Game Of Thrones: 5 Major Book Changes From "In The Wars To Come"

On The Show: In Season 3, Mance Rayder was introduced to Jon Snow as the King-Beyond-The-Wall, unifying the wildlings to march against the Night’s Watch. When the assault on the Wall fails due to the forces of the Watch and Stannis Baratheon, Mance is taken prisoner and burned at the stake for refusing to bend the knee. Jon shoots an arrow into his heart to grant him a quick death rather than the agony of flame.

In The Books: The imprisoned Mance Rayder refuses to bend the knee, so Stannis allows Melisandre to burn him. Instead of burning the real King-Beyond-The-Wall, however, Melisandre performs a glamour and passes Rattleshirt off as Mance to use him for her own purposes with Jon’s blessing. Mance later takes six spearwives and embarks on a mission to rescue “Arya” from her marriage to Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell.

What It Could Mean: With the real Mance now very clearly dead, Jon and Melisandre’s plot to rescue Ramsay’s bride may be scrapped entirely, allowing the heroics to go solely to the battered and brainwashed Theon Greyjoy. At the very least, Mance can be crossed off of the list of possible authors of the infamous “Bastard” letter that would call Jon to march on Winterfell.