Differences between books and TV series - Season 2

The following is a list of differences between Season 2 of the television show Game of Thrones and the second novel of the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings.

The North Remembers

 * The book starts with Cressen's chapter on Dragonstone, which is also different than Cressen's storyline in the show. In the book, Cressen receives a message from the Citadel first, then Shireen Baratheon visits him. After that, he meets Ser Davos, then he visits Stannis and tries to convince him to not accept the Lord of Light. Cressen then appears at the feast where he is humiliated by Selyse Baratheon. Then he tries to poison Melisandre and dies in the process.
 * In the book, Stannis doesn't receive the letter from Eddard saying that he is heir, that is intercepted by Cersei and used as evidence of treason. Stannis knows about Robert's children not being true born heirs, as he had first taken these suspicions to Jon Arryn, and they had been investigating it together.
 * The poison Cressen uses is not hidden in his Maester's chain, in the novels, but is hidden in a pouch in his sleeve.
 * Maester Cressen dies several days before Stannis allows Melisandre to burn the statues of the Seven, which does not happen on the beach.
 * The show starts with Joffrey's tournament, which is the third chapter in the book. (Prologue's storyline is altered in series, the second chapter was moved to the first season)
 * Sansa is at the tournament when the scene opens in the show. In the book she is escorted there by Ser Arys Oakheart who shares court gossip.
 * Sandor Clegane does not fight in Joffrey's name day tourney, he is dismissive about the poor quality of the competition.
 * The tournament in the book is a joust competition with horses and lances and takes place in a small tourney ground set up inside the keep walls as the city and surrounding land is too dangerous. While in the series, they compete in a fight with blunt weapons on the walls of the Red Keep.
 * In the book Ser Dontos arrives late, chasing his horse (which he is too drunk to mount), and only wearing the top half of his armor as he is nude from the waist down. Joffrey orders a barrel of wine for him to be drowned in (as opposed to having it poured down his throat as happens in the show).
 * In the novels, Danae​rys follows the Red Comet, where in the series she is heading in the opposite direction.
 * Daenerys' silver horse doesn't die in the Red Waste.
 * In the series, Craster's Keep is shown to have a wall of sharpened stakes surrounding it, where in the novels it is described as having only a small earthen dike around it.
 * Tyrion does not bring Shae to the Tower of the Hand, he hides her in a manse outside the Red Keep in the city. To visit her Tyrion goes to Chataya's brothel, takes Alayaya to a room, goes through a secret door into a tunnel, that goes to a stable where he puts on a disguise, and then he rides to Shae's manse.
 * Neither Robb Stark nor Jaime Lannister is a point of view character in the book A Clash of Kings. So the scene where Robb Stark and Grey Wind confront Jaime Lannister in his cell and talk about bannermen, incest, and Bran's accident never takes place in the book.
 * Robb sends Cleos Frey with his terms to King's Landing. Cleos Frey is Tywin Lannister's nephew and Jaime's first cousin. There is no Alton Lannister in the novels.
 * The scene where Cersei tells Petyr that "power is power" does not happen in the novels.
 * The scene where Cersei slaps Joffrey in the Throne Room does not happen in the novels.
 * It is Cersei who sends the Gold Cloaks out to kill all of Robert's bastards not Joffrey.
 * In the series the Gold cloaks under the command of Janos Slynt go to the brothel to kill the baby Barra, and when his man will not carry this out, Slynt takes the baby from her mother Mhaegan and does it himself. In the books Barra's mother who is unnamed fights them and is killed along with the baby, the murders being carried out by Allar Deem, one of Gold cloaks.

The Night Lands

 * Littlefinger never has a conversation with any whore about the slaying of Robert's newborn bastard. Ros is not even a named character in the books.
 * Yara is named Asha in the novels. Her name was changed to avoid being confused with the wildling Osha.
 * Later, Yara pretending to be "Esgrid" does guide Theon through Pyke, but she is not in Pyke when Theon arrives. It is Theon's Uncle Aeron Damphair, priest of the drowned God, that greets him at the harbor, baptises him almost immediately, and provides context as to what has transpired since Theon became a ward of the Starks, while he takes him to the castle.
 * The Gold Cloaks that attempt to arrest Gendry are met at an Inn in the novels.
 * Arya does not reveal her identity to Gendry until much later in the novels.
 * The meeting where Varys reveals he knows Shae's identity takes place in an inn in the city outside the Red Keep's walls, shortly after she enters the city and before Tyrion finds a manse for her.
 * The warning Jeor Mormont send to King's Landing is not only a letter, but also a Wight's severed hand in a jar still twitching delivered by Ser Alliser Thorne much later in the book.
 * Bronn is not made Commander of the City Watch. That role is filled by Ser Jacelyn Bywater, he is the one to arrest Janos Slynt at Tyrion's dinner. Slynt having been named to the small council and made Lord of Harrenhal, gives a list of six men as possible replacement for him to head the Gold cloaks. This list is given to Ser Jacelyn to be rounded up to go with Slynt by ship to the Wall, with special reference to Allar Deem (killer of baby Barra) for the captain to be told that it would not be a amiss if a wave washed him overboard.
 * Salladhor Saan was recruited long before in the books.
 * In the show, Matthos is shown being King Stannis' scribe, in the book it is his younger sibling Devan who is Stannis' squire, who is taking reading lessons, and is encouraging his father to convert to the religion of the Lord of Light. In the book Matthos is Davos' first mate.
 * The scene where Stannis and Melisandre make love is not shown in the novels.
 * It is Doreah, not Rakharro, whose dies in the Red Waste in the novels. She dies of a wasting sickness, while Rakharro is still alive in the books.
 * It is Jon Snow, not Sam Tarly, who rescues Gilly from Ghost. Ghost doesn't corner Gilly because she is carrying dead rabbits in the book. Gilly set up a rabbit hutch and Ghost breaks into it killing the rabbits. Gilly yelling at him results in her being cornered, and Jon has to come shoo Ghost away.
 * The scene where Edd, Grenn, and Sam talk about women doesn't happen. Sam is not shown talking to Gilly, but he has given her his black cloak so she can go to talk to Jon without anyone knowing that she is one of Craster's wives.
 * The scene where Craster sacrifices his son to the Others is never shown in the novels. It is instead explained to Jon Snow by Gilly.

What is Dead May Never Die

 * While Bran does confer with Maester Luwin about the interpretation of his dreams, in the book most of these exchanges happen between Bran and Jojen Reed, a young man from the marsh who also dreams "in green." (This is meant to delineate between real dreams and those that are premonitions)
 * Craster never expels the Night's Watch from his keep in the novels, they leave of their own accord.
 * The scene where Sam gives Gilly a thimble never happens in the books.
 * The scenes with Renly, Loras and Margaery never happen in the books. In fact, the relationship between Loras and Renly is never shown in any of the novels, though it is sometimes implied.
 * Balon Greyjoy's war council is also attended by his brother Victarion, who has yet to appear in the series.
 * The scene where Theon is baptized happens in the novels the moment he sets foot on Pyke.
 * Shae does not become Sansa's handmaiden in the novels, instead serving Lolys Stokeworth, though much later in the book. She is not moved to the Red Keep as handmaiden until after the city riots and fires make it too dangerous.
 * The scene where Tyrion tests Pycelle, Varys and Petyr happens slightly differently in the books. He tells Varys that he plans to offer the Martells gold, land, a seat on the small council, and to foster Prince Tommen in Sunspear.
 * The battle between Yoren and his recruits and Amory Lorch is different. Yoren and his charges are holed up in a small stone keep and refuse to open the gates. Lorch believes they're outlaws and attacks. A protracted battle takes place, with the same result. Arya is captured by Ser Armory Lorch and his host of Lannister men after Yoren is killed, however, in the books, Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, and a few others escape the assault. Only later when Gendry is caught and Arya and Hot Pie fail in a rescue attempt are they captured at a small seaside village by Ser Gregor Clegane and then taken to Harrenhal. Arya's true sex is revealed on the march to Harrenhal (as there is no privacy for rest room breaks) and not by Tywin Lannister (who she never meets).

