Main Cast by Number of Episodes

[Colonel Green]

And yeah only four characters have more time than her. That is the problem.

Why is that a problem?

[CaptainTheo]

I can understand people being annoyed about Arya being shafted. Last season made more sense with most of Sansa's material being from the book (and her arc played out very well on screen) while they had to invent material for Arya, with three of Arya's six episodes being invented (including stupid things like the Hound saying he's not a thief and then stealing from a kind farmer, and Arya killing someone, Rorge who wasn't on her hit list nor had done anything to merit being so). But this season Arya has plenty of book material while Sansa has bugger-all. So I would definitely have thought it would be Arya's turn this season with Sansa getting a breather and only 6 episodes at most, not 9-10. It does seem rather unfair, especially with Arya being one of the most popular characters (on Tower of the Hand based on the books she was at #3 with Sansa #18). And this is coming from someone who's more a fan of Sansa than Arya. I'd rather see some sort of balance.

[Colonel Green]

I can understand people being annoyed about Arya being shafted.

She has the sixth-most material of any character. That is not being "shafted", by any measure.

[sonsastronk]

She has the sixth-most material of any character. That is not being "shafted", by any measure.

It is for a character who has the third most appearances in the books and appears in each one. Who is held up by the fans. Who has previously had much more screentime. Who is regarded as very important to the story by the author and the fans.

I don't care if there isn't book material for more screentime. There is always original material. That "there is not much material" argument is getting old.

[Colonel Green]

I don't care if there isn't book material for more screentime. There is always original material. That "there is not much material" argument is getting old.

How about the "there's only so much screentime to go around" argument? Arya, alone of her siblings, got to keep her own plot; Bran was sent offscreen, and Sansa ended up in a three-way plot merge. I'm glad that Arya got to keep her own story, but a consequence of that is that she's off in her own smaller corner, and won't appear as much.

[sonsastronk]

How about the "there's only so much screentime to go around" argument? Arya, alone of her siblings, got to keep her own plot; Bran was sent offscreen, and Sansa ended up in a three-way plot merge. I'm glad that Arya got to keep her own story, but a consequence of that is that she's off in her own smaller corner, and won't appear as much.

Then they could have added more familiar characters to Arya's plot, like Sansa's. Anything is possible now and I fail to see your point.

[Colonel Green]

Then they could have added more familiar characters to Arya's plot, like Sansa's.

Like who?

And they didn't just "add more familiar characters to Sansa's plot", they merged three plots (or, really, they dropped a couple of characters from the Winterfell plot and slotted Sansa and Brienne into those roles).

[Travy1991]

Game of Thrones has a huge cast. It's inevitable that some of them will get "shafted" with every season. Look through the Top 10 in Main Cast and you'll see that there are seasons where some characters get less episodes some seasons than others. Take Jaime in Season 2 or Theon in Season 4.

Arya could still make it into 7 episodes this season, the same number as Sansa last year. Arya's storyline this year is also very self-contained - she's off on her own in Braavos while everyone else's storylines are beginning to converge. Of course, the showrunners have forced some of that convergence themselves with Sansa and Brienne converging with The North plotline and Jaime and Bronn converging with the Dorne plotline.

I have my doubts about some of the logic behind these plotlines but I think all the changes are justified. You can't really create much drama from having Sansa swan around The Vale for a season after she's learned to be a manipulator. I do think Brienne and Jaime have interesting storylines in the later novels but they lack plot momentum and wouldn't translate well to television.

Arya's chapters are some of my favourites in A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons but as far as I recall, she only does a handful of major things in those books. I was in awe of the description and attention to detail in Arya's chapters. Reading about her becoming a Faceless Man, the process from entering the House of Black and White to changing her face was fantastic but it was very much a slow burn.

The last two books are often considered flawed. I think they lack the plot momentum of the previous three but they make up for it in strong descriptive writing, world building and character development (there is a lot of padding a and some cheap cliffhangers too). There interesting novels but I believe it was necessary to change it to make for intriguing TV, especially after the breakneck pace of Season 4. Game of Thrones has always thrived in locations where many of the major characters are together. I believe the showrunners still view Arya as a top character in the show - they just know they have to give coverage to other storylines this season than Arya's. Chapter count in the book shouldn't matter. Otherwise, we'd be seeing more Quentyn Martell, Barristan Selmy, Victarion Greyjoy and Yara (Asha) Greyjoy than we would of Sansa.

On an unrelated note: I have updated the guest cast list to include any recurring animals that appear on the show. Yes, they're not strictly cast but if you'd like to see the episode counts of Ghost, Summer, Grey Wind, Shaggydog, Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal; you can find episode counts for the direwolves under 'The North' heading and the dragons under the 'Lhazar' heading. I'm hoping Ser Pounce can make it into more than 3 episodes! :lol:

[FireAndBlood.]

Unfortunately, people are in denial and think Sansa is as important as Jon, Dany, and Tyrion. That's why they love to spam the board with Sansa threads, which all talk about the same things each time. But, their wishes have seemed to come true, since D&D consider her to be the most important character.

