Not going to watch the show anymore...Talk me off the ledge

[Good Guy Garlan]

Question

How different are the books compare to the show and is it okay to read the books after watching it?

After season 4, it's night and day. The differences are just huge and entire storylines are getting omitted. To put in terms of the LotR, if you're a fan, it's like removing the Isengard plot, the Ents, and the Dead Men of Dunharrow. In terms of Harry Potter is like skipping the Order of the Phoenix and leaving only Sirius.

So, yeah, the differences are substantial. But that's also why reading the books after having watched the show it's not boring or repetitive at all, because the things are so different that it seems you're reading a new story.

[FireAndBlood.]

If your main motivation to stop watching is spoilers, then your efforts will be futile. You will not manage to avoid spoilers from the show completely. You might as well just suck it up and watch as surely experiencing a spoiler for yourself is better than hearing about it elsewhere?

[Daske]

You just will not be able to avoid the spoilers. Even if you give-up the related message boards and fans sites, at some point you will overhear some group talking about it at work or in a bar, or some tweet, or some advert will catch you eye about 'The most shocking TV endings ever', or maybe years later you will be caught out by a film review unrelated except that it mentions a comparision to what happened in GoT. And so on. You may get lucky, but the odds will be stacked against you. The way I look at it is that the show is going to tell the rest of the story rather than spoil it, but then I really love the show anyway.

[H.P.]

It's a very common human phenomenon to find some types of magic perfectly plausible but finding other kinds utterly ridiculous. For instance, how many people believe in God, but would laugh at someone who'd claimed to see a ghost?

[JonSnowed]

Question

How different are the books compare to the show and is it okay to read the books after watching it?

I started to read the books after beginning with the show and I really enjoyed it that way - I think that's why I am less vocal with the show changes this season. In my eyes the first show/book is an excellent adoptation. Seasons 2/3 are also very close to the books but the show writers cut out some very minor characters (I fear some people will hate me for saying that) and cut some text the end result of which is in my opinion better than the books.

This season has been really difficult because the show runners are faced with converting two huge books (planned as one originally but split due to size) that don't have the same standards or at least plot pacing as their predecessors and introduce new storylines which may or may not be important to the overall story. To compensate they have seriously streamlined stories and omitted a number of new characters which has angered a lot of book readers but also pleased a segment.

[Chilli]

Question

How different are the books compare to the show and is it okay to read the books after watching it?

I first saw the first 3 seasons of the show before reading the books. After that I couldn't wait to find out what happened and started reading the books. To be honest I enjoyed the show more before I had read the books because I didn't know what was coming. But I still do like the show even after reading all the books.

[rocksniffer]

keep watching...why because it is good...not as good as deadwood but better than most other shows on tv

i have thoroughly enjoyed the show...yes, even sansa's rape scene (which was pretty benign considering the shit we have already seen). i am happy the vale stuff was cut...it was boring in the books, having her story moved to winterfell to embrace/cry as her future whatever that is, unfolds, should be in winterfell and the show needed to get on with it (i believe she will be in winterfell in books as well just not married to ramsay). book fans were so shocked, nay horrified that their darling sansa, a milktoast character at best who snitched her own father out then cried when he died :shocked: ...really...had to endure another sadistic asshole. in books joff was worse to her than show-joff and i didn't hear any complaints about that change the producers made...same for, tyrions role in protecting sansa from joff and kings-robot-guard. both in books and on show, tyrion understands his nephews sadism and sansa's worth. and maybe my memory is bad (as it is in other parts of my real life) but it was tyrion not sansa who decided against consummating the marriage. i agree tyrion has been somewhat whitewashed but over all i find him close to his book character.

yes the show and books are different, i can easily separate the two in my head. i have seen many sorry adaptation of books, and many good ones...this one is more faithful than most. remember the credits say based on books not faithful reproduction of books. i enjoy the books, i have read them many times and agree with most critics that say feast and dance were convoluted and filled with stuff that won't mean anything in the end, for example quentyn martell

i think his chapters in dance were crap. he struggles to get to dany and then when he discovers he is too late he makes an effort to take by force what he really wanted, a dragon, and pays with his life...so sad...not. i found his character inclusion and storyline to be a waste of time.

and for me, sorry JonCon, the storyline of griff and company had no place in a show already overburdened with characters. it made sense for jorah to grab tyrion and haul ass for the prize of dany (jorah) and dragons (tyrion). why drag it out. perhaps if george did a little more self editing we would have book 6 by now...

