Game of Thrones Season 2 vs. A Clash of Kings

    I finished reading a Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin only a week or two before I did a marathon of HBO's series Game of Thrones. The book was fresh on my mind while watching this season. Before HBO released the second season, they announced that it would not follow the book as closely as the first season. There are many people out there who seem to believe any visual adaptation is worse than the original written version. I am not of that opinion. In fact, I often believe a visual adaptation makes it better as it forces the writer to focus to get what is important down and drop the extra crap to fit it all in the various limits, such as time and budget. But some fluff is nice. There were definitely characters that greatly benefited from having their stories edited down; there were also characters who were hurt by having their story cropped. I plan to go into detail about many of these changes...so uh, SPOILER WARNING. I'm going to spoil The first and second season of the show Game of Thrones, as well as the first three books of the series Fire and Ice.

Season 1 was as identical as I could expect two completely different mediums to get to each other. George R.R. Martin's first book of the Fire and Ice series, A Game of Thrones, lent itself well to a direct visual adaptation. The second book of the series, A Clash of Kings, did not as much. A big difference is that much of the action of the first book occurred directly in front of the characters. Ned Stark was beheaded directly in front of both Sansa and Arya (oh yes, there will be spoilers). The major actions that were not chosen to be seen directly were important too, such as Robert Baratheon dying off screen brought a question mark over his death as to how he died. For the show, seeing Ned Stark's execution was incredibly moving (I'm pretty sure I yelled at the TV for 5-10minutes after wards), and not seeing Robert's death started the questions of “Was it Cersei? Is there another person in the game? Was it just a bad coincidence?” This is the same purpose it had in the book, and thus lent itself well to a film adaption. Now, in the second book, a lot of the major events are told second hand. I believe Martin did this on purpose, so that when we read the book, we were not playing the part of the kings. We could feel more with the common people and their strife, and we see a lot of the horrible affects of war on people of all classes. Since we're a step back, it also leads to how people become legends. The book dealt a lot with how information changes when its spread word of mouth. Hearing second hand accounts of Robb and his dire wolf on the field of battle gave him an aura of heroism, even legendary status. And in writing, a second hand account of Robb's battles is just as visually appealing as reading it from Robb's perspective. The only difference is a set of words, “I heard Robb and his wolf did...” as opposed to “And then Robb did...” But on the big screen...that difference is huge. The show would have been boring to sit down and watch a bunch of random cast members describe a battle they didn't even see. We, as an audience, needed to see those battles. In film, we can't go through an entire movie / season of being told someone is heroic and believe unless we actually get to watch the character do something heroic. Now, it didn't show every battle, all we needed was one or two and we knew of Robb's abilities and heroics.

The Second Season also went a bit into the third book, A Storm of Swords. I haven't read all of the third book, but from what I've seen, its longer and has more happening already. Part of the problem with book 2 is chapter upon chapter upon chapter rehashes the same thing. Oh, Catelyn Stark is sad about her father? Bran is still fighting his abilities? And that Arya should never ever gamble because she has the worlds worst luck ever? Wait...are you trying to tell me that Joffrey isn't an innocent and kind soul, because I didn't get that the entire first book. As opposed to wasting an hour of time repeatedly showing us these things, like the book did, the show often tried to create a single poignant scene to encapsulate them all. With film, having a visual and audio component means we're more likely to retain that, while in a book sometimes we do need it repeated. Sometimes we don't. And sometimes we don't care, just like some entire story lines were dropped.

To continue for more details, I'm going to break it down much like the book and show breaks it down...by character.

Robb Stark

Since I already mentioned Robb Stark, let's start with him. Robb's appearance in the book itself was...brief. His name is never the lead of a chapter, and the only time we see him directly is through Catelynn Stark. Like mentioned above, second hand accounts of Robb's actions really allow him to appear as a legend, but again, the show would have been boring if that's all we got. Getting to see the battle where he uses his wolf to scare the horses and trample the camp lends to the myths that the book portrays. That he plans well, that he uses his wolf, and that he is undefeated.

