You Had One Job: A Book Quote That Could've Made HoTD Finale So Much Better
Adapting a book can be tough, but sometimes things just beg to be transferred from pages to screens. Unfortunately, the transfer itself does not always happen.
House of the Dragon is a prequel for Game of Thrones based on George R.R. Martin's book Fire And Blood. Over the course of the show's first season, fans have lamented that showrunners failed to adapt many great things from the book.
But with the season 1 finale, it would have been so easy for creators to please fans and incorporate a certain scene from the book, yet they chose to do without it. And it was a missed opportunity, according to fans.
The tenth episode, titled the Black Queen, brings the Blacks and the Greens to a point of no return when Aemond Targaryen, the son of Alicent Hightower, kills' Rhaenyra's child, Lucerys Velaryon, after the latter arrived to deliver a message. Aemond's dragon Vhagar just tears both Lucerys and his dragon Arrax into pieces. When Rhaenyra knows about it, we know she is done seeking peace.
However, Fire And Blood had a perfect quote to illustrate that which the showrunners failed to use for some reason.
"[T]he worst thing is that last scene of daemon telling rhaenyra about luke's death was the perfect opportunity to use the single best quote from the whole dance "an eye for an eye, a son for a son, lucerys shall be avenged" but they just… didn't," Twitter user silvcrwings said.
The fan went on to suggest that the ominous line from the book was just "too powerful" for the showrunners to adapt. It's clear that the quote would really fit the narrative.
However, another fan tried to explain why Rhaenyra never said that in the TV adaptation.
"Bro, she LITERALLY just lost a child. She's in shock. She's not about to go all Edgar Allen Poe by dropping bomb-a** quotes like that," Twitter user MOISTMOLASSES argued.
For many people, the explanation seemed reasonable enough.
"Not to be that guy, but it seems that some people get so attached to the books they throw logic out of the window just because they want to scream: "YES, THAT IS EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOKS!" every scene," Twitter user joavictorof added.
Besides, it's worth noting that the line was originally uttered by Daemon in the books, not by Rhaenyra. However, one might still expect to hear the iconic phrase in the upcoming season, which is expected to pick things up right where they ended in season 1.
The showrunners have already confirmed that the shooting of the second season is scheduled to begin in early 2023. However, the premiere date is to be announced by HBO later.