Garden of Bones

 * In this episode, Robb meets Lady Talisa, of which starts a budding romance. In the 2nd book, this character does not exist. Rather, this character is intended to be Jeyne Westerling, daughter of Lord Gawen Westerling from the Crag. After Robb marches west to defeat the Lannisters at the Crag, he disappears from the book only being referred to in messages from ravens until he returns to Riverrun already married to Lady Jeyne. She is not a battlefield healer, but she does nurse Robb back to health after he takes an arrow to the arm storming the Westerling castle.
 * Notably the biggest difference between the book and show is Arya's role during her stay at Harrenhal. In the show, Tywin reveals her gender and believes her intelligent, and even brings her into his tower to serve him and his cupbearer. There transpires many scenes between her and Tywin. However, none of this occurred in the book. Arya serves in various roles while at Harrenhal, working for varying people. Going by the name "Weasel" she works for the steward at Harrenhal and much later she is cupbearer to Roose Bolton.
 * It is actually Varys who suggests the whores for Joffrey in the book, not Bronn. In addition, the scene where Joffrey brutalizes Ros and the other whore never unfolds. It is unclear if this suggestion is ever acted on.
 * The Battle of Oxcross is never shown in the book, only mentioned.
 * Boros Blount also tortures Sansa alongside Meryn Trant. Tyrion is also accompanied by Chella in the Throne Room. In addition, Sansa's beating is toned down in the TV series. In the novel, she is also stripped naked, which was removed from the series as the character was below the required age set by UK decency laws.
 * Kovarro does not appear in the books. Jhogo is the third Bloodrider, but he does not appear in the series.
 * In the novels, Danaerys takes up residence in an abandoned walled city for a time. There they eat fruit and drink water and regain much of their strength. They are not desperate to leave this city for Qarth, though Danaerys' followers do believe the abandoned city to be haunted.
 * In the novels, Danaerys is brought to Qarth by Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Pyat Pree and Quaithe. The three meet Daenerys in the red waste, being brought to her by Jhogo, one of her three bloodriders. They have come to see the dragons and invite her to Qarth. Once there, they are immediately let into the city, without the events at the gates from the series.
 * Petyr is not sent to Renly's camp in the books. He does treat with the Tyrells, but only after Renly's death and long after Catelyn departed.
 * Catelyn does not receive Eddard's bones at Renly's camp, only when she returns to Riverrun later in the novel.
 * ​Arya adds Polliver's name to her prayers because he took Needle from her, not because he hit a prisoner who begged for food.
 * ​Qarth has three walls in the novels, thirty, forty and fifty feet high respectively, each intricately carved with scenes of animals, warfare, and lovemaking.
 * In the series the shadow Melisandre is seen to birth by Davos happens outside Renly's camp and precedes his death. In the book there are two shadow assassinations. The birth Davos witnesses is the second one when it is sent to kill Ser Cortnay Pentrose in the castle of Storm's End. He has to row Melisandre into a cavern under the castle as there are protective spells built into the castle walls.

