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A Song of Ice and Fire · 300 AC

A Dance with Dragons

Daenerys tries to rule Meereen as winter closes in on the North

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Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Main story5 of 5
  • Chronological7 of 7
  • Everything7 of 8
BeforeA Feast for Crows
Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

As Lord Commander, Jon lets the wildlings through the Wall before winter, and many of his brothers can't accept it. Tyrion flees to Essos, meets Young Griff, who turns out to be Aegon Targaryen, is captured by Jorah Mormont and ends up sold as a slave. In Meereen, Daenerys battles the Sons of the Harpy, marries Hizdahr and, when the fighting pits reopen, flies off on Drogon. Quentyn Martell tries to tame the dragons and burns to death. Bran reaches the three-eyed crow. Theon, broken into Reek by Ramsay Bolton, escapes Winterfell with the fake Arya. Cersei makes her walk of atonement through King's Landing. In the end, men of the Night's Watch stab Jon, and in the epilogue Varys kills Kevan Lannister. Left open: the fate of Jon, Daenerys and the war.

No spoilersOpens once you mark the title as seen.
6 differences

What changed in the movie

  1. ChangeNo Young Griff

    In the book, Tyrion travels downriver with a boy called Griff, who turns out to be Aegon Targaryen, Rhaegar's son, long believed dead. The character and that whole plot were left out of the show.

    source ↗
  2. ChangeQuentyn Martell was left out

    In the book, Quentyn, Doran Martell's son, crosses the sea to Meereen to ask for Daenerys's hand and tries to tame the dragons. He doesn't exist on the show.

    source ↗
  3. ChangeBarristan survives in the book

    On the show, Barristan Selmy dies fighting the Sons of the Harpy. In the book, he's alive at the end and takes charge in Meereen. Actor Ian McElhinney said he was disappointed.

    source ↗
  4. ChangeShireen is alive in the book

    On the show, Stannis burns his daughter, Shireen, at the stake. At the end of A Dance with Dragons, Shireen is alive at Castle Black with her mother.

    source ↗
  5. ChangeRamsay's bride isn't Sansa

    In the book, the Boltons marry Ramsay to Jeyne Poole, Sansa's childhood friend, posing as Arya. On the show, it's Sansa herself who marries Ramsay.

    source ↗
  6. ChangeTyrion and Daenerys haven't met

    On the show, Tyrion reaches Meereen and becomes Daenerys's adviser. In the book, the two still haven't met by the last page of A Dance with Dragons.

    source ↗
No spoilersThe easter eggs give away parts of the title. They open once you mark it as seen.

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