Game of Thrones begins....

[grumbler]

That was disappointing.

But from here on in the writing in the show cant be any worse than book 5 so the general level of disappointment should be less.  And btw I was right.  They completely messed up the backstory for why the Imp did what he did.  Dumbing down FTL

You and QueenG should form a club.

It's called the Broken Record Club.

[grumbler]

[spoiler]Let's see if I do this right...
1. Tyrion parted with Jaime on pretty good terms. It was much different in the book. It was something Tyrion somewhat brooded on in DwD. They could introduce a similar plot device later, I'm sure.... but it was very surprising to see that.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I thinik that they are skipping that whole element of the story in the book.  It never made any sense for Tyrion to claim to have killed Joffrey anyway.[/spoiler]

[spoiler] 2. WHY JOJEN? Okay I guess he is somewhat doomed in the book too, but I wasn't expecting him to go out like that. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]That one took me by surprise as well.  I wonder if the books' depiction of his death would have just been too complex a story for TV.  Clearly, he couldn't have had a vital role in the future books, if the show was wiling to kill him off at this point.  Again, TV needs visual drama more than the books, so perhaps this was simply the more visually dramatic way to off him.  That's all guesswork, though.[/spoiler]

[HVC]

 no coldhands on the tv show. Guess he doesn't turn out to be anyone important.

[Scipio]

Man it looks like Robert did as good a job killing of all the Targaryans as the Bolsheviks did killing off all the Romanovs.

Pretty fucking poorly, aye.

[grumbler]

Man it looks like Robert did as good a job killing of all the Targaryans as the Bolsheviks did killing off all the Romanovs.

Pretty fucking poorly, aye.

Robert's abilities to kill Targaryans versus Varys's ability to protect them?  Give me a break.

[Josquius]

Ive seen a few posts on  the internet speaking highly of jojen. Maybe the actor has been offered a bigger role in something else and they figure they might as well kill him?

The children are disappointing. Way too 80s fantasy - was that magic or grenades?
Their home too looks a bit too nice and conventional fantasyish. Even the bones on the floor were rather meh. It was supposed to be rather unsettling and questionable about whether it was good or not- dark and deep and with the tree man being an abomination with the tree growing through him.
This too could be another reason to kill jojen- maybe in the books something is due to happen to him in the dodgy children's under dark? (Did it already? Why can't I remember the last book.... I just remember him being ill)


Shame there was no cold hands. Even if he wasn't the stark uncle he still seemed fairly important in being a "good other".

[grumbler]

While we are on curiously skipped scenes,
[spoiler]I wonder why it isn't shown in the episode that varys is the one who sends Tyrion off to kill Tywin?  That seems a pretty major plot point.  maybe it will be reconstructed in retrospect, but they were already paying Conleth Hill to appear in the episode, and they could have easily have found time in the episode to show it, like by making the silly sword fight between Brienne and Sandor Clegane into something that looked like like a real fight would look.[/spoiler]

And I will moan once again about the swordplay.  Seriously. If any fighter in the show had simply used a thrust, all of this windmill-swinging and clashing of swords would have been eliminated.  Swords have points, people!  Using them like wood-chopping axes isn't smart.

[grumbler]

Ive seen a few posts in the internet speaking highly of jojen. Maybe the actor has been offered a bigger role in something else and they figure they mouth as well kill him?

That's actually one of the better explanations I have heard.  I don't necessarily buy it, but it explains things well.

The children are disappointing. Way too 80s fantasy - was that magic or grenades?
Their home too looks a bit too nice and conventional fantasyish. Even the bones on the floor were rather meh. It was supposed to be rather unsettling and questionable about whether it was good or not- dark and deep and with the tree man being an abomination with the tree growing through him.
This too could be another reason to kill jojen- maybe in the books something is due to happen to him in the dodgy children's under dark? (Did it already? Why can't I remember the last book.... I just remember him being ill)

Agreed.  In the books, it stil isn't clear that what is luring Bran north is "good' in any sense.

Shame there was no cold hands. Even if he wasn't the stark uncle he still seemed fairly important in being a "good other".

I am quite satisfied with their leaving him out.  It isn't at all clear, as i mentioned, that "good' will come of Bran's quest.  [spoiler]I personally believe that we will find that Bran is the victim of his own desire to walk/fly/warg, and will end up serving the bad guys.[/spoiler]

[Josephus]

Can't remember how [spoiler]Sandor dies in the books[/spoiler]

[Admiral Yi]

Half way through book five, I haven't read a confirmed kill yet.

[Josquius]

Can't remember how [spoiler]Sandor dies in the books[/spoiler]

It's believed he doesn't. He falls into a river and was possibly washed up at a monastery. Nothing confirmed.


The changes to arya and Brienne are interesting.
I guessed the tv show makers loved the hound too much and wanted to make maximum use of him. Whilst in the books briennes quest in the crown lands wasn't particularly interesting and was just a bit of filling in the blanks on the map storytelling.
She is closing in on Sansa though....

[Jaron]

They didn't even give Arya her direwolf cookie or w/e that thing is.

[Scipio]

Sandor forever!

[Viking]

I was hoping for a "Lancel and Osmud Kettleblack and Moonboy too" from Tyrion.

[Solmyr]

And I will moan once again about the swordplay.  Seriously. If any fighter in the show had simply used a thrust, all of this windmill-swinging and clashing of swords would have been eliminated.  Swords have points, people!  Using them like wood-chopping axes isn't smart.

There's a difference between realistic fighting and fighting that looks good on screen.