Only Game Of Thrones Fans Know If This Happened On The Show Or In The Books
- by Tim Frederick
- – on
- in Movies and TV
HBO's hit series Game of Thrones is nearing its conclusion, with just nine episodes left in the series. A Song of Ice and Fire readers have more to look forward to yet, with two more novels planned for release: The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Of course, it's anyone's guess as to when or if A Dream of Spring will see release, and if George R. R. Martin will even be able to wrap up the series with that seventh installment.
While the TV adaptation was quite faithful to the books during the first few seasons, it began to greatly diverge in later seasons, as every small change required further changes down the line. In other cases, entire plotlines were drastically altered or cut from the show, with large chunks of books 4 and 5 being bypassed completely. With the TV series now being well past the books, it's impossible to tell just how much of the story is different at this point, but it's believed that the final two to three seasons will end up being quite different from the final two books.
Of course, that divergence from the book series has drawn the ire of many book readers, who believe the show is greatly inferior to the books. While we won't wade into that debate, we have prepared a little quiz to test show watchers and book readers alike on just how informed they really are when it comes to GoT/ASoIaF lore.
We'll present with 35 different scenarios that happened either in the books or on the show: all you have to do is tell us where they came from. The differences won't always be big ones, so you'll need to know your stuff. Good luck!
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
OK, we'll give you an easy one to start with: Lady Stoneheart is the reanimated corpse of Catelyn Stark, brought back from the dead by Beric Dondarrion, who gives his life for hers. Catelyn, who can no longer speak without covering the gash in her throat, takes command of the Brotherhood Without Banners and uses them to hunt down those who have wronged her family. At one point she captures Brienne and forces her to choose between killing Jaime Lannister or being executed. Did this scenario happen in the books or on the show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
After fleeing Westeros and resting at Illyrio's manse in Pentos, Tyrion sets off for Volantis to meet Daenerys. His traveling companions include Griff and Young Griff, whom Tyrion eventually discovers as being Jon Connington and Prince Aegon Targaryen, the latter thought to have been killed during the sack of King's Landing. Tyrion convinces Aegon to head for Westeros and stake his own claim to the throne, which is stronger than Dany's, rather than meeting up with and marrying his aunt. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Lord Wyman Manderly serves three large meat pies at the wedding of Ramsay Bolton in Winterfell, which are believed to have included the remains of the three Freys who went missing while traveling with his retinue from White Harbor to Winterfell. Manderly also has a bard perform the Rat Cook song during the celebration, which tells the tale of a cook who was turned into a rat after breaking guest right (which the Freys did at the Red Wedding) by killing a prince and turning him into a meat pie to serve to a king. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
In one of the most horrifying scenes in the series, Shireen Baratheon is sacrificed to R'hllor by Melisandre and her father Stannis, in an effort to open a path through the snows to Winterfell. While the sacrifice worked as intended, it also had unintended consequences, as the horror of what Stannis did leads half his army to desert him. With no alternative but to press on, Stannis is defeated by the Boltons outside Winterfell, his destiny shattered. He is killed by Brienne after the battle.