...people often criticize the fact that some characters have been on show but disappear...i mean the blackfish has pissed an ocean by now...i wish they had kept the bits about jamie going taking tywins body home and dealing with riverrun...but was actually hopeful, and still am that this dorne twist will work out...sure i miss the BWB and gendry. perhaps they will all resurface, perhaps not...still i don't condemn the entire show for those choices.

finally the books are filled with rape and rapists...as well as thievery, murder, sadism, terror, etc...sometimes grrm described it in graphic terms, sometimes he does not. however seeing is always harder than reading..because even though my imagination has produced some gods awful images from grrm's words, the show, well, shows it...people should remember this is an r rated show...i find it interesting that nudity is being criticized in every episode, yet this week i read on this board somewhere complaints dany was in the bed naked but we didn't get a tit shot from it, and many were equally angry that sand snake, another complete waste of time on show and in books, showed hers to a character who we have learned from books and show loves naked women more than most...the focus in that scene for me was not the boobs (nice as they were...yeah i said it, sue me) but the speculation that the antidote will not cure the poison only keep you alive as long as you take it, binding bronn to snakes because after all they will need help and he will need the juice.

in the real world rape is a horrible crime right up there with murder and slavery, imo, but people have not been complaining about the bloodthirsty elements of the books as to the murders and torture or the thriving slave trade...lets remember that the torture and murder of the captives held by the mountain was all martin...the dead slaves hung along the road, all martin. the fact that most women in this story are either high born or prostitutes, are choices martin made based on the medieval setting, i'm guessing...to me just because coin changes hands (and usually doesn't go to women in question) doesn't make it consensual sex...so where were the feminists complaints about that

and let's all remember that the books have plenty of characters that are underage getting killed, raped, and tortured, again see the sections about the captives march to harrenhall...at least the show, bound by the law i am sure, chose to age up those involved...so what...it makes more sense for show tommen to be older and have sex with his wife. the books were not bound by real world laws and it streamlined that section of the books filled with pages and pages of everyone building to main point, cersei vs margery showdown...

i respect everyone's choice to watch or not. i accept there is no way to please everybody. i agree there will be no way to avoid spoilers, but for old farts like me (63 and counting) that have invested 20 yrs to this cause, any kind of ending is a boon. so if you feel like what you see on show will ruin your reading experience, then stop. but i suggest you hang in there. let's all hope the ending is worth the hype, both on the show and in the books...

...rant over and as always these are just the random opinions of this old asshole...feel free to disagree

:smoking:

[King in the Narrow Sea]

Well the show won't follow the last book to the letter because it won't be published but given D&D have access to the draft Winds material I think it's reasonable to assume next season should be pretty close to the next book.

I see, thanks for that info.

.....and it starts with NO GRIFF(shakes fists at D&D for JCRB)

Exactly.

[Witchy]

I'm curious if people who are upset about the Griffs getting cut are upset because

they thought Aegon was a real Targaryan and part of the end game or if they're upset that they don't get to experience that part of the story. I ask for the obvious reason that GRRM is the one who gave us a false Targaryan...

Stated more directly: Are Griff fans upset that Young Griff has turned out to be an imposter or upset that they don't get to see his story (imposter or not) unfold on television?

[Corvinus85]

For all those who say that people who stop watching won't be able to avoid spoilers, I say CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

If The Winds of Winter is not released before season 6, I will not be watching that season. And then I won't be watching the following season(s) either, until A Dream of Spring is released.

I can enjoy the show for what it is, after all I enjoyed The Hobbit movies, but not when the source material is not finished. I don't care that even GRRM says "the book is the book, the show is the show." No, I only get to experience all of it for the first time once, and it's going to be through the books.

Good day!

[SerDoublePost]

I read the books after season 4. Still enjoyed the hell out of them, so I'll watch the next seasons and read the books whenever they are released.

[Lord Lannister]

For all those who say that people who stop watching won't be able to avoid spoilers, I say CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

If The Winds of Winter is not released before season 6, I will not be watching that season. And then I won't be watching the following season(s) either, until A Dream of Spring is released.

I can enjoy the show for what it is, after all I enjoyed The Hobbit movies, but not when the source material is not finished. I don't care that even GRRM says "the book is the book, the show is the show." No, I only get to experience all of it for the first time once, and it's going to be through the books.

Good day!

It's not impossible at all. Just this is probably the last place you should be spending your time on the internet to do it.

[Corvinus85]

It's not impossible at all. Just this is probably the last place you should be spending your time on the internet to do it.