A big change they make though is that they show Jeyne, the woman to be Robb's wife. I have mixed feelings about her early show. She doesn't appear in the books until the third one, and quite abruptly. I love her introduction, and how it plays out between Robb and Catelynn. In the book, Robb forgives his mother for releasing Jaime by talking about foolish things done for love... oh yeah, I betrayed the Freys for love, DEAL WITH IT MOM! I loved that interaction, the surprise, and in the book it starts to show that Robb is not just a Warlord, but that he might be able to play the Game of Thrones better than his dad. But it was random in the book, and kind of just like “well that was a really dumb decision” and I haven't read anything beyond that yet. But with the show, we see her character, how and why he falls in love with her (beyond her beauty). More importantly, we see what she brings to him. She's helping him see the armies again as people, she's going to help him be a good king. And while it removed the awesome interaction his mother and he has, I like that instead they replaced it with him being more forceful with his mom and out right telling her she betrayed him. Over-all, I greatly appreciate that Robb actually made an appearance in the show, and the changes I feel will be for the better in the long run.

Jaime

This is another character that barely appears in the book, but is given air time on the show. Part of the reason he is given air time is because it starts going into Season 3.

Personally, I thought Jaime's end in Book 2 was great. The book has his last appearance being Catelyn Stark grabbing Brienne's sword, and slashing out. It ends with the assumption that Jaime is dead, and that Catelyn's betrayal is the Kingslayer's early execution. I'm a little confused as to why HBO, who has never had a problem with cliff hanger endings (*cough Ned Stark cough*), decided to not end Jaime's story in this season there. They didn't even end it with a question...just with Brienne defending Jaime. I believed they continued his storyline though so they could fit in Robb's marriage...but still, I'd of preferred some cliffhanger for Jaime, whether it be he and Brienne fighting, the Bloody Mummers, or even just the two hiding from a patrol.

I disliked that Jaime didn't repeatedly call Brienne “Wench” as he does in the book. The show actually has him ask her name, as if he cares. As if he isn't going to plot her demise for a very very long time. I liked the cold calculating Jaime from the book; but, we really only got one scene of him and Brienne, and next season might bring back the word “Wench.”

The other change to his minor part is that the book has one of his cousins also protecting him. This cousins part, which is so minor I'm not even going to look his name up, serves a limited set of purposes. One is the logistics that Brienne could not watch Jaime at all hours of the day without requiring sleep... but when watching a movie or TV show, logistics like that are generally just ignored or forgotten (I would've ignored it in the book too, if there wasn't the repeated mention of them changing shifts over Jaime). The cousin's other purpose is to show how interconnected these family trees are. The show really makes me feel like these families are a lot smaller than thy are supposed to be in the book. In the books, the author does a great job of detailing family trees and a lot of attention is put into how big these families are. The Lannister's aren't just Tywin and his children, Tyrion, Jaime, and Cersei, and than that one cousin Lancel... but its huge! And they are intermarried with other families, and a lot of the politics playing out with that. It's one thing missing from the show... but on the other hand, I do recognize its not particularly interesting nor is it easy to show. It's also not necessarily pertinent to the story, and more helps make the world feel bigger.

Catelyn

Talking about large families just vanishing; where the hell are the Tully's? It's really hard for film to depict distances, especially in a fantasy world. A big thing in the book is that Catelyn is staying with her family, watching her father die, at the trident. Again, the size and scope of things is really put into the forefront of the book. One important part about Catelyn being at the Trident is that Robb is in the area too, which means Robb is not in Winterfell. He's not really King of the North, but instead King of the Rivers, and this is very important to Bran and Theon's story line.

Catelyn plays a pretty big role in the book. I'm actually really glad they greatly reduced her appearance in the show, because its basically her moping around crying that Ned is dead, crying that her children are captured, crying that her father is dying, crying that her sister doesn't love her, crying crying crying. Okay, so she has a ton of reason to cry, and that part of the reason I don't have sympathy for her in the book is because of dramatic irony and I know that Bran and Rickon aren't dead, and I know that Arya isn't in Kings Landing, and I know that Sansa has an escape plan. So, I know a lot of information she doesn't...but still her action, specifically with Jaime, are ridiculous. Repeatedly she gives advice to Robb that is “let's lose the war so I can have my children back.” Let's ignore the fact that they will be slaughtered after wards for being traitors.

