Differences between books and TV series - Season 1

Winter is Coming

 * The TV series starts with three rangers of the Night's Watch going under the Wall . The book starts after Will discovers the bodies of the wildlings.
 * The White Walkers are mostly called Others in the books, especially by the people of the Seven Kingdoms.
 * In the TV series, Will discovers the wildlings massacred and their bodies brutalized. In the book, he says they appeared to be sleeping and likely froze to death.
 * The White Walkers have different appearance in the TV series. In book, they have white skin and reflective light armour. In the TV series, they have frozen grey skin, dark hair, and a face similar to skull. Their bodies are darker and they don't seem to wear armour.
 * In the TV series, only Gared and Waymar Royce face the White Walkers' first attack, while Will is exploring the area. In the book, all three are present.
 * In the books, Ser Waymar Royce has a duel with White Walker. In the TV series he is killed in a suprise attack.
 * The wight girl, who frightens Will in the series, is never mentioned in the book.
 * In the books, Ser Waymar Royce is transformed into a wight.
 * In the TV series, Gared is the second one to be killed by the White Walkers and Will escapes. In the books, Will is strangled by the wight of Ser Waymar Royce and Gared escapes. In the TV series Gared is beheaded by a White Walker as opposed to being killed by a wight.
 * The Winterfell soldiers capture of Will is not described in the book.
 * There are more additional scenes in series in Winterfell, which introduce Stark family . Bran is shown practicing archery, while his father is watching him. The scene with needlework, which involves Sansa and Arya, is moved to the beginning of the series, before King Robert arrives. In the book, the scenes in Winterfell begin with the deserter's execution.
 * Arya is shown to be an accurate archer, while in the books, she doesn't know how to fire a bow and wishes she could learn.
 * ​Events of the TV series are seventeen years after Robert's Rebellion. The books begin fourteen years after, thus the Stark children are visibly older. Robb and Jon Snow are 17 instead of 14. Bran is 10 instead of 7 and Rickon's age is increased from 3 to 6.
 * The Stark girls' birth years are also altered to Sansa 13 instead of 11 and Arya is 11 instead of 9,
 * Likewise, the Royal children are older: Joffrey is 16 instead of 13, Myrcella is 12 instead of 8 and Tommen is 10 instead of 6.
 * Daenerys is 16 instead of 13.


