HBO - Game of Thrones SPOILERS INSIDE. you have been warned

[OrsunVZ]

[spoiler]I feel that's not the way Mance died in the book.[/spoiler]

I honestly don't remember, but that was a really strong start. One of my favorite episodes of the entire show so far.

[Jakensama]

[spoiler]I feel that's not the way Mance died in the book.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Mance isn't necessarily dead in the books. She used magic to make the Rattleshirt look like Mance, but he did get burned at the stake and killed at Jon's order by archers. The real mance was kept hidden as Rattleshirt and sent out to Winterfell to get who they thought was Arya[/spoiler]

[strife]

[spoiler]What jake said. I'm curious if they follow the book with him Mance, he's a likeable character so it wouldn't surprise me... although it doesn't seem like there would be a whole lot for his character in this season so the may leave you hanging on it for a while.[/spoiler]

On another note, if you're a book geek and haven't already... Go get the kingdom of ice and fire. It tells about all the shit that leads up to the events in the books.

[Jakensama]

Incidentally, the first 4 episodes are already leaked on torrent sites.

[Vanraw]

I liked the first episode. Im hearing that they are very much off book now.

[Jakensama]

Yeah I watched the third tonight and lots of stuff is significantly different, which is good since fat man kinda started sucking after book 3.

[strife]

Yeah I watched the third tonight and lots of stuff is significantly different, which is good since fat man kinda started sucking after book 3.

is going to get even more different for the little stuff but I expect it to basically end up in the same place. They are combining some characters and omitting others completely. If a character didn't have a real big role in the books, you probably won't see them and their part will get combined into another character . From what i hear, season 5 is going to be without the Bran storyline completely.

[Jakensama]

There are some pretty big deviations already in the first three episodes. I'm sure the large overarching story is following a similar arc, but how we get there is likely going to be very different - especially as storylines outpace the book.

The shitty thing is now the tv show will start spoiling the books, as characters that are omitted/treated differently in the tv show are unlikely to be that critical for the finale that they know about in the books.

[spoiler]Most notably, we see that living Targaryen #3, Young Griff's, omission in the TV show means he probably isn't as important to the endgame as we might be lead to believe.. Which also means, is there an actual third Targaryen who matters other than Jon and Danny or is he going to drop the 3 headed dragon theme altogether?[/spoiler]

Thank God no Bran.. They managed to cut 3 books of him wandering around boring the shit out of us down into a quick storyline.

[Vanraw]

So Bran story is caught up to all the books and they don't want to go forward? Really curious what happens now that he met the wizard raven dude. Guess we will have to wait.

Supposedly they have a plan out to book 7, even if book 6 or 7 are not written by the time the seasons start, which seems likely. I find it interesting that the writers of the show are creating paths that Martin will have to follow. Which is not his writing style. My understanding is he doesn't always know where the book will take him when he is writing.

[Jakensama]

So Bran story is caught up to all the books and they don't want to go forward? Really curious what happens now that he met the wizard raven dude. Guess we will have to wait.

Bran is written out of this season completely.. His storyline was always criticized in both book and show as slow and plodding and they have a lot of shit to cover this year..

Supposedly they have a plan out to book 7, even if book 6 or 7 are not written by the time the seasons start, which seems likely. I find it interesting that the writers of the show are creating paths that Martin will have to follow. Which is not his writing style. My understanding is he doesn't always know where the book will take him when he is writing.

They know the fate of every character, but the storylines are diverging enough in this season that its doubtful he will feel obligated to oblige anything in the show - best to look at it as two different stories that will just end in a similar place, but take different routes there. The biggest thing will be that the overarching cliffhangers are probably going to be spoiled for book readers.

[Breand]

I think we have one more season before we are spoiled. I know George has stepped up his writing game with WoW. I think the book will be out before next season. Wishful thinking, yes. And I think he will give Benoiff and Weiss whatever he has done already. I would imagine the book is 75% done so they have access to most of it.