The Ghost of Harrenhal

 * The shadow, in the books, slits Renly's throat, cutting through his steel gorget "like cheesecloth". In the series, he is stabbed in the back.
 * One major difference from the novels is that Loras did not believe that​ Stannis killed Renly, he believed that Brienne killed him.
 * Stannis and Davos do not discuss what transpired in the cave in the books. In fact, Stannis had no idea that Melisandre created the Shadow.
 * Davos did not lead Stannis' fleet into battle. It was led by Ser Imry Florent, Stannis' brother-in-law.
 * The Iron Islanders sail longships, not galleys.
 * Theon is given command of eight longships in the book. In addition, his uncle Aeron Damphair is sent to watch over him.
 * In the novels, Dagmer Cleftjaw is a famed reaver and captain, not Theon's first mate. His appearance is also drastically different. The cleft-jaw from where he gets his name was caused by his being hit in the head with an axe. He recovered but his mouth and jaw were split, making his smile terrifying.
 * The Tickler is not the first name Arya speaks to Jaqen in the series. It is one of Gregor Clegane's soldiers, Chiswyck, who relates a terrible story of an innkeeper's daughter raped by Ser Gregor and his men.
 * The Fist of the First Men is much different than in the books, being a cliffside rather than a hill surrounded by the Haunted Forest.
 * Jon Snow only leaves with Qhorin and his group much later in the book.
 * Daenaerys' dragons only breathe fire at the end of the book. She has to cook their food for them.
 * In the books Daenerys in Qarth dresses in the manner of a well dressed woman of Qarth, which consists of dresses that leave one breast bared. Ser Jorah cannot help staring at her chest, but Xaro despite his constant declarations of love and marriage proposals, seems more interested in his many good-looking male slaves.
 * Pyat Pree never uses the tricks from the series in the books.
 * Daenerys does not learn of Ser Jorah's feelings in the second book.
 * Quaithe does not warn Ser Jorah in the book.
 * Qhorin asks for Jon to come with him to scout the Skirling Pass.
 * Daenerys is informed of Robert's death by a sailor Jorah met on the docks.

The Old Gods and the New

 * The scene where Luwin sends a raven to warn of the attack is not shown in the book. Luwin is not a POV character, but he does tell Bran that he was able to send off one raven.
 * In the series, Dagmer is Theon's first mate and second in command at Winterfell. In the books, Dagmer is the master-of-arms at Pyke that Theon grew up calling uncle. Dagmer never comes to Winterfell. Theon sends him from the Stoney Shore to Torrhen's Square with the diversionary force that draws Ser Rodrik away.
 * In the series, when the people of Winterfell are brought together for Bran to officially surrender, Farlan, the kennel master, is shown insulting Theon. He is beaten with a club and ordered to stop. In the books, it is the blacksmith who begins yelling insults, and he is killed.
 * In the series, Rodrik Cassel is captured coming back from Torrhen's Square. He spits on Theon, and Dagmer tells Theon that he must be executed, or Theon's men will lose respect for him. In the books, the one who spits on Theon is Benfred Tallhart, a former friend of Theon's who was ambushed, by Theon and his men, at the Stoney Shore. It is Theon's uncle Aeron Damphair who tells Theon to order him executed, and he is ritually drowned.
 * Rodrik Cassel is not killed when Winterfell is taken, and he is not killed by Theon. A messy execution carried out by Theon does happen, but with the kennel master Farlen, much later. Farlen is killed because Theon needs to blame someone for the deaths of three Ironborn who where with him when the two orphans were killed, so that they can't tell anyone that the heads on the spikes are not Bran and Rickon. The true killer is Reek, a man found prisoner at Winterfell when Theon captured it.
 * Theon does accept Osha as a fighter in the book. He does not sleep with her.
 * Roose Bolton is not the one to deliver the news of Theon's betrayal to Robb. In fact, Roose Bolton does not meet up with Robb in the second book. He commands the northern footsoldiers of the eastern shores of the Trident.
 * Petyr never meets with Tywin at Harrenhal.
 * Amory Lorch is not Arya's second name spoken to Jaqen. It is Weese, an understeward who frequently beats her.
 * Myrcella doesn't cry when she is sent to Dorne. In fact, she comforts Tommen, who is crying.
 * In the series, Sandor saves Sansa from being raped and carries her to safety. Tyrion thanks him as he walks away. In the books, the royal procession that is attacked by the mob were all on horseback. Sansa is not nearly raped. A man tries to pull her off of her horse, but Sandor cuts his arm off. Sandor brings her to safety riding double on Sansa's horse. No-one thanks him. Sandor in the books, then goes back out into the mob to find others who are missing, but also to locate his own horse.
 * In the series it is Sansa who is nearly raped. In the books, Lolly Stokeswoth is raped by dozens of men behind a tavern, and becomes pregnant. Shae latter becomes her maid.
 * Jon Snow kills the wildling sentries much later in the book. In addition, it is only Jon and Stonesnake who kill them. Qhorin and the others arrive later.
 * Jon simply lets Ygritte go and continues on with Qhorin and his sworn brothers.
 * In the series, Irri is killed when Daenerys' dragons are stolen. In the book, Daenerys' dragons are not stolen and Irri does not die in Qarth; she remains in Daenerys' service.

