What was the Battle of Resa del Grajo like in the books? Differences from House of the Dragon

The fourth episode of the new season of the series House of the Dragonwill be remembered for finally opening the door to the Dance of the Dragons, the spectacular and often tragic aerial battles between the mythical beasts of the Targaryens. On this occasion, House of the Dragon Not only does it show the whole backstage that led to the so-called Battle of Reso del Grajo, but it also explores what happened at that time and shows details the death of Rhaenys (Emma Best), the Queen who never was, and her dragon Meleys.

However, while the spectacular sequence essentially follows the details of George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood (2018), it specifically changes two events that occur in the battle. On the one hand, it delves into Aemond’s (Ewan Mitchell) behavior and his decisions in the midst of battle. On the other hand, it reveals that the struggle between the Targaryen factions is more complex than one might assume, including the possible fratricidal tensions in the courtyard of the Red Keep. Both of these points make the entirety of the chapter more complex than one might assume. Not only for what happened, but also for the future of the characters.

Especially since the Battle of Longship’s Rest was the first of many to demonstrate that the Targaryen firepower is virtually unmanageable. Worst of all, neither of the squabbling family members fully knows their limits. What the Dance of the Dragons Leads To not only in a military conflict over succession to the throne, but also in a catastrophic event for Westeros.

As it says in the book, the Battle of Resa del Grajo.

Let us recall that the novel on which it is based House of the Dragonchronicles the distant Targaryen war. As such, its details are based more on hearsay, rumor, and documents than on first-hand accounts. This means that everything has a more or less broad outline of the events it relates to, and where most of them lead. So, a major battle begins with a story about the events that surrounded it. Namely: how Christon Cole planned a trap for the Blacks in the middle of the Rook’s Rest territories.

V House of the DragonCole’s actions seem more random and driven by Cole’s (Fabien Frankel) impulsiveness. In fact, this argument makes it clear that his attacks on the minor lords are more a result of his aggressiveness than his tactical thinking. What makes this House of the Dragontheir movements are almost unpredictable. In both versions, Lord Gunthor Darklyn is beheaded for treason, causing his followers and knights to submit to the king. But while in the book the act of violence is a provocation designed to provoke the Black Queen to leave Dragonstone, V House of the Dragon For Cole, it’s more of a way to defeat the village lords.

On the other hand, in the books, Rhaenyra never visits King’s Landing and certainly doesn’t speak to Alicent Hightower. So when he receives this news, he’s in the Targaryen ancestral enclave. There, he must stop his sons Jace and Joffrey Velaryon – in the show, just Jace – from wanting to confront Cole and, of course, protect the Black Court’s allies. In both cases, the pressure and the debates in court They force Rhaenys to offer to ride on Meleys’ back to stop Cole’s threat.

Tragedy with several victims

In the book, Cole was prepared to attack the dragons in the same way as in the show, but for different reasons. In the former, his planned trap includes having a gun and a scorpion (an aerial spear) to kill any beast from the air. In light of what matters House of the Dragonthere are weapons too, but all this seems like an additional precaution to avoid attack.

In both versions, the princess successfully attacks Cawl’s army from the air. But this is where the biggest difference between the source material and the fiction arises. In the book, part of Cawl’s trap was that King Aegon II Targaryen and his brother, Prince Aemond Targaryen, attacked Meleis and his rider together. However, in House of the Dragon each one flies separately, with no intention of coordinating between them and What is even more disturbing is the discord within the Green Court. This forces Aemond to make a seemingly perverse decision: attack his brother in the midst of battle.

This means that while the outcome is the same, the characters’ motivations are completely different. In both the book and the show, Meleys defeats Aegon’s dragon, but in the short adaptation, Aemond attacks both. This is despite knowing that his brother could be harmed. Finally, Vhagar attacks Meleys and kills her from the air – in the book, she falls to the ground and dies – and Rhaenys dies with her in the midst of the brutal attack. In the book, he dies in ashes in the midst of battle.