Braavos was founded by the Faceless Men.
 * Arya is not a spectator but one of the cast of actors.
 * The actress who plays the role of Cersei is called Lady Stork, not Crane. Arya is not assigned to kill her, but the insurance seller, and that happens before the play is staged.
 * There is no character named Bianca in the books. It is Arya who plays the role of the maid. The maid's name is not mentioned.
 * The play does not include Ned Stark's character.
 * Arya comes up with excuses to kill her intended victim, not to spare him.
 * Bran's visions do not include Hodor, the Night King and the Others.
 * There is no mentioning in the books who created the Others.
 * Theon is not present at the kingsmoot. He is imprisoned at Dreadfort at that point. No one takes notice of his absence.
 * Asha is not the first claimant but the fifth, following Gylbert Farwynd, Erik Ironmaker, Dunstan Drumm and Victarion.
 * Asha does not promise to build a fleet. Instead she offers the crowd to make peace with the Northmen.
 * Euron draws the ironborn's attention by ordering one of his followers to blow a horn.
 * None of the ironborn knows that Theon was castrated.
 * Asha never explicitly blames Euron that he murdered her father. She only says it is suspicious he returned one day after Balon's death.
 * Euron never admits that he killed Balon. It is unclear if he is indeed the murderer.
 * Euron speaks in public about the dragons, not about Daenerys. He reveals his intentions to wed her only to his brother Victarion, in private.
 * Aeron does not accept Euron as the king, nor does he drown him. He disappears, and no one knows what happened to him.
 * Euron does not intend to kill Asha, and does not care about Theon. In Asha's absence, he marries her to Erik Ironmaker, whom Asha ridiculed at the kingsmoot.
 * Asha does not steal any ships. She returns to Deepwood Motte with her own ships and crew.
 * Hizdahr somehow put a temporal stop to the killings of the Sons of Harpy, at Daenerys's request.
 * No Red Priests are in Meereen or invited there. Moqorro is on the way to Meereen, but has not arrived yet.
 * There is no character named Kinvara in the books. Her character is based on the Volantene Red Priest Benerro, or the priest Moqorro whom Benerro sends to Meereen to help Daenerys, or both.
 * It is Robb who states that the Karstarks will turn against him because of Rickard's death.
 * The houses Jon mentions - Mormonts, Cerwyns, Glovers, Hornwood and others (half of the Umbers) - join Stannis after he liberates Deepwood Motte.
 * There is no House Mazin in the books.
 * Sansa knows that her great-uncle Brynden is under siege in Riverrun, but has no intentions to go there or assist him.
 * In the books the wights move slowly and clumsily.
 * Euron is not baptised during his coronation.
 * It is not the Waif, but a man whom Arya refers to as "plague face", who strikes her and says she does not belong there because her heart is too soft to be one of them. Still, he gives her a chance to join them.

Blood of My Blood

 * The true identity of the mysterious person, known as "Coldhands", has not been revealed yet. It is speculated, but not confirmed, that he is Benjen Stark. By the point the books reached, Benjen's fate is still unknown.
 * Coldhands makes his first appearance much earlier in the novels, when he saves Sam and Gilly from wights.
 * Coldhands does not use a sickle and a flaming flail to fight the wights, but a sword.
 * Sam and Gilly do not travel straight to Oldtown, but to Braavos first, where Sam meets Arya. From there they travel to Oldtown with Maester Aemon, who passes away during the voyage.
 * At Oldtown, Sam goes to the Citadel first. By the point the books reached, he has not brought Gilly and the baby to Horn Hill, he intends to do that later.
 * The baby Gilly carries is not her son, but Mance Rayder's son (omitted from the show). Jon forced her to switch the babies, fearing that Melisandre would sacrifice him. Gilly's baby, who was not given a name yet, remains at Castle Black.
 * There is no mentioning in the books that Randyll Tarly intends to wed Talla to a member of House Fossoway or anyone else.
 * There is no book character named Simon Fossoway.
 * Randyll Tarly forced Sam to join the Night's Watch in order to deny him of his inheritance rights, not to make him tougher or to kill wildlings.
 * There is no mentioning in the books that Randyll Tarly hates the wildlings.
 * Tommen does not visit Margaery while she is imprisoned.
 * The Tyrells do not try to free Margaery by force. The High Sparrow agrees to hand her and her cousins to Randyll Tarly's custody. Tommen does not have anything to do with that.
 * Margaery is not demanded (yet) to perform the walk of atonement.
 * Tommen does not join the Faith.
 * Jaime is not dismissed from his office as the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
 * Jaime is not reluctant to go to Riverrun. He is glad to get far from King's Landing and the company of the lickspittles and fools who surround Cersei.
 * Arya does kill her first target for the Faceless Men, by poisoning a coin (the man bites every coin to make sure they're not fake), and continues her training, becoming an apprentice to a Faceless master. Then she is sent to Izembaro's theatre. She has not been ordered yet to kill any of the actors or anyone else.
 * Jaime never threatens the High Sparrow, nor does he contemplates about assassinating him.
 * Lame Lothar is not involved in the campaign of conquering Riverrun. Walder Rivers participates, but it is Ryman Frey, Lord Frey's grandson, who commands the Frey force that marches on Riverrun.
 * The Brotherhood Without Banners members do not rally commoners against the Freys, nor do they raid the Freys' supply trains and camps. They act independently, on smaller scale, hunt for lone Freys and hang them.
 * The Mallisters and Blackwoods have not risen against the Freys. They passively refuse to yield to the Iron Throne, in contrast to many of the Riverlards lords who did, but do not take active actions against the Freys.