 * In the TV series, Will is executed for desertion instead of Gared.
 * In the book, snow covers the grounds around Winterfell. In the TV series, there is no snow.
 * The scene in King's Landing introducing Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime is not in the books. It also shows the corpse Jon Arryn.
 * Daenerys Targaryen appears much later in the TV series. In the book, she is introduced, after Eddard Stark gets the news about Jon Arryn's death. In the TV series, she appears after the scene at Lyanna Stark's tomb.
 * Targaryen's have violet eyes in the books but these were dropped from the series. The showrunners have said that they did use purple contacts early in filming, but this interfered with the actor's performance as emotion is conveyed through the eyes.
 * Illyrio Mopatis's appearance is different to his description in the books. In the series, Illyrio is overweight and has dark brown hair flecked with grey with a forked beard. In the books, Illyrio is described as being morbidly obese with gold, oiled hair and a forked yellow beard.
 * Khal Drogo's appearance is slightly different to his description in the books. He is described as having long mustachios with rings in them and many bells in his long braid. In the series, he has a beard with a single ring in it and does not have bells in his hair.
 * In the books, Daenerys, Viserys, and Illyrio attend a party at Khal Drogo's manse in Pentos to celebrate Drogo and Daenerys's engagement. The party is where Ser Jorah is first seen. In the series, Khal Drogo simply rides up to Illyrio's manse with his bloodriders to assess Daenerys.
 * Tyrion Lannister's appearance is different to his description in the books. He is described as having stunted legs, a swollen forehead, a squashed-in face and eyes of different colors.
 * Tyrion's introduction in the books is different. He is introduced at the feast through the eyes of Jon Snow. In the TV series, he is introduced in a scene with the prostitute Ros after Robert Baratheon's arrival.
 * The prostitute Ros is not named in the book. She is probably the mentioned "red haired whore." In the TV series, she is a recurring character.
 * Sansa is introduced much earlier in the TV series (the additional scene with Lady Catelyn before the feast) than in the book (the Trident).
 * ​In the TV series, Jon Snow doesn't attend the feast at all. He meets his uncle Benjen outside, when he is practising with a sword. In the book, he attends the feast sitting at a table with the squires.
 * Several scenes at the feast do not appear in the books: Jaime and Ned talk about tournaments; Sansa speaks to the queen; Arya throws food at Sansa.
 * ​When Maester Luwin comes into Starks' bedroom, Catelyn is naked in the book. In the episode, she is dressed in sleeping gown.
 * Daenerys and Khal Drogo's wedding scene is shown earlier in the TV series than in the book. Ser Jorah Mormont is introduced in this scene rather than in Daenerys's first scene.
 * Jorah Mormont's appearance is different to his description in the books. In the books, he is described as bald but is strong and fit. In the series, he has short blond hair and is leaner and fit.
 * ​In the book, Catelyn Stark encourages Ned to accept King Robert's request. In series, she is afraid for him and begs him not to accept.
 * ​In the books Eddard plans to take Bran to King's Landing, before he is injured. There is no mention of this in the episode.
 * Cersei and Jaime are both naked in the book, when Bran finds them in the tower. In the series, they are both dressed; Lena Headey was pregnant during filming of the scene.

The Kingsroad

 * In the series, Jon decides to go to Night's Watch completely on his own and no one wants to stop him. There are also no requests of Lady Catelyn for him to leave.
 * ​An additional scene between Ser Jorah and Prince Viserys.
 * An additional scene, which shows the making of the sword Needle and a conversation between Jaime and Jon Snow about the Night's Watch
 * An additional scene, where Cersei comes to Bran 's bedroom and speaks about her first child.
 * ​An additional scene, where Ned and Jon say goodbye to each other.
 * Daenerys' scene with Doreah, Jhiqui and Irri is shown much earlier in series. So is the scene of making Khal Drogo happy. In the series, the scene with Dany and Doreah is shown rather than implied.
 * Doreah has blonde hair in the books. In the series, she has brown hair.
 * In book, King Robert 's and Eddard 's conversation about Daenerys Targaryen takes place during the riding. In series, it takes place at breakfast. In the book scene, Jorah is revealed to the reader as an informer to the King's council. In the series, that is mentioned in Episode 5 at first.
 * In the series, Yoren doesn't appear in the scene with two rapists.
 * An additional scene in series, where Catelyn searches the old tower and finds a golden hair. She suspects, that Lannisters are involved in Bran 's accident even before she identifies the Valyrian dagger.
 * In series ​the Winterfell meeting between Catelyn, Robb, Theon, Ser Rodrik and Maester Luwin takes place in godswood instead of in the castle.
 * There's an additional scene, when Jon Snow arrives at the Wall
 * In series, there is no conversation between Sansa and Arya about riding in a wheelhouse. At the Trident, Sansa first appears, when she meets Ser Ilyn and Sandor Clegane. She first confronts Arya in her sword practice with Mycah.
 * In series, Ser Barristan Selmy and Lord Renly don't appear at the Trident.
 * In book, Sansa and Prince Joffrey go riding around the Trident and they are away for a long time, before they find Arya. In series, they go only for a short walk and find Arya nearby.
 * The series also shows what happens to Nymeria, after she wounds Prince Joffrey. In series, it's clearly seen, that Arya th rows a stone at Nymeria and sends her away. In book, Arya mentions this scene after she's brought back. The event happens after Jory finds her and together they throw several stones at her.
 * When Arya is taken before the King, it doesn't take place at Castle Darry (the book), but at the Old Crossroads Inn.
 * In the series, Eddard executes Lady with a dagger. In the book, he uses the greatsword Ice.
 * ​Bran doesn't have dreams about three-eyed crow before he wakes up for a first time (In book, these dreams wake him up). In series, he wakes up, when Sansa's direwolf is executed.
 * In the series, Eddard doesn't order to take Lady's bones back to the North.

