Posted 22 April 2011 - 01:29 AM
First off, I just want to say that as a die-hard fan of the books, i will support this show in any way that i can. However, there are a lot of changes they made to the show which just make no sense to me, especially when the book nailed them so perfectly.
1. The changes to the prologue
Switching the two characters of Gared and Will isn't that big of a deal to me, but the imagining of The Others and the death of Weymar Royce was. The fight between Royce and The Other while his companions looked on, and then Royce's resurrection as a wight communicated so many things - the nature of the Night's Watch and the threat of the Others. I also think they introduced the Wall too early. it's going to take some of the impact out of it when Jon and Tyrion first arrive and see it for the first time.
2. The chances to the Direwolf scene
Honestly, the changes they made to this scene baffle me. It was nailed perfectly in the book, all they had to do was translate the lines to the screen. Instead, they totally gut the symbolism of the scene and the relationships of the brothers. Ned's reaction in the show to the keeping of the pups was so out of character it was cringe-inducing.
3. Jon Arryn's funeral
I feel like the adding of this scene takes a lot of the intrigue out of the early portion of the story. This is stuff thaqt could have been communicated at the end of the episode where it was supposed to be.
4. The Haircut scene.
Honestly, why was this scene in the show? Theon, Robb, and Jon getting haircuts and saying the Prince is a royle prick. Then, they say "Sheer him good" in relation to Jon, but the next scene his hair looks exactly the same. Brilliant.
5. The King's Arrival
Why they made the changes here is another big question. The stuff with Arya chattering on clumsy exposition like "Where's the Imp?" and "That's Jamie Lannister! The Queen's Twin Brother!" was horrid. Seriously, they couldn't think to come up with a more clever way to communicate that information? And Sana's "Shut UP!" constantly being repeated was a bit out of character. Sansa is always so well mannered in the books except when pushed publically by Arya.
6. The crypt scene.
There was SO MUCH that could have been communicated in the crypt scene between Robert and Ned with the addition of a few simple lines. Again, they seemed to be changed needlessly.
7. Danny's bath.
Anyone else think the "No milady! Its too hot!" line was handled poorly? How hard would it have been to have Danny say something about her liking the heat?
8. Tyrion's Introduction
The scene where they introduce Tyrion was horrible. Just horrible. First off, they present him as being far more leterchous than he is in the books. And much of his dialogue in that scene made very little sense. I'd rather they would have kept his introduction short and gave him his full interaction with Jon at the feast as his first intro to the audience.
9. Lack of Direwolves
The Direwolves play such a huge roll in the books, and here they are completely marginalized. Especially concerning Jon Snow and Ghost.
10. Jon Snow's scene during the feast
Jon is coming of as way more petulant than he was in the books. He's sooooooo emo! No interaction with Ghost, and his first scene with Tyrion was so mishandled, it captured none of the budding friendship that was there in the book. Very disappointing with the changes made there. The lines about Tyrion's birth killing his mother and Jon never knowing his mother were KINDA important, and yet nowhere to be heard.
11. Danny's "rape" scene
I thought that it was terrible how Danny never got the "freedom rush" of riding her horse through her wedding, and then eventually submitted herself to Drogo, which was all very important to her development in the books. Here, she's just scared, scared, scared, and then raped. Totally sets the wrong tone for her character, who is much more active in the novels.
12. The things I do for love...
Finally, the final line that Jamie delivers was soooooo poorly done. In the books, he goes to help Bran until his sister says "What are you doing?" Only then does he ask Bran his age, and then pushes him off the tower by saying - WITH LOATHING - the things I do for love. obviously, no one on the production staff bothered to read the book before shooting that scene. Jamie isn't a "bad character," Cerci is, and he did what he thought she wanted him to do, even though he hated it (a common thread for Jamie, who had to put up with the crazy stuff King Arey's did.)
So did I hate the show? No, I didn't hate it. But I didn't love it as much as I should have because of the silly changes that were made. I'll keep watching, and I hope they'll get better about sticking to the important stuff in the novels. But it really upsets me that these little nuances that made the series so enjoyable were changed for the show without any good reason for doing so.