[BOOK SPOILERS] Changes from book to screen

[Ran]

A thread for discussing changes -- of characters, plot lines, lines, or anything else -- in the translation of A Song of Ice and Fire into HBO's Game of Thrones.

[Josiah Rowe]

A pretty small point, but does anyone know why they changed the survivor of the Others' attack (and subsequent deserter from the Night's Watch) from Gared to Will?

[Ran]

We don't really know. They could have decided having the younger man die made things more poignant, or some weird scheduling issue that made them realize Gared couldn't be used for the execution scene so they had to change things around on the fly.

[Josiah Rowe]

We don't really know. They could have decided having the younger man die made things more poignant, or some weird scheduling issue that made them realize Gared couldn't be used for the execution scene so they had to change things around on the fly.

Ah. Well, thanks anyway...

[Josiah Rowe]

What do we think about the Others arranging the wildlings' body parts into that pattern? It's suitably creepy, but does it have any particular significance?

[AHackeySackOfIceAndFire]

What do we think about the Others arranging the wildlings' body parts into that pattern? It's suitably creepy, but does it have any particular significance?

I think it was a replacement to the buildup around how strange it was that the wildlings were gone. Just gone. they talk about it a fair bit in the book, no? Strange necromancy ritual formation is a pretty quick way to explain that this situation is abnormal.

[Trebla]

When they were lying in a circle of bodies and limbs, I oddly thought it was an "O" for Others. Take that Zorro! :fencing:

[Josiah Rowe]

I think it was a replacement to the buildup around how strange it was that the wildlings were gone. Just gone. they talk about it a fair bit in the book, no? Strange necromancy ritual formation is a pretty quick way to explain that this situation is abnormal.

Yeah, I get that "slow build-up of suspense" isn't done that much on TV any more, especially for something that needs to grab a new audience. But that's another rant altogether. :rolleyes:

But I was wondering what those of us who've read the books made of this change in the Others' White Walkers' modus operandi. You say "necromancy"; do you think that we're to assume that the arrangement of the bodies was part of the process of making a wight?

One detail I did quite like was how "clean" the severing of the body parts was — that's a good way to indicate the supernatural sharpness of the Others' blades.

[Abaddon]

I missed the supernatural cold that accompanied the Others. A simple "Why is it so cold?" type of line might have done that, maybe frosted breathing too, but only when the Others are close.

I did not miss the Theon head kick... it works in the book but I think it would have come off poorly on screen.

Cat is definitely different. I think I've come to terms with it, it didn't bother me as much as I thought it might. She definitely still has a healthy antipathy for one Jon Snow however... :)

So far, so good!

[thupple]

I can imagine why they've apparently decided to focus, at least initially, on calling the Others the White Walkers....verbally, that is easier to understand. But if they are calling them White Walkers then why did they decide to make them black? Even my husband thought that was odd, and he has never read the books.

[Horza]

Also, what was the deal with them hacking off Gared's head and tossing it to Will and then letting him go? Didn't seem hugely economical narrative-wise as he'd already been freaked out.

I guess they wanted to make the point that he was getting warned off, but that's a pretty big diversion from the story in it's own right. Eh.

[Lady Blackfish]

Alright, this is where my fellow nitpickers are hanging out :cheers:

I must comment on Cat (I must), for the record ...

When she stops Ned and asks him if he really must go execute the deserter, it felt off to me to have her saying that after 17 years of being married to this guy who chops off heads. She should really be used to it, her explanation to Jeyne about the ritual in ASOS lets us know that she used to find it jarring but I would think she adapted long ago. I feel they could have accomplished the same general objectives by having her, I dunno, just give Ned a look that bespeaks a more resigned disapproval at best. She's not new at this Lady Stark thing after all, and even in AGOT she could appreciate Ice's beauty, and she knew, in a way that bespoke acceptance IMO, that she'd find her husband in the godswood after taking a man's life, so she seemed further along in her acclimation in the books IMO.

[thupple]

Alright, this is where my fellow nitpickers are hanging out :cheers:

I must comment on Cat (I must), for the record ...

When she stops Ned and asks him if he really must go execute the deserter, it felt off to me to have her saying that after 17 years of being married to this guy who chops off heads. She should really be used to it, her explanation to Jeyne about the ritual in ASOS lets us know that she used to find it jarring but I would think she adapted long ago. I feel they could have accomplished the same general objectives by having her, I dunno, just give Ned a look that bespeaks a more resigned disapproval at best. She's not new at this Lady Stark thing after all, and even in AGOT she could appreciate Ice's beauty, and she knew, in a way that bespoke acceptance IMO, that she'd find her husband in the godswood after taking a man's life, so she seemed further along in her acclimation in the books IMO.