No one thinks she's as important as Jon, Dany or Tyrion lol. Those 3 are clearly ahead of the next tier which consists of Bran, Arya and Sansa. Anyway, Arya is not getting shafted this season. She might have skipped 3 episodes so far, but it's not episode count that matters in the end, it's screentime. If you want to put things into perspective, Arya was 3rd (or thereabouts) in terms of screentime after episode 3. Sansa wasn't even in the top 10. Arya is fine. If anyone should be complaining, it should be Bran fans.

"Sansa is a character we care about almost more than any other."

- David Benioff

Source: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/26/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview

Saying you care about a character "almost" more than any other (note: they did not say they cared about her more than any other, but almost more) is not the same as thinking said character is most important. I don't give a fuck about Tyrion, for example. He could have been carried off by the Stone Men in ADWD and I wouldn't have enjoyed the book any less (probably would have enjoyed it a lot more), but that does not mean that I think he is least important or not important.

[CaptainTheo]

If anyone should be complaining, it should be Bran fans.

That's very true. The writers have severe double standards. That above link also includes this:

We really wanted Sansa to play a major part this season,” Benioff said. “If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was as subplot we loved from the books, but it used a character that’s not in the show.”

Yet apparently for some reason that doesn't apply to Bran.

[Colonel Green]

Yet apparently for some reason that doesn't apply to Bran.

They've never included Bran amongst their favourites. It's become quite noticeable, whenever they talk about the kids, especially, it's always about Sansa and Arya/Sophie and Maisie.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

I think the Arya issue is made worse because she hasnt done anything and we are half way through the season. The 2 she is in she has good time in but its all about her being held back. No you cant come in the door, no you must brush up. Who wants to watch Arya in a quiet room brushing up and washing dead people? She has had no really good interations with anyone but needle, they made the Waif a nutcase and Jaquen is being cryptic and distant. Its a miracle Maisie has done as well as she has. Not only that but they have cut the auxillary stories that back up her becoming no one, such as Sansa as Alaynein parallel which is gone, or Jeyne taking Aryas identitiy as Arya takes others, Jon going crazy over Arya potentially being in Winterfell, or Brienne noticing Willow Heddle filling the Arya gap with Gendry. Arya really seems to have dropped off the face of the planet, no one misses her, there is no role she seems to have left behind, its like she was nothing and so her becoming nothing is perhaps less of a tragedy?

[Travy1991]

The decision to cut Bran out this season is a funny one. D&D have always been very complimentary of Turner, Wiiliams and Hempstead-Wright. I think they may know that Bran's storyline is fairly unpopular with viewers and are being careful with how they use Bran in the show from now on. The character is obviously important but he doesn't have a huge amount of story.

They really had to pad out what he did in Seasons 3 and 4 and many viewers were still very vocal about how uninteresting Bran's storyline was compared to everyone else. I think Bran was out this season because his future storyline will have some big revelatory moments that need to come to light as we approach the end game. We could get right to that in Season 6 or we could have some padded storylines where Bran simply trains among the weirwoods. I was personally a fan of Bran's storyline once he reached the weirwood but I think they want to limit the overt fantasy stuff, as it jars with the rest of the show.

[sonsastronk]

No one thinks she's as important as Jon, Dany or Tyrion lol. Those 3 are clearly ahead of the next tier which consists of Bran, Arya and Sansa. Anyway, Arya is not getting shafted this season. She might have skipped 3 episodes so far, but it's not episode count that matters in the end, it's screentime. If you want to put things into perspective, Arya was 3rd (or thereabouts) in terms of screentime after episode 3. Sansa wasn't even in the top 10. Arya is fine. If anyone should be complaining, it should be Bran fans.

I guess you haven't been to tumblr. Sansa is considered to be the most important character by so many people.

Also, we aren't at episode three anymore. And there isn't a limit to how many fans can complain. Bran fans can go on ahead and complain. Arya fans can too (even if they'll get more shit for it and silly excuses like "she's too secluded" "there's not enough book material" "they spent all that money on her though" etcetera, etcetera, etcetera....). Fandom is so hypocritical.

[Colonel Green]

I guess you haven't been to tumblr. Sansa is considered to be the most important character by so many people.

You're confusing 'the most important' with 'favourite'.

I also don't know why you've decided to turn this into an Arya vs. Sansa debate, as if it's her screentime that is taking away from Arya's.

[FireAndBlood.]

I guess you haven't been to tumblr. Sansa is considered to be the most important character by so many people.

Also, we aren't at episode three anymore. And there isn't a limit to how many fans can complain. Bran fans can go on ahead and complain. Arya fans can too (even if they'll get more shit for it and silly excuses like "she's too secluded" "there's not enough book material" "they spent all that money on her though" etcetera, etcetera, etcetera....). Fandom is so hypocritical.

And you have conveniently ignored the part of my post that noted that "favourite" and "most important" are not the same. Of course people are going to talk about their favourite character a lot, but that doesn't mean she's the most important. Maybe she's the most important to THEM (as in they care about what happens to her most, not think that she is the most important aspect of the overall story), but if that is the case then why does it matter? Every character has their diehard fans.

