30 differences between the 'Game of Thrones' books and TV show you may not have noticed

In the the books Daario Naharis is much more flamboyant, taking after his Tyroshi roots. The Tyroshi are known for dyeing their hair bright colors and wearing bright clothes. Daario is described in the novel "A Storm of Swords" as having a blue trident beard and bright blue, long hair, with a gold mustache and one gold tooth. While both Ed Skrein and Michiel Huisman have done an outstanding job of playing the character in seasons three and four through six, respectively, they aren't exactly what George R.R. Martin had in mind.

Daenarys refers to Missandei often in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series as her "little scribe," because the girl is so small. When she's introduced in the show during season three, she appears to be much older. Her age is unconfirmed in the show, but you can take your own guesses based on her picture here. Also the slavers of Astapor offer her with no prompting in the book "A Storm of Swords." In the show during season three, Daenerys demands they give her Missandei (as a gift).

In the book "A Dance with Dragons" and in season five of the show, Mance Rayder is burned alive at the stake. But, in the book, Melisandre does some red-priestess magic to switch Mance Rayder and the Lord of Bones' (aka Rattleshirt's) body. You remember the Lord of Bones, right? He wore... bones... lots of them. Anyways, Stannis wanted to burn Mance Rayder, but Melisandre thought Mance Rayder would still be useful later on, so she wanted to keep his soul alive. She clearly didn't share the same thoughts about the Lord of Bones. It's really quite complicated and you should read "A Dance with Dragons" to get a full description of it but for right now: Mance = alive, Rattleshirt = dead.

A little different than Iain Glen, who plays him.

Jon Connington is supposed to be escorting young Aegon Targaryen, Rhaegar's son, who isn't dead, to see Daenerys and then over to Westeros during "A Dance with Dragons." He's been watching over Aegon since he fled King's Landing. But he gets greyscale while pulling Tyrion out of the water (just like Jorah did in season five). Jon hasn't appeared in the show and this may be a sign he won't.

This is a big bummer because Sansa is actually doing decently well in the books! In "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons," it was Jeyne Poole, who is posing as Arya Stark, who gets married off to Ramsey. All the abuse is happening to her, and she escapes with Theon and the help of Mance Rayder during "A Dance with Dragons." Sansa, meanwhile, is chilling out at the Eyrie with Lord Petyr Baelish (aka Littlefinger).

Lord Petyr Baelish organized for Sansa to be married to Ser Harry Hardyng, also known as "Harry the Heir," in "A Feast for Crows." His nickname reflects the fact that Harry Hardyng is heir to the Eyrie behind Robin/Robert Arryn (we'll call him Robin, his show name, to make things easier). Littlefinger indicated to Sansa in "A Feast for Crows" that sickly little boys like Robin Arryn die accidentally all the time, and if that were to happen, she and Harry Hardyng would take the Eyrie.

Harry isn't thrilled to be marrying her in "The Winds of Winter." This whole time she's been posing as Littlefinger's bastard daughter (not his niece as she's described in the show). He thinks he's above marrying a bastard and is annoyed he's pushed into it, but he'll probably perk up when he finds out that she's Sansa Stark.

The future is looking bright for Sansa, but not little Robin Arryn...

The Tyrell line isn't over in the books! Willas Tyrell, the oldest born, is holding fort ruling at Highgarden as of "A Dance with Dragons." Garlan "the Gallant" Tyrell has been seen in King’s Landing with his wife, but as of "A Feast for Crows" he was out taking back the Shield Islands from the Ironborn.

Olenna Tyrell briefly tried to marry Sansa Stark to Willas Tyrell in "A Storm of Swords." The show replaced this with Sansa being (almost) married to Loras Tyrell in season three instead, preventing Willas from making an appearance. In both cases, Sansa was married to Tyrion to prevent the union.

Targaryens have violet eyes and silver-blond hair due to their Valyrian roots, as these are the traits of the people of Valyria, according to "A Game of Thrones."

On the other hand, staring at violent eyes on TV could get distracting.

