Differences in adaptation/Game of Thrones: Season 2

The following is a list of differences between Game of Thrones: Season 2 and A Clash of Kings, the book from which it is adapted.
==Differences by episode==
==="The North Remembers"===
*The book starts with Cressen's chapter on Dragonstone, which is also different than Cressen's storyline in the show. In the book, Cressen receives a white raven from the Citadel first, confirming the end of summer, then Shireen Baratheon visits him. After that, he meets Davos, then he visits Stannis, who has not yet accepted the Lord of Light. Cressen then appears at the feast where he is humiliated by Stannis's wife Selyse Baratheon, who wasn't present at all when Cressen appears on the show. Then he tries to poison Melisandre and dies in the process.
*In the books, Cressen tries to persuade Stannis to forge an alliance with Robb Stark, even if that meant giving up the North and the Riverlands, citing half a kingdom is better than none. He also tries to persuade him to help Robb avenge his father, but Stannis immediately cuts him off and reveals his bitterness at how Eddard Stark was closer to his brother Robert than he was.
*In the books, Selyse mentions Melisandre gazing into the flames and seeing Renly dead, which particularly alarms Cressen as he had been a surrogate father to all three Baratheon brothers after their parents died and the thought of one killing another was too much for him to bear.
*In the books, Stannis doesn't receive the letter from Eddard saying that he is heir, because Tomard was killed before he could deliver it. The letter is intercepted by Cersei and used as evidence of Eddard's "treason". Stannis had already discovered the true parentage of Robert and Cersei's children long before Eddard, as he had first taken these suspicions to Jon Arryn, and they had been investigating it together.
*Melisandre is not cruel to Cressen; it is Stannis's wife Selyse doing the mocking. She also realizes Cressen's plan and tells him he doesn't have to do it.
*The poison Cressen uses is not hidden in his maester's chain, in the books, but in a pouch in his sleeve.
*Maester Cressen dies several days before Stannis allows Melisandre to burn the statues of the Seven, which does not happen on the beach.
*Stannis sends out hundreds of ravens all over the Seven Kingdoms proclaiming himself the rightful king, and declaring that Cersei's children are bastards born of incest. Cersei is enraged, which amuses Tyrion, given that Stannis's allegations are true. She orders all copies of the proclamation burned, and decrees that anyone who repeats the allegations should have their tongue cut out. Tyrion points out that it is now too late to suppress the rumor, and trying to do so would be counter-productive. At Littlefinger's suggestion, they retaliate by questioning the parentage of Stannis's daughter Shireen.
*The show starts with Joffrey's tournament, which is the third chapter in the book (the Prologue's storyline is altered in the series, the second chapter was moved to the first season).
*Sansa is at the tournament when the scene opens in the show. In the book she is escorted there by Ser Arys Oakheart who shares court gossip.
*Sandor Clegane does not fight in Joffrey's nameday tourney, as he is dismissive about the poor quality of the competition.
*The tournament in the book is a joust competition with horses and lances and takes place in a small tourney ground set up inside the keep walls as the city and surrounding land is too dangerous. In the series, they compete in a fight with blunt weapons on the walls of the Red Keep.
*In the books, Ser Dontos arrives late, chasing his horse (which he is too drunk to mount), and only wearing the top half of his armor (he is nude from the waist down). Joffrey orders a barrel of wine for him to be drowned in (as opposed to having it poured down his throat as it happens in the show), but Sansa dissuades him the same way she did in the show.
*In the books, Prince Tommen rides against a quintain.
*In the books, Daenerys follows the red comet, whereas in the series she is heading in the opposite direction.
*In the books, Daenerys's silver mare doesn't die in the Red Waste; she is in fact still alive and well.
*Daenerys sends riders out in different directions to explore what's around them in the Red Waste; in the book she does not do this until reaching Vaes Tolorro, the city of bones.
*In the TV series, Jeor Mormont says that they passed through six villages, and found them all abandoned. In the book, the ranging force passes through seven abandoned villages, the fourth of them is Whitetree.
*In the TV series, Craster's Keep is shown to have a wall of sharpened stakes surrounding it, where in the novels it is described as having only a small earthen dike around it.
*In the books, following a night excursion beyond the camp, Jon Snow finds a horde of buried Night's Watch equipment and clothing including chunks of obsidian from which he fashions daggers. In the series, Jon's excursion finds Craster sacrificing one of his male offspring to a White Walker, the killings of which in the book are learned from one of Craster's daughters.
*Tyrion does not stroll into the Small Council chamber, he finds Ser Mandon Moore barring his way. Accompanied by Bronn and Timett, he persuades Moore to let him pass and is pleased to have passed his first test as Hand.
*During Tyrion's meeting with Cersei at the Small Council chamber, they discuss several of her other poor and short-sighted decisions, which greatly angered their father:
**He chides her for the shoddy treatment of Barristan Selmy in dismissing him as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and naming the Hound to the Kingsguard. Cersei explains that Joffrey wanted someone to blame for Robert’s death, and Varys suggested Ser Barristan; it gave Jaime command of the Kingsguard and a seat on the Small Council, and allowed Joff to throw a bone to his dog. Tyrion points out that not only it is unprecedented for a member of the Kingsguard to be dismissed, but Selmy is a legendary figure in Westeros and gives prestige and honor to whomever he serves; Selmy is now likely to join one of their enemies, to their benefit, which Cersei admits she had not considered. Tyrion mentions that Ser Barristan killed two Gold Cloaks who had been sent to apprehend him, which Cersei blames on Janos Slynt's incompetence for not taking more men or considering Selmy might refuse to come quietly.
**Tyrion makes Cersei admit that she killed Robert, indirectly, by ordering Lancel to give him a lot of very strong wine.
**As for the decision to name Janos Slynt Lord of Harrenhal, which Tywin considers as an insult - that a former seat of kings has been given to the son of a butcher: Cersei explains they needed the Gold Cloaks, so it was necessary to make a deal with Slynt in order to foil Eddard's plan to offer Stannis the throne.
**Cersei reveals that it was arranged for Ned Stark to be granted mercy and allowed to take the black. However, Joffrey decided, of his own volition, to execute Stark, and Slynt and Ilyn Payne willingly obliged. The execution angered the High Septon, who had also been expecting a verdict of clemency, who is now claiming the Crown lied to him and defiled the Great Sept of Baelor by carrying out an execution there.
*In the books, Tyrion does not bring Shae to the Tower of the Hand, he hides her in a manse outside the Red Keep in the city.
*In the book, Lord Karstark is upset over Robb's peace offering and leaves the hall.
*In the book, Robb's terms are significantly different:
**He offers to release Willem Lannister and Tion Frey, if the Lannisters release his sisters first.
**He demands that the Lannisters deliver his father's greatsword Ice to Riverrun.
**He demands that Tywin release the captives he took at the battle on the Green Fork. In return, Robb promises to release the captives he took at the Battle of the Camps and the Battle of Whispering Wood, except Jaime.
**He demands that the Lannisters deliver ten highborn hostages as a pledge of peace.
**He does not threaten to behead Joffrey personally or to litter the South with dead Lannisters, if Cersei does not accept his terms; instead, he promises that he will "give her another Whispering Wood".
*Jaime is imprisoned at Riverrun, not at Robb's camp. Initially he is kept at a comfortable tower cell, but after a failed escape attempt he is locked in the dungeons.
