J_Crews

I sincerely hope not

Kings can legitimize bastards with a single signature.

They're due to arrive at the Fist of the First Men in episode 5. I think he'll kill the Halfhand and go double-agent in episode 9; the finale will show him being doubted and generally treated like crap by Rattleshirt; and it will end with the third horn blowing to signal the Others attack on the Fist.

Last scene shot does not necessarily mean last scene that airs. Scenes aren't shot in order.

True dat

If you think about it, though, Bywater was very much Tyrion's man too. This way it's just more condenced; removing the need for a whole new actor whose salary would eat up budget dollars and a whole new character for TV fans to try to keep track of. Also, gives the dude playing Bronn a bigger role.

Hope so. That'll make it make more sense.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The whole purpose for Chataya and Alayaya was to cover him visiting Shae by making it look like he was just frequenting a brothel, rather than having brought Shae with him to court after having been explicitly forbidden to do so by Daddy Warbucks... err... Lannister.

Agreed. They have to spend some time setting Littlefinger up to lend credence to what happens later.

No, but he wears the City Watch's black ringmail uniform all throughout ACoK. He is eventually knighted, marries into a noble house, and then murders his way into basically being a lord.

Correct, and then the Gold Cloaks are given to Ser Addam Marbrand after Bywater's death. Ser Balon Swann replaces Ser Preston Greenfield on the Kingsguard.

Any King can legitimize a bastard by decree. Somebody -- Lady Mormont, I think -- is currently holding such a decree Robb wrote legitimizing Jon and naming him his heir, and Stannis offers to do the same and name Jon Lord of Winterfell. Also, a previous Taergarian king legitimized all his bastards on his deathbed. This correlates in the real world as well; I'm pretty sure Henry VIII fathered a bastard who was to be his heir, but died before reaching adulthood.

What I meant was everybody is disgusted by him touching her, but she did it to him in the book... numerous times, once even at the feast AFTER being revealed as his sister.

The subtitles of Dany speaking said Rakharo.

The book specifically states that's what Craster has been doing in two separate conversations: one between Jon and Gilly; then later between Jon and Lord Commander Mormont, clarifying that all the NW Rangers know about it and pretty much don't ice the old bastard only because his place being there keeps them alive at times. As for the rest: the book story is told exclusively through character POVs, so it wouldn't have been possible to show what Stannis/Melisandre were doing behind closed doors. We don't get a Melisandre POV until ADwD and we've never had one for Stannis to date. I, for one, think it's more than a theory, however; she gives birth to at least 2 of his shadow babies, one of which is witnessed first-hand by Davos. For me, this was more about showing his cruelty. Reading the books, crooked, slimy, and ruthless as we knew him to be, I recall being a bid surprised when we learn later that he's had poor little Jeyne Poole essentially sold into sex slavery. Doesn't ADwD mention her having scars from being whipped repeatedly or something to that effect?

Yet, in the book, she squeezed his package, like, 4 times, and nobody is saying anything about that.

The loss of Rakharo was a bit jarring to me, but the other changes were mild in my opinion. Having Joffrey be responsible for the purge of his father's (or so he thinks) bastards makes him a better villain; Jon witnessing Craster giving the babe up to the Others is more powerful than learnig about it through exposition; Bronn acting as a stand-in for Ser Jacelyn Bywater keeps them from having to pay another actors salary just to have him do Tyrion's bidding all season (which Bronn is also all about anyway), then croak in the Battle of the Blackwater -- I, personally, really liked Bywater, but he turned-out to be a throw-away character unworthy of a TV adaptation; and, the Stannis/Melisandre thing may've never been expressly laid-out in the books, but it was hinted at. How else would she be pregnant with his shadow babies twice in upcoming situations? Also, the books are told through POVs, of which we get none for either of them until several books later, so how could we have seen it? I must say I did rather miss the playful banter that marked Theon's initial meeting with Asha (Yara in the show) from the book, though. It wouldn't've hurt a bit to leave that dialogue in there. Lved, loved, loved Pyke, by the way! Pretty much exactly as it was described in the books. :)