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[BOOK SPOILERS] Watching the show if it overpasses the books [Part 2]


Stubby

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Next season the show could completely deviate from the books. Rumours of one of the Grejoy's being cut, Jaime going to Dorne, no Lady Stoneheart, no more Brotherhood, Brienne's story already done, who knows what will happen with Dany and Jon next season etc



The show runners have said that some characters will die sooner than they do in the book. Imagine next season we see some characters we thought were really important get the chop!



I will stay watching the show but its the books where the actual story and magic is. The show is like a fancy comic giving you the visuals but failing to deliver the struggles and emotions of the characters.


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I will be watching the show, and counting the days from the end of one season to the beginning of the next. I have read through all the books twice now, I want to know how it ends.



Really, I need to know how it ends, I am horribly bad at waiting, and quite frankly I wish I hadn't started reading the books or watching, it's doing my blood pressure no good at all.....


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I can't wait for that, honestly. ..... It'll also be nice without the constant comparisons to the book, and to finally just be a tv show for once.

Absolutely. But I'm sure there will be criticisms of the show's authenticity, even as the show blazes a new trail without any actual point of reference for it to be inauthentic against. You'll have the:

Sure You Did's - "I stopped watching at the end of season 5, because I am a better fan than all of you, but happened to see this one episode.. blah blah."

Know It All's - "I have a deep connection to GRRM, and I am watching just to let everyone know when something appears that won't be in the books."

Look What They Did's - "Just look what they did to my favorite character. They obviously hate him/her, and are intentionally making everyone dislike the real hero of ASOIAF."

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This “want to see the end of the story, regardless of the medium” notion will never cease to amaze me. As if D&D are interested in delivering Martin’s story the way Martin himself would want.



Here’s a speculation. Let’s say ASOS was delayed for a number of years, and the show appeared in the meantime, and the fourth seasons was shown before ASOS was out. Would watching the show really make up for ASOS? Would it be a satisfying compensation? Not in the slightest. Would the show deliver the same story as ASOS? Not more than the Reader’s Digest would. With a possible exception of visual images, the TV version wouldn’t be more representative of the book than more detailed internet summaries usually are. Not to mention that, besides omission (some of them crucial, like Tysha), there are significant deviations. I’m also pretty certain that, had ASOS wasn’t published yet, the seasons 3 and 4 would deviate way more (Oberyn would fuck Gregor instead of fighting him, most probably), but, even as they were, the show’s third and fourth season would never be an adequate compensation for ASOS. Martin’s story simply wouldn’t be delivered by HBO. In the same vein, I'm positive TWOW and ADOS won't be delivered by the show.



If you happen to think seasons 3&4 are more-less the same thing as ASOS, then ASOIAF is not something you’re deeply interested/invested in. Which is OK, you know. Nothing wrong about it. These books aren’t for everybody. No book is. People can read/watch something without being fascinated with it. If that’s the case, yeah, I can see why such a reader would accept any conclusion of the story, be it an internet summary or HBO’s show, regardless of how close it is to Martin’s original vision. But if you really want the conclusion Martin’s intending, then it’d probably be best to wait for the books, or you can continue watching the show if you like it, just take it with the biggest possible grain of salt. But, based on what we saw so far, expecting ASOIAF conclusion in a GoT universe is as futile as it gets.


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Nevertheless, I'm expecting that "a" conclusion in the TV series is not going to be completely different to what ends up happening in the books. We are not, for instance, going to end up with a white walker king married to Dany and sitting on the iron throne in the TV series and then find that actually Jon Snow is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen, marries Val, forms an alliance with the Free Folk, takes the iron throne, and makes a pact with the white walkers to keep themselves north of the wall. If it does deviate significantly, well that's ok too, I have some sort of conclusion until I get to be surprised by what Martin actually imagined the ending should be. For me, that's a win-win.



I find that knowing what is going to happen at the end helps keep me sane whilst reading the story, and means that I enjoy it more, because I don't end up speed reading to find out how everything pans out. I never did have any patience. That's partially why I've read the books twice now, because there was a lot I didn't pick up on the first time round, and when I read them again there will probably be even more.



I do realise I'm weird, and that not many people think like that ;).


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Nevertheless, I'm expecting that "a" conclusion in the TV series is not going to be completely different to what ends up happening in the books. We are not, for instance, going to end up with a white walker king married to Dany and sitting on the iron throne in the TV series and then find that actually Jon Snow is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen, marries Val, forms an alliance with the Free Folk, takes the iron throne, and makes a pact with the white walkers to keep themselves north of the wall. If it does deviate significantly, well that's ok too, I have some sort of conclusion until I get to be surprised by what Martin actually imagined the ending should be. For me, that's a win-win.

I find that knowing what is going to happen at the end helps keep me sane whilst reading the story, and means that I enjoy it more, because I don't end up speed reading to find out how everything pans out. I never did have any patience. That's partially why I've read the books twice now, because there was a lot I didn't pick up on the first time round, and when I read them again there will probably be even more.

I do realise I'm weird, and that not many people think like that ;).

