WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1 and George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book, on which the show is based.

A scandalous part of Cregan Stark and Jacaerys Velaryon’s story from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood book is cut from House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1, though the omission makes sense. Unlike A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series on which Game of Thrones is based, House of the Dragon is based on a fictional history book about House Targaryen titled Fire & Blood, with the information coming from a variety of sources and unreliable narrators. Consequently, the HBO show’s “true” telling of the stories of House of the Dragon’s cast and characters don’t all follow the accounts outlined in the book.

After plenty of anticipation, House of the Dragon’s season 2 premiere introduces Cregan Stark, the Lord of Winterfell and ancestor of Game of Thrones’ Ned Stark. Rhaenyra’s eldest son, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, visits Winterfell and the Wall in order to treat with Cregan, with the trip culminating in Cregan pledging House Stark’s support and 2,000 greybeard soldiers to her cause. However, House of the Dragon’s return to Winterfell only amounts to a brief scene between Jace and Cregan, cutting numerous details from Fire & Blood in which they hunted, drank, sealed an oath of brotherhood, signed the Pact of Ice & Fire, and – more intriguingly – argued about Sara Snow.

Who Is Sara Snow? Her Role In Jacaerys & Cregan’s Story Explained

A Fire & Blood narrator claims Sara Snow is Cregan’s illegitimate half-sister

Among the reasons why Jacaerys and Cregan’s story in House of the Dragon was so anticipated was the hope that it would finally clarify Fire & Blood’s rumors regarding Sara Snow. However, House of the Dragon season 2 cut Sara Snow altogether, and it’s unlikely that she’ll be featured at all in the Game of Thrones prequel’s future. Considering how scandalous her role was according to one narrator in Fire & Blood, Sara’s removal still leaves plenty of questions about her story for book readers after House of the Dragon’s season 2 episode “A Son for a Son.”

In George R.R. Martin’s book, Sara Snow is the bastard daughter of Lord Rickon Stark and the half-sister of Lord Cregan Stark. According to Fire & Blood narrator Mushroom, a court fool, Prince Jacaerys fell in love with Sara and slept with her in Winterfell. Despite being betrothed to Baela Targaryen, Mushroom wrote that Jacaerys secretly wed Sara Snow at the godswood, which lessened Lord Cregan Stark’s anger at discovering their affair. However, Fire & Blood narrator Archmaester Gyldayn doubted that Sara even existed, elaborating that Jace wouldn’t have broken his vows to Baela. Gyldayn stated that even if Sara existed and Jace did sleep with her, Mushroom’s claims of marriage are absurd.

Why House Of The Dragon Cut Sara Snow

Sara Snow’s removal from House of the Dragon was practical

Considering other elements of Jace’s visit to Winterfell from Fire & Blood were cut from House of the Dragon, it’s not too surprising that Sara Snow was omitted as well. It seems that part of Sara Snow’s erasure was due to time constraints, as there were numerous events and storylines to fit in before House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1’s ending. Cregan’s appearance in the season 2 premiere is extremely brief, so cutting Sara was likely a matter of ensuring that Jace’s visit to Winterfell was focused on obtaining House Stark’s support and thematically highlighting their connections to Aegon’s dream and Game of Thrones’ ending.

Ensuring more brevity in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 1 didn’t just apply to Winterfell, as the events of Blood and Cheese were also changed and executed at an accelerated rate. As writer Sara Hess explained, cutting Sara Snow from House of the Dragon was practical given the show’s “POV is the Targaryens… [They] just don’t have the eyes to really be everywhere all the time.” With one of Fire & Blood’s narrators even doubting that Sara existed at all, it’s simpler for House of the Dragon to either avoid putting her on screen or corroborate the archmaester’s belief that she was entirely fictitious.

New episodes of House of the Dragon season 2 release Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.