Differences between books and TV series
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The Game of Thrones series's storyline closely follows the story of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but there are still some differences between books and series, especially in recent seasons. On this page, there is a list of differences such as additional scenes, character appearances, and chronological changes that can be found in the TV series Game of Thrones.
Please note, that this list shouldn't spoil the next seasons. Feel free to add differences, but don't mention any scenes/characters which weren't mentioned or shown in the first season and can spoil the second season. If anything spoils too much, please correct or delete.
Differences between books and TV series - Season 1
These differences can be found between the first season of the TV series and A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Differences between books and TV series - Season 2
These differences can be found between the second season of the TV series and A Clash of Kings, the second novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Differences between books and TV series - Season 3
These differences can be found between the third season of the TV series and roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords, the third novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Differences between books and TV series - Season 4
These differences can be found between the third season of the TV series and roughly the second half of A Storm of Swords, the third novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Differences between books and TV series - Season 5
These differences can be found between the fourth season of the TV series and, roughly, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, the fourth and fifth novels of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series. The two novels take place concurrently, with the fourth novel detailing events in the Seven Kingdoms, while the fifth novel follows events outside of them (at the Wall, Arya and Tyrion in the Free Cities, and Daenerys in Slaver's Bay). Originally the fourth and fifth novel were going to be one very long novel, but Martin had to split them apart because it had grown too large. The TV series chose to simply intercut material from the two, which, in a sense, is recreating the original effect that Martin intended.
Differences between books and TV series - Season 6
While the storylines for Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister caught up with the current novels by the end of Season 5, many other storylines did not. The Greyjoy and Tully/Frey, and Samwell/Gilly journey to Oldtown subplots are pushed back from the fourth novel, A Feast for Crows. The Arya and Bran subplots continue from the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons, along with parts of Davos's POV, Small Council, Dorne, and Meereen subplots.
Differences between books and TV series: character names, appearances, or ages
Describes several minor "cosmetic" changes for characters: those who were renamed, those with different physical appearances or attributes (blonde instead of brown hair, left-handed instead of right-handed, etc), or with notably different ages (generally, how the younger child characters were aged-up due to filming constraints).
Characters significantly changed between books and TV series
These are overall differences for several characters that were significantly changed between the books and TV series.
New characters who appear exclusively in the TV series
A guide to major new recurring characters invented for the TV series which have no real counterpart with any characters from the novels.