Lord Snow

 * In the book, Catelyn and Ser Rodrik arrive to King's Landing before Eddard Stark. They also arrive by ship from White Harbor. In series, they come by riding horses on the Kingsroad and they arrive after Eddard.
 * An additional scene in King's Landing, where Eddard confronts Ser Jaime at the Iron Throne. Jaime describes the scene, when he stabbed Aerys Targaryen.
 * Another additional scene in the series: A conversation between Queen Cersei and Prince Joffrey about what it will mean when he is a king.
 * In series, there are 6 members of the King's Council instead of 8 - Lord Stannis Baratheon and Ser Barristan Selmy are not part of it.
 * In book, Eddard wears a chain of hands as Hand of the King. In series, he wears a badge in shape of a hand
 * The saying about the Hand is changed as well. In the book, the saying is, "The King eats, the Hand takes a shit". In series, the saying is, "The King shits, and the Hand wipes".
 * Many recruits in the Night's Watch are omitted in the series such as Toad, Halder and Dareon. In the first scene at the Wall, there are three notable recruits: Grenn, Pyp and Rast. Rast also gets more screentime than in the book. (There is also an unnamed recruit with long hair who often appears with Rast .)
 * Grenn isn't called Aurochs, and Rast isn't called Rat in the series.
 * In the fight with Grenn, Jon breaks Grenn's nose instead of Grenn's wrist in the series. He is also shown fighting more recruits in series. (In book, he fights only Grenn).
 * The breakfast scene at King's Landing is extended in the series. Arya is stabbing the table, Eddard appears at the breakfast and gives Sansa a doll. Septa Mordane doesn't follow Arya in her bedroom.
 * Jeyne Poole only briefly appears in the first episode. In the book, she also appears in many scenes in King's Landing.
 * In series, Old Nan's story about White Walkers is told days before Tyrion Lannister returns from the Wall . Bran is also more pessimistic in series - he repeats sentence "I'd rather be dead".
 * There's an additional scene at King's Landing, which shows a conversation between King Robert, Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Jaime Lannister. They share stories about killing their first men. Aerys Targaryen is mentioned again. The scene also introduces Lancel Lannister.
 * Lord Commander Mormont doesn't have a white raven in the series.
 * In series, Yoren is introduced in conversation with Tyrion at the Castle Black rather than in the scene with two rapists. Benjen also appears in this scene.
 * An additional scene at the Wall where Benjen Stark and Jon Snow say goodbye to each other. (In books, this scene is only mentioned).
 * An additional scene across the Narrow Sea. Ser Jorah and Rakharo discuss about Dothraki weapons, Irri then appears and announces Daenerys's pregnancy.
 * In the TV series, Rakharo seems to be based on Jhogo.
 * Syrio Forel's appearance is different in series. He has curly black hair instead of being bald.

Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things

 * An additional scene at Winterfell. Bran is dreaming. He is preparing to shoot an arrow, when the crow appears. He follows it to the tomb entrance and sees, it has three eyes. Then he wakes up.
 * In series, Theon Greyjoy comes for Bran instead of Maester Luwin.
 * An additional conversation between Tyrion Lannister and Theon Greyjoy. Theon's past and origins are revealed in this scene.
 * Samwell Tarly's introduction is slightly different in the series beacuse of omitted recruits of the Night's Watch. In the book, Sam is attacked by Halder first. When Jon defends him, Halder, Rast and Albett fight Jon, Grenn and Pyp. In series, Rast attacks Samwell. Jon then alone takes a fight against Rast, Grenn and Pyp.
 * In series, Sam isn't called Ser Piggy. Ser Alliser and Rast often call him Lady Piggy, which is even worse nickname. (In book, ser Alliser uses this nickname only when Jon defends Sam)
 * There's an additional scene in Vaes Dothrak. Viserys and Doreah are having a bath. They talk about dragons and their skulls in Red Keep.
 * An additional conversation between Septa Mordane and Sansa about Sansa's future, Prince Joffrey, the iron throne and the deaths of Rickard and Brandon.
 * Another additional scene which introduces Ser Hugh from the Vale. Jory Cassel tries to speak with him and the arrogant knight refuses. In book, Ser Hugh is briefly mentioned before he's killed.
 * Gendry's character is aged up in the series. In books, he is 16 years old. In series, he must be over 20.
 * Another additional conversation between Jaime and Jory. Jaime is guarding the door, while the King is having group sex. Jory comes with the message for the king. He tries to give it to Jaime, but he refuses. Thoros of Myr is mentioned.
 * The Greyjoy Rebellion is revealed from their conversation.
 * Additional scene at the Wall after Jon's confrontation with Rast at night: The recruits don't dare to attack Sam because Jon has threatened them. Ser Alliser grows furious because of that.
 * Another additional scene at the Wall in which Jon reveals his story with prostitute (which is Ros in the series). Ser Alliser then comes and tries to frighten them with his story about the winter beyond the Wall.
 * There's an additional conversation between Eddard and Queen Cersei.
 * The tournament of the Hand is a lot shorter in the series. The only notable participants are Ser Gregor, Ser Hugh, Ser Loras and partly the Hound. The only shown fights are the jousts between Ser Hugh and Ser Gregor, Ser Gregor and Ser Loras, and the duel between the Hound and Ser Gregor. There is no mention made of the archery contest.
 * In the series, Littlefinger tells Sansa the story about the Clegane brothers. In the book, the story is told by Sandor himself.

The Wolf and the Lion

 * In the series, Sandor Clegane doesn't actually participate in the tourney and he spends all the time near the King and Prince Joffrey. He only gets involved, when his brother is about to kill Ser Loras.
 * When Catelyn and Tyrion are ambushed by the hill clansmen on the way to the Vale, most of their party is killed. The only survivors are Catelyn, Tyrion, Ser Rodrik, Bronn, and Marillion. In the series, only a few of their party was killed by the clansmen. During the attack, Tyrion fights only with a shield.
 * More additional scenes at Winterfell: A conversation between Bran and Maester Luwin and a sex scene between Theon and Ros.
 * Arya doesn't confront Myrcella and Tommen when she is chasing cats in series.
 * In series, Arya finds only one dragon skull in Red Keep's dungeons (probably the skull of Balerion due to its size) instead of finding several (the book).
 * The two men in the dungeons are clearly seen in the series (Varys and Illyrio). In books, they are not identified. (Ilyrio can be identified because of his visual description. Varys is much harder to identify beacuse he probably wears a makeup - "scared face and stubble of dark beard". The easiest way to identify him is by his sentence - ...I must have gold and 50 birds...)
 * There is an additonal conversation in Red Keep between Littlefinger and Varys. The spying on each other and Eddard Stark is reveled in this scene.
 * In the book, Arya comes back to surface miles away from Red Keep. In series she leaves the dungeons via the tunnel beneath Aegon's Hill on which Red Keep is located.
 * The meeting between Yoren and Eddard is extended in series. After Eddard sends Arya out with Jory (Desmond in the book), an additional scene follows, where Yoren tells about Catelyn kidnapping Tyrion.
 * The Eyrie's appearance is different in the series. In the books, it's a small traditional castle made of seven towers located on a shoulder of a very tall mountain - the Giant's Lance. The path is also guarded by three smaller towers. The castle in the series is located on the top of much smaller mountain and its path doesn't seem to be guarded by towers.
 * The guarded pass Bloody Gate, which is the main entrance to the Vale in books, also doesn't appear in series, neither don't appear the characters of Brynden Tully and Donnel Waynwood, who are the guardians of Bloody Gate. Their roles are given to Ser Vardis Egen in series.
 * Catelyn's way from the foot of the mountain to the Eyrie isn't shown in series. That makes Mya Stone (the bastard girl of king Robert, who is escorting people to the Eyrie) absent in series.
 * In the book, Catelyn first reaches the Eyrie alone and meets her sister in her chambers. Tyrion is then brought after her. In the series, Catelyn and Tyrion reach Eyrie together and both confront Lysa in the main hall in front of all important residents. Then follows an additional scene, which shows Tyrion's imprisionent and briefly shows Mord.
 * In the book, the sky cell which Tyrion is confined to has a floor that slopes downward to the wall-less side of the cell. In the show, the floor is shown to be flat, although they show Tyrion almost falling off while sleeping.
 * Robert Arryn is renamed Robin Arryn in the series, probably to avoid confusion with King Robert Baratheon.
 * Lysa's appearance is different. She is shown as a very skinny woman in series instead of being overweight with pale and puffy face as in the book.
 * An additional scene in King's Landing involving Ser Loras and Lord Renly. This scene confirms that they are lovers, which is only hinted at in the books.
 * Another additional scene involving King Robert and Queen Cersei . It shows, that their marriage doesn't contain any love and it is the only thing holding the kingdom together. Lyanna Stark is also mentioned.


