Characters underserved by the adaptation

[j52y]

There are a good handful of characters that I think came across better in the first season when copared to the first book, like Jaime, Jory, Pyp, Grenn, Doreah, etc. But, I also think that there were characters who came across worse in the adapation.

Here are the characters I didn't think came across as well:

Sandor - this is something pretty much everyone complained about. Sandor wasn't in A Game of Thrones a lot, but he was in it more than we was in this first season. I expect this to be remedied in season 2, though.

Bran - this was inevitable. Bran got so much more characterization in the book because he was a POV character and we saw inside his head. The show found ways of doing this for Dany, Ned, Jon, etc, but because Bran doesn't have much of a story in the first season, we didn't get to know Bran nearly was well. I also expect this to be remedied in season 2, though.

Rodrik - maybe it's just me, but I really liked Rodrik in the first book. He barely got fleshed out at all here, though. I think if the series was 12 episodes, we would've seen at least one scene of him and Catelyn talking, but as it is, I found his character to be almost completely flat. But he's still alive, so hopefully he gets fleshed out some in season 2.

Kevan Lannister - Tyrion gave us a lot of characterization of Kevan in his head, but I still think they could've done more for him in the show. Like, when Tywin told Tyrion that he's going to King's Landing, Kevan was not present (as he was in the books). I think Kevan's presence there would've subtly shown his importance to Tywin.

Barristan the Bold - Yes, he was in the series a decent amount, but it felt as though they cut his character down somehow. He wasn't on the Small Counsil, they didn't send two goldcloaks after him, nor did Tywin lament Cersei's poor judgement in sending him away. Perhaps I'm just being a picky fan, but adding those things prolly adds about a minute to the show.

The Direwolves - pretty much everyone agrees on this, enough said.

In this show, it can sometimes take just a good scene or sequence to start caring about a supporting character. Look at Jory, once we found out that he was Ned's trusted man, and did his best to help Ned out (to little avail) in "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things", we began to care for him some. Not love him or anything, but he became a real character, not just some random Stark guy. I think that if the series were 12 episodes, I think all of these characters would've gotten their due in the series. But alas, it is not, and they did not.

[Tammy]

I think the TV version of Shae is the one I was most confused about as opposed to the books. She seemed like a completely different character in the show. With a lot of changes, such as the ones you mentioned, I can see why they made adaptations, but not with this character at all.

[_Oberyn_]

Maybe HBO have added a twist to the current Shae. There was something about the drinking game that made me think...

Spoiler

...the tv Shae could be one of the sand sankes.

[Robb_]

I think they've made Shae so different to make her stand out from the other whores to viewers like she does in Tyrion's eyes.

The Hound will hopefully be shown a lot in Season 2, he is one of my favourite characters in the book.

[Wolftail]

Barristan the Bold - Yes, he was in the series a decent amount, but it felt as though they cut his character down somehow. He wasn't on the Small Counsil, they didn't send two goldcloaks after him, nor did Tywin lament Cersei's poor judgement in sending him away. Perhaps I'm just being a picky fan, but adding those things prolly adds about a minute to the show.

This. In the first season Barristan is pretty much reduced to an old knight who fails to guard his king, gets dismissed, throws a fit and leaves the show.

[Erendis]

Sansa.

[NW Deserter]

Renly. All he is in the show is a fairy boy who is afraid of blood, not at all the handsome, devil-may-care knight man of the books.

[Robb_]

Renly. All he is in the show is a fairy boy who is afraid of blood, not at all the handsome, devil-may-care knight man of the books.

Yeah, definitely Renly. Came across entirely different in the show than in the book. I hope he improves a lot for Season 2.

[Thaune]

Yeah, definitely Renly. Came across entirely different in the show than in the book. I hope he improves a lot for Season 2.

Renly was the only character I'd classify as a horrible adaptation...

Not because he doesn't look like in the books (long hair, a "young Robert", handsome, etc.), but because I don't see why anyone would follow the series-Renly into war (as opposed to the book-Renly who was loved by just about everyone).

[ravenfly]

New here :) I had to watch the show at my cousins house as I don't even have cable much less HBO so it was slow going to finish the whole season. Huge fan of the books though.

I thought they did a terrible job in Renly and Lysa as they look nothing like their book description. I know everyone gets their own image of what a character looks like in their own head but seriously....Lysa is described as being very plump and saggy with waterly blue eyes and also she wore alot of rich, fancy clothing....in the show the actress was like sickly thin wearing like drab brown dresses.

Very disappointed about the direwolves too. They are such an important part of the books especially Summer and Greywind and the only ones they really showed much was Shaggydog and Ghost and they didn't portray Ghost correctly. He never made a sound in the books hence the name Ghost.

Also Jaime and Cersei....supposed to be to beautiful with light blonde luxerious hair...neither of them have real blonde hair in the show in fact Jaime's is almost a light brown.

It just frustrated me that they changed so many of the details that made the books so good and to me were important aspects of the story. I figured by making it a tv series and not a movie they would be able to keep more details in as they have more time to work with.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

The only characters that I thought were underserved were:

The Hound (honestly I don't care that much for him but I see what the fans are annoyed by)

Renly

Yeah that's it. Honestly everyone else is just as good or better, IMO! I know most don't agree with me but I thought the adaptation of all the characters was masterful. Usually when they changed a character (e.g. Samwell), it was for the better.

