This section documents differences between the HBO TV show and the novels. This page documents General Differences , while there are breakout sections for Detailed Episode Differences .

General Differences

Show Title: The TV show is titled "Game of Thrones" and takes its name from the first novel, "A Game of Thrones." George R. R. Martin's 7 part book series is actually called "A Song of Ice and Fire." The novels are called A Game of Thrones (Book One), A Clash of Kings (Book Two), A Storm of Swords (Book Three), A Feast For Crows (Book Four), A Dance With Dragons (Book Five), The Winds of WInter (Book Six), and A Dream of Spring (Book Seven).

Point of View: Since the plot in the novel "A Game of Thrones" is told from the viewpoints of the principal cast of characters (Eddard, Bran, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, Tyrion, Jon, Catelyn), the show fleshes out certain key scenes that are either absent from the book, implied, or talked about in other chapters. The exception are the prologues in the novels, which set up the novel from a character-independent perspective.

Character Names: Certain characters have undergone a name change for the TV series to avoid confusion. The character of Asha Greyjoy from the books has been changed to Yara Greyjoy to distinguish her from Osha, a Wilding who was captured and taken back to Winterfell by Robb Stark in the first season. Robert Arryn (the only living son of Jon and Lysa Arryn) from the books has been changed to Robin to avoid confusion with King Robert Baratheon. This is not a radical change, however, as Robert Arryn is often referred to as "Sweetrobin" in the books.

Character Appearance: Certain characters within the series have been played by actors who do not share the same physical traits as the said characters. A good example of this is the portrayal of Alliser Thorne. He is played by Owen Teale in the TV series who is a far cry different in appearance to the Alliser Thorne in the books who is portrayed as having long black hair streaked with grey. This has been done to capture the overall feel of the characters and not just their appearance. The only Stark children in the book with brown hair are Arya and Jon Snow, everyone else is said to have the auburn hair of Catelyn Stark.

Some characters' races have been changed in the show as well (for example, Salladhor Saan). Other examples of this appearance modification can be seen with the younger characters. The children have all been aged several years in order to match the forced aging of Daenerys, who was aged due to her sexual relationship with Khal Drogo.

Character Additions, Omissions, and Mergers: The biggest character addition is Talisa of Volantis, a character not featured in the book, who replaces Jeyne Westerling. The character of the prostitute Ros was added to the show to help flesh out and add additional dialog from non-viewpoint characters. Her character also replaces Alayaya from the novels.

Some minor characters, like Alton Lannister are substitutions to help move forward key scenes that involve characters omitted from the show (in this case for Cleon Frey). In other scenes, main characters like Sansa are cast in scenes that belong to minor characters in the books (like Lollys Stokeworth).

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Certain characters had their fates altered and are killed off differently or earlier in the story. To prevent spoilers, these changes are listed under the specific season and episode differences. Likewise, some characters introduced in book 1 or 2 are absent from season 1 or 2, respectively and may appear in later seasons.

Detailed Episode Differences

For more detailed differences, check out the specific episodes within the Episode Guide section as well as: