[TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion - Page 581

It's more likely that they ditched the whole swap arc entirely. Tormund wouldn't be scared of fire any more than Mance would be. I'm guessing Tormund is going to replace Mance in more ways than one.

Ellaria instantly became a lot more interesting and likable in my book.

A more active and risk-taking Littlefinger is genius. Sansa, Roose, Theon, Ramsay, and jealous girls together = pure gold.

So that's what people meant when they were talking about Tormund.

I just thought Mance was killed and the show would omit the Winterfell rescue operation.

What is the god damn fuck did HBO do to the Stark storyline? Sansa is in winterfell marrying Ramsay and Brienne has met BOTH Stark girls? And why is Jacquen in the house of black and white? Shouldn't he have a new face, or not be there entirely? And now Barristan is dead and Jon is making all the same exact mistakes Rob did and Bron is there for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I like the season so far but whaaaaat is going on dude? This is like some butterfly effect bullshit. Everything is so different.

I need more time to wrap my head around the changes and more carefully separate "different from the books" from "bad", but sheesh is the degree of difference huge at this point. We are down to maybe a scene an episode that maps to an event from the books. As I see it, this is a relief for the books. At this point only the most broad stroke plot events are going to be 'spoiled' by the show. Maybe even as little as just a major death or two and the "end state" of the important pieces.

I have to echo what others are saying about the sandsnake introduction. Yuck.

The prevailing trend is that a lot of things are very simplified and I think it isn't going as well in s5. Jon's election is probably the main example. This was pretty uncompelling. Sam's stunt in the books wasn't the strongest plot, but I was longing for it around the time Aemon cast the tie breaking vote.

Sansa's role merge with Jeyne Pool seems like it is going interestingly. That plot line is one of the ones that I think is looking good, at least until the implications for both LF and northern politics are mapped out to their conclusions.

Bronn and Jaime in Dorne is also shaping up well, as expected.

Bringing a real world political issue prominently into the kings landing politics is a hot wire that I think I'd rather they had not crossed. In the books the sparrows are religious nutcases, but at least for the most part they pursue sympathetic causes. GRRM's version are about sticking it to the nobility, and the pious stuff might even just be a show on the part of the high sparrow. With this version of the sparrows and Lena Heady's version of Cersei they are risking the true blasphemy of my liking Cersei far more and rooting for her when they end up facing off.

And oh my, R+L=J makes a meaningful show appearance. Finally. The lack of it in the show was becoming one of the points against that otherwise very strong theory. Before now we had...what? Mention that Rhaegar had "kidnapped" Lyanna, Ned's mincing of words about "of my blood", a testimony or two of Rhaegar's good character, and maybe some quite out-on-a-limb interpolations by suspect unsullied concerning how Jon was sent off to the NW?

I really liked the scene between Stannis and his daughter

Yeah it does make me like Stannis more than before. Shame he's probably going to die though.

sansa managed to get married the two biggest scumbags of the continent

Here's hoping that he actually has feelings for her. It'd be funny if Sansa ends up manipulating Ramsay.

Interesting that they switched Sansa witht he fake Arya plotline and I am really not looking forward to seeing ramsey be his typical asshole self (assuming he does the things same as the books to the fake ayra).

The ending of episode 4 was intense, god damn if they killed of ser barristan I will be pist.