A Game of Thrones

King Robert Baratheon travels to Winterfell to ask his old friend Eddard Stark to be his new Hand. Ned agrees and takes his daughters, Sansa and Arya, to King's Landing, while Bran is left paralyzed after a fall from a tower. In the capital, Ned discovers that Queen Cersei's children were actually fathered by her brother, Jaime. Robert dies after a hunting accident, Joffrey takes the throne and Ned is arrested for treason. Even after confessing to save his daughters, he is beheaded. Robb goes to war, captures Jaime and is proclaimed King in the North. At the Wall, Jon Snow joins the Night's Watch. Across the sea, Daenerys loses her husband, Khal Drogo, walks into his funeral pyre and comes out with three newborn dragons. Left open: the war for the throne and the threat stirring beyond the Wall.

1. ChangeDaenerys got older

   In the book, Daenerys is 13 when she marries Khal Drogo. The show pushed the timeline forward and made her 16; the Stark kids were aged up too.

   source ↗
2. ChangeA different wedding night

   In the book, Drogo is patient on their wedding night and waits for Daenerys to consent. The show turned the scene violent. George R. R. Martin said he wasn't consulted and that the change made it worse.

   source ↗
3. ChangeRos isn't in the book

   Ros, the Winterfell prostitute who later moves to King's Landing, was created for the show. She appears from the first episode and helps convey things the book tells through characters' thoughts.

   source ↗
4. ChangeThe deserter got swapped

   In the book's prologue, the point-of-view character Will dies, and the ranger who flees and is executed by Ned is Gared. The show swaps them, making Will the deserter.

   source ↗
5. ChangeRobert and Cersei talk alone

   Robert and Cersei's frank talk about their marriage isn't in the book. Since neither narrates chapters, the show added scenes to show what they think.

   source ↗