 * The scene in which Ser Jaime attacks Eddard is slightly different in series. In book, Jaime wants only to frighten Eddard and orders his men to attack Eddard's guards and immediatly escapes. Eddard then gets his leg crushed by his horse when he tries to escape. In the series, Jaime orders to capture Eddard alive and he personally kills Jory by stabbing him through the eye with a dagger. Then he and Eddard attack each other while the Lannister guards are watching. The fight ends when Eddard is stabbed in the leg by a Lannister guard.

A Golden Crown

 * An additional scene in Vaes Dothrak, in which Daenerys holds a heated dragon egg. When Irri grabs it, she gets her hands burned while Daenerys remains unharmed.
 * Another dream of three-eyed crow, which is the same as the one in the fourth episode, appears in the series.
 * When Bran falls into ambush while he is on the ride, there are four attackers shown in series: Stiv, Wallen, Osha, and an unnamed man. In books, there are six attackers - The previous four, another unnamed man and a short fat woman named Hali. The direwolves (Summer and Grey Wind ) don't get involved in the fight in the TV series.
 * The series also shows one of Tyrion's failed attempts to get Mord's attention by offering gold. In the book, he convinces him by his first attempt.
 * There is another additional scene in King's Landing showing another sword practice between Arya and Syrio and mentioning Syrio's series-only quote (There's only one thing we say to Death...NOT TODAY)
 * Eating the stallion's heart seems to be the only part of the Vaes Dothrak's ceremony in series. In the books, there follows the procession around the sacred city.
 * The ceremony is also shown more from Ser Jorah's and Viserys's perspective in series rather than Daenerys's in the book. There also follows additional series scene in which Viserys tries to steal Daenerys's eggs. This scene is only briefly mentioned in book.
 * Tyrion's confession of crimes is extended in the series. In the book, he is stopped immediatley while in the series, he gives several funny examples.
 * An additional scene involving King Robert on his hunt, along with Renly, Barristan Selmy, and Lancel Lannister. He speaks of "good old times" and "making the eight". Lancel is clearly shown goading Robert into drinking strongwine.
 * In the books, there was no request of summoning Tywin Lannister to the court because of Ser Gregor 's attack.
 * There are several changes in Tyrion's trial by combat. In the series, it takes place in Eyrie's main hall by the opened Moon Door instead of taking place at the gardens. It also happens immediately after Tyrion's "confession" instead of happening the next morning. Death of Ser Vardis is more dramatic in series. In book, he is stabbed in the chest while he falls to the ground. In series, he is injured several times, stabbed in the neck and finally thrown through the Moon Door. Also, the brief converastion between Lysa and Catelyn before the trial isn't shown in series.
 * In the series, the Moon Door is an opening in the floor of the Eyrie's main hall. In the books, the Moon Door is a weirwood door that stands between two pillars in the Eyrie's High Hall.

