flyerhawk

Because there a LOT of characters in the books and they have clearly shown that they are going to discard plot device characters that are only there to serve a relatively small purpose. Littlefinger has become a more central character in the shows than depicted in the books because LF wasn't a POV. With the books I loved the POV approach to story telling because it enabled a way to have a cloud of uncertainty while reading the books. I don't think this works with TV since we can't get into the heads of the characters. So we are required to expand the story of some non-POV characters and their actions. What does Dontos really provide to the story? An example of how LF is a pretty bad guy? That shouldn't be hard to do whenever necessary.

Was that explicitly stated in the book? I couldn't remember.

No wonder Renley died with you protecting him.

It's possible that Jaime, a guy who joined the Kingsguard which required celibacy, was trying to run away from Cersei but the scorn he faced after killing Aerys, drove him right back into her arms. Or it's possible, and what I inferred from the books, that Jaime joined the Kingsguard as a way to avoid being forced to marry someone else while he continued to schtup Cersei.

I would think it would be better to suggest that the incest was a catalyst rather than a cause. Ultimately the cause of the war was the original rebellion ending in Robert becoming king and being piss poor at the job. He was never able to truly unite the 7 Kingdoms under him. The Lannisters continued to plot to take the Iron Throne. IMO, Tywin was aware of the poisoning of Robert before it happened and approved of it. Also the Tyrells clearly have their own desires to gain the throne. Not to mention the Greyjoys and the Northmen barely caring about the king. Perhaps without the incest, Stannis would have been made king. But he would have been no better as king than Robert or, more precisely, no better at uniting the kingdom. Ultimately it was the political divide that caused the war. The incest just defined the path it would go.

From what I've read, the cause of the big delay with ADwD was making sure it fit the storyline, which apparently it didn't. Hopefully he won't veer off the rails again and this book will be done much faster.