This forum does a pretty good job at regulating spoilers and topics of discussion. I can still spend my time in the books section, and even the miscellaneous sections.

[Neddy's Girl]

For all those who say that people who stop watching won't be able to avoid spoilers, I say CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

If The Winds of Winter is not released before season 6, I will not be watching that season. And then I won't be watching the following season(s) either, until A Dream of Spring is released.

I can enjoy the show for what it is, after all I enjoyed The Hobbit movies, but not when the source material is not finished. I don't care that even GRRM says "the book is the book, the show is the show." No, I only get to experience all of it for the first time once, and it's going to be through the books.

Good day!

Nailed it! This is exactly how I feel. I will do my damndest to avoid spoilers because to me, watching it for the first time (IMO delivered sub-standard) will never compare to the emotion of reading it.

[OberynBlackfyre]

What spoilers?

Stannis is marching in the books too. ShowArya hasn't done much yet, the one important thing she will do this season has already been spoiled before it's aired.

Sansa's storyline is changed, so not a spoiler. Littlefinger and Tyrells are changed too. Bran isn't in this season. Cersie is going to do the Walk of Shame like in the books. Jon For The Watch will happen like in the books. Hardhome also happened in the books, but without POV. And I guess Dany will fly away on Drogon like in the books. Jorah's storyline has changed, so also not a spoiler. Brienne, Pod and Jaime are also changed.

I don't think we will see big spoilers this season: what we see is similar to the published books or is changed so not a spoiler for the books.

^^^ Agreed.

At this point, I feel like the show is getting into bigtime spoiler territory (i.e. book 6 material). Stannis has already begun his march to the wall, and Arya is well on her way. I do not want the show to spoil the books for me. How can I rationalize continuing the show if I do not want any surprises/big reveals prior to book 6 being released. The last thing I want, is some big unsolved mystery to be solved on the show, only to find that when I read the new books, that the mystery was, in fact, solved on the show and the book is just further clarification of what we now already know to be true.

Welcome to the forums! But yeah like I said earlier in agreeing that if you watch the show, I don't think the books will be much spoiled for you. I mean the show has REALLY changed a lot of the story arcs, so what we will probably see is somewhat similar events, or events done with different people, but the books will still remain the CANON and it will be vastly different, and most likely better than the way they display it on the show.

[OberynBlackfyre]

I'm curious if people who are upset about the Griffs getting cut are upset because

they thought Aegon was a real Targaryan and part of the end game or if they're upset that they don't get to experience that part of the story. I ask for the obvious reason that GRRM is the one who gave us a false Targaryan...

Stated more directly: Are Griff fans upset that Young Griff has turned out to be an imposter or upset that they don't get to see his story (imposter or not) unfold on television?

The cur of Griff and Aegon proves absolutely nothing about the characters in the book. I mean, the show even took out Stoneheart for gods sake. Im actually glad that they took that story out, because I felt that would have confused people who watch the show too much. THey have no idea who the Blackfyres are, the Golden Company is only ever briefly mentioned, and Illyrio (as far as we know) has been replaced with Varys in a lot of ways.

[pettes]

I'm curious if people who are upset about the Griffs getting cut are upset because

they thought Aegon was a real Targaryan and part of the end game or if they're upset that they don't get to experience that part of the story. I ask for the obvious reason that GRRM is the one who gave us a false Targaryan...

Stated more directly: Are Griff fans upset that Young Griff has turned out to be an imposter or upset that they don't get to see his story (imposter or not) unfold on television?

Im pissed because I wanted to see that part of the story.

[Winds of Winter blow cold]

The books & the show have really parted ways. You won't be spoiled.

[Heartofwinter]

The books & the show have really parted ways. You won't be spoiled.

The storylines of many characters won't be spoiled, but likely the whole endgame of the novels will be.

I'm curious if people who are upset about the Griffs getting cut are upset because

they thought Aegon was a real Targaryan and part of the end game or if they're upset that they don't get to experience that part of the story. I ask for the obvious reason that GRRM is the one who gave us a false Targaryan...

Stated more directly: Are Griff fans upset that Young Griff has turned out to be an imposter or upset that they don't get to see his story (imposter or not) unfold on television?

I don't care that he was cut and I don't think it proves if he was real or not anyway (I always thought him to be fake), but what it showed is he is likely not very important and will die in the books sooner than later. It also showed he will definitely not be riding a dragon.

[Zorral]

You'll have forgotten everything by the time the books are finished, so don't worry about it.