*Neither Robb nor Jaime are POV characters in the book A Clash of Kings, so the scene where Robb and Grey Wind confront Jaime in his cell and talk about bannermen, incest, and Bran's accident is never depicted in the book. This is instead told from the POV of Catelyn who confronts Jaime in the dungeons of Riverrun, after she hears news about the alleged deaths of Bran and Rickon.
*Catelyn, not Robb, reaches the conclusion that Bran did not fall but was pushed from a window, because he caught Jaime and Cersei at their incest. Catelyn suspects Jaime ever since she recalls he stayed in the castle that day, but is uncertain of the reason; eventually she figures what Jaime's motive was, based on the information Stannis has told her (and Renly) during their parley about Cersei and her children.
*Robb sends Cleos Frey with his terms to King's Landing. Cleos Frey is Tywin's nephew and Jaime's first cousin, son of Genna Lannister (Tywin's sister) and Emmon Frey. There is no Alton Lannister in the novels.
*The scene where Cersei tells Littlefinger that "power is power" does not happen in the novels. Littlefinger never implies to Cersei, as he does in this scene, that he knows the rumors about an incestuous relationship between her and Jaime are true.
*The scene where Cersei slaps Joffrey and he threatens her in the throne room does not happen in the novels. Joffrey never treats his mother as poorly as he does in the series, but mostly obeys her; at worst, he increasingly ignores her pleas to restrain his own behavior. Cersei never hits Joffrey in the books, not even when he performs extremely vile deeds (cutting a pregnant cat open).
*In the books, it is Cersei who sends the Gold Cloaks out to kill all of Robert's bastards, not Joffrey.
*In the books, Barra is the only of Robert's bastards who was reported to die; in the show, at least four of Robert's other bastards were killed too.
*In the TV series, the Gold Cloaks under the command of Janos Slynt go to the brothel to kill the baby Barra, and when his man will not carry this out, Slynt takes the baby from her mother and does it himself. In the books, Barra's mother fights them and is killed along with the baby, the murders being carried out by Allar Deem, Slynt's second in command.
*The scene of Tobho Mott's interrogation does not occur in the books. It is not explained how the Gold Cloaks knew that Gendry is in Yoren's caravan.
*In the books there is no on-screen conversation between Robb and Theon, in which the latter suggests to form an alliance with Balon Greyjoy.
*In the book, Catelyn objects not only to form an alliance with Balon Greyjoy, but also to send Theon as an envoy, claiming that he should be kept close to Robb. She advises Robb to send someone else (like Jason Mallister, Tytos Blackwood, and Stevron Frey), but he does not listen to her.
*In the book, Catelyn does not say she wants to return to Winterfell, and Robb does not forbid her to; on the contrary, he urges her to return to Winterfell, but she insists on staying at Riverrun with her dying father.
*In the book, Catelyn and the Blackfish, not Robb, come up with the idea to form an alliance with Renly.
*In the book, Robb does not send Ser Rodrik to Winterfell; Catelyn sent him there earlier, on her way back from the Vale, before she joined Robb.
* Ser Addam Marbrand, not Jaime, states that "Two battles do not make a war," regarding Robb's recent victories.
==="The Night Lands"===
*Littlefinger never has a conversation with any whore about the slaying of Barra. In fact, Ros is not even a named character in the books.
*Yara Greyjoy is named Asha in the novels. Her name was changed to avoid being confused with the wildling Osha.
*Later, Yara, pretending to be "Esgred", does guide Theon through Pyke, but she is not in Pyke when Theon arrives. It is Theon's uncle, Aeron Damphair, priest of the Drowned God, that greets him at the harbor, baptizes him almost immediately, and provides context as to what has transpired since Theon became a ward of the Starks, while he takes him to the castle.
*In the book, Yara is not present when Theon meets his father for the first time.
*In the book, Theon protests as his father burns the parchment, and gets slapped in response.
*In the books, Theon was with both the Starks and the Greyjoys for ten years. In the series, it was mentioned several times by Balon Greyjoy that Theon was with the Starks longer than with the Greyjoys.
*There is no mentioning in the books that Rodrik Greyjoy used to be the captain of the Black Wind before his sister.
*The Gold Cloaks that attempt to arrest Gendry are met at an inn in the novels.
*Arya does not reveal her identity to Gendry until much later in the novels. She considers killing him, and decides not to, simply because he is stronger than her - not due to any romantic feelings, which she does not have in the books.
*The meeting where Varys reveals he knows Shae's identity takes place in an inn in the city outside the Red Keep's walls, shortly after she enters the city and before Tyrion finds a manse for her, instead of the Hand's chambers.
*The warning Jeor Mormont sent to King's Landing is not only a letter, but also a wight's severed hand in a jar still twitching delivered by Ser Alliser Thorne much later in the book.
*In the book, Bronn is not made Commander of the City Watch. That role is filled by Ser Jacelyn "Ironhand" Bywater, who is the one to arrest Janos Slynt at Tyrion's dinner. Slynt having been named to the Small Council and made Lord of Harrenhal, gives a list of six men who are possible replacements to head the Gold Cloaks. This list is given to Ser Jacelyn to be rounded up to go with Slynt by ship to the Wall, with special reference to Allar Deem (killer of baby Barra); the captain is to be told that it would not be amiss if a wave washed him overboard.
*Salladhor Saan was recruited long before in the books.
*Davos has seven sons in the books: Dale, Allard, Matthos, Maric, Devan, Stannis and Steffon. In the series, he only has one, Matthos.
*In the TV series, Matthos is shown being King Stannis's scribe; in the book, his younger brother Devan is Stannis's squire, is taking reading lessons, and is encouraging his father to convert to the religion of the Lord of Light. In the books, Matthos is Davos's first mate.
*In the books, there is no on-screen sex scene between Stannis and Melisandre; it is only hinted in the third book.
*It is never said in the book that Selyse is sickly, weak and shut away in a tower, nor that she ever gave birth to stillborns.
*It is Doreah, not Rakharo, who dies in the Red Waste in the novels. She dies of a wasting sickness, while Rakharo is still alive in the book.
*It is Jon Snow, not Sam, who rescues Gilly from Ghost. Ghost doesn't corner Gilly because she is carrying dead rabbits in the book. Gilly set up a rabbit hutch and Ghost breaks into it, killing the rabbits. Gilly yelling at him results in her being cornered, and Jon has to come shoo Ghost away.
*The scene where Edd, Grenn, and Sam talk about women doesn't happen. Sam is not shown talking to Gilly, but he has given her his black cloak so she can go to talk to Jon without anyone knowing that she is one of Craster's wives.
*The scene where Craster sacrifices his son to the White Walkers is never shown in the novels. It is instead explained to Jon by Gilly.
==="What Is Dead May Never Die"===
*While Bran does confer with Luwin about the interpretation of his dreams, in the book most of these exchanges happen between Bran and Jojen Reed, a young man from the Neck who also dreams "in green." (This is meant to delineate between real dreams and those that are premonitions). Also, Bran meets Jojen later on in the series; in the book they meet at a feast at Winterfell.
*Craster never expels the Night's Watch from his keep in the novels; they leave of their own accord.
*The scene where Sam gives Gilly a thimble never happens in the books.
*Catelyn does not travel to Renly's camp alone. Robb assigns twenty of his best Winterfell men and five lordlings (among them Wendel Manderly, Lucas Blackwood, Robin Flint and Perwyn Frey) to escort her, to add weight and honor to her mission.