I haven't read any feminists' perspectives on the show or book, but reading Catelyn's storyline is simply upsetting to me. She's weak, she's irrational, and she really doesn't seem to be capable without a man. In the book I think she even says she's lost and doesn't know what to do without Ned. Luckily there are multiple strong female characters in the book, including Catelyn's own daughter, Arya. I also get the Martin is trying to depict the unknowable knowledge of how it feels to lose nearly your entirely family to war... but Martin repeatedly shows he doesn't necessarily understand women. And because of that, I'm glad they cut Catelyn's storyline down.

Davos

Hey Davos, nice of you to make an appearance in the show. In the book, Davos actually plays an important role outside of just some random captain. He's Stannis Barratheon's most trusted man, the man who will not lie to the true heir to the Throne after the Usurper. They also make a big deal out of Davos' being the Onion Knight, and nearly every chapter he's in, they mention his hand. While they do mention his hand being cut at the knuckles, its more to show the type of king Stannis is, the unquestioning follower of the law. But all of that is flavor.

A big purpose of Davos in the book is to show how zealous everyone else is becoming to the the one true God, Lord of Light, the God of Flame (and shadow), R'hllor. As opposed to having multiple chapters and pages dedicated to seeing people become zealous, they really just have two scenes. The burning of the idols at the beginning, but more pertinent, Davos' own son being fully converted before the end. Seeing Davos' own son become a zealot, with us knowing that Davos isn't that religious or interested in the Lord of Light, says a lot about how many people are changing.

I like Davos' character, and I do wish he made a bigger show as Stannis' most trusted man. With them dropping that, they also dropped a scene I felt that was very important. Before Stannis attacks King's Landing, he talks to Davos. Davos advises the king to not bring Melisandre to the battlefield, because if he does the men will say it was R'hllor's victory and not Stannis'. This has major consequences in the third book. One of those consequences is that the loss at King's Landing is blamed on the fact that Melisandre wasn't there, and hey, they were all consumed by fire. It also sets up a lot of conflict between Melisandre and her zealous followers vs. Davos and his more level headed approach.

Now, real quick...lets talk about the shadow assassin that Melisandre births. The book did add more mystery as to what was going on by having a few people die by the shadow, and we get the answer 100% when Melisandre kills some not-Renly lord so they can capture a baseborn child of Robert Barratheon (a storyline completely dropped in the show). Part of the mystery is something that happens in books easily, but not so much visual medias, which is the unreliable narrator. The book puts in repeatedly the question of “What did we actually see?” and “Did we see what we think we saw?” but when we, the audience, actually sees a thing, we believe what we were shown. The only time we don't is when the movie goes out of its way to make us doubt a character. A lot of spy movies do this, where a pivotal plot point is only given to us through the story of another character, only to learn that character is a double agent or something. That would take a lot of work on the shows behalf just to add a little mystery to the scene.

Although, they could have done the shadow creature differently. People who know me well know that a lot of my own creative writings involve playing with shadows, so its something I'm interested in. The shadow creature in the show was amazing, but there was no question that it was real. That it existed, that it was in the room, and that it lingered for a second. There was no mystery to existence, and thus very little magic about it.

Joffrey

Before getting to Sansa, let's look at Joffrey. There is a lot of time in the book dedicated to the fact that Joffrey is an asshole. I'm not sure why any time needs to be spent on this as the first book did a really good job making the audience utterly hate the little fuck. Well the show decided that, in case we forgot, lets just give one good scene to prove Joffrey is a horrible person. They also added that from the book, Tyrion often joked about getting Joffrey a prostitute. This single scene is more effective at showing Joffrey's sadism, showing how much of a monster he is, than all of book 2 rolled into one. Sansa's fear in Book 3 does a great job in also displaying this, and I hope Sophie Turner (the actress who plays Sansa) is capable of showing that if they include the scenes with the Tyrell family...but until then, Joffrey's prostitution scene is absolutely horrifying, and if you didn't hate him before, you hate him now...and if you don't hate him now, please see a psychiatrist as you may be a sociopath as well.