The hair length of Khal Drogo is about right according to what "A Game of Thrones" describes, but the hair isn't braided as it is in the book, and it doesn't have bells. These are really important because in Dothraki culture whenever a man wins a battle, he adds a bell to his braid, and whenever he loses a battle, he cuts off his entire braid in shame, according to "A Game of Thrones." The book said that Khal Drogo has never cut his braid, meaning he has never lost a battle.

In the book "A Game of Thrones," though Daenerys didn't want to marry Drogo, it is explicitly explained that Drogo managed to seduce her. Most importantly, he blatantly asks permission to have sex, and she says yes (without lying — it's a point-of-view chapter so there's no speculation and her thoughts are described). In the show in season one, Drogo rapes her. We see her cry while her clothes are ripped off and, yeah, it's rape.

However, it's worth noting that Daenerys is 13 years old in "A Game of Thrones" and Khal Drogo is supposed to be in his late 20s. So even though she said yes, it would still be statutory rape because she's underage. In our world, at least. In Westeros, who knows what their statutory-rape laws are?

This could be because the men of the Night's Watch are called "crows," and TV producers may not have wanted to mix things up.

Remember when she was blind in the books and show? Well, during "A Dance with Dragons" she can slip into the skin of an alley cat. It was really helpful to her in the book, letting her spy on other people while she was blind. She also dreamt through her wolf, Nymeria, a small sign of warging.

In the book and show, Jaime trains up his left hand for sword fighting, but in the show in season four he trains with Bronn at King's Landing. In the book "A Feast for Crows," he trains with Ser Ilyn Payne, the king's justice (the guy who lopped off Ned Stark's head) while on his way to break the siege at Riverrun (which is broken in season six in the show, much later than in the book). Jaime picks Ilyn Payne because the man can't talk (he had his tongue cut out). Jaime's biggest fear is that his training partner will tell others that he's a bad fighter now, but he doesn't need to worry about that with Payne. It's a smart tactic.

Sam and Gilly still travel to Oldtown in the book "A Feast for Crows," but they go with a very old and still alive Maester Aemon, and with Mance Rayder’s baby, not Gilly’s baby. Yes, Mance Rayder had a son, but the boy's mother died and he's been living at Castle Black. Jon Snow switches the babies and demands Maester Aemon be sent away with them. He makes the decision because Melisandre is rushing to burn anyone with “king's blood” to get Stannis on the throne, and he doesn’t want Mance Rayder's baby (who has king's blood since Mance Rayder was a king) or Aemon (whose father and brother were kings) being burned alive. Maester Aemon dies during travel from old age, but Sam and Gilly and Mance’s son make it to Oldtown.

Edric Storm is the son of Robert Baratheon and Delena Florent (Stannis Baratheon’s wife’s cousin). Davos sneaks Storm away with the help of a few other men in "A Storm of Swords" and "A Feast for Crows" because Melisandre has gone crazy for king's blood again, just like how he helps Gendry in the show. As of "A Dance with Dragons" Edric Storm is hiding in Lys. (Maybe Gendry is in Lys in the show? Who knows — as of the show he's still rowing that little boat.) In the books, as of "A Feast for Crows," Gendry is working as a smith at the Inn at the Crossroads where he saves Brienne’s life when a fight breaks out there.

When Viserys dies he plots to marry his second child, a son Quentyn, to Daenerys Targaryen. He ships Quentyn and a few other men all the way to Meereen in "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons" to have him beg Daenerys for his hand in marriage to retake Westeros. Unfortunately, Quentyn ultimately dies there during "A Dance with Dragons" when he's burned alive by Daenerys' dragon Rhaegal. Don’t feel too horrible for him — it's kind of his fault. He goes into the dragon pit thinking he can tame the dragons due to his Targaryen blood (from generations ago). A smarter man would have avoided them.

During the show Doran Martell mostly sits around, betroths his only son Trystane to Myrcella Baratheon, and resists all pressure to go to war. No secret plotting. It's kind of a bummer since he's so much more exciting in the book.