*During the conversation of Catelyn and Renly, he tells her he will send her Joffrey's head in the TV series, while in the books, it was Cersei's.
*Renly's Kingsguard is called the Rainbow Guard in the books. They wear rainbow cloaks and rainbow coat-of-arms to connect them to the Faith of the Seven. Each member of the Seven wears a different color of the rainbow armor.
*The scenes with Renly, Loras and Margaery never happen in the books. In fact, the relationship between Loras and Renly is never shown in any of the novels; it is only hinted at.
*Theon never contemplates warning Robb of his father's invasion plan.
*In the novels, Theon is baptized very shorty after he sets foot on Pyke, before he meets his father and sister.
*Theon gets slapped at the former meeting with his father.
*Theon never tries to dissuade his father from his plan of invasion. He has only one reservation regarding the Northern lords, but Balon dismisses it nonchalantly.
*Theon is given eight ships, not one. Balon orders that he will be accompanied by Aeron and Dagmer.
*Balon reveals his plan not only to Theon and Asha; Balon's brothers Aeron and Victarion (the latter has been omitted from the show) are present too at the meeting.
*Balon orders Victarion to seize Moat Cailin.
*Theon never accuses his father for giving him away as something unwanted, nor does he remind him how the Greyjoy Rebellion failed.
*Shae is initially placed in a "safe house" and guarded by members of the mountain clans. After the city riots and fires make it too dangerous, Tyrion has her moved to the Red Keep, and she becomes Lollys Stokeworth's handmaiden. Only much later, in the third novel, she becomes Sansa's handmaiden.
*Shae never speaks with Sansa about her past, only with Tyrion.
*Shae never claims that she used to work as a handmaiden.
*There is no mention of Lady Zourif in the novels.
*In the books, Tyrion comes up with a plan to free his brother, but he does not discuss it with anyone, and it does not involve Littlefinger and Catelyn. Cleos Frey, the Lannisters' envoy who delivers Catelyn the offer to exchange her daughters for Jaime, has no idea about Tyrion's plan.
*In the books, Tyrion does not ask Pycelle for laxatives. When Pycelle turns his back, Tyrion quickly steals a medicine bottle. Later, the contents of the bottle are revealed to be laxatives (Tyrion later uses them to spike Cersei's wine, so he can get a few days' work done without her interference).
*In the books, Tyrion does not tell Pycelle outright that he intends to wed Myrcella to Trystane. It is written in the letters he gives Pycelle to send to Doran Martell. Pycelle reads the letters before sending them, as Tyrion expected he would.
*The scene where Tyrion tests Pycelle, Varys, and Littlefinger happens slightly differently in the books: he tells Varys that he plans to offer the Martells gold, land, a seat on the Small Council, Elia's murderer, and to foster Tommen in Sunspear.
*In the book, while arresting Pycelle, he ends up shaved to the point it bleeds in the books. In the series, Bronn simply cuts a part of his beard off once.
*In the book, Shagga, not Bronn, cuts Pycelle's beard at Tyrion's command. Bronn is not present at the scene.
*In the book, Tyrion tells Shagga, not Timett, to cut Pycelle's manhood and feed it to the goats. The threat frightens Pycelle so much that he wets the bed.
*In the book, Tyrion does not blame Pycelle for betraying Jon Arryn and Ned Stark only, but also for betraying Aerys, Rhaegar, Robert and himself. To Tyrion's surprise, Pycelle reveals that he was the one who bid Aerys open his gates to the Lannister troops. Pycelle also admits he would have finished Robert off, had he not been so fatally injured by the boar.
*In the book, Pycelle admits that Maester Colemon treated Jon Arryn with purges, and that might have cured Arryn, so Pycelle sent him away, since Cersei needed Arryn dead.
*In the book, Pycelle's bedmate (whose name is not mentioned) does not stay in the room, cowering fearfully, during the interrogation. Tyrion orders Timett to walk her out.
*In the book, after arresting Pycelle, Tyrion inspects his collection of medicines that includes lethal poisons and takes some of the jars. Pycelle mentions this in Tyrion's trial.
*In the books, Tyrion is given a new symbol of the Hand: a necklace composed of hand-shaped segments. In the series he uses the badge that Eddard used in Season One.
*The one-armed woman and Weasel are not found by Yoren's group in the TV series.
*The long conversation between Arya and Yoren never happens in the book. Yoren never mentions any of his relatives, and it is unknown if he has any siblings. It is also not mentioned how and why he joined the Watch.
*It is not Yoren's story about the man who killed his brother that gives Arya the idea to recite repeatedly the names of the people she wants dead, starting from the next episode. It is her own idea, figuring that if she lets herself forget even one of them, she will never find him again to kill him.
*In the books, the battle between Yoren and his recruits and Ser Amory Lorch is significantly different:
** Yoren and his charges are holed up in a small stone keep and refuse to open the gates. They speak to Lorch from a catwalk.
** Lorch, who is not looking for Gendry but after Beric Dondarrion, attacks them without any reason or provocation. A protracted battle takes place, with the same result. 
**A recruit named Reysen, not Yoren, is the one who asks which king Lorch serves.
**The first to get hit by a Lannister soldier is not Yoren, but a recruit named Woth. 
**Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, Lommy, and a few others escape the assault, and do not witness Yoren's death. 
**Several days later, at a small seaside village, they are captured by Ser Gregor Clegane and then taken to Harrenhal.
**Lommy is killed by Rafford (aka Raff the Sweetling), not by Polliver.
**The Mountain is apparently not present at all in the TV Series during the battle.
**Yoren is not killed on screen, thus it is unknown who killed him, Lorch or any of his men. Later Arya and her companions find his corpse, and it is evident he was killed by an axe, not a sword.
**Arya does not use Lommy as a scapegoat for Gendry in the books, because their captors are not looking for him and do not care about the identity of their captives.
==="Garden of Bones"===
*In this episode, Robb meets Talisa, which starts a budding romance. In the book, this character does not exist; instead, the girl he falls in love with and eventually marries is Jeyne Westerling, daughter of Lord Gawen Westerling from the Crag, a minor vassal house of the Westerlands. After Robb marches west to defeat the Lannisters​ at the Crag, he disappears from the book and his romance with Jeyne is entirely off-screen. Once he returns to Riverrun, he is already married to Jeyne. She is not a battlefield healer, but she does nurse Robb back to health after he takes an arrow to the arm storming House Westerling's castle.
* In the books, Arya's death list includes more people. The full list is: the Mountain, Dunsen, Polliver, Chiswyck, Rafford, the Tickler, the Hound, Amory Lorch, Ilyn Payne, Meryn Trant, Joffrey, Cersei, and Weese.
*Though Arya is at Harrenhal with Tywin, she is not appointed his cupbearer and they never converse. Arya serves in various roles while at the castle, working for several people. Going by the name "Weasel", she works for the steward at Harrenhal. After Roose Bolton takes over Harrenhal, she becomes his cupbearer.
*Arya's gender is revealed during the journey to Harrenhal where she had no restroom privacy, not by Tywin.
*It is actually Varys who suggests the whores for Joffrey in the book, not Bronn. In addition, the scene where Joffrey brutalizes Ros and the other whore never unfolds. It is unclear if this suggestion is ever acted on.
*The Battle of Oxcross takes place off-screen in the book.