The only scene about Joffrey that I miss is the idea that the throne rejects those who do not deserve to sit on the throne. It is mentioned at least once that Joffrey is pricked by the throne, and it causes silence in the court room. Unfortunately, for this scene to be effective they really have to talk about Aerys Targaryen, the Mad King. The book goes into a lot of retellings of the history, but unless the show wants repeated flashbacks or boring narrative dialogue, we don't get much of the history of the world other than that Robert Barratheon de-throned the Targaryens. We don't get the full back story of how horrible Aerys was. This lack of history worsens the fullness of certain characters and events (we lose a LOT on Jaime by not knowing about him taking the throne and Ned Stark taking him off of it). We also lose the detail that Aerys, not only known as the Mad King but also the Scab King, could not sit in the throne without getting stabbed, a story about how that throne rejects bad rulers. It would be a lot of work to put in that most audience members would ignore, just to give another detail that Joffrey is not the rightful ruler. Its a scene and concept I thoroughly enjoyed in the book, but it reinforces something we the audience already knows... Joffrey needs to die, and ANY of the other would be kings would be better, including Theon Greyjoy.

What happened to his little brother, Tommen, though? In the book there is a great deal of discussion from various individuals, including Cersei, how Joffrey is going to be a cruel king, and thus not a good ruler...but that Tommen could be a good king. There's even repeated talk about assassinating Joffrey to bring Tommen to rule. I believe there was only one mention in the show about that plan, which was quickly disregarded. In the book, it felt like a plan that could come back at anytime, and I really liked that idea that everyone knows Joffrey will be a bad king, even his mother.

Sansa

They cut a lot of Sansa out of the book. This is partially because, as mentioned above, a lot of her story is used to show that the Joffrey and Cersei are horrible people, which we already know. This might also partially be because, in both Book 1 and Season 1, Sansa is the only unlikable Stark (although, I think Catelyn joins those ranks in Book 2, but that's just me).

In book 1, Sansa is completely in Joffrey. She's naïve and in love in a fantasy land, and that explains some of what happens. Sansa liking Cersei makes sense, both in the book and show, as Cersei is definitely treating Sansa with a lot of respect and love, but it is obvious in both formats that Joffrey is nothing but cruel, and Sansa lying about what occurred at the river is incredibly hard to forgive.

In book 2 though, I start to like Sansa. We really see how she's donned the armor of niceties to survive. I also think, in the book, she comes off as much stronger. She defends Dontos, and then starts planning an escape. She's working at escaping, at doing what she has to to survive. Yes, she's still a “lady” and not able to do anything without a man, but we really see her trying. That's important, and shows that she's growing up and becoming the wolf she's meant to be.

The show really removed a bunch of that, and removed much of her story. Ser Dontos only exists in the story to show that Sansa is willing to stand up to Joffrey when he's in the wrong. After that, Ser Dontos vanishes. He isn't planning a massive escape plan, we don't see Sansa sneaking off away from people, we barely see her at all. We do see her armor of niceties, and what she does to protect herself, but we don't see anything beyond that. But with the Ser Dontos storyline in the book, everything is being compared to fabled knights and legendary heroes, which gives a mixed message in the book. She's not lost in love with Joffrey anymore, thinking he can do no wrong, but she's still in fairy-tale land thinking her story will have a happily-ever-after ending. She's still a naïve child in the book, and Ser Dontos continues that dream. The show removes that, and gives her a much harder edge.

The show still allows her to be strong, in the last few episodes when she's locked in the room with Cersei. We see her helping individuals, we see her not being afraid despite the war outside, and we see her reaction to Cersei's continuing being Cersei. I do miss one line from Sansa, where Cersei is telling her a queen must rule by fear, and Sansa counters that the people should love their queen. Still, Sansa appears strong in this.

