Major spoilers in there for book readers on Sansa’s VERY changed arc for Season 5. Two cuts are a dead giveaway. A trailer better avoided by the Sullied, imo. Non-book readers can watch without much fear.
z22
5803
I hate to say it, but this show is going to ruin what is left of the books for me, assuming they ever come out.
As much as I like the books I may give up on both the books and the show. Both releases are a complete cluster *****!
Look at the brights side: the more changes the show makes, the less it spoils the books. And I think the changes to significant character arcs are very large indeed from this point onward.
olaf
5805
My advice to new fans, consider the books done after number 3 and enjoy the show.
habibi
5806
I just finished Season 4 GoT after 3 months of marathon watching starting with Season 1. Yes, I am super slowwwwww and thankfully for the Season 1-3 sale in iTunes during Christmas. After every episode, I would jump to this thread and catch up on the discussion. Good stuff you have all discussed!
I wish I could discuss with you guys for Season 5 but, shit, it would not be available in iTunes as Season Pass and I just can’t subscribe to HBO Now. What options do I have, that is, um, legal?
olaf
5807
I am not sure how HBO Now is gonna work but maybe a VPN service would help you be able to subscribe to it? There are a lot of them out there.
habibi
5808
that’s a good option, thank you. I do hope HBO Now accept non-US credit card. I will probably subscribed for 3 months just for GoT Season 5. The season should be just 3 months, right? Hmm… HBO Now gives first 3 months free!
Aieeee! Run for the hills, it’s that time of year! Game of Thrones fever is almost upon us!!!
You know, the more I’ve lived with it, I think that (assuming GRRM actually finishes the series) Feast for Crows and Dance of Dragons will end up being two of the most beloved books by fans that didn’t have to wait a hojillion years for them. They do 80% of the world building in the series, and I would argue that the Cersei and Reek chapters contained within are by FAR the best stuff GRRM has ever written. The main complaint about books 4&5 is that they are frustrating. Not that they are bad. And I think in the greater context of a finished series that a vote taken 20 years from now will be quite different than one taken today.
Scuzz
5811
You are a lot kinder (optimistic) about books 4-5 than most people. I think they almost kill the series with their wondering around. Remove half the stuff in them, make them one book and just forget about the rest. GRRM could have book 6 out already (as 5) and would be about done with the series.
I’m inbetween, I think it’s obvious that the middle books are partly attempts to milk the series and draw it out, and a bit annoying for that reason; but they do also have some hella good writing and character development in them, which GRRM definitely seemed interested in writing, and they’re worth reading. And I suspect that in the long view, when the series is finished and read in sequence, they’ll feel more part of the story than the overlong carbuncles they felt like when they came out and people were impatient for resolution.
jg93
5813
I generally agree with this. From what I’ve read, it was his editor that encouraged him to include a lot of the backstory and other ‘chapter characters’ in the books which ended up doubling their length. All told, I have little doubt the TV series will continue to be an excellent adaptation of GRRM’s work.
Scuzz
5814
You mean an adaption of what they think GRRM will do, as the TV Series will pass up the books this year and be totally invested in their own story lines by next season. The show is already going where no GRRM has gone before.
It’s better to read the combined versions of 4 and 5. You can see the overall themes and arches better. Splitting them apart into concurrent volumes was a mistake, especially with the large publishing gap between them.
Well, Sansa is probably the only character that we are going to be getting actual plot spoilers for Winds of Winter, seeing as from the trailers she is very obviously doing things well outside the scope of what has been written. The Jaimie plot is likely to be an entirely invented time-killer, so we have a familiar face where they are sending him.
Starting from Season 6 we will really be entering the undiscovered country. If all the stars align, WoW might be published right around the premiere date, but knowing GRRM, I doubt it. There is absolutely no question we will be seeing the ending on TV before we read about it in the books, barring a miraculous 1-year book 7. From season 6+ book readers will be left guessing about which plots are invented for the show and which ones are book spoilers. So that should be fun.
I have a feeling Jamie will be directly involved with the Sand Sisters sub-plot. Or at least will be the external observer.
— Alan
At this point, Jaime, Brienne’s and Sansa’s plotlines are spinning off into “heavy adaptation” and in the case of Brienne I suspect, “plotline outright made only for TV” land.
That does not make them bad. It will, however, result in a product that will more radically diverge from the books as the series moves to a conclusion. That’s the nature of this beast.
Of more significant concern on the Book vs TV series Express Train to Significant Divergence is what happens if Hardhome is the climax of The Wall’s plotline this year. Jon is at Hardhome in the TV series. He’s at the Wall for a very different and good reason in the books. Think it through as to what impact that has on Jon’s climax in ADwD. Not sure how that is going to work out…
I’m probably one of the few book readers that started the series when the first book came out in '96 and enjoys when the show deviates to a certain extent. The books will always be there, and the TV show doesn’t change them except that a few of the castings (Charles Dance as Tywin and Pedro Pascal as Oberyn in particular) I can’t unsee. But when I go back and read, it mentally takes me somewhere that isn’t the HBO show. I think it’s cool to have both.
As far as Jon goes, I imagine they will just move most of the drama from the Wall to Hardhome (dealing with the refugees there rather than at Castle Black). How many dead things in the water we’ll see remains unknown. I think you can essentially have the same storyline at Hardhome as you did at Castle Black, because it’s really all about accepting the Wildlings. This way it lets them get the WW back into the story at the same time in a way that is not possible at the Wall, and I’m 95% certain Jon’s S5 arc will end the same as it does in Dance.
I actually think the Sansa stuff is a lot more intriguing. It seems likely that they are merging her character with Wyman Manderly’s in some way, as Manderly was not cast but has some unforgettable stuff to do, and it appears she ends up the same place he does during the season.