I have no patience, either. I will never be completely satisfied until I find out what happened to Jon at the end of ADwD, and I don't care if I see it in the show or in the books first...it's the thing I want to know the most right now. After that, of course, I want to know how it ends.

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Nevertheless, I'm expecting that "a" conclusion in the TV series is not going to be completely different to what ends up happening in the books.

I view the show and books as honest attempts at covering the same pseudo-historical events, written by different chroniclers. The major events will be the same, but many details will differ.. and minor events will be missing from one or the other completely.

It really helps me enjoy both presentations, without a need to constantly reconcile them, and certainly no interest in avoiding one version just to 'preserve' my enjoyment of the other.

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I personally don't give a shot how it ends, the journey is what matters. Given that there's hardly a chance for GRRM to win the race and that I rather enjoy the show (even if I dislike some changes), I will definitely be watching. It's better to see it as it's intended than to try with all your effort to avoid it and to get spoilers when you least expect them. I will enjoy the first thing that comes out, show or book, at it's own time.

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The show runners have said that some characters will die sooner than they do in the book. Imagine next season we see some characters we thought were really important get the chop!


To be fair, that's already been realized with four characters to date: Mago (died in Season 1, still alive in the books), Pyp (died in 4x09, still alive in the books), Grenn (died in 4x09, still alive in the books), and Jojen (died in 4x10, still alive in the books). There could be more, but that quote could simply refer to deaths that have already taken place.



I think the bigger "spoiler" will be characters not even being cast who seem to be very important in the books. If Aegon, Arianne, Euron, or Victarion are cut, that will be extremely telling.


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I think season 5 is the season where we finally shift from the book material, maybe David and Dan are planning to do their own ending that is different from the books. I would prefer to see two different stories at this point, double the fun and no one gets spoiled.


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I think season 5 is the season where we finally shift from the book material, maybe David and Dan are planning to do their own ending that is different from the books. I would prefer to see two different stories at this point, double the fun and no one gets spoiled.

Sorry, but that's not going to happen. The showrunners have indicated on several occasions that the general story and the ending will be the same as the books, it's just that some details and events along the way will be changed.

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I think it will make the forum better if we go into episodes without expectations on what should and shouldn't be in. Many great episodes were received negatively here due to them not covering book material.

Indeed. It's absurd that the finale was critisized just because it didn't contain a certain scene people were expecting to see. Fans often have very specific ideas about how things should adapted, and sometimes they (we) become unable to let go of that vision.

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Indeed. It's absurd that the finale was critisized just because it didn't contain a certain scene people were expecting to see. Fans often have very specific ideas about how things should adapted, and sometimes they (we) become unable to let go of that vision.

I myself liked the finale a lot but people have PLENTY of legitimate reasons why they didn't like it and why they didn't think it worked.

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I view the show and books as honest attempts at covering the same pseudo-historical events, written by different chroniclers. The major events will be the same, but many details will differ.. and minor events will be missing from one or the other completely.

It really helps me enjoy both presentations, without a need to constantly reconcile them, and certainly no interest in avoiding one version just to 'preserve' my enjoyment of the other.

I'm the same. In fact, I get much enjoyment out of having two different versions, because it's almost like I get to read it for the first time again. It's exciting.

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To be fair, that's already been realized with four characters to date: Mago (died in Season 1, still alive in the books), Pyp (died in 4x09, still alive in the books), Grenn (died in 4x09, still alive in the books), and Jojen (died in 4x10, still alive in the books). There could be more, but that quote could simply refer to deaths that have already taken place.

I think the bigger "spoiler" will be characters not even being cast who seem to be very important in the books. If Aegon, Arianne, Euron, or Victarion are cut, that will be extremely telling.

Talisa (aka Jeyne Westerling) is also dead in the show.

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To be fair, that's already been realized with four characters to date: Mago (died in Season 1, still alive in the books), Pyp (died in 4x09, still alive in the books), Grenn (died in 4x09, still alive in the books), and Jojen (died in 4x10, still alive in the books). There could be more, but that quote could simply refer to deaths that have already taken place.

I think the bigger "spoiler" will be characters not even being cast who seem to be very important in the books. If Aegon, Arianne, Euron, or Victarion are cut, that will be extremely telling.

Also Pyat Pree and Zorro Zaron Ducksauce.

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I myself liked the finale a lot but people have PLENTY of legitimate reasons why they didn't like it and why they didn't think it worked.

IMO fireballs and the lack of motivation for Tyrion are what kept it from being perfect. Also, it seems like D&D don't hate Stannis after all. I always thought they just do sharper shifts in characters than GRRM (which in itself could be considered a bad thing, but that's another matter). You must have a lot of Stannis gifs cooking up, don't you? I can't wait for Stannis's nod of approval after Jon beheads Slynt. People will love that.

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I'll keep watching the show. Martin has his chance to finish.

Yep. It's better to watch it than to get spoilers when you don't expect it and to have to dig a hole in the internet. Sites like these will be attacked by non book readers that have been spoiled and want their payback, and it would be damn near impossible to tune out of the watercooler spoilers.

It's just much better to watch it. Also, it gives us as show watchers a unique opportunity to become Unsullied- and it'd allow us to enjoy the show much, much more.

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