Game of Thrones begins....

[Josephus]

Yeah, they're showing certain events north of the Wall and (I think) in Essos that don't happen until book 5. Most of 4 and 5 won't happen until next season, though.

...and some things which aren't in the books at all.

Like the [spoiler]slave rebellion?[/spoiler]

[crazy canuck]

It feels like they are rushing now.  But I am not sure why.

Maybe because they're halfway through the TV series and not halfway through the story?

I agree that they are accelerating the pace, but it makes sense to do so; the characters are established and now it is more straightforward storytelling.

If that is the reason they are rushing then they should stop adding things that are not in the books.  The story is fine as written.  The part they are dealing with now is supposed to be nuanced.  Instead, you are correct they are dealing with it in a "straightforward" manner.

[grumbler]

If that is the reason they are rushing then they should stop adding things that are not in the books.  The story is fine as written.  The part they are dealing with now is supposed to be nuanced.  Instead, you are correct they are dealing with it in a "straightforward" manner.

Remember that the HBO story isn't the story from the book, so get ready for a lot more addition and subtraction.  It is entirely possible that HBO will finish this series before Martin gets book six finished.  So, the story is not, in fact, "just fine as written."  It isn't even written yet.

You can do a lot of things in a nuanced fashion in writing, especially POV writing, and even more especially unreliable narrator POV writing, than you can in TV or movies.  OTOH, you can do things in movies or TV that you can't in writing.  Such as, in this case, who is the dude with the kid at the end?  He's not a White Walker, but he bears a lot of visual similarities to a WW.

[Josephus]

here's a good piece on AV that talks about differences in the book adn the show, and also, at the very ends, adds a little bit to what CC and Grumbler are just talking about:

http://www.avclub.com/article/well-actually-books-15-differences-text-tv-game-th-203713

[Admiral Yi]

I stopped reading the books after book 3 so it feels like they're showing stuff I don't remember.  That last image of the white walker - are there more than conjectures as to what they are?

No explanations are offered in book 4.

[grumbler]

I stopped reading the books after book 3 so it feels like they're showing stuff I don't remember.  That last image of the white walker - are there more than conjectures as to what they are?

No explanations are offered in book 4.

Nor in book 5.

The last image doesn't look like a WW.  The WW are clearly formerly human.  What we see of the last dude isn't a former human at all.  Looks more like a Drakh or a demon than anything else I can think of.  My guess would be that these are the creatures that created the human White Walkers - the original Others that the First Men and Children of the Forest fought in the War of the Dawn (which led to the creation of the Wall).

Apparently, this is explored in the sixth book, to be released sometime in the next ten years.

[Grey Fox]

HBO Go description called him the Night's King but was quickly erased.

[grumbler]

Well, the end of episode 5 confirmed what I have kinda suspected all along; the show's fight choreographer doesn't know what he is doing.  That fight between Jon Snow and Karl was boring (except at the end, where it was silly), the whole battle between the mutineers and Jon's band looked badly botched by Jon (why attack when they are all up, dressed, and armed?), and Locke's actions were incomprehensible;  he is supposed to be killing Starks, and yet declines to kill Bran (he could have easily killed all the captives and blamed it on the mutineers), instead kidnapping him.... because.... I guess just because.

This is also the first episode where I thought the direction was inferior.  Lighting was poorly used at Crastor's Keep, and the coronation just looked like maybe two dozen people were there (which there probably only were, but the director has to get around that).

I did like the Hound and Arya stuff, though.  That was well-directed, written, and acted amid beautiful scenery.

[The Larch]

IIRC this last episode is entirely composed of made up stuff, nothing of it appears in the books.

[grumbler]

IIRC this last episode is entirely composed of made up stuff, nothing of it appears in the books.

I don't think that this is true.  The Craster Keep stuff is original, but the rest of the episode conforms roughly to the books.

[The Larch]

IIRC this last episode is entirely composed of made up stuff, nothing of it appears in the books.

I don't think that this is true.  The Craster Keep stuff is original, but the rest of the episode conforms roughly to the books.

It's been years since I read the books, but...

- Tommen's coronation, Cersei & Margaery, plus Cersei & Tywyn, none of that is in the books.
- Littlefinger and Sansa's arrival at the Vale I'm not really sure about, but I don't remember the scene being in the books, at least the way it unfolds.
- Daenerys' board meeting isn't in the books either, but parts of her dialogue are, basically the "I will learn to rule" thing.
- Brienne and Pod's scene isn't in the books. In the books Brienne leaves King's Landing alone, and Pod only catches up to her later on.
- Arya and the Hound's scene isn't either, to the best of my memory, but could be and it wouldn't change much.
- The whole beyond the wall story, the assault on Craster's Keep and the release of Bran and his party aren't in the books either.

[grumbler]

IIRC this last episode is entirely composed of made up stuff, nothing of it appears in the books.

I don't think that this is true.  The Craster Keep stuff is original, but the rest of the episode conforms roughly to the books.

It's been years since I read the books, but...

- Tommen's coronation, Cersei & Margaery, plus Cersei & Tywyn, none of that is in the books.
- Littlefinger and Sansa's arrival at the Vale I'm not really sure about, but I don't remember the scene being in the books, at least the way it unfolds.
- Daenerys' board meeting isn't in the books either, but parts of her dialogue are, basically the "I will learn to rule" thing.
- Brienne and Pod's scene isn't in the books. In the books Brienne leaves King's Landing alone, and Pod only catches up to her later on.
- Arya and the Hound's scene isn't either, to the best of my memory, but could be and it wouldn't change much.
- The whole beyond the wall story, the assault on Craster's Keep and the release of Bran and his party aren't in the books either.

I am pretty sure that Tommen is crowned in the books, and that Cercei and Margaery talk about Margaery marrying Tommen.
I am pretty sure that Balish and Sansa go to the Vale in the books.
Brienne and Pod travel together in the books.  The bit last week, where Pod is directly assigned to Brienne, was a vastly simplified version of how he came to join her.  This week's bit, where he turns out not to have a lot of skills, is part of his character in the books.
In the books, Arya and the Hound are travelling to the Vale.
As for the Craster's Keep stuff, you can't have my point. 

Now, not everything happens the same way and in the same order as the books, but the show isn't a book.  It's a different medium with different rules and a much shorter "screen time."  Characters have to be condensed into one another, scenes moved, shortened and combined, and as much as possible "shown rather than told."  None of these workarounds mean that the show is creating original material.  It is just being a show.

[The Larch]

We don't see lots of that stuff because there are no POV characters involved.

[jimmy olsen]

Locke's actions were incomprehensible;  he is supposed to be killing Starks, and yet declines to kill Bran (he could have easily killed all the captives and blamed it on the mutineers), instead kidnapping him.... because.... I guess just because.

He's supposed to kill Bran and Rickon. If he kills Bran without interrogating him first then he may never find Rickon.

[Grinning_Colossus]

I think the plan was to take them into the woods and then kill them. If Jon found the bodies, then the North would know that Theon didn't kill Bran. And if he didn't kill Bran then he also didn't kill Rickon.