He's staying with the Westerlings at their castle in "A Storm of Swords" after suffering a wound in a battle there fighting Lannister armies, when Jeyne comforts him upon the news that his brothers Bran and Rickon had been killed by Theon Greyjoy (which isn't true, but Robb doesn't know that). Robb marries her because he’s had sex with her and is ashamed, and really doesn’t want a bastard to be born out of it, and in general thinks it's the right thing to do for her. The wedding is in secret, as it is in the show, and the Freys are pretty mad, like in the show. The Northerners lose a lot of respect for him, too, marrying the enemy and all.

In the show, Robb meets the Volantene Talisa in season two as she’s tending to wounded men in the aftermath of a battle and they fall in love and marry in secret near the end of the season. Also, unlike Talisa who's killed at the Red Wedding in season three of the show, Jeyne Westerling is still alive and well. She never went to the Red Wedding to avoid insulting Lord Walder Frey. It’s revealed in "A Feast for Crows" that her mother has been secretly giving her potions to prevent her from conceiving a child with Robb. As of "A Feast for Crows," Jeyne is not pregnant and has been sent back to the Westerlands by Jaime Lannister after he broke the Riverrun siege.

Technically Alys has a brother Harrion Karstark, but he's a captive in Maidenpool as of "A Feast for Crows," and it's revealed in "A Dance With Dragons" that her uncle plans to ask King Stannis to allow Alys to inherit, skipping over her brother. Alys' cousin would inherit Karhold if she were married to him. By marrying Alys to Sigorn, Magnar of Thenn, Jon secures the castle for Alys (and the Thenns) should her brother Harrion die. (Magnar means “lord” in the language of the First Men, which is still spoken by clans north of the Wall.)

It’s worth noting that in the books, Thenns are not cannibals like they are in the show. Actually they're quite civilized. It’s the Ice-river clans that are cannibals, but the show probably didn’t feel like going over all the clans (there are too many to name) and just combined the two.

The sister is furious at Tyrion because her beloved brother had been killed for being mistaken for Tyrion after Cersei offered a lordship to any man who brought her Tyrion’s head. The two end up becoming almost friends and are sold as slaves together as a jousting act (with Jorah Mormont, who doesn't have greyscale, remember?) in "A Dance With Dragons."

Also, the jousters ride a dog and a pig in the books, and in the show they don’t ride anything and just have animals made into their costumes so it appears they’re riding something.

Remember that huge mob the Lannisters get into after sending Myrcella off in "A Clash for Kings" and season two? Well Lollys Stokeworth was there and got raped, unfortunately. She gives birth to a bastard son in "A Feast for Crows" and Bronn, who marries her in the book series but not in the show, names it Tyrion to anger Cersei and honor his friend Tyrion. Cersei is livid when she receives news of it but Jaime laughs it off. In the show Lollys is not pregnant and Bronn's engagement to her is broken off.

It's revealed in "A Storm of Swords" that Lysa's father forced her to have an abortion after getting pregnant as a teenager from Petyr Baelish (who she had a huge crush on). She hoped her father would let her marry Petyr but Lord Hoster Tully believed Petyr too lowborn for his daughter and sent him away soon after the pregnancy. The abortion, brought on by "moon tea," was particularly traumatic, though, and Lysa nearly died from it. The need for abortion was a very embarrassing fact for Lord Hoster Tully and he was desperate to get his daughter married off before anyone found out the secret.

Jon Arryn had been trying to have an heir for years and was getting quite old. He was almost the same age as Hoster actually! Jon Arryn was looking for a healthy young bride proven to be fertile, since his other wives were unable to give him children. Lysa Arryn fit the bill and united the Tullys and Arryns in time for Robert's Rebellion, revealed in "A Game of Thrones."

It's revealed in "A Storm of Swords" that Lysa had five miscarriages and two stillborn children with Jon Arryn before Robin Arryn came along. It makes sense at this point why she’d fiercely cling to Robin, who is a sickly boy. In addition to the paranoia she's going through (detailed in the books), Jon Arryn was making plans to have their son fostered on Dragonstone by Stannis Baratheon, because he wanted to strengthen the boy up. This was the last straw for Lysa, leading her to kill Jon Arryn to prevent her son from going to Dragonstone before the start of "A Game of Thrones." Robert Baratheon offered to send Robin Arryn to Casterly Rock to be fostered with Tywin Lannister after Jon Arryn’s death, but Lysa fled King’s Landing in "A Game of Thrones" before it could happen.