There is a hint of an escape plan at the end. Littlefinger comes to her and tells her he could help her out. I have not read far enough into book 3 to know if Sansa still plans on escaping despite certain marital arrangements, and how Littlefinger plays into that. As is, it looks like it'll throw some complications in for season 3. I enjoyed that the book acknowledges things take time, and with time, means plans can be discovered and ruined. A lot could be played with this, and in a television show it could be a lot of fun to see these plans play out.

I LOVED the scene where Sansa's betrothal to Joffrey is annulled. In the book, it seemed like they were actually figuring it out, but in the show...either everyone in that scene sucks as an actor, or (and what I'm assuming) they purposefully made it seem staged. It being staged would make sense, and is one of the few times the show adds a better “there are more gears turning in the background than we even know.” than the book.

Cersei

Wow is Cersei a royal bitch, pun intended.

The show really changed the entire incestuous relationship and bastard children part. In the book, there is a great deal of time put into Stannis sending letters out to all the lands making the (true) claim that all of Cersei's children were fathered by Jaime, not Robert, and thus Joffrey is not the king. This causes them to launch an equally distasteful claim about Stannis's no-where to be seen (was she even mentioned in the show?) daughter. Now, there was a scene where Littlefinger uses innuendo to imply he knows about the incestuous relationship, and this leads the audience to believe other people know as well...but probably only people like Varys (who is absolutely amazing on the show!) or other high born people with good ears, and not that its talked openly in the streets. Again, the world is shrinking and really narrows down to the major players, and forgets that the book includes a lot of the common folk in it.

Then they try to slaughter all of Robert's baseborn children. The scene in which they do this is simply amazing. In the book, they mention it, and its the killing of the beloved prostitutes child that is remembered, but it doesn't feel like the large campaign that it actually is. The show really gets across that they are trying to kill all the children. BUT, in the book, I'm pretty sure it was Cersei who orders it. This shows Cersei as reactionary, but that she is afraid of the truth getting out. She also holds a lot of resentment against Robert. But in the show, they specifically say it was Joffrey who had them killed. I don't understand Joffrey's motivation for this. Are they playing that he hates his father? That he knows who his real father is? Neither I think are true. Announcing it was Joffrey got under my skin a bit.

Theon

I hate Theon, so much. I believe every scene with Theon, I yelled “Fuck you, Theon!”

But he was played well. The decapitation was excellently written, but the show really drove that home. Its cringe worthy for sure; maybe a muttering of “oh god” escaped audience members lips.

His character seemed pretty similar to the book. There was a bit more mention of The Drowned God in the book, and that he isn't a true believer causing dissidence between him and his iron men. He also tried getting a bit more intimate with his sister, making the scene where he realizes she's his sister a bit more awkward.

I felt like the show tried to make him less of an asshole though. In the book, he is extremely ambitious, and talking about how he's going to become king. It's his plan to capture Winterfell. The show has it be one of his men, a character who takes the place of Reek but isn't Reek. This change makes Theon less ambitious, and thus less cruel in his actions. In the book and show, he does repeatedly mention that he's been backed into a corner, and all his decisions he was forced into making. I appreciate that the show added the scene of his sister talking to her brother, and giving him the option out as opposed to him being forced to make his decisions...yet at the same time it made him somewhat human. Which is cool from the aspect that it means there are all sorts of victims, but from the aspect of I FUCKING HATE YOU, THEON GREYJOY!, I was less pleased.

I really enjoyed his finale in the show. His great speech before his men turn on him is just amazing. In the book, he sends Reek out to get a bunch of soldiers to take out the army surrounding the castle. When Reek returns, saving the day, Reek demands some woman. Some woman I don't remember being important or barely mentioned, and when Theon refuses Reek decides to burn the city down. In the book, yeah I cheered because Theon gets smacked down, but at the same time it didn't make much sense to me other than to show that there are a lot of cruel people in war, and perhaps some people want to climb the ladder. In the show though, Robb mentions that Theon will be put to the sword, but the other Ironmen will be let go if they leave, and there is mention that the iron men would jump on that. So, when they turn on Theon, its not a random WTF moment, but actually somewhat expected. The surprising part is that you think Theon might actually be turning them around!