*It is Boros Blount, rather than Meryn Trant, who beats and strips Sansa in the throne room at Joffrey's behest. The Hound yells "enough!" during the spectacle. Tyrion, who is also accompanied by Timett, scolds and threatens Blount in the same way he does to Trant in the TV series. Additionally, Sansa's beating is toned down in the TV series. In the novel, she is stripped naked, which was removed from the series as the character was below the required age set by UK decency laws.
*In the books, before Sansa was beaten, Dontos tries to help her by smashing a melon on her head so Joffrey would end her punishment there. Dontos wasn't even there in the series.
**Furthermore, in the series he hadn't even interacted Sansa since the time she saved him from being executed in the first episode.
*When Tyrion arrives to save Sansa, he is accompanied by Timett, in addition to Bronn.
*The conversation between Joffrey and Tyrion about Sansa lasts much longer in the books.
*Kovarro does not appear in the books. Jhogo is the third bloodrider, but his name was changed to Rakharo.
*In the novel, Daenerys takes up residence in an abandoned walled city (Vaes Tolorro) for a time. There they eat fruit and drink water and regain much of their strength. They are not desperate to leave this city for Qarth, though Daenerys's followers believe that the abandoned city is haunted.
*Qarth has three walls in the novels, thirty, forty and fifty feet high respectively, each intricately carved with scenes of animals, warfare, and lovemaking.
*In the novels, Daenerys is brought to Qarth by Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Pyat Pree, and Quaithe. The three meet Daenerys in Vaes Tolorro, being brought to her by Jhogo. They have come to see the dragons and invite her to Qarth. Once there, they are immediately let into the city, without the events at the gates from the series. The city residents warmly welcome Daenerys and her followers, with Drogon clearly visible, and no one asks about the dragons.
*Xaro is described as having pale skin and a long, beak-like nose crusted with jewels: rubies, opals and flakes of jade in the books. It is also implied in the books that Xaro is homosexual, while in the series he clearly desires Daenerys.
*The Thirteen of Qarth fight for dominion over Qarth with the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the Ancient Guild of Spicers and the Pureborn; they are not the only ones charged with governance.
*There is no Spice King in the books; however, his alias is a reference to a merchant organization in Qarth, the Ancient Guild of Spicers, that does not appear on the TV Series.
*The Lannisters never sent Littlefinger or anyone else to Renly's camp in the books. He is sent to treat the Tyrell, but in Highgarden, and only long after Catelyn departed.
*Catelyn and Littlefinger never saw each other again after their meeting at King's Landing, where he lied to her about the dagger.
*Catelyn does not receive Eddard's bones at Renly's camp; they are brought to Riverrun later in the novel, and Littlefinger has nothing to do with that. She does not order the bones to be taken to Winterfell in the series either.
*In the books, the sentence "a naked man has few secrets, but a flayed man's got none" is not said by Roose Bolton, but is said by a man named "Reek" (actually, Ramsay in disguise) to Theon.
*There is no mentioning in the books that Eddard Stark outlawed flaying in the North.
*In the books, the reason Renly and Stannis meet is because Stannis has besieged Storm's End, the seat of Renly. In the show, it is not made clear why Stannis and Renly parley.
*Catelyn and Stannis are the first to gather. Renly joins the meeting shortly later, perhaps deliberately, as some kind of game - the first to arrive must wait on the other.
*In the book, the parley is much longer. Stannis tells Catelyn and Renly about the investigation he and Jon Arryn conducted, and about the incestuous relationship between Jaime and Cersei. Renly dismisses that flippantly, but Catelyn believes Stannis; moreover, based on that information, she deduces the truth about Bran's fall.
*In the book, Stannis harshly says that Robb is a traitor just like Renly, and threatens that "his day will come as well", enraging Catelyn; in the show, no one speaks about Robb during the parley.
*In the books, Cleos Frey (Alton Lannister's book counterpart), not Littlefinger, is the one who brings Catelyn the Lannisters' offer to exchange Jaime for her daughters. The conversation takes place at Riverrun, not at Renly's camp. Cleos tells Catelyn that Sansa is held at the Red Keep, and admits he has no idea what has become of Arya; he does not attempt to persuade Catelyn to act behind Robb's back.
*In the TV series, the shadow Stannis that Melisandre births in sight of Davos happens outside Renly's camp. In the book there are two shadow assassinations. The birth Davos witnesses is the second one when it is sent to kill Ser Cortnay Penrose, the castellan of Storm's End (not included in the TV series). He has to row Melisandre into a cavern under the castle as there are protective spells built into the castle walls.
*Melisandre does not ask Davos if he loves his wife, nor does she state that he had known other women. Instead, she asks Davos if he is a good man, and he answers "I am kind to my wife, but I have known other women."
*In the book, Tyrion makes Lancel admit not only that he sleeps with Cersei, but also that he was involved in Robert's death. It is the threat of this being exposed to Joffrey that makes Lancel beg Tyrion for mercy.
==="The Ghost of Harrenhal"===
*The Assassination of Renly Baratheon in the books is quite different from in the series:
**​The shadow is described to appear like the common planar shadow of Renly himself on the wall, rather than the black 3-D entity, which is later described to resemble Stannis, in the TV series. As described from Catelyn's point of view, she sees "only the King's [i.e. Renly's] shadow shifting against the silken walls".
**The shadow is noticed​ to be abnormal because it acts differently from Renly himself: the shadow raises the sword, while Renly himself still has his real sword in the sheath.
**In the assassination, Renly's steel gorget is cut through "like cheesecloth", and his throat is sliced cleanly, while the shadow makes no physical contact with him (since it is a planar shadow on the wall). In the TV series, he is stabbed in the back while he is not wearing any armor.
**In a deleted scene from Season 2, some time after Renly dies Loras is looking over his armor (which he took from his body) while talking to his sister Margaery, and he asks her if she has any idea how difficult it is to cut through two steel plates. Either Renly was still wearing another piece of armor under his clothes, or this scene is a relic from an earlier draft of the script which more closely matched how Renly died in the books.
*Brienne does not kill any of Renly's Kingsguard in the books. She cuts off the arm of an unnamed soldier and perhaps kills another who entered the tent with Robar Royce and Emmon Cuy.
*The scene between Loras, Margaery and Littlefinger at Renly's deathbed does not happen in the books.
*In the books, Margaery never claims that Brienne killed Renly.
*In the novels, Loras does not believe that Stannis killed Renly; he believes that Brienne killed him. He only comes to believe in Stannis's guilt much later, after confronting Brienne and Jaime when they return to King's Landing, and eventually agreeing to listen to Brienne's account of what happened when Renly was murdered.
*Stannis and Davos do not discuss what transpired in the cave in the books. In fact, it is unclear if Stannis knew that Melisandre created the Shadow.
*Lord Bryce Caron, not Davos, dissuades Stannis from bringing Melisandre to the battle.
*Davos does not lead Stannis's fleet into battle. It is led by Ser Imry Florent, Stannis's brother-in-law.
*When Tyrion visits the Alchemists' Guild, Bronn does not accompany him. It is Hallyne who warns him of the dangers of putting the wildfire in the hands of untrained soldiers.
*The ironborn sail longships, not galleys.
*In the books, Theon is given command of eight longships. In addition, his uncle Aeron Damphair is sent to watch over him.