Ahoy, milady.

I thought it was odd, too, though I can see why they had her ask the question. It allows for more explanation for the viewers as to what Ned is heading off (no pun intended) to do. For another thing, it gives the impression that she sort of goes against the grain at Winterfell, and doesn't quite fit in with the "old ways" as they are calling them. That is true in the book as well, though it is of course vastly more subtle there, and explained in her head and memory more than in her actions. As you say, she has long adjusted to such things, and had she given him such a look as you describe, I would have understood it perfectly. I, however, have read aGOT about 15 times.

I can already tell I am going to have to grow some patience with this adaptation so that I can just enjoy it!

[blasted_saber]

Anyone else notice that Rickon is quite old? IIRC hes supposed to be about 3 in AGOT, he looks about Arya's age in the preview.

[Horza]

All the younger kids have been aged up by a few years and Joffrey and Theon aged down a little, iirc.

[Brude]

A pretty small point, but does anyone know why they changed the survivor of the Others' attack (and subsequent deserter from the Night's Watch) from Gared to Will?

No known reason. My personal opinion is that it had to do with the actor. The guy playing Will has a pretty interesting face that also evokes a lot of sympathy, I think. He's a good actor, too, who has done a fair number of other supporting roles. He's certainly a more memorable figure than the actor they hired for Gared.

[emberling]

Mildly disappointed that Waymar just got killed from behind, skipping his dramatic confrontation when he became 'no longer a boy but a man of the Night's Watch.' That would have been cool to see. I get why it's not there, though - there really isn't the chance to show that Waymar is green beforehand, so it would lose the impact of his 'redemption' and just end up being extra filler. Where in the books we see a strange mocking honor when the first Other 'duels' Waymar with the rest just watching, here we see that same attitude when they allow Will to escape after tossing Gared's head in his lap.

Arya is so amazing. :D That little smile and bow and then she scurries off...just yes.

[Lady Blackfish]

Ahoy, milady.

Ahoy! Yes I can see that it accomplishes other important objectives. But well, here's how the conversation went:

Ned: Get the lads to saddle their horses.

Cat: Do you have to? *distressed look*

Ned: He swore an oath, Cat.

Rodrik: The law is the law, milady.

Cat: *frustrated disapproval*

Ned: Tell Bran he's coming too.

Cat: *bug eyes* Ned, ten is too young to see such things.

Ned: He won't be a boy forever. Winter is coming.

Cat: *stunned*

And I think it could just as well have gone something like this:

Ned: Get the lads to saddle their horses.

Cat: -wisecrack about headchopping and/or weird northerners that I'm not funny enough to think up, but basically one that strikes a similar gently teasing tenor to Cat's "Well the Starks certainly built their castle in the wrong place" line in AGOT Cat II -

Ned: You know I must.

Rodrik: The law is the law, milady.

Cat: -nodding as if to say, "Yeah yeah, I know you people"-

Ned: Tell Bran he's coming too.

Cat: *surprise* And when did we decide that?

Ned: He won't be a boy forever. Winter is coming.

Cat: *resigned sigh; boy has she heard that one a million times*

Okay, so nobody's going to hire me to write any scripts soon, but you get the idea. I kind of wonder if Cat's characterization as a fairly savvy noble lady is being a bit sacrificed to establish her as a perhaps more obviously sympathetic little woman, so that's why I'm making a note of this. I did like just about everything else about the Stark family's introduction, it was utterly precious.

[Qthulhu]

IMHO the "strange" pattern of bodies, disappearance, and what looked like an attempt to hide the blood under the snow only served to illustrate that the Others were intelligent.

Most of that being undone by the fact that a witness got away and they beheaded a possible wight recruit. D'oh.

EDIT - Oh, and the butchery in general. Maybe wights have a "use by" date?

[Josiah Rowe]

Oh, and the butchery in general. Maybe wights have a "use by" date?

Perhaps the arrangement of the bodies was meant to indicate some sort of ritual for the manufacture of a wight. After all, the little girl's body was directly at the "point" of the line through the circle.

I wonder how many wildlings they dissected to make that shape. If we knew, perhaps we'd finally be able to say how many wrongs make a wight.