When Roose Bolton takes over at Harrenhal he has Arya Stark as his cupbearer in "A Clash for Kings." (She never serves Tywin Lannister like she does in the show, but she's there at the same time as him doing other work.) Roose asks Arya how she feels about leeches, to which she indicates she doesn't care. After that we see Roose Bolton getting leeched, often. He believes it gets rid of the bad blood and on one occasion in "A Clash for Kings" has a meeting with Freys where he is leeched while naked. The visual... it's not pretty.

Because she uses her name threat to save the Northerners in the books, and not to have Jaqen help her escape, as on the show, she has to escape all on her own. After she finds out Roose intends to leave her with the Brave Companions, led by Vargo Hoat (he's the guy who cuts off Jaime's hand but is named Locke in the show) at Harrenhal in "A Clash for Kings," Arya decides to escape with Hot Pie and Gendry. She steals a dagger and map from Bolton's chambers (the map part is really important), and then kills a gate guard, before the three of them ride out. Pretty clever for a girl who's supposed to be only 10.

Cersei originally wants to deny the rumors and take the tongue of anyone heard spreading them in "A Clash for Kings," but Tyrion advises her not to. Tyrion says it would look like the rumors are true. Instead, the rumor of Shireen’s parentage is agreed on and Littlefinger's whores along with Varys’ network of spies spread the rumor through brothels and pubs.

We’re still sad they killed Shireen off in the show since she’s still alive in the book.

By the way, it's a huge bummer they never showed Patchface. He's actually a pretty interesting character. Remember the song "It's Always Summer Under the Sea" that Shireen sings in season three? Well Patchface sang it in "A Clash of Kings," and it's a lot darker than it sounds. Patchface lost his wits after being drowned by a storm that killed 100 men, and his rhymes tend to be ominous and gloomy and some think they may be prophecies. Patchface is good friends with Shireen, though, so it's entirely possible she'd sing the song, too.

Daenerys has to learn to ignore his tears to get on with her business, because seriously the guy cries at everything. She says she doesn't want to marry him, he sobs. You get the picture.

Arya’s full death list in the book is different than in the show. In the book series her death list (roughly) is: Ser Amory Lorch, Cersei Lannister, Chiswyck, Dunsen, Gregor Clegane, Ilyn Payne, Joffrey Baratheon, Meryn Trant, Polliver, Raff the Sweetling, Sandor Clegane, The Tickler, and Weese.

In the show, her list (roughly) is: Joffrey Baratheon, Cersei Lannister, Walder Frey, Meryn Trant, Tywin Lannister, Melisandre, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Ilyn Payne, Gregor Clegane, and Sandor Clegane.

The list changes as people die and as she adds people to it, so there are multiple versions. Either way, Ser Amory Lorch, Chiswyck, Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling, and Weese never make it to the show list because they aren't characters in the show.

Stannis and Steffon live with their mother and Davos' wife, Marya, on land at Cape Wrath, where Davos was given a keep and lands when he was knighted by Stannis Baratheon. Devan is serving as a squire to King Stannis as of "A Feast For Crows" and is setting up camp in Castle Black as of "A Dance with Dragons."

In the book "A Dance with Dragons" a newly wed Hizdahr tries to poison Daenerys by encouraging her to eat spiced locusts multiple times but refusing to touch them himself. Daenerys is not exactly into locusts so she declines. A member of her court, Strong Belwas (who doesn't appear in the show), does have a taste for locusts so he eagerly eats a whole bunch. It's discovered later that the locusts were laced with poison. Belwas barely survives the locusts. It's theorized in the book that he survived the poison due to his large size, but if Daenerys had eaten them they likely would have killed her.

It's a good plan if you think about it, from Hizdahr's point of view. If Daenerys had died he would have been king of Meereen on his own and he could have reinstated slavery or whatever he wanted without her stopping him. Sadly (for him), it doesn't work. A lot of people think he's the Harpy, and I think so, too, but no one can say for sure because nowhere in the books does it say, "Hizdahr is the Harpy."