[spoilers]
George R.R. Martin’s sprawling epic world, the one of A Song of Ice and Fire, has hundreds of named characters, with entire stories in a footnote. Martin’s style of writing often references events and characters in the story, a lot of which fail to make it into the adaptation of his work. As known by fans, a slew of interesting and minor characters were absent from Game of Thrones, and this is also true for the adaptation of House of the Dragon.
A slew of key characters seems to be missing from the show, given that every adaptation needs to balance its budget with the narrative it has at hand. While characters can number in the hundreds in the books, the show needs to make do with a core cast, the absolutely important characters in the books, while changing the narrative to not require the tertiary characters. House of the Dragon has done something similar, where a slew of characters have been jettisoned in favor of a leaner plot.
1. Maelor Targaryen
As reported in Fire & Blood, Aegon II Targaryen and his sister-wife Helaena Targaryen did not have 2, but three children. The twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, had a younger brother, the one named Maelor. The younger son of Aegon the Elder, Helaena had chosen the boy to die when Blood and Cheese held them captive in their chambers, hoping to spare the heir to the Iron Throne.
However, the assassins would go on to kill Jaehaerys instead, causing Helaena to go mad with guilt over having chosen Maelor to die. Aegon made sure that the child was looked after by his mother, Alicent Hightower, when his sister-wife became unfit for public life thanks to her deteriorating mental state.
2. Daeron Targaryen
Not only is King Aegon missing a child in House of the Dragon, but audiences have yet to see his youngest brother, Daeron Targaryen either. The character is one extra dragon rider in the Green Council and has been largely absent from Season 1 or Season 2 of the show.
Fire & Blood tells us that the child was sent away to be fostered by Ormund Hightower, the nephew of Otto Hightower. The character is close to Aegon, who commissions his and Aemond’s statues after they fall in the Dance of the Dragons. However, these were never completed as Aegon II lost the Iron Throne. The character has been assumed to be in Oldtown but has neither been cast nor mentioned in the show so far.
3. Sara Snow
Jacaerys Velaryon traveled to see Cregan Stark of Winterfell, with whom he served at The Wall with the Night’s Watch. According to in-universe history, several scholars claim that Jacaerys Valeryon found himself falling in love with Sara Snow, Lord Cregan Stark’s half-sister, who he married in secret.
While the character is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, it is odd that the show left out this key detail, while it decided to make changes to the story that were not recorded in Fire & Blood, given that the book presents itself as an in-universe academic work about the history of the Targaryen kings.
4. Mushroom
As Fire & Blood essentially functions as a history book written by an Archmaster of the Citadel, the book must reference other Academic works to lay support for the claims it makes. One of the many sources that the author of the book draws from, is the in-universe book, The Testimony of Mushroom, which recorded the events as narrated by the dwarf fool in the Targaryen court during the Dance of the Dragons, Mushroom.
The character is wholly absent from scenes that would have required his presence to be recorded in Fire & Blood, given that people would easily let things slip in front of the Fool because he was considered to be simple. In reality, it was a pretense that helped Mushroom sell his appearance as the royal fool.
5. Nettles
While the Dragonseeds (people of Valerian descent who reside on Dragonstone) are far from being active players in the show, Each of them that plays a key role is cast, except the sixteen-year-old Nettles, who brings in Sheepstealer into the Black Council’s fold.
The dragon rider becomes instrumental in fighting the Green Council and survives well into the reign of Aegon III, only to disappear into the Vale. Her contribution to the Dance of the Dragons endears her to Daemon Targaryen, but in-universe sources are dived over whether they were lovers, or had a close platonic relationship, more akin to a father and daughter.
House of the Dragon Season 2 is currently streaming on HBO Max