A Man Without Honor

 * Theon was sleeping with a tavern wench named Kyra, not with Osha, when he wakes and realizes that he can't hear the wolves howling in the godswood. The wolves were confined there when Shaggydog got violent. He tells a guard to check and is then to told the Stark boys have escaped.
 * in the books, Farlan the kennel master of Winterfell leads the hounds tracking Bran and Rickon, his daughter is threatened to get his cooperation. In the series, Theon has brought his own master of hounds.
 * In the books, when Bran and Rickon escape with Hodor and Osha, the two Reed siblings are with them. They don't go to a farm, they only go to the woods leaving an obvious trail, then backtrack, sending the wolves on to make a trail for the dogs. Theon and his men don't go to the farm either. Reek a prisoner at Winterfell that Theon freed, leads Theon to a mill to find the children that take the place of Bran and Rickon.
 * In the series, the entire burned bodies of the children are hanged on either side of the main gate. In the books, the bodies are brought in dressed in the clothes of Bran and Rickon, but the heads have already been removed and tarred, with the faces peeled off. The bodies are thrown on a fire and only the heads are put onto spikes on the castle walls.
 * Shae does not help Sansa burn her bloody sheets, nor does she threaten a maid, nor does the Hound appear in this scene in the book. Shae is not her maid and Sansa tries to burn her sheets and mattress filling the room with smoke which attracts attention and gets what happened reported to Cersei.
 * Jaime's brief escape does not happen in Robb's camp. In the book, Jaime is held at Riverrun in a tower room. Tyrion sends four Mummers disguised as Lannister guards to escort Cleos Frey (not Alton Lannister) with peace terms. Their true purpose is to free Jaime. One is an impressionist who pretends to be Edmure Tully and gets them to open the gate, unfortunately for them, the real Edmure Tully chooses that moment to be returning from a brothel in town and the escape attempt fails. Jaime is recaptured and kept in the dungeons afterwards.
 * In the book Catelyn doesn't meet Jaime this early in the story. She meets one time with Jaime in the dungeons of Riverrun. In the show they take the dialog of this one scene and make two scenes, with Catelyn meeting alone with Jaime the first time and with Brienne the second time much later.
 * In the book Catelyn and Jaime make an agreement to only speak the truth, she tells him about the war and what is happening to the Lannisters. Jaime who is also getting increasing drunk on the wine Catelyn had sent to him confesses to incest and the attempted murder of Bran.
 * Lord Rickard Karstark does want revenge on Jaime Lannister, but it is for the killing of the two of his sons killed at the Battle of the Whispering Wood, not one killed in a failed escape attempt. In the book Torrhen Karstark was never Jaime Lannister's guard as he was already dead in battle by Jaime's hand.
 * Jon Snow let Ygritte go and returned to the rangers, so their scenes talking about freedom and sex didn't happen.
 * Jon Snow and Qhorin are never captured by the Wildlings.
 * Pyat Pree never kills the Thirteen in the novels, nor is he allied with Xaro Xhoan Daxos, nor does he kidnap Daenerys' dragons to lure her into the House of the Undying. She goes of her own accord.

