Skip to main content

a song of ice and fire - What plot differences are there between the Game of Thrones TV series and the books?



It has been a while since I've read the books and I recall the show being fairly accurate. What plot differences are there between them?


Are any substantial, or are they all particularly minor?



Answer



It is, so far, a fairly good distillation of the plot, though there were a few differences that stood out to me. From memory (and from the small portion that has currently been aired):





  • Dialogue is, understandably, truncated drastically. I'm sure this was a necessity




  • In the previews it appears Cat objects to Eddard becoming the Hand of the King, whereas in the book she encourages it




  • In the HBO series, there was no red sap faces in the Weirwood trees, rather they appeared to be created from knot holes





  • Most of the kids are aged a few years in the HBO series. For example, in the TV series Bran is 10 when Robert visits Winterfell, in the book he is 7




  • Daenerys wedding night consummation on the HBO series was alot less consensual than it eventually became in the book




  • Tyrion is less ugly and twisted in the HBO series, instead portrayed as a relatively attractive dwarf




  • Tyrion appears more debauched in HBO series, with an apparent obsession with whoring, well beyond what is described in the books.





  • Arya is not the least bit horsey looking in the HBO series




I yelled at the television (a habit my wife finds fairly annoying) a few more times than this through-out the first episode, but most of them were fairly petty grievances, brought on largely by the fact I had just finished reading Game Of Thrones so it was fairly fresh.


Most of the differences were, I am sure, to impart the most amount of plot information as possible in the limited time (and attention span of the average viewer) that the medium of a television series offers.


EDIT


I have spotted many more, subtle and blatant, in the ongoing series, but have decided not to update the list here, primarily as it just sounds bitchy.


Also, I believe, I have already made my point, that HBO have kept true to the spirit of the book, although they have culled a lot (and changed a little bit) to make it a worthy television adaptation. I am enjoying it, but not as much as I did the books, but I think that was to be expected.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more