Jon Snow

There were lots of minor tweaks with Jon Snow's character. Some of it was good, some of it was bad. His character kills a lot of time. There is a lot of sitting around, a lot of waiting, a lot of Mormont and the crew speculating about the possible number of Mance Rayder's men and what might happen when they finally encounter them. It was a fun read, but...visually watching hours of Jon Snow staring at a map would only be exciting because Jon Snow is so dreamy.

One minor change that needs to be mentioned is that in the book, it is Jon Snow who discovers the obsidian, or Dragon Glass, weapons. Among their finds are three daggers. One goes to Jon Snow, one to Mormont, and Tarly takes the third. I'm not sure if Jon Snow needs the dagger in the book, and if he does, its an easy work around. But, I felt it was important to his character that he's the one that finds it, and that he chooses who gets the dagger.

Just like I find it important to his character that in the book, he doesn't volunteer to go with Qhorin Halfhand, he's chosen to go. It's important because he's grown up some, and he's willing to stay where he's needed. He realizes war and battle aren't just about being the heroic ranger, but about the stratagem and that people do what is needed. It also shows that many people are noticing his skills. Again, this isn't a terrible change at all...just a minor tweak of the character.

What I was afraid would be horrible is how they did Jon's capturing of Ygritte. In the book, he just lets her go and rejoins Qhorin. They later get ambushed by a group, and are held up in a cave. Here, Qhorin details that he wants Jon to fight him and join the wildlings so Jon can spy on the wildlings from the inside, and find out what they are looking for. The show never has that, and for awhile I was afraid they were going to make it that Jon switched sides because he was persuaded to their side. Qhorin still tells Jon to join, but in one quick line that was easily missed. Before shoving Jon down a hill, Qhorin whispers “One of us on the inside is worth a thousand on the outside.” If you missed that line, damn did that battle seem random! But its all planned to get Jon inside with the wildlings and spy on them. In the book, he needs to find out what Mance Rayder is digging for … but in the show, there is no mention of digging or artifact searching. So far in the third book this sounds like an unimportant detail.

But there's a very important reason Jon Snow is chosen to go on the hunting party, a reason why Qhorin wants Jon as the spy, and a reason Jon Snow survives: his direwolf, Snow. Is Snow even in the show? He feeds Jon Snow, he helps Jon defeat Qhorin, and more importantly... Jon is showing similar abilities as his brother Brann, and the reason Qhorin knows he needs a spy is because Jon sees through the eyes of his Direwolf. It's also a reason the wildlings, and specifically Mance Rayder, are interested in him switching to their side. But the direwolf that gets the most attention in the show is Robb's, the character not in the book.

Bran

No seriously, where the fuck are the dire wolves? Bran's story is COMPLETELY different without the direwolf.

In the book, Bran's entire story is that Bran can become his wolf. I don't mean shape change, I mean he goes unconscious as Bran, and wakes up as the wolf. The show has a line or two about Bran's dreams, but nothing else. To learn about his abilities and gain control of them, two very important characters are given to him, and two of my personal favorite characters (outside of Tyrion and Arya), the Reed sibling, Meera and Jojen. Now, in the book this is a very tedious process. First Bran is refusing to admit his dreams happen, then he's to admit they mean anything and that he doesn't want them if they do, and then “ok, maybe its happening...but its not what you think,” until he finally accepts that he becomes the wolf, and now he just wants to be the wolf and not be himself anymore, and yadayadayada training to become a warg (a person who can become animals). It's really long and repetitive, but at the same time awesome. I obviously didn't expect the show to annoy us with each episode Brann learning something about what he can, but I did expect them to include that Bran can become his wolf, and the Frog Eaters.

I also wonder how this is going to affect season 3. Bran and Rickon decide to split up, with Osha taking Rickon, while the Reeds and Hordor decide to go North to talk to people more adept at being Wargs. So what, is Bran going to go alone with Hordor and Osha take Rickon herself? Well that just seems unconventional, and really boring for Bran. Maybe they won't split up? Well that will really change some major plot points in 3. Maybe they'll finally introduce the Reeds? If they decide that, why weren't they just in this season, damn it!

