Thread: Game of Thrones - HBO series

----CONTAINS SPOILER----

I've started a Game of Thrones group here...
http://www.politicalforum.com/groups/game-thrones/

I think that the popularity of the series is going to continue to increase. The 3rd book is pivotal and will be broken up into two seasons. Personally I'd prefer if HBO would go ahead and greenlight 20 epis per season. I realize that they are probably pretty expensive to produce, but there are only 3 episodes left this season and it just feels to short...

I don't see what they gain by the changes and although there are a ton of tiny tweaks, it was major plot lines being changed that upset me.

What I find unforgivable is thing like leaving out the Boltons and the Reeds (Meera and Jojen particularly). So help me if they do not have Jon meet back up with the Half-hand for their ending scene.

I wonder what Martin has to say about the changes.

Originally Posted by marleyfin

I don't see what they gain by the changes and although there are a ton of tiny tweaks, it was major plot lines being changed that upset me.

What I find unforgivable is thing like leaving out the Boltons and the Reeds (Meera and Jojen particularly). So help me if they do not have Jon meet back up with the Half-hand for their ending scene.

I wonder what Martin has to say about the changes.

I agree, I'm not even sure how they are going to proceed without the Reeds since the only reason they were heading beyond the wall was because the Reeds said that's where they had to go. They also helped to start Bran's further investigation of his worg talents.

Roose Bolten is in the show and he does mention Ramsay to Robb, but they completely changed the way that Ser Rodric got killed.

Also, I completely agree about the halfhand. The series is slowly becoming something almost unrecognizable from the books.

Originally Posted by Junkieturtle

I agree with the last two posts, the way they've veered away from the book in the 2nd season is more annoying than it normally would be considering how fantastically they held to the book in season 1. My wife told me she read somewhere that people were complaining that the series wasn't doing a good job of identifying the characters, so perhaps they are smushing a lot of the different plot elements into the regular characters, whether those plots items originate or involve them in the book or not.

Honestly though, I'm at the point where I don't know what's going to happen next in the show even though I've read all the books.

I think that the books just get to complex to follow faithfully. The first book is pretty linear and only follows a limited number of characters. By the time you get to the 4th and 5th books you're getting into more than a dozen different ongoing plot lines with probably close to 20 main characters and a hundred or more minor ones. It'd be impossible to cover all of that in a 60 minute tv show. I do hope they begin adding more episodes to each season to make a better effort at doing so. Either way, the show is awesome. I just read the most recently released book and found myself visualizing all of the characters as they were in the show. That's pretty incredible considering I began reading the series years before the show came out.

I get a little lost sometimes....who were the two burnt bodies hung on ropes in the last episode (#17)....that Theon Greyjoy had killed?

Originally Posted by Trinnity

I get a little lost sometimes....who were the two burnt bodies hung on ropes in the last episode (#17)....that Theon Greyjoy had killed?

They're supposed to be the two youngest Stark boys.

Originally Posted by IgnoranceisBliss

They're supposed to be the two youngest Stark boys.

In the book you're supposed to think they are, there wasn't any foreshadowing in the book till after Theon had displayed the heads. But in the book Bran and Rickon are also traveling with their cousins, Jojen and Meera Reed, who had been at Winterfell prior to Theon even taking it. They are sticking to the overall storyline, but they are also making a great case for why this series needs to be made with a few more episodes to each season than they are now.

I do agree that after the 1st book, the plot gets pretty intricate and without the ablility to fill up pages with descriptions and nuance on screen like you can in a book does hinder the depth they can feasibly go. I think if they added 3-4 more episodes per season, they could really flesh out the story a lot more. However, you also have to think about how they like to end each episode on a cliffhanger, and those don't always happen on the same timeline in the book, so they have to shift things around.

Originally Posted by Junkieturtle

In the book you're supposed to think they are, there wasn't any foreshadowing in the book till after Theon had displayed the heads. But in the book Bran and Rickon are also traveling with their cousins, Jojen and Meera Reed, who had been at Winterfell prior to Theon even taking it. They are sticking to the overall storyline, but they are also making a great case for why this series needs to be made with a few more episodes to each season than they are now.

I do agree that after the 1st book, the plot gets pretty intricate and without the ablility to fill up pages with descriptions and nuance on screen like you can in a book does hinder the depth they can feasibly go. I think if they added 3-4 more episodes per season, they could really flesh out the story a lot more. However, you also have to think about how they like to end each episode on a cliffhanger, and those don't always happen on the same timeline in the book, so they have to shift things around.

I agree. No tv show will ever be able to cover an entire series of books; especially a series of 6+ books of 800+ pages with hundreds of characters. I think they've done a great job of "dumbing" down the novels while still keeping the spirit and core story line intact. I read a lot, and its been at least five years since I read the second one. I've found myself enjoying the tv series and finding little missing from the books; probably because I've forgotten many of the little side twists and only remember the larger story arcs. This makes the series more enjoyable. The tv series coincides with my fuzzier memory of the novel, which is perfect. I'm sure rereading that second book right now would irk me a bit.

Originally Posted by Junkieturtle

I agree, I'm not even sure how they are going to proceed without the Reeds since the only reason they were heading beyond the wall was because the Reeds said that's where they had to go. They also helped to start Bran's further investigation of his worg talents.

Roose Bolten is in the show and he does mention Ramsay to Robb, but they completely changed the way that Ser Rodric got killed.

Also, I completely agree about the halfhand. The series is slowly becoming something almost unrecognizable from the books.

As Ignoranceisbliss stated there are so many story lines to remember, which is the reason I went back and read them all when Dance of Dragons came out. Even so I still second guess myself at times when watching the show.

Arya in the show is the cup bearer to Tywin at Haranhall?? I don't recall this happening. It should be Roose Bolton, the leech enthusiast, to my recollection. I am glad I'm wrong about the Boltons, I was wondering how they were going to handle Theon's future.

I like Meera and Jojen, plus their family and their secrete bogs are instrumental in the story, I am upset they left them out. Although I think that Rob might have gone to the bogs at his end of the last episode. Taking Meera and Jojen out is a mistake in my opinion, as you said you miss the development of Bran's abilities.

The dragons are never kidnapped. I am a little upset that they haven't had the guy from qarth crying all of time like he did in the book, and that they are killing off Dany's entourage. I don't recall her hand servant or the other blood-rider dying in qarth.

One add in I like is the development of Jayne, Rob Stark's lady. In the story she is not mentioned much and just thrown in there. It does make me wonder why when they are leaving so much out that they are adding so much of Rob in, but I guess its so things will hit harder.

I am retaining some faith that although they had Jon and Ygritte run off together that Jon will meet back up with the Half-hand before stating his next venture.

Sorry if anyone got a spoiler from my list. I did try to be vague enough so that I do not give away anything to the viewers that haven't read the books.