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Jeyne Poole is shipped off to the North by Littlefinger with the intention of marrying Ramsay Bolton while under the guise of being Arya Stark. Ramsay, who is aware that the girl is not Arya, tortures her repeatedly and has her locked away in one of Winterfell's towers, where her screams and crying are heard throughout the area. Jeyne is eventually freed with the help of Mance Rayder and Theon Greyjoy and brought to the camp of Stannis Baratheon. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Arya Stark and Sandor Clegane run into Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne near the Eyrie. Brienne wants to take Arya with her, having sworn to her mother that she would protect her and return her to Winterfell. After Arya refuses to go with Brienne, a violent battle takes place between Brienne and the Hound over custody of Arya. Brienne emerges victorious, but can't find Arya, who comes across the wounded Hound and leaves him there to die before striking out on her own. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Balon Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands, receives a rather shocking package from Ramsay Snow that contains his son Theon's manhood. The accompanying letter declares that if the Ironborn scum don't leave the North, more boxes will be sent to him, containing more parts of Theon. Balon resolves to leave Theon to his fate, citing the fact that he can no longer further the Greyjoy line. However, Theon's sister Yara declares that she will take a ship to go save him. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Catelyn shows a rarely seen tender side towards Jon Snow when she's questioned by Talisa about a prayer wheel she is making. She explains that she once made one for Jon when he came down with the pox while he was young, swearing to the gods that if he survived, she would ask Eddard to legitimize him and make him a Stark. However, she didn't follow through on her vow and blames the tragedy that befell her family on that inability to remain true to her word. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
With the Ironborn surrounded at Winterfell, Theon prepares to make a last stand, giving a rousing speech to his men that they will die to the man this day, but that their valor will live on for eternity. However, his speech is rudely ended by Dagmer, who knocks him out with his spear. The Ironborn end up betraying Theon, turning him over to Ramsay for the promise of being able to go home. Of course, being Ramsay, that promise was never fulfilled and they were all flayed. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Arya Stark is saved from possible torture at the hands of The Tickler by Tywin Lannister, for whom she becomes his cupbearer. During that time she is present for several Lannister strategy meetings, including a meeting between Tywin and Littlefinger, who doesn't seem to recognize her. After that meeting she steals a note detailing troop movements that had been left on the table, but is caught with it by Ser Amory Lorch, who threatens to ask Tywin about it. Jaqen kills Amory at Arya's behest just before he is about to do so. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Jaime and Brienne are escaping up the Red Fork in a small boat when Robin Ryger and some 20-25 men begin making up ground on them. After attempts at negotiation fail and it appears all but a certainty that they will be caught, Brienne leaps from the boat, scales a cliff, and pushes a giant boulder onto Ryger's boat as it passes beneath the cliff, singlehandedly destroying it and throwing off their pursuit. She then catches up to Jaime before he can make off without her. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Despite his intense animosity towards Jon Snow, Jon names Alliser Thorne as First Ranger after Jon is elected as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, citing his experience and his bravery in commanding troops on the Wall during the Wildling attack. However, whatever points Jon may have won with Ser Alliser are quickly lost after he allows the remaining Wildlings to pass through Castle Black to settle south of the Wall. He tells Jon that while he may have a good heart, it will get them all killed. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
After Olenna Tyrell balks at his proposed marriage of Loras Tyrell to Cersei, who she deems old, Tywin Lannister threatens to have Loras made a member of the Kingsguard. The threat has special significance given that members of the Kingsguard are forbidden from marrying and having children and Loras is the only male heir in the Tyrell line. The maneuver works, as Olenna relents and agrees to the marriage, though Cersei ensures that it never ends up taking place. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