*Theon's ship, the Sea Bitch, is named by him in the books; his sister jokingly regards the ship as a "sea bitch", and Theon announces it will be the name of the ship.
*In the novel, Dagmer Cleftjaw is an infamous reaver and captain, not Theon's first mate. He has a ship of his own, the Foamdrinker. Dagmer is the master-of-arms at Pyke, and Theon grew up calling him uncle. He has always treated Theon warmly, unlike his father or Ned Stark. His appearance is also drastically different. The cleft-jaw from where he gets his name was caused by his being hit in the face with an axe. He recovered but his mouth and jaw were split, making his smile terrifying.
*In the books, neither Black Lorren nor any other of Theon's crew treats him scornfully at that stage of the plotline.
*In the book, Theon persuades Dagmer to stray from the orders; in the TV show it is the other way around.
*In the books, Theon first attacks Stony Shore, as he is ordered by his father, brutally sacks a fishing village, then destroys a Tallhart force which has been sent to deal with the ironborn (both battles have been totally omitted from the TV series). Only afterwards he comes up with the idea to send Cleftjaw with most of their force to raid Torrhen's Square as a distraction, while Theon subjugates Winterfell with 30 men.
*Ser Rodrik Cassel takes 600 men from Winterfell's garrison against the ironborn who besiege Torrhen's Square, not 200.
*While at Harrenhal, Arya serves as cupbearer to Roose Bolton rather than Tywin, with whom she never interacts. She tells Roose that her name is Nymeria, after her direwolf, or Nan for short, after Old Nan.
*The Tickler is not the first name Arya speaks to Jaqen in the books. It is one of Gregor Clegane's soldiers, Chiswyck, who laughingly relates a terrible story of an innkeeper's daughter gang-raped by Ser Gregor and his men, and her brother was killed while trying to intervene.
*The Fist of the First Men is much different than in the book, being a cliffside rather than a hill surrounded by the Haunted Forest.
*In the books, Qhorin arrives late and encounters trouble on the way from the Shadow Tower.
*The ranging force of the Night's Watch does not consist of 400 men as Qhorin mentioned, but 300 men, 200 from Castle Black and 100 from the Shadow Tower.
*In the books, Qhorin suggests to send search parties not in order to kill Mance Rayder but to find out what is the power the wildlings were looking for at the Frostfangs.
*Qhorin suggests, and Mormont agrees to send three search parties, five men each, to spy on the Wildlings: one to probe the Milkwater, one the Skirling Pass, one to climb the Giant's Stair. The parties are led by Qhorin Halfhand, Thoren Smallwood and Jarman Buckwell.
*The Halfhand chooses Jon himself for his scouting party. Mormont initially objects, since Jon is hardly more than a boy and is not a ranger, but asks Jon for his will. Jon says "To go" and Mormont agrees.
*The other men that Qhorin chooses for his search party are the rangers Dalbridge, Ebben and Stonesnake. There are no characters named Harker and Borba in the books.
*None of Daenerys's dragons breathes fire before her visit to the House of the Undying. She has to cook their food for them. Furthermore, the word command for breathing fire (Dracarys) was not revealed until much later.
*Doreah was dead in the book at that point. In the series, she was still alive and well.
*In the books, Daenerys dresses in the manner of a well dressed woman of Qarth; this consists of dresses that leave one breast bared. Jorah Mormont cannot help staring at her chest, but Xaro, despite his constant declarations of love and marriage proposals, seems more interested in his many good-looking male slaves.
*There is no mentioning in the books that Xaro has ever been married.
*Pyat Pree never uses the tricks from the TV series in the book.
*Daenerys does not learns about Ser Jorah's feelings in the second book.
*Quaithe does not warn Ser Jorah in the book.
*There is no mention of an impregnable vault in the book.
*Daenerys is informed of Robert's death by a ship captain named Quhuru Mo, whom Jorah met on the docks. In the series she is told by Xaro. She was also overjoyed about it in the books, inquiring about the manner of Robert's death, while in the series she just looked shocked.
==="The Old Gods and the New"===
*In the TV series, Dagmer is Theon's first mate and second in command at Winterfell. In the books, he never comes to Winterfell. Theon sends him from the Stony Shore to Torrhen's Square with the diversionary force that draws Ser Rodrik Cassel away. He does not return to Winterfell but stays in Torrhen's Square.
*In the TV series, when the people of Winterfell are brought together for Bran to officially surrender, Farlen, the kennel master, is shown insulting Theon. He is beaten with a club and ordered to stop. In the books, it is Mikken the blacksmith who begins yelling insults, and he is killed for his defiance.
*Ser Rodrik does not return to Winterfell alone. Once he hears about the capture of Winterfell and the alleged death of Bran and Rickon, he rallies troops to liberate Winterfell, then sends a report to Robb and Catelyn. He marches back with 2,000 soldiers, and is not captured by ironborn.
*Theon sends a request for reinforcements to his sister by a messenger, Stygg, not by a raven.
*Luwin sends a message about the capture of Winterfell to the White Harbor; Ser Rodrik sends a message about both the capture of Winterfell and the alleged murder of Bran and Rickon to the Starks, from castle Cerwyn.
*Robb and Catelyn receive the message about Bran and Rickon separately: Catelyn is in Riverrun, while Robb is at the Crag.
*In the TV series, Ser Rodrik is captured coming back from Torrhen's Square. He spits on Theon, and Dagmer tells Theon that he must be executed, or Theon's men will lose respect for him. In the books, the one who spits on Theon is Benfred Tallhart, a former friend of Theon's who was ambushed by Theon and his men at the Stoney Shore. It is Theon's uncle Aeron Damphair who tells Theon to order him executed, and he is ritually drowned.
*Both Benfred Tallhart and Ser Rodrik call Theon "turncloak" when confronting him; this becomes his derogatory nickname in the books.
*It is not Rodrik Cassel but Farlen the kennel master who is executed by Theon, after being unjustly accused for killing three ironborn (who were actually killed by Ramsay at Theon's command).
*Rodrik Cassel is killed after the Stark boys escape from Winterfell, not before. He is killed by Ramsay while besieging Winterfell.
*Theon does accept Osha as a fighter in the book, demanding only that she swears loyalty to him, and she does (pretending to). He never sleeps with her, but with a tavern wench named Kyra.
*In addition to Drennan, one more ironborn guard is killed during the escape of the Stark boys - Squint; those who find his body deduce that Summer and Shaggydog ripped out his stomach and throat and wrenched off one of his arms, then his body was thrown in the moat.
*Roose Bolton is not the one to deliver the news of Theon's betrayal to Robb. In fact, Roose Bolton does not meet up with Robb in the second book. He commands the northern footsoldiers of the eastern shores of the Trident. By proxy, he does not suggest to send his bastard son to retake Winterfell because he has no way to contact him.
*Robb turns a deaf ear to the reports about the ironborn's invasion, being so obsessed with his personal vendetta. He does not send even one soldier back to the north. Neither Roose nor anyone else suggests to send someone else.
*Any scenes between Tywin and Arya do not happen in the books, because Arya is never cupbearer for him and they do not interact.
*Littlefinger never meets with Tywin at Harrenhal. In fact, he never sets foot in Harrenhal, being aware of its curse.
*Amory Lorch never catches Arya with a stolen letter. He is not killed by Jaqen, nor does Arya name him as one of her three kills. In the book she names Weese, an understeward who frequently beats her. Lorch is actually killed after being captured and thrown into a bear pit by Roose Bolton and Vargo Hoat.