You Win or You Die

 * The episode opens with a scene at the Lannister camp with Tywin and Jaime Lannister . Jaime and Tywin discuss family legacy while Tywin is seen cleaning a dead stag.
 * In the book, the scene where Eddard confronts Cersei about Jaime takes place in the Red Keep's godswood. The scene takes place in an outside courtyard in the series. Cersei also attempts to seduce Eddard in the book and slaps him when he spurns her advances.
 * There is an additional scene in Littlefinger's brothel where he talks about his past and coaches Ros and another prostitute, Armeca, who is exclusive to the series.
 * There is a scene at Winterfell between Theon Greyjoy and Osha. Maester Luwin comes in and asks Osha why the wildlings were south of the Wall.
 * There is also an additional scene at the Wall, which shows the return of Benjen Stark's horse without his rider. That makes whole Castle Black worried. In the books, the men of he Night Watch become worried only because of Benjen's long absence.
 * In series, Eddard is warned by lord Renly that something terrible has happened to Robert. In the books, he only suspects that because of dead silence on his way to king Robert.
 * Tomard, one of the guards at Winterfell, is sent to Dragonstone with a letter informing Stannis Baratheon that his brother has no rightful heirs, making him next in line to succession. In the books, Stannis had investigated with Jon Arryn and knew that Jaime was the father of Cersei's children.
 * Tomard's appearance is different from the book. He is nicknamed Fat Tom, but in the series, he is not shown to be particularly overweight. He is one of the many guards that Eddard Stark brought from Winterfell, but he has diminshed screentime in the series as Jory was more prominent.
 * In the books, Jon Snow is worried that Sam might not be initiated with the other recruits. No such concern is shown in the series.
 * In the series, in the scene that takes place after Tyrion and Bronn leave the Eyrie, Tyrion does not mention that he knows they will confront the hill tribes, so he is whistling as a deception, to make the clansmen think it might be a trap set by Knights of the Vale.

The Pointy End

 * The Lhazareen girl Eroeh is absent from the series. In the series, Daenerys is shown rescuing many women, primarily Mirri Maz Duur.
 * There is a duel in the series between Mago and Drogo, after Mago challenges Drogo's authority. Drogo slices open Mago's throat and rips his tongue out. Mago is actually still alive in the books. The duel was added to the series as Jason Momoa believed that the audience hadn't been shown Khal Drogo's combat prowess.

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 * In the books, when Ser Barristan Selmy is dismissed from the Kingsguard he announces that he will search for the rightful heir. He later kills two members of the city watch when they attempt to detain him for questioning.

Fire and Blood

 * Sam rides with Grenn and Pyp after Jon deserts Castle Black. In the book seven ride out in search of him, but Sam stays behind.
 * In the series, Maester Luwin doesn't accompany Bran and Osha into the crypts below Winterfell.
 * An additional scene from A Clash of Kings, when Arya meets Gendry, Hot Pie, and Lommy Greenhands, is shown in the series.
 * Rorge and Biter are seen, along with a hooded man who is presumably Jaqen H'ghar.
 * In the book, when Daenerys steps into the pyre, it all occurs in the same night. In the series, the scene ends the next morning.
 * In the book, Daenerys's hair burns completely off when she steps in the pyre. In the series, her hair is unharmed.