The Broken Man

 * By the point the books reached, the Hound's fate remains unknown. He does not appear after Arya left him to die on the third novel.
 * There is no book character named Ray. He is based on two book characters whom Brienne meets at Quiet Isle - Septon Meribald and the Elder Brother.
 * Septon Meribald does not give a speech about wars and broken men in public, but tells it to Brienne.
 * Theon says the sentence "The gods are not done with me" about himself.
 * Willas Tyrell, not Loras, is the heir of Highgarden.
 * Septa Unella watches Cersei while she is imprisoned, not Margaery. Cersei is the one who threatens to kill her.
 * The High Sparrow has nothing to do with Jaime's mission to conquer Riverrun.
 * Ryman Frey commands the Frey troops which besiege Riverrun. He is the one who threatens to hang Edmure, and beaten by Jaime.
 * No one threatens to slit Edmure's throat.
 * Lame Lother does not take part in the siege of Riverrun.
 * Jaime leads nearly 1,000 soldiers to Riverrun, not 8,000. Ilyn Payne, not Bronn, accompanies him.
 * Daven Lannister builds siege machines before Jaime arrives.
 * Jaime never promises Bronn anything.
 * During the parley, Jaime offers Blackfish to resolve the siege by a duel between their champions. Blackfish refuses.
 * Jaime orders to release Edmure from the gallows after, not before the parley with Blackfish.
 * The fate of Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover is uncertain. Before going to the Twins, Robb sent them on a mission to the north. It is unknown what happened to them.
 * Stannis, not the Glovers, liberates Deepwood Motte. The Boltons have nothing to do with that.
 * The Mormonts, Glovers, Hornwoods and Cerwyns join Stannis, alongside the nothern mountain clans. It is unknown how many warriors arrive from each house, only the total number of the host with its reinforcements - about 5,000.
 * It is Victarion Greyjoy, not Asha and Theon (who are held captive at Stannis's camp) who arrives at Volantis on the way to Meereen.
 * Euron does not hunt Asha and Theon.
 * Yara Greyjoy (called "Asha" in the books) is not bisexual, and never has a sexual encounter with a female.
 * Jared Frey, not Robett Glover (who is loyal to the Starks), speaks ill about Robb.

No One

 * Jaime swore an oath to Catelyn Stark that he would not kill any Starks or Tullys, which is he why he tries to end the siege without violence.
 * Brienne and Podrick do not take any part in the siege of Riverrun.
 * Cersei is not allowed to walk around freely, escorted by Ser Robert Strong, and intimidate people.
 * Jaime has grown distant from Cersei, and has no intentions to kill Tullys or anyone else in order to get back to her.
 * Brienne never meets the Blackfish in the books.
 * Except Jaime and Ryman Frey, no one tries to parley with Brynden Tully.
 * There is no mentioning in the books that Brynden Tully is acquainted with Brienne's father.
 * Brynden escapes from Riverrun and is believed to still be alive.
 * It is Arya, not the Hound, who takes the boots of someone she killed.
 * It is not Brynden but someone else who accuses Brienne of serving the Lannisters because of the sword she carries.
 * Edmure's wife Roslin is pregnant, but has not given birth yet.
 * It is not Edmure but Brynden who doubts Jaime's word and reminds him of killing Aerys.
 * No one tries to stop Edmure from entering Riverrun.
 * In the books Beric Dondarrion died (permanently) not long after the Red Wedding, his successor has shown no interest in using the Brotherhood to stop the White Walkers.