explanations and theories on why they changed certain things...

[Deed]

I wanted this to be a more 'technical' question, ie not changes they made because D&D thought it would better serve the story, but changes made possibly due to budgetary restraints / time constraints / on location shooting / casting etc.

I hope that makes sense !?

There are plenty of little changes they made from the book, we don't have to spoil anything here necessarily. For example, do you think they massively toned down the appearance of The Three Eyed Crow in Season 4, because they didn't have enough budget for the make-up, it felt like such a missed opportunity and would have paid off Bran's storyline to a lot of viewers (which admittedly drags a little)

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/0/05/Close_up_TEC_Marc_Simonetti.jpg

What other things do you think they changed for productions reasons, not story meddling ?

[thadcastle]

I would have liked to see Reek with the missing teeth and fingers like he had in the books, but I can see how that would be hard to do realistically.

[franko99]

Tyrion's uglyness, and the lack of adornment for the armors and weapons. I know some of them may look weird (or just plain stupid), but it is one of the things that make this novels sooo different from the rest.

[Game of Thrones Reference]

Gendry replacing Edric Storm was probably to cut down on characters so tv viewers wouldn't be overwhelmed.

[The Onion Sleight]

I realized that pink cloaks, blue hair, Qartheen gown and many other "extraordinary" clothes, hairstyles and accessories might have looked strange and silly on screen *cough* http://37.media.tumblr.com/1808cc9a06b5a7233c6e35eb815a4f61/tumblr_n4gdiwBrl11t1nq1bo3_1280.jpg *cough* http://i.imgur.com/8WTEEsS.png *cough*, although I really love all this flamboyant stuff in the books.

[stateofdissipation]

The lannisters send their regards... instead of Jamie Lannister sends his regards

That should have been a big clue that there would be no Lady Stoneheart.

I actually stick by that one... Cat Freed Jamie and died believing he betrayed her. That played a major part in her treatment of Brienne.

Changing one word... eliminated that part of the LS character... without that part she really does not add much to the plot.

[sati]

The lannisters send their regards... instead of Jamie Lannister sends his regards

That should have been a big clue that there would be no Lady Stoneheart.

They don't think that far back or plan ahead like this.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

...because they hate us.

[JRose1989]

Daario definitely, though I still don't see why.

His character is all about opulence! Show Daario is just like every other swordsman in the show, 30's, brown hair in brown/black boiled leather with a 5 o clock shadow.

Oh but he is different because he is slightly flirty we guess.

*Groan*

I honestly thought they would have leaped at the opportunity to have someone that stands out that much on screen!

Someone the Unsullied would have instantly recognized, but alas twas not to be.

[ADB]

...because they hate us.

Forgot your sarcasm tags there.

Daario definitely, though I still don't see why.

Because he would have looked silly and everyone would have been laughing at him?

[Janicia]

One thing that is easy to do in the books is to have Tyrion walking down a hallway going to a small council meeting or something and he sees Tommen playing with a kitten, or to have the occasional cameo appearances from Kevan or one of the other hundreds of secondary characters. But the show probably has to really think hard about bringing back an actor just to walk through a scene - if the actor doesn't really do anything besides lurk in the background a few times in the season, he's probably not going to show up. I think that was why Kevan and Tommen were omitted from season 3.

Visions and dreams are another area where it is easy to write something really big and wild but the show has to carefully decide how much budget and time they're willing to put into those sequences.

And battles, of course. The show has to skip or pare down a lot of the peripheral battles for obvious reasons. This can be problematic - Robb's military campaign didn't have very much military stuff going on at all in the show. And putting in one big battle at the Wall in season 4 episode 9 forced adjustments to the pacing of Jon's story that weren't entirely successful. And the show loses awesome sequences from the book like Jon and Halfhand's men fleeing the Wildlings because the sequence would be a big investment to film and it wasn't important enough to justify the investment.

[JRose1989]

Forgot your sarcasm tags there.

Because he would have looked silly and everyone would have been laughing at him?

Why? Because he had blue hair?

Because his personality resembled something more like a hurricane rather than a damp sock?

Variety is the spice of life my friend. If viewers can accept silver haired Targs, I'm sure it wouldn't have been TOO much of a stretch to add in a gent with blue hair and a gold tooth.

[boojam]

I wanted this to be a more 'technical' question, ie not changes they made because D&D thought it would better serve the story, but changes made possibly due to budgetary restraints / time constraints / on location shooting / casting etc. I hope that makes sense !? There are plenty of little changes they made from the book, we don't have to spoil anything here necessarily. For example, do you think they massively toned down the appearance of The Three Eyed Crow in Season 4, because they didn't have enough budget for the make-up, it felt like such a missed opportunity and would have paid off Bran's storyline to a lot of viewers (which admittedly drags a little) http://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/0/05/Close_up_TEC_Marc_Simonetti.jpg What other things do you think they changed for productions reasons, not story meddling ?