*Both House Dormand and its Lord are never mentioned anywhere in the books. In the books, Dormund is a person - Tormund's son.
*There is no mention of Jaime having an early reading disorder.
*In the books, Myrcella doesn't cry when she is sent to Dorne. In fact, she comforts Tommen, who is crying.
*During the riots, the royal procession is mounted on horses and proceed to Maegor's Holdfast, not the Red Keep.
*In the books, the rioters also start a fire in the city.
*In the TV series, the Hound saves Sansa from being raped and carries her to safety. Tyrion thanks him as he walks away. In the books, Sansa is not nearly raped. A man tries to pull her off of her horse, but Sandor cuts his arm off. Sandor brings her to safety riding double on Sansa's horse. Lollys Stokeworth is raped by dozens of men behind a tavern instead, and becomes pregnant.
*In the book, Tyrion not only slaps Joffrey (so hard that the crown is knocked off his head), but also shoves him to the ground and kicks him, yelling it is unjust that Joffrey incited the riot, got many people killed and yet escaped unscratched. Before Tyrion can kick Joffrey again, Ser Mandon Moore pulls him away.
*Preston Greenfield of the Kingsguard, Aron Santagar, and the High Septon lost their lives in the books during the riot. The TV version only shows the High Septon being killed, but Aron Santagar is never mentioned after Season 1, and later seasons actually mention that Ser Preston is still alive.
*Jon Snow kills the wildling sentries much later in the book. In addition, it is only Jon and Stonesnake who kill them. Qhorin and the others arrive later.
*Qhorin does not tell Jon to kill Ygritte, but leaves it to Jon to decide her fate; he tells him "you must do what needs be done".
*Jon simply lets Ygritte go and continues on with Qhorin and his sworn brothers; Qhorin knows that Jon did not kill Ygritte.
*There is never a meeting with the Spice King in the books. The character does not even exist in the books; however, he is a nod to Qarth's Ancient Guild of Spicers.
*In the book, there is no massacre of Daenerys's people while staying in Xaro's manse.
*In the books, Daenerys's dragons are not stolen and Irri does not die in Qarth; she remains in Daenerys's service.
==="A Man Without Honor"===
*Shae does not help Sansa dispose of her bloody sheets, nor does she threaten a maid, nor does the Hound appear in this scene in the book. At that point Shae is Lollys Stokeworth's maid; she become Sansa's maid much later. Sansa tries to burn her sheets and mattress by herself, filling the room with smoke, which attracts attention and what happened was reported to Cersei.
*Robb is never shown talking to Talisa's counterpart book character, Jeyne Westerling, or inviting her to the Crag.
*In the book, the Westerlings do not simply yield the Crag, but only after losing a battle for control of the castle. Robb is wounded in the battle.
*Jaime's brief escape does not happen in Robb's camp. In the book, Jaime is held at Riverrun in a tower room. Tyrion sends a mummer, a thief, a poisoner and a murderer, disguised as Lannister guards to escort Cleos Frey (who is replaced in the series by Alton Lannister) with peace terms; their true purpose is to free Jaime. The murderer kills two of Jaime's guards while the thief unlocks the cell, then the mummer imitates Edmure's voice to command that the River Gate be opened; unfortunately for them, the real Edmure returns at that moment from a brothel in town and the escape attempt is foiled. Jaime is recaptured and kept in the dungeons afterwards.
*In the books, Jaime was a squire for Lord Sumner Crakehall, not for Ser Barristan Selmy; he never had any squire named Bryan. When he took part in the campaign against the Kingswood Brotherhood, he was fifteen years old, not sixteen; and he never competed against Balon Swann.
*Jaime does not kill Cleos Frey (who is replaced in the series by Alton Lannister). In fact, Jaime has never killed any of his kin. Cleos is killed later by outlaw archers.
*Four guards are killed during Jaime's unsuccessful attempt to escape, two of them by Jaime, but Torrhen Karstark is not among them. He was killed by Jaime earlier, alongside his brother Eddard, at the Battle of Whispering Wood.
*In the books, Catelyn doesn't meet Jaime this early in the story. She meets one time with Jaime in the dungeons of Riverrun, after his unsuccessful escape attempt. In the show they take the dialogue of this one scene and make two scenes, with Catelyn meeting alone with Jaime the first time and with Brienne the second time much later.
*In the books, during the one conversation in Riverrun's dungeons, Catelyn and Jaime make an agreement to speak the truth. She tells him about the war and what is happening to the Lannisters. Jaime, who is also getting increasingly drunk on the wine Catelyn sent to him, confesses many things: he is Cersei's lover; he is the father of Cersei's children; he attempted to murder Bran by pushing him from the window. Jaime affirms that neither he, Cersei or Tyrion had anything to do with the catspaw. Catelyn believes him, since he has no reason to lie having confessed to pushing Bran. To Catelyn's question about the dagger, Jaime says that Littlefinger had lost it to Robert, not to Tyrion. He independently confirms Tyrion's original defense; that he could not have lost the dagger betting against Jaime with Littlefinger, because Tyrion never bets against his brother. Only then does Catelyn realize that Littlefinger lied to her, and Tyrion was innocent. Jaime also told Catelyn how the Mad King had executed Ned's brother and father, before adding his own personal anger at Ned; Jaime rages that Ned should have thanked him for avenging his family.
*Jaime repeatedly teases Catelyn, but not about Jon. He just mentions the fact that Ned fathered a bastard.
*Jaime does not make any comments about Brienne during the conversation with Catelyn.
*Lord Rickard Karstark does seek revenge on Jaime Lannister, but it is for the killing of his two sons at the Battle of Whispering Wood, not one killed in a failed escape attempt. The sentences "Any man who steps between a father and his vengeance asks for death!" and "How can it be treason to kill Lannisters?" are said by Rickard much later, in a different context.
*Jon Snow let Ygritte go and returned to the rangers, so their scenes walking around and them talking about freedom and sex didn't happen.
*During this time in the books, Jon Snow and the rangers are scouring Skirling Pass to look for a way out.
*Ser Jorah never meets with Quaithe.
*There is never a conspiracy to control Qarth staged by Pyat Pree and Xaro Xhoan Daxos. Thus, the Thirteen are never killed, Pyat Pree is not allied with Xaro Xhoan Daxos, nor does he kidnap Daenerys's dragons to lure her into the House of the Undying. She goes there of her own accord.
*None of the scenes between Tywin and Arya transpire in the book. Tywin's comment to Arya, that she should say "m'lord" rather than "my lord" if she wishes to pose as a commoner, is based on a similar comment of Roose Bolton in the novel A Dance with Dragons.
*The scene between Cersei and Tyrion, in which Cersei admitting that Joffrey is a monster, never happens. In the novels, Cersei and Tyrion are never as friendly as they are in this scene, and Cersei never acknowledges Joffrey's cruelty, calling it 'willfulness'. The change in Cersei's reaction to Joffrey is heavily due to the changes with Joffrey and Cersei's relationship.
**Tyrion attempting to comfort a crying Cersei happens much earlier, when she found out Myrcella would be sent away. When he tries to touch her shoulder, she pushes it away. In the series, it only happens now and Cersei only looks at him and he doesn't touch her.
*It is not Cersei but Barristan Selmy who mentions the saying "Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air" in respect of the Targaryen madness.
*Theon was sleeping with a tavern wench named Kyra, not with Osha, when he wakes and realizes that he can't hear the wolves howling in the godswood. The wolves were confined there when Shaggydog got violent. He tells a guard to check and is then told the Stark boys have escaped.
*In the books, Lorren grows to despise Theon for parleying with the besiegers instead of fighting them (he considers that as cowardice), but does not actually defy or taunt Theon in public; Theon does not beat him.
*In the books, Farlen, the kennel master of Winterfell, leads the hounds tracking Bran and Rickon after his daughter is threatened to get his cooperation. In the series, Theon has brought his own master of hounds.
*In the books, when Bran and Rickon escape with Hodor and Osha, the two Reed siblings are with them (characters later introduced in the show). They don't go to a farm, they only go to the woods leaving an obvious trail, then backtrack, sending the wolves on to make a trail for the dogs. Theon and his men don't go to the farm either.
*In the TV series, the entire burned bodies of the children are hung on either side of the main gate. In the books, the bodies are brought in dressed in the clothes of Bran and Rickon, but the heads have already been removed and tarred, with the faces peeled off. The bodies are thrown on a fire and only the heads are put onto spikes on the castle walls.
==="The Prince of Winterfell"===
*The cache of dragonglass weapons is discovered by Jon Snow and Ghost the first night they spend at the Fist, not by Grenn. It contains blades, a dozen knives, leaf-shaped spearheads, at least 200 or 300 arrowheads and an old broken warhorn. Jon makes daggers for himself, Grenn and Mormont. He gives Sam the old warhorn, a spearhead and a dozen arrowheads, and passes the rest out among his other friends for luck.
*Asha (Yara in the series) does bring reinforcements for Theon, but only 10 soldiers. Also, Dagmer is not at Winterfell, he is besieging Torrhen's Square.
*Theon brags that he seized Winterfell with 30 men, not 20.
*Luwin is aware that the charred bodies belong do not to the Stark boys, but does not know for sure whether they are alive and their whereabouts.
*In the book, it is revealed to the readers (via Theon's thoughts) that the bodies actually belong to unnamed miller's sons, in the same chapter they are brought to Winterfell as a "proof" of the death of the Stark boys. However, Luwin (as well as the readers) doesn't get confirmation of the Stark boys being alive and where they hid until the end of A Clash of Kings.
*In the books, the prostitute that Cersei captures is Alayaya, a prostitute in a local high-end brothel, not Ros (who does not exist in the books). In addition, Tommen had been moved to Castle Rosby north of King's Landing long before Stannis arrives, but is captured by Tyrion's sellswords. Tyrion threatens to harm him if Cersei harms Alayaya, "the beatings and the rapes included". To make the threat worse, he says that he'll do that himself. The scene ends with Tyrion having the upper hand.
*In the book, Alayaya is captured and beaten by Osney and Osfryd Kettleblack, not by any of the Kingsguard.
*Tyrion and Bronn don't argue in the book about Bronn not wanting to wear a gold cloak. Bronn is not Commander of the City Watch, that is Ser Jaclyn Bywater. Bronn is in command of Tyrion's private army of hired sellswords. He has not rounded up or gotten rid of all known thieves.
*Arya never asks Jaqen's help to escape, nor to kill Tywin. Instead, she uses his name to help her free a group of northmen being held by Amory Lorch. When she really escapes, she takes mounts for herself, Gendry and Hot Pie, and has to kill a guard.
*Robb's scene with Talisa (who is Jeyne Westerling in the books) is never shown; her story is also changed from the book.
*Robb does not send any force to free Winterfell. He does not make any offer of surrender to the ironborn who occupy Winterfell.
*Robb does not chide or has Catelyn arrested in the book. Desmond Grell, the castellan and master at arms of Riverrun did confine her in her father's bed chamber for forms sake (only after she gave her consent to), after she helped Jaime escape. When Robb returned, he forgave her in public, stating that she made that mistake out of love. Robb had himself acted rashly, in breaking his marriage pact with the Freys by marrying Jeyne Westerling (who is replaced by Talisa in the series).
*Cressen, not Stannis, relates to the Siege of Storm's End.
*There is no mention in the novels that Selyse was present in Storm's End during the siege.
*Davos is not made Hand of the King in A Clash of Kings, but much later in A Storm of Swords, after he is released from jail. At that time, Stannis's Hand was Alester Florent (Selyse's uncle).
*Brienne isn't seen escorting Jaime to King's Landing until the third book.
*Jaime never tells anyone that there are three men in the kingdoms who might have a chance against him in battle.
*Daenerys's scenes debating whether to go to the House of the Undying do not happen, because she goes there of her own accord; her dragons are never stolen; and there is no conspiracy against her.
*Tyrion does not tell Varys about the drains. He mentions it much later, in A Dance with Dragons, to Kasporio, the second in command of the Second Sons.
==="Blackwater"===
*For a full list of the differences between the battle in the series and that of the book, see the "In the Books" section of Battle of the Blackwater.
*Davos is not the commander of Stannis's fleet; it is Imry Florent, Stannis's brother-in-law.
*In the books, Tyrion collects all of the armorers in King's Landing and orders them all to forge one chain link each. He collects them and has them linked together under the surface of Blackwater Bay. Once the majority of Stannis's fleet has passed the hidden chain, it is raised, creating a wall for the warships, preventing them from escaping once the wildfire has been released.
*Stannis does not personally fight; he stays south of the bay in case of a defeat. Despite this, he is still adamant about not retreating.
*The royal fleet is sacrificed in the books by leading Stannis's fleet into the Tyrion's wildfire trap. In the TV series, Tyrion sends the bulk of the fleet away to safety, and only one ship filled with wildfire is let loose.
*The scene with Varys and Tyrion never happens. Varys has long since told him how he was made a eunuch.
*In the books, all the burned out hulls of the ships create an effective bridge for Stannis's infantry to reach the beach.
*Cersei never obtains essence of nightshade from Pycelle, or anyone. She never contemplates killing herself, nor Tommen, who is even not in King's Landing during the battle, having been sent away from the city by Cersei beforehand. Instead, she does tell Sansa in some point during the battle she would herself and her beheaded by Ilyn Payne if Stannis were to win.
*The room where Cersei and the highborn ladies gather for the battle is different; in the book it is akin to a small banquet hall.
*Shae does not speak to Cersei or Sansa during the battle.
*The Hound holds a knife to Sansa's throat after throwing her on the bed, has her sing him a song, and then leaves. She sings the Mother's hymn to him, rather than with all the women in Maegor's Holdfast as depicted in the TV series.
*It is Loras Tyrell's older brother Garlan who wears Renly's armor in the battle.
*Bronn never mentions any family relatives in the novels.
*In the books, Podrick Payne kills Mandon Moore by shoving him over the side of a burning ship; Moore is dragged down by the weight of his armour and drowns.
==="Valar Morghulis"===
*In the books, Tyrion's wound is much more gruesome. He has half of his nose and a part of his upper lip cut off by Ser Mandon, not just a gash across his face. He was also hit in the arm with an arrow, and almost lost his arm as a result.
*It is Maester Balabar, not Pycelle, who first visits Tyrion.
*Bronn visits Tyrion's sickbed, not Varys.
*Shae does not visit Tyrion while he recuperates in the book.
*It takes longer for Tyrion to recover in the books; he is disillusioned and hallucinates.