NOTE: Sansa is an odd case. But what matters to me is that she comes across as a vapid fool at the start of the season and ends being a badass in the end. And just LOOK AT HER FACE in the last scene. OOOOMG. Also Sophie Turner is simply gorgeous.

Renly was the only character I'd classify as a horrible adaptation...

Not because he doesn't look like in the books (long hair, a "young Robert", handsome, etc.), but because I don't see why anyone would follow the series-Renly into war (as opposed to the book-Renly who was loved by just about everyone).

My best guess is that they want to show a big contrast between Boy-Renly in series 1 and King-Renly in series 2. I think that he'll both look and act more confident next season.

But generally I agree. I think that the Loras/Renly thing was dumb because it's supposed to be a loving romance between them. Instead it comes across like just sex and manipulation... :thumbsdown:

[Tammy]

Maybe HBO have added a twist to the current Shae. There was something about the drinking game that made me think...

Spoiler

...the tv Shae could be one of the sand sankes.

That would be interesting. I hadn't thought of that, but it would make sense for her saying she was "foreign." It will be interesting to see what they do with her. If they change her character to something interesting, maybe I'll like the character. Right now I hate the casting.

[Reposado]

agree with most of what you said but also renly renly renly.

On the plus side some characters were overserved, in a good way. Drogo and Robb for certain.

[j52y]

Maybe HBO have added a twist to the current Shae. There was something about the drinking game that made me think...

Spoiler

...the tv Shae could be one of the sand sankes.

Something I think is interesting is that Melisandre will likely have a somewhat similar accent as Shae, which implies that they're from near locations. Isn't Mel from Asshai? So, if Shae is from Asshai, wouldn't that be significant?

[Brucolac]

I thought they did a decent job with Renly even though he is different from the books. He looks like he could be related to Mark Addy who I wouldn't trade out for anyone, and instead of being styled as careless, he has a modern day morality with a respect for life. I prefer this to the self-interested Renly from the books. I can see him being even better in the second season as someone viewing himself as an actual savior for the realm.

[_Oberyn_]

That would be interesting. I hadn't thought of that, but it would make sense for her saying she was "foreign." It will be interesting to see what they do with her. If they change her character to something interesting, maybe I'll like the character. Right now I hate the casting.

She also implies she is not base born.

[HashRouge]

Renly was dreadful, but he's the only one I think was really bad. Oh, and Shae! But generally, a lot of characters came out of the series really well, especially Robert and Robb. But honestly, I think the character who does best from the TV show is Jory Cassel. In the book he's a pretty minor character and, although he's mentioned by name a lot we don't really see very much of him at all. But in the TV show they actually gave him some dialogue, an especially interesting scene with Jaime and really made the most of the scene where he goes to the brothel with Ned. I actually gave a damn when he died, whereas in the book I was just "meh".

[lady crackhead]

I think they've made Shae so different to make her stand out from the other whores to viewers like she does in Tyrion's eyes

And maybe to make Tryrion more sympathetic, because his fucking around with stupid whores like Ros & Co. makes him look like a stupid asshole, himself. The show doesnt need another one-note dumbass bimbo like Shae was in the books. This Shae actually has a brain & isnt some cliched, insipid nerdboy wetdream.

It's an improvement on the Shae of the book by a huge margin. I never bought that Tyrion who's painted oh so smart & clever wouldnt have grown bored of the two-bit Shae was. Any other whore with half a brain more than Shae would have pretended to love Tyrion for the coin & prestige he had.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

It's an improvement on the Shae of the book by a huge margin. I never bought that Tyrion who's painted oh so smart & clever wouldnt have grown bored of the two-bit Shae was. Any other whore with half a brain more than Shae would have pretended to love Tyrion for the coin & prestige he had.

Actually Shae was pretty smart in the books - and she gave Tyrion exactly what he wanted. she fed into all his fantasies which were to have a vapid fuckpuppet who did wahtever he said without question. Yeah it makes Tyrion look bad, but he's supposed to look bad. And what reflected especially badly on Tyrion was the fact that he doesn't want anything but stupid, pretty face. Whenever Shae would do something that showed her intellegence (and thus breaking his fantasy), Tyrion would get troubled or angry, like when she recognized Lord Varys, or when she pointed out that he owed her more than a position as a maid.

I actually like the change in Shae, though. And it will definitely increase sympathy for Tyrion because this shae is 1) Smart enough that we won't fault Tyrion for falling for her and 2) Wily and untrustworthy, so we will be more angry at her when she turns her back on Tyrion (in the book, Tyrion was seriously deluded).

[lady crackhead]

And what reflected especially badly on Tyrion was the fact that he doesn't want anything but stupid, pretty face.

The viewers are supposed to be sympathetic to him, right now. And book-Shae was a classic cooing, gold digging bimbo; she wasnt smart at all. She was as close to a one-note character as you could get.

And she gave Tyrion exactly what he wanted. she fed into all his fantasies which were to have a vapid fuckpuppet who did wahtever he said without question.

Any whore with a gram more of a brain than Shae in that city of whores could have & would have done exactly the same thing. That isnt smart, that opportunistic. Which is what a gold digging whore is.

actually like the change in Shae, though. And it will definitely increase sympathy for Tyrion because this shae is 1) Smart enough that we won't fault Tyrion for falling for her and 2) Wily and untrustworthy, so we will be more angry at her when she turns her back on Tyrion (in the book, Tyrion was seriously deluded).

Exactly.