Make up , they can afford that.... It is more screen TIME that's hard.

[Jinsoi]

The lannisters send their regards... instead of Jamie Lannister sends his regards

That should have been a big clue that there would be no Lady Stoneheart.

Bryan Cogman said the line was originally like it was in the books but they changed it because it caused confusion even amongst the cast. People thought Jamie was somehow involved in the Red Wedding. Forget which podcast I heard him say it on.

[Archmaester]

I realized that pink cloaks, blue hair, Qartheen gown and many other "extraordinary" clothes, hairstyles and accessories might have looked strange and silly on screen *cough* http://37.media.tumblr.com/1808cc9a06b5a7233c6e35eb815a4f61/tumblr_n4gdiwBrl11t1nq1bo3_1280.jpg *cough* http://i.imgur.com/8WTEEsS.png *cough*, although I really love all this flamboyant stuff in the books.

Lol at the Daario picture, but that Roose picture is quality, I actually think that would've worked well! Also it reminds just how brilliantly sinister Micheal McEllhatton is in the role...

[The Onion Sleight]

Lol at the Daario picture, but that Roose picture is quality, I actually think that would've worked well! Also it reminds just how brilliantly sinister Micheal McEllhatton is in the role...

:agree:

Here's a nice one of Ramsay: http://brienneoftarth.tumblr.com/post/82885914061/ramsay-snow-being-as-pink-as-he-possibly-can-be-to

(Totally unrelated -just found it yet on tumblr- but this makes me laugh: http://swiftasadeer.tumblr.com/post/54220970661/the-scariest-people-of-westeros XD)

[storm.131]

Regarding the comments about Daario, I don't mind that they omitted the blue hair but I do agree with everyone who said he should have more flamboyant costumes in the show to reflect his "show off" personality. It could be achieved without him looking ludicrous.

The same goes for the costumes of the royal court. They are too drab and dark. In every culture in history, the aristocracy were distinguished by brightly coloured clothing because dyes were expensive and only the very wealthy could afford to dress that way. This story having been inspired by medieval Europe, it would make sense to draw more inspiration from medieval clothing and not be afraid to have a greater contrast between the way the commoners and aristocracy dress. As it is, it's only in the close up shots that we see intricate embroidery on Cersei's gowns. From a distance, her gowns don't stand out enough from those of the other female characters.

[franko99]

Regarding the comments about Daario, I don't mind that they omitted the blue hair but I do agree with everyone who said he should have more flamboyant costumes in the show to reflect his "show off" personality. It could be achieved without him looking ludicrous.

The same goes for the costumes of the royal court. They are too drab and dark. In every culture in history, the aristocracy were distinguished by brightly coloured clothing because dyes were expensive and only the very wealthy could afford to dress that way. This story having been inspired by medieval Europe, it would make sense to draw more inspiration from medieval clothing and not be afraid to have a greater contrast between the way the commoners and aristocracy dress. As it is, it's only in the close up shots that we see intricate embroidery on Cersei's gowns. From a distance, her gowns don't stand out enough from those of the other female characters.

I rewatched season 2, the scene were Salladhor Saan is introduced, his clothes and attitude are similar to what I thought Daario should have been (without the blue hair and golden tooth, of course).

There are ways to show a flamboyant and arrogant guy on TV and make him look good.

[The Onion Sleight]

I rewatched season 2, the scene were Salladhor Saan is introduced, his clothes and attitude are similar to what I thought Daario should have been (without the blue hair and golden tooth, of course).

There are ways to show a flamboyant and arrogant guy on TV and make him look good.

That's true (I generally love Show!Salla -Book!Salla too- and Lucian Msamati). Btw, I also love the way how extraordinary and flamboyant Salladhor is described in the book:

Salladhor is a sleek, smiling man whose flamboyance is a byword on both sides of the narrow sea. When Davos meets with him in the inn on Dragonstone Salladhor wears flashing cloth-of-silver, with dagged sleeves so long the ends of them pool on the floor. His buttons are carved jade monkeys and atop his wispy white curls is perched a jaunty green cap decorated with a fan of peacock feathers.

[Beric175]

They might have changed certain things because 1) nothing comes of some things in the books (i.e. Tyrion's threats against Jaime might amount to nothing at all) or 2) to simplify the story in order to stay within the budget (if you cut Aegon you'll need to cut Arianne because she likely becomes his wife) or 3) some things don't work well for tv (a blue-haired guy with a golden mustache is hard to take seriously on a show that prides itself on its gritty realism but at least they kept the daggers with the golden women).