After escaping from the Wildlings, Jon is on his way back to Castle Black when his lover Ygritte catches up to him at a watering hole. Jon tells her that she knew he had not become one of them and that he has to go home now. Jon tells her that he loves her and that he knows she won't hurt him, proving again that Jon Snow knows nothing, because she promptly puts three arrows in him as he escapes on his horse. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Tyrion Lannister demands a trial by combat while being held captive at the Eyrie, after his pleas of innocence in the death of Jon Arryn fall on deaf ears. Sir Vardis Egen is chosen as the champion of House Arryn for a trial by combat between himself and Tyrion's champion, Bronn. The heavily armored knight is quickly worn down by the agile sellsword, culminating in him being stabbed through the neck by Bronn and flung through the Moon Door. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Without Jaime around to comfort her, a distraught Cersei lets down her guard around Tyrion in a rare moment between the two in King's Landing. Lamenting how Joffrey turned out, Cersei questions whether it wasn't her and Jaime's fault, citing the fact that many Targaryens born of incest also ended up mad. Tyrion tries to console her, pointing out that their other two children have lovely constitutions and even approaching her for a possible hug before thinking better of it. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
During a riot in King's Landing, Sansa is saved by The Hound from being yanked from her horse and possibly getting raped or murdered. He cuts off the arm of a man who tries to pull her from her saddle, then tears into other members of the mob, laughing as he breaks their attack. As he later tells Sansa, it doesn't take courage for a dog to chase away rats, as not one of the 30 men in the vicinity had the courage to face him. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Our introduction to the series on both the show and in the books is a party of three members of the Night's Watch ranging north of the wall, on the hunt for a band of Wildlings. And immediately, there are some differences between the two versions. In this version, Gared is the lone survivor of the attack by the White Walkers and flees south of the Wall, where he is captured and executed as a deserter of the Night's Watch by Eddard Stark. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Bronn refuses to be Tyrion's champion against Gregor Clegane in his trial by combat for the murder of Joffrey, instead marrying Lollys Stokeworth. However, Cersei later becomes suspicious of Bronn's loyalties after hearing that he's hired several sellswords and named Lollys' bastard son Tyrion. Fearing that he's still loyal to her brother, Cersei conspires to have Bronn killed, though he emerges victorious from the resulting duel and eventually becomes the Lord of Stokeworth after Lollys' elder sister is killed. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
The Small Council discusses what to do about Daenerys Targaryen, who is now pregnant. Most members of the Council are in favor of assassinating her, believing that it could prevent future war and bloodshed. Eddard Stark and Barristan Selmy are the only members who oppose such a move. They are ultimately overruled and an assassin is unsuccessfully sent after Daenerys. Eddard, who refuses to play any part in such a vile deed, ends up relinquishing his role as Hand of the King. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Aboard the Balerion, Jorah convinces Daenerys to change course for Astapor rather than their planned destination of Pentos, so she can acquire a thousand Unsullied before her meeting with Magister Illyrio. He also takes the opportunity to kiss her, something which he says he should've done many times before, and offers her his hand in marriage. Dany is rather taken aback by the kiss, saying he should not have done that and reminding him that she is his queen. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
With Daenerys about to set sail for Westeros, she is advised by Tyrion to leave her lover Daario Naharis behind on the grounds that will cause undue complications. Daario tries to convince her to take him with her, but to no avail. He is instead tasked with protecting the peace in Meereen along with the Second Sons, while the city goes through the process of power being given to the people. Daario begrudgingly agrees to the arrangement. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
An attempt by Cersei to frame Margaery for adultery and treason backfires when her lying informant Osney Kettleblack is tortured by the Faith of the Seven, revealing the duplicity. Cersei is then arrested by the Faith herself on various charges, including orchestrating the murder of the previous High Septon. She is forced to submit to a walk of atonement while naked as she awaits her trial, during which she is pelted with trash and insults from the crowd of onlookers. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
In a desperate, last-ditch effort to save her son from the slaughter of the Red Wedding, Catelyn takes Aegon Frey hostage, declaring that she will trade his life for Robb's and pleading with Robb to walk out of the hall. However, Walder Frey balks at the offer and Catelyn is forced to witness Robb's death, as he is stabbed through the heart. She lives up to her vow, cutting Aegon's throat before her own life is taken. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Catelyn is stricken with grief over Bran's fall, refusing to leave his bedchamber for days. At one point she gets an unexpected visitor in the form of Queen Cersei, who tells Catelyn about the death of her and King Robert's first child, from fever. Though prayers did not help save that child, she vows that she will pray for Bran's recovery in the hopes that this time, the gods will listen. Bran does indeed survive, only to have an assassin come for him some time later. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