Bran's story greatly changed from the book, and over-all I am displeased with that. Yeah, I'm glad it didn't have hours to get a single point across, but in doing so they dropped something rather pertinent to the book and the future books.

Daenerys

There is one huge change about Daenarys' storyline: her dragons don't get captured in the book. In the book, they constantly talk about it, its a constant fear, and multiple people obviously desire to steal them...but they never get stolen in the book. Daenarys' goes to the tower to get answers to mysterious questions.

I liked that her dragons got stolen. First, it more than covers the idea of how precious her dragons are. For me, the conversation with the warlock in the tower does a much better job of detailing how important the dragons are than the books repeated mentions of people trying to buy the dragons with money. Money only means so much, having people steal them presses how important the dragons are. We also only know that people want dragons because they are rare and strong, but they can be killed and aren't god like creatures. Adding in that dragons are also the reason magic is returning into the world, and a source of magic, adds a lot to why they are so important.

For the most part, I also preferred how Daenarys interacted with the tower than she did in the book. In the book, I felt the scenes provided for her were rather uninteresting, but in the show... she was obviously being tempted. The scene came off a lot better for me visually than it did reading it...I actually kind of got bored through part of it, but I was super interested in seeing it. I am upset though that Daenerys didn't walk away from a burning and crumbling tower with her dragons, but again, that's flavor.

Aren't the dragons supposed to be the size of dogs by now, though? There size is going to become important shortly.

Her story is the only one I know that doesn't actually finish. Book 2 actually ends with an assassination attempt on her, an introduction of two characters who become her body guards, and the purchase of the ships. I believe this was left out for financial reasons of having to pay a character for a season when they are on screen for not even 10 minutes of show time. I hope it isn't because they are removed, as they have are already done a lot in book 3.

Tyrion

What's he building in there? Oh...wait, that didn't happen in the show?

One of my favorite parts of book 2 is that from the very beginning, Tyrion stops all production in the city to start building something. But what? What isTyrion building? It's mentioned nearly every chapter. Guessing what he's building was fun (I got it rather early). Not including this big question made that storyline less fun, but also it reduces how intelligent Tyrion is. He knows, from day one of coming to King's Landing, how Stannis is going to attack, and he knows what's he going to do to stop that. In the show, he hasn't even planned to use the Alchemist's wildfire until basically the day before they get attacked. Early in the show he calls the wildfire “pig shit,” and the day before Stannis attacks he says the line “what are we going to do, throw pig shit at them?” OHHH that's clever! I wouldn't of made this connection if it weren't for the “previously” on part of the episode. The show still has Tyrion as a very clever man, but he's a genius in the book. There's a few other small changes where Tyrion in the book is so much more clever than Tyrion in the show.

But still, he appears quite damn clever in the show. The empty boat of Wildfire shows hes a quick thinker, and that scene is incredibly well done. Him leading the men through underground tunnels (I don't remember those tunnels in the book, or maybe it was just a side mention) is again him quick on his feet. Yes, we lose that he's 10 steps ahead of everyone else, but instead we get a much faster reacting Tyrion, and either way, we know he's intelligent and able to adapt.

We lose quite a few characters with him, one being Chataya and her whore house. Shae starts with staying hidden in some house that Chataya guards, and then she becomes the handmaiden of some boring character that cries the entire, before finally becoming Sansa's hand maiden. A lot of this movement was worthless, but Chataya was important for one of the last scenes Tyrion and Cersei shows. The reason Cersei has Chataya in the book is because she's been stalking Tyrion, and think Chataya is Tyrion's whore. I don't know where or why Cersei grabs the prostitute that Joffrey severely beat in the show. Still, Peter Dinklage did an amazing job in that scene, and we get that key point of it... Cersei is an evil bitch, and Tyrion is actually a good person.

Arya Stark

Finally, my favorite character.