*Ros and Varys' scene in the brothel does not occur in the books; Varys is not a point of view character and Ros was made up for the show, a compilation of various prostitutes.
*It is not Littlefinger but Ser Dontos Hollard who explains to Sansa that Joffrey's betrothal to Margaery Tyrell would not stop him from having his way with her, and promises to take her home. Ser Dontos also gives Sansa a hairnet, and tells her to wear during the wedding between Joffrey and Margaery.
*It is not Littlefinger but the Hound who tells Sansa that everyone in King's Landing is a better liar than her.
*Margaery wasn't in King's Landing immediately after Blackwater.
*Ser Loras Tyrell doesn't ask the reward of Joffrey marrying Margaery. He asks to join Joffrey's Kingsguard, and his wish is granted. The request for Joffrey to marry Margaery is made by her older brother Garlan Tyrell, who does not appear in the series.
*Stannis never attacks Melisandre physically, though he threatened to kill her if she ever lied to him (in respect to her request to sacrifice his nephew). He never admits in the books that he had anything to do with Renly's murder.
*Talisa is not a character in the books; Robb instead marries Jeyne Westerling, and news of the wedding does not reach the reader until the subsequent book A Storm of Swords. He doesn't talk to Catelyn about breaking his marriage contract; Catelyn only finds out after they marry and return to Riverrun.
*The Northern army besieging Winterfell is commanded by Ser Rodrik Cassel in A Clash of Kings. In the series he is already dead.
*There is no mentioning in the books that there are any hidden passageways in Winterfell.
*Luwin does not advise Theon to sneak away from Winterfell and then go home or to Castle Black; he advises Theon to openly yield to Ser Rodrik, accept his terms, then Ser Rodrik will have to let him take the black.
*In the book, Theon does not immediately dismiss the suggestion of joining the Night's Watch, on the contrary: he positively considers it, but not as a chance to redeem himself; he thinks only about the benefits - being stationed at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with a ship of his own to captain, and bedding wildling women as he pleases; he does not take into consideration that Jon may kill him. He almost talks himself into doing it until events outside change the situation.
*Dagmer has never been to Winterfell in A Clash of Kings, and did not betray Theon. He went to Torrhen's Square as a diversion, and is mentioned to be still there in the later volumes.
*Theon's speech in the book is quiet, much shorter and its contents are totally different than in the show: he tells his men, without any promises of glory, that Ser Rodrik will soon arrive; that he intends to hold the castle; and whoever wishes to leave - is free to go. No one responses or interrupts the speech. Seventeen of the ironborn (among them Wex, Black Lorren and Harrag) choose to stay, and the rest leave.
*Theon is not knocked out by his own men and given to the northern army, but he is betrayed by Ramsay Snow, who served Theon at Winterfell and was sent to obtain sellswords for him. Ramsay returns with an army, massacres the besieging northern army and once the gates are opened to them by Theon, he turns his army on the ironborn and punches Theon with a mailed fist.
*Wex is Theon's mute squire and is twelve years old. In the show no such character appears, and the name is only announced in the speech as one of the ironborn.
*Maester Luwin wasn't stabbed by Dagmer in the books, though he did sustain a grievous wound during the Sack of Winterfell. He is overjoyed to see Bran and Rickon, as he never visited them in the crypts. He knew that Bran was alive because he noticed the leg muscles of the corpse dressed in Bran's clothes.
*Luwin doesn't tell the Stark boys to go to the Wall to Jon. He is not sure which route is safe, since the North is crawling with enemies, ironborn and Boltons; he does advise them to split up and take different roads.
*The House of the Undying is a flat, one-story building in the book rather than a tall tower.
*In the books, Daenerys comes to consult with the warlocks. She is brought by Pyat Pree, given Shade of the evening to drink, and is told that she must enter alone, while Ser Jorah and her bloodriders wait outside. In the series, she is magically brought into the tower, separating her from Jorah and Kovarro.
*In the books, Daenerys sees several visions relating to her past and future, but none of them is about Drogo; one of them is perhaps about their son (had he lived), but he appears in the vision as an adult. In the show she does not meet the Undying Ones and receives no prophecies about her future.
*In the books, the dragons had not been captured but Daenerys had brought Drogon into the House of the Undying with her, and he does save Daenerys from the warlocks by burning the Undying Ones when they try to trap her.
*In the TV series, Pyat Pree tries to imprison Daenerys, and her three dragons free her by setting him on fire. In the books, Drogon is the only dragon present and while he does kill the undead warlocks and sets fire to the House of the Undying, he does not kill Pyat Pree. He is outside when Daenerys emerges and, in a rage at the destruction she has caused, he vows revenge on her.
*Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Doreah are not locked in a vault by Daenerys in the books, nor killed by any other means; Xaro does not betray Daenerys and no vault is mentioned. Doreah has long been dead, having died of a wasting sickness in the Red Waste, while Xaro appears in a later novel.
*Daenerys does not plan to buy a ship with Xaro's looted goods in the books. She and her people do not loot Xaro's house. Three ships have been sent to her by Magister Illyrio to return her to Pentos.
*Sam was inside the camp and not with Grenn and Edd when the White Walkers and the wights arrived. They attacked in the dead of night, not during the day.
*In the books, Jon Snow is immediately forced to fight Qhorin when they are caught by the wildlings at the mouth of a cave; they are not led away first, but Qhorin does strike the first blow. Qhorin's last word is simply "...sharp", not "we are the watchers on the wall".
*In the books, Qhorin's leg was torn apart by Ghost, allowing Jon to kill him.
*Jaqen H'ghar leaves Harrenhal shortly after he helps Arya free the captive northmen in Harrenhal, before she and her friends escaped. She does not see him again afterwards.
*Gendry and Hot Pie weren't with Arya when she said goodbye to Jaqen. In the book Arya says goodbye to Jaqen at Harrenhal, long before the escape. Arya arranges the escape herself.
*In the books, Jaqen doesn't kill the guards at the gate. Arya distracts only one guard and slits his throat. Arya, Hot Pie, and Gendry leave on horseback.
*By this time in the books, Jaime has shaved off his hair and kept a thick a beard to avoid recognition.
*Brienne and Jaime do not encounter any Stark soldiers, although they did find women hanged by Stark loyalists; when Brienne climbs the tree to cut the bodies down, she spots a soldier filled galley that has been sent after them from Riverrun, and they must flee leaving the women unburied. Their successful escape down the river is much more exciting and dangerous in the book. They travel with Cleos Frey, a cousin of Jaime, whose role was loosely filled by Alton Lannister in the show.
*Brienne never fights any Stark soldiers. She encounters three men (Shagwell, Pyg and Timeon - members of the Brave Companions sellsword company) and kills them, but it happens much later and under different circumstances.
*There is no mentioning in the books that Varys shows any sign of annoyance when Littlefinger is granted Harrenhal.
*Tywin pays nothing to the Hill tribes. Bronn, not Varys, tells Tyrion that the Stone Crows are still in the kingswood; Timett led the Burned Men back to the Vale, with all the plunder they took from Stannis's camp; Chella and the Black Ears attempted to return to King's Landing, but were chased off and mocked by the Kingslanders.
==References==
Season 2
Category:Game of Thrones: Season 2
de:Unterschiede zwischen Buch und Serie/Staffel 2
ro:Diferențe dintre volume și serial/Sezonul 2