The Prince of Winterfell

 * The cache of dragonglass weapons is discovered by Jon Snow and Ghost much earlier in the novel, the first night they spend at the Fist. He gives various pieces to his friends.
 * Asha (Yara in the series) does bring reinforcements for Theon, but only 10 soldiers. Also, Dagmer Cleftjaw is not at Winterfell, he is besieging Torrhen's Square.
 * Luwin is not aware that Osha is hiding with the Stark boys in the crypts.
 * In the books, the prostitute that Cersei captures is Alayaya, not Ros (who is not a character in the books). In addition, Tommen had been moved to Castle Rosby north of King's Landing long before Stannis arrives, but is captured by Tyrion's sellswords. Tyrion threatens to harm him if Cersei harms Alayaya, "the beatings and the rapes included."
 * Arya never asks Jaqen's help to escape. Instead, she uses his name to help her free a group of Northmen being held by Ser Amory Lorch.
 * Robb's scene with Talisa talking about his engagement and his father never happens with her nor with anyone else.
 * Davos isn`t made Hand of the King in A Clash of Kings.
 * Robb doesn't arrest his mother, Catelyn, in the book. The castellan and master at arms of Riverrun did confine her in her father's bed chamber for forms sake, after she helped Jaime escape, but when Robb returned he forgave her. Robb had himself acted rashly, in breaking his marriage pact with the Frey's and marrying Jeyne.
 * Brienne isn't seen escorting Jaime to King's Landing until the third book.
 * Tywin Lannister is not at Harrenhal. Arya is there as cupbearer to Roose Bolton, and she also handles his leeches as he is in the habit of having himself frequently bled. He does not talk to Arya about legacy, and he has no idea that she can read.
 * Tyrion and Bronn don't argue in the book about Bronn not wanting to wear a gold cloak. Bronn is not Commander of the City Watch that is Ser Jaclyn Bywater. Bronn is in command of Tyrion's private army of hired sellswords. He has not rounded up or gotten rid of all known thieves.

Blackwater

 * In the book, Tyrion collects all of the armorers in King's Landing and orders them all to forge one chain link each. He collects them and has them linked together under the surface of Blackwater Bay. Once the majority of Stannis' fleet has passed the hidden chain, it is raised, creating a wall for the warships, preventing them from escaping once the wildfire has been released.
 * Varys and Tyrion never discuss the tunnel systems in the book, and Varys has long since told him how he was made a eunuch.
 * Cersei never obtains essence of nightshade from Pycelle, or anyone.
 * The room where Cersei and the highborn ladies gather for the battle is different. In the book it is akin to a small banquet hall. They are also guarded by several sellswords in Lannister armor, not just Ilyn Payne.
 * It is Osney Kettleback, not Lancel, who delivers the first message to Cersei.
 * Shae does not speak to Cersei or Sansa during the battle.
 * The Hound holds a knife to Sansa's throat, after throwing her on the bed, when in her room and has her sing him a song, then leaves.
 * It is Ser Loras older brother, Ser Garlan Tyrell, who wears Renly's armor in the battle.
 * For a full list of the differences between the battle in the series and that of the book, see the "In the Books" section of Battle of the Blackwater.