Anyway, I agree with the above poster. There is no need to turn this into yet ANOTHER arya vs sansa debate. Especially since sansa has not stolen screen time from arya. If you want to complain about irrelevant characters stealing screen time from relevant ones look to missandei and grey worm!

[Chinoiserie]

It would be more detrimental for Arya to give her too much screentime if she is not doing anything interesting.

In the end even if you would add more characters in her storyline and or schocking moments her story is about her character development and learning this season. It does not tie to the bigger picture which is why it would be a mistake to include too much of her. People too often seem to think there is a competition between characters and those who get most screentime win and blame other characters (like Grey Worm and Missandei) taking more important characters screentime.

But imagine if team Drangonstone would have gotten more screentime last season. They could have given more one-liners to Stannis and include Axel Florent is a traitor plot and mayhaps Stannis's character would have benefited (his plot has been obviously been a bit mishandled but I do not think screentime was the problem) and his fans would have loved it. But ultimatelly team Drangonstone was not doing anything last season but waiting until it was possible for the to go to the Wall. Casual audiences would hav thought the extra scenes nothing but filler and wondered why attention is given to people who do not do anything. It is better to give Stannis good scenes now when he has a plot and relevance and more characters to interact with.

I am not sure if I am right but I think I red somewhere that he writers were struggling to make the episodes longer. If you have noticed not all episodes are the same lenght and many could be longer. Season 4 was one of the shortest I believe. So I do not think peopel like Missandei and Grey Worm are stealing screentime from other characters but te writers chose not to give some more screentime because they wish to avoid filler. Some dialogue scenes in plain rooms do not cost much money and take much time to film and they could fit to the episodes. But while the fans of te characters would love more scenes like that, expecially if the dialogue is straight form the books I believe those scenes are not added because they would not be good for pacing reasons.

As for Arya, she neened to adjust for a while for her new circumstances. I think her plot will move faster in the following episodes. And the episode breaks are good in my opinion since they indicate a passage of time. Her jorney is more belieavable if it takes a while. She would not be losing her identity in a couple of days. And she hardly had that many chapters in books 4 and 5. But people seem to think it is a competition between her and Sansa and because Arya had more chapters she should have more screentime. However people lie Margaery are bacically made POV characters in the show, the screentimes for characters are in correlation how it would affect the overall story not a competition which characters are most important.

[Chinoiserie]

It would be more detrimental for Arya to give her too much screentime if she is not doing anything interesting.

In the end even if you would add more characters in her storyline and or schocking moments her story is about her character development and learning this season. It does not tie to the bigger picture which is why it would be a mistake to include too much of her. People too often seem to think there is a competition between characters and those who get most screentime win and blame other characters (like Grey Worm and Missandei) taking more important characters screentime.

But imagine if team Drangonstone would have gotten more screentime last season. They could have given more one-liners to Stannis and include Axel Florent is a traitor plot and mayhaps Stannis's character would have benefited (his plot has been obviously been a bit mishandled but I do not think screentime was the problem) and his fans would have loved it. But ultimatelly team Drangonstone was not doing anything last season but waiting until it was possible for the to go to the Wall. Casual audiences would hav thought the extra scenes nothing but filler and wondered why attention is given to people who do not do anything. It is better to give Stannis good scenes now when he has a plot and relevance and more characters to interact with.

I am not sure if I am right but I think I red somewhere that he writers were struggling to make the episodes longer. If you have noticed not all episodes are the same lenght and many could be longer. Season 4 was one of the shortest I believe. So I do not think peopel like Missandei and Grey Worm are stealing screentime from other characters but te writers chose not to give some more screentime because they wish to avoid filler. Some dialogue scenes in plain rooms do not cost much money and take much time to film and they could fit to the episodes. But while the fans of te characters would love more scenes like that, expecially if the dialogue is straight form the books I believe those scenes are not added because they would not be good for pacing reasons.

As for Arya, she neened to adjust for a while for her new circumstances. I think her plot will move faster in the following episodes. And the episode breaks are good in my opinion since they indicate a passage of time. Her jorney is more belieavable if it takes a while. She would not be losing her identity in a couple of days. And she hardly had that many chapters in books 4 and 5. But people seem to think it is a competition between her and Sansa and because Arya had more chapters she should have more screentime. However people lie Margaery are bacically made POV characters in the show, the screentimes for characters are in correlation how it would affect the overall story not a competition which characters are most important.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

Unfortunately, people are in denial and think Sansa is as important as Jon, Dany, and Tyrion. That's why they love to spam the board with Sansa threads, which all talk about the same things each time. But, their wishes have seemed to come true, since D&D consider her to be the most important character.

Thank you for admitting Sansa's the most important character! Our Sansa agenda has been fulfilled!

In all seriousness now, Sansa's getting a very bad deal this season. I don't understand your point though - Sansa, Arya, Bran, Tyrion, Dany and Jon are the main characters of these books.

[Chinoiserie]

I think Tyrion, Dany and Jon are the main characters with Arya,Jaime,Bran and Sansa on the next tier.