At the Fist of the First Men, Mance Rayder and the Wildlings, with Jon Snow in tow, come across a gruesome scene; dozens of slaughtered horses, with their hacked up limbs and other body parts arranged in a spiral pattern. As Mance Rayder remarks of the scene, the White Walkers are "always the artists". What they don't find are any dead humans, despite the warg Orell having seen dead crows earlier, leading them to believe that they've since been turned into Wights. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
After the slaying of the Stark household in King's Landing, Joffrey takes Sansa up to the battlements of the Red Keep, where the heads of several traitors, including her father's, are mounted on spikes. Many of the heads have rotted away beyond recognition, including Septa Mordane's head, which has lost its jaw and had a cheek eaten away by birds. Sansa questions why Joffrey bothered killing the septa, to which he replies that she was also a traitor. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Doreah and Xaro Xhoan Daxos are discovered to have been involved in the murder of Irri and several of Daenerys' men, as well as the theft of her dragons. Doreah pleads with Dany, saying she was told Dany was as good as dead either way, but her pleas fall on deaf ears. For their betrayal, Daenerys has them locked away in a giant vault that supposedly housed Xaro's fortunes, but was in fact empty. She then raids what possessions he did have so she can buy a ship and sail for Astapor. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
The great duel between Oberyn Martell and Gregor Clegane to determine Tyrion Lannister's fate was swung in Oberyn's favor thanks to his polished mirror shield, which he uses to temporarily blind the Mountain by reflecting sunlight into his visor. After breaking down the Mountain's formidable defenses and putting him in a helpless position, Oberyn makes a fatal mistake by stalling as he tries to get a confession out of the Mountain. The Mountain trips him and smashes his skull with his armored fist, then gives him a confession while killing him. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
A singer accused of performing a song mocking the late Robert Baratheon is brought before Joffrey in King's Landing. The singer is ordered to perform the song, which is about Robert battling a pig, in reference to his death at the hands of a boar. Queen Cersei is seemingly referenced during the song as well. After the song is over, Joffrey announces that he will be merciful and allow the singer to keep either his fingers or his tongue, giving him one day to decide. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Jaime Lannister proves that he will do anything to escape Stark captivity and return to Cersei when he kills his cousin Alton Lannister in their cell. When a Karstark guard enters the cell to check on Alton, Jaime kills him as well, allowing him to escape from the cell. Jaime is quickly recaptured however, and appears destined to be killed in his cell by the Karstarks before Catelyn frees him, sending him off with Brienne so as to exchange him for Catelyn's daughters. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
Arya slowly comes to after being knocked unconscious by the Hound at the Twins during the Red Wedding. She picks a bad time to do so, as she bears witness to the slaughter of the Stark forces all around her and the defiled body of her brother Robb, whose head has been replaced by the head of his direwolf. The Hound, having grabbed a Frey banner, rushes away from the scene with Arya in tow on his horse. Show or book?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
To counter the Tyrell plot to have Sansa married to Willas Tyrell, Tywin sets up his son Tyrion as Sansa's betrothed, ensuring the Lannisters will rule the North. Tyrion is commanded by his father to consummate their wedding, leading the two of them to climb into bed naked on their wedding night before Tyrion declares that he can't do it and won't share her bed until she wants him to (which likely never would've happened in a billion years). Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
With his brothers presumed dead, his sister Arya missing, and Sansa being held captive by the Lannisters, Robb Stark goes against his mother's wishes and proceeds with a plan to legitimize his bastard half-brother Jon Snow, making him Robb's heir until a son is born to him. He signs the decree in front of several lords, though it's unclear what happened to it afterwards. Jon has yet to become aware of the decree and it hasn't played any further role in the story thus far. Book or show?
Did This Scenario Happen in the Books or on the Show?
At the funeral for Hoster Tully, his son Edmure is tasked with lighting the funerary boat via a fire arrow after it's been set loose on the Red Fork. After missing twice, his uncle Brynden (the Blackfish) Tully offers to make the shot for him. Edmure refuses and makes another failed attempt to hit it before giving in and allowing the Blackfish to make the shot before the boat drifts out of range. The Blackfish hits it with his first shot. Book or show?