Valar Morghulis

 * Tyrion has half of his nose and a part of his upper lip cut off by Mandon Moore, not just a gash across his face.
 * It is Maester Balabar, not Pycelle, who first visits Tyrion.
 * Shae does not visit Tyrion while he recuperates in the book.
 * Stannis is not seen in A Clash of Kings after his defeat.
 * Talisa is not a character in the books, Robb instead marries Jeyne Westerling and news of the wedding does not reach the reader until the subsequent book A Storm of Swords. He doesn't talk to Catelyn about breaking his marriage contract.
 * The Northern army besieging Winterfell is commanded by Rodrik Cassel in A Clash of Kings.
 * Theon did not immediately dismiss joining the Night Watch. In the book, he is seriously considering being stationed at East-Watch-by-the-sea with a ship of his own to captain. He had almost talked himself into doing it when events outside changed the situation.
 * Dagmer was not in Winterfell in A Clash of Kings and did not betray Theon. Theon is not knocked out by his own men and given to the northern army.
 * Wex is Theon's squire and is twelve years old. In the show no such character appears, and the name is only announced in the speech as one of the Ironborn (which one is never pointed out).
 * The House of the Undying is a flat, one-story building in the book rather than a tall tower.
 * In the books, Daenerys comes to consult with the warlocks. She is brought by Pyat Pree, given Shade of the evening to drink, and is told that she must enter alone, while Ser Jorah and her bloodriders wait outside. In the show she is magically brought into the tower, separating her from Jorah and Kovarro.
 * The visions Daenerys receives in the series are different from the novel. She does not meet the Undying Ones and receives no prophecies about her future in the show.
 * In the book, the dragons had not been captured but Daenerys has brought Drogon into the House of the Undying with her, and he does save Daenerys from the warlocks by burning the Undying Ones when they try to trap her.
 * In the series, Pyat Pree tries to imprison Daenerys, and her three dragons free her by setting him on fire. In the books, Drogon is the only dragon present and while he does kill the undead warlocks and set fire to the House of the Undying, he does not kill Pyat Pree. Pree is outside when Daenerys emerges and, in a rage at the destruction she has caused, he vows revenge on her.
 * Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Doreah are not locked in a vault by Daenerys in the books. Xaro does not betray Daenerys and no vault is mentioned. Doreah has long been dead, having died of a wasting sickness in the Red Waste.
 * Daenerys does not plan to buy a ship with Xaro's looted goods in the books. Daenerys and her people do not loot Xaro's house and three ships have been sent to her by Magister Illyrio to return her to Pentos.
 * Bronn visits Tyrion's sickbed, not Varys.
 * Sam was inside the camp and not with Grenn and Edd when the White Walkers and the Wights arrived. The Wights attacked in the dead of night, not during the day.
 * In the book, Jon Snow is immediately forced to fight Qhorin when they are caught by the wildlings at the mouth of a cave; they are not led away first, but Qhorin does strike the first blow. Qhorin's last word is simply "...sharp", not "we are the watchers on the wall".
 * Qhorin's leg was torn apart by Ghost, allowing Jon to kill him.
 * Ros and Varys' scene in the brothel does not appear in the books; Varys is not a point of view character and Ros was made up for the show, a compilation of various prostitutes.
 * Maester Luwin wasn't stabbed by Dagmer in the books. He did sustain a grievous wound during the Sack of Winterfell. He is overjoyed to see Bran and Rickon, as he never visited them in the crypts, and only suspected that Bran was alive (as the larger corpse's lower leg was too fat).
 * Luwin doesn't tell them to go to the Wall to Jon. In the books Luwin is not sure which route is safe, but does advise them to split up and take different roads.
 * Gendry and Hot Pie weren't with Arya when she said goodbye to Jaqen. In the book Arya says goodbye to Jaqen at Harrenhal, long before the escape. Arya arranges the escape herself.
 * Jaqen doesn't kill the guard at the gate. Arya distracts him and slits his throat. Arya, Hot Pie, and Gendry leave on horseback.
 * Margaery wasn't in King's Landing during the second book, but arrives there in the third novel, A Storm of Swords​.
 * Tywin Lannister's horse doesn't defecate outside the throne room. He defecated right at the foot of the Iron Throne.
 * Loras Tyrell doesn't ask the reward of Joffrey marrying Margaery, Garlan Tyrell does that in the book. Loras Tyrell asks to join Joffrey's Kingsguard.
 * Brienne and Jaime did not meet three Stark soldiers, although they did find women hanged by Stark loyalists, but when Brienne climbs the tree to cut the bodies down, she spots a soldier filled boat that has been sent after them from Riverrun, and they must flee leaving the women unburied. Their escape down the river is much more exciting and dangerous in the book. They travel with Cleos Frey a cousin of Jaime's whose role was loosely filled by Alton Lannister in the show.