A lot changed in her story, but mostly for the better. In the book, she gets captured by The Mountain and brought on over to Harrenhal and a very cruel master. She's there for awhile doing various shitty jobs and trying not to get tortured. And then it switches hands, and Tywin's there, and her jobs and duties change. And then Tywin's not there, and it changes hands. And then, she leads an amazing attack and captures the city, only to be held captive by Roose Bolton (who I really really wanted to see in the show because I really want to see how that creepy bastard is portrayed). Yes, its interesting that she keeps getting switched around...but its not necessary. It doesn't change her or her character or who she is, nor the point of her character. It's mostly fluff, so, much like Shae switching hands multiple times, lets just go put her where its important.

Part of her character they did change was that she was much more murderous in the book. When she runs into The Mountain's men, she makes an attack plan to free the people and kill everyone. Unfortunately, Gendry makes a lot of noise and gets captured. When she gives Jaqen his own name, she and him attack and free a bunch of prisoners to take over Harrenhal. And when she escapes Harrenhal, its her who kills a guard on her way out so the three of them can escape. The book, she appears brave because she kills people. In the show, they remove all that...and make her braver. She is Tywin Lannister's servant. The man who spends each and every day planning on how to kill her family. Yeah, and she's lying to his face about who she is day in and day out. She is collecting information on him and their plans, and she escapes not because she's afraid of her situation, but because she's going to confront the situation! It's a different type of bravery, and in ways a bit more important. We do lose the sense that she is great with a sword, but I'm sure that can easily be remedied.

I liked how the show also did her “prayers.” Her remembering who she has to kill to get revenge. In the book, this occurs with a lot of inner dialogue. Inner dialogue is bad for a show though, and while there were lots of ways she could have explained how she came upon her nightly death wishes, having someone else tell her to take it up was beautiful.

I do have one major concern. In the book, her and Jaqen free prisoners and take over Harrenhal. Roose Bolton becomes in charge, and thus the castle is technically held by Robb Stark. As we saw at the end, Littlefinger was gifted Harrenhal by the Lannisters. It's important that the Lannister's don't hold the castle, because its him planning ahead, it also shows a lot about the Lannisters. More importantly to me though...I don't want the show to forget the politics going on. I love shows that include the politics of the world. So far what I've read in the third book, there is a constant note that Harrenhal is not controlled by the Lannister, so it continues to be an important part.

...I also really wanted to see Jaqen and Arya slaughter a group of guards together...

Marshmallows are fluff. They are tasty, but they provide nothing to a meal, and too much is going to make you sick. The books had a lot of fluff through them. Many characters were repeatedly doing the same thing. Sometimes this was used to display the difficulty of an action, reinforce a character trait, and other times I think it was just there to be flavorful but not do anything for the story or character.

What's important is who the characters are and what is happening, the actual meal. For the most part, the changes made kept the character the same or similar. Arya is still brave, Tyrion is still intelligent, and Joffrey is still a horrendous human being. Over-all, how the show showed these traits I feel will stick with me longer while taking a lot less time to get across the point. Bran is the only character change I don't like.

The world did feel smaller in the show. There is less distance between things, less of the people, and less history. But most of these things just further reinforced something we already knew. We don't need to know about the war against The Mad King to know Joffrey is a horrible ruler, to know that Jaime is a great knight, nor to know that Ned Stark was an honorable man. We never got Sandor Clegane's flashback of his face burning, but having a close up of the burned side of his face while he stares at the fire gets across the exact same point: The Hound was scarred by fire, both physically and psychologically. To continue the food metaphor, it was just extra seasoning on an already seasoned steak... and sometimes we don't need extra salt.

And we can't forget that seeing it adds its own flavor, and it might stick with us longer. I still have a better memory of seeing Ned Stark's head rolling than I do reading it happening; and I'm sure the same will be true of seeing Theon's attempt as opposed to reading about it.

I have a lot of worries about Season 3. There are some important factors that were dropped that play an important part in book 3. Sansa and Ser Dontos, who controls Harrenhal, the dragonglass daggers, and Bran's storyline. Some of these changes can be quickly done with a single line, but others are going to need some time put into them...and its possible that will create a snowball into an avalanche for Book 4. I haven't read that far though, and who knows...perhaps Bran is going to die halfways through book 3, and the Reeds existing just means two more children die.