[Skelas]

Well, he flat out lies at times about his progress on the books. When A Feast for Crows was released he said that A Dance with Dragons was also done, but it was too big to publish all at once. So when did A Dance with Dragons actually come out? 6 years later. Supposedly done in 2005. Published in 2011. Don't get me wrong, he can write at any pace he wants, but 6 years between the two, and it was all supposedly done in 2005.

I've given up hope of a conclusion in book form.

[Jakensama]

He's a Stephen King - can write a hell of a setup, but try to go past short story and he has no clue how to write the last half.

[OrsunVZ]

Man this season is shaping up so well. I find myself preferring the vast majority of changes in the series. But this season's pacing is perfect.

[Jakensama]

So far so good, but you would have thought they could have at least tried to make the Brienne sections less boring and annoying as they were in the book.

Worst... character... ever.

[Vllad]

Man this season is shaping up so well. I find myself preferring the vast majority of changes in the series. But this season's pacing is perfect.

So I guess I am the only one who thinks nothing has happened since episode one?

What has happened:

Arya got into black&white house but they are still a complete mystery if you haven't read the books. Jon is now the leader of Knightswatch but that took all of 3 mins.

New Insight:

3 mins of dialog in Dorn which should have been the major plot this season.

Same ole shit:

Stannis is still at the wall doing nothing, The Imp is still on the road, The queen still can't get her shit together, dragons are still a problem, Cercei is still a moron at ruling. 3 Episodes for Little Finger to get a real Stark Girl (different from book) to Winterfell. The Mountain is still under the blanket.

The only remotely interesting thing that has happened is Bron is going to accompany Jamie to Dorn which is a complete change from the books.

In my opinion you could have covered everything that has happened so far in a single episode.

[Jakensama]

It's still moving at a faster pace than the last book.

[Vllad]

It's still moving at a faster pace than the last book.

How ironic would it be if the show was only great for the Martin portions of the show.

So far I am unimpressed with their deviations and I suppose it is still possible they have the same quandries that Martin does. How to get Danny to Westeros, how to make Kings landing interesting with a failed Cersie and weak King, how to connect Jon to his mother and finally how to get Arya back to Westeros.

So far they have had a single vision to keep their own writers in check. With deviations comes the possibility like "Lost" where the show goes awry.

[Jakensama]

Yeah I haven't disliked the episodes this season, but I am concerned at the pacing so far - 4 episodes in and not much has occured.

(As for the Arya back to Westeros, I think that's already happening where they are in the books, they are sending her off on her training mission with her new face).

[Vllad]

Yeah I haven't disliked the episodes this season, but I am concerned at the pacing so far - 4 episodes in and not much has occured.

(As for the Arya back to Westeros, I think that's already happening where they are in the books, they are sending her off on her training mission with her new face).

I must have totally blacked that part out. I don't recall any part of the books where they considered her return.

[Breand]

Yeah I haven't disliked the episodes this season, but I am concerned at the pacing so far - 4 episodes in and not much has occured.

(As for the Arya back to Westeros, I think that's already happening where they are in the books, they are sending her off on her training mission with her new face).

I must have totally blacked that part out. I don't recall any part of the books where they considered her return.

I don't think she is. There was a chapter of her from WoW posted online and she is in Bravos as a different person. There are actually 6 chapters of Winter posted online if you look around. That's probably like a 1/6 of the book right there, heh.

[Jakensama]

Ahh yeah I guess I mis-remembered, I thought they had sent her off to Westeros. Nice to know another character will be sitting twiddling her thumbs in BFE.

[Breand]

The Arya chapter in Winter is pretty awesome. Someone comes off her list. =)

[Vllad]

Is something going to happen finally this week?

Stanis finally left, Tyrion may actually get to Mereen, Jon is going to save wildlings, maybe Bronn and Jamie might meet some Sandsnakes?

[Jakensama]

We'll probably get an hour of the Brienne and Pod, the most useless duo of all time.