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[NO SPOILERS] What has the TV show done better than the books?


ecliptica

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I enjoy many things about the show and it does do some things better than the books. Off the top of my head my favourite things the show has improved on/added are -



Oberyn


Pod


Salladhor Saan


Shireen


The aging up of the characters.


The clever pairings we've been treated to because of the show.


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The one change I liked about season 2 was Theon standing up a bit more to his father. It was necessary because unlike in the books where we have his POV chapters we can't see his thoughts in the tv show, so they need to be expressed in word and deed, but it also warmed my heart and made me cheer for him.


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there's a lot. the show is great!


bronn and pod: they're both awesome on the show. both hilarious and pod/tyrion's goodbye made me tear up.


tywin: dance is fantastic


arya/sandor: the pairing was nothing special in the books, but it was incredible in the show. the inn scene is one of the greatest moments I've ever seen on a screen.


the red wedding was great on the show. talisa's death was awful to watch and cat's scream and dead stare was much better than her stupid crazy laughter like in the books.


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Tywin and maybe Tyrion to a lesser extent, all Lannisters have good actorw. But Tyrion at least should have more flaws and Jaime shouldn't be a kinslayer, though.



Yoren.



The Sam/Goldy sex scene (there was none).



Maybe Ned Stark because of Sean Bean.



Khal Drogo because of the actor.



In general I think some characters are better portrayed in the series than in the books, but of course this is nonsense, since GRRM made the characters.




Sadly they screwed up Sansa Stark and Stannis to a lesser extent. The Stannis actor is good, so there' still hope.


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Nothing.

Can make up for butchering the Red Wedding

The battle at the Wall.

Minimising the Grey Joys to we can more soft porn

Yeah, I hated the part where arrows could kill people at the top of a 700 foot wall. Wait, that was in the books! It was only giant archers who could hit people in the show, which was awesome! I feel sorry for you.

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Yeah, I hated the part where arrows could kill people at the top of a 700 foot wall. Wait, that was in the books! It was only giant archers who could hit people in the show, which was awesome! I feel sorry for you.

Actually, I was SOOO glad they fixed that. It bothered me in the books.

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Actually, I was SOOO glad they fixed that. It bothered me in the books.

When I saw a tree trunk sized arrow send a guy to the courtyard of Castle Black, I had the stupidest grin on my face, for sure.

Speaking of 409. People have told me in the past about getting chills listening to music or watching something. I never had this experience. That was until the scene of the giant rushing toward Grenn and company while he recites the NW oath. I don't know what it was, but the chills were there. Fantastic scene. Maybe giants just make everything better?

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A lot, since I prefer the show overall (still like the books though!)... but one that gets overlooked a lot is the show hugely improving on the Jamie / Tyrion relationship. The book tells you they are close, the show actually shows it to you with direct scenes between them. The best improvement in Series 4 by far.


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We only have to wait 9 months for every season.

...and that's it.

Haha, well done.

I appreciate the show's ability to provide me with the visuals I would not have had otherwise. But through story telling, the best it can hope for is to match the quality and it often fails. This is particularly true as the seasons advance.

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Haha, well done.

I appreciate the show's ability to provide me with the visuals I would not have had otherwise. But through story telling, the best it can hope for is to match the quality and it often fails. This is particularly true as the seasons advance.

I also enjoy complaining about the show. Too bad we don't have any threads for that.

On topic: Roose Bolton's voice. Seriously, look me in the face and tell me you wouldn't want to hear Micheal's voice over the whispery stuff in the books.

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When I saw a tree trunk sized arrow send a guy to the courtyard of Castle Black, I had the stupidest grin on my face, for sure.

Speaking of 409. People have told me in the past about getting chills listening to music or watching something. I never had this experience. That was until the scene of the giant rushing toward Grenn and company while he recites the NW oath. I don't know what it was, but the chills were there. Fantastic scene. Maybe giants just make everything better?

I had chills watching that episode- that was probably the most fun I've had watching tv ever. It felt like I was watching LOTR all over again for the first time...breathtaking. I never knew they could do that on tv with a tv budget, but they managed it. So I know exactly how you feel :)

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They mostly make a mess of things. And other times they created some awesome things at the expense of other awesome things (e.g. Tywin and Arya was great, but it did sacrifice her Roose Bolton storyline). But they definitely improved some things. From the top of my head:



1) Tywin's early introduction. It doesn't get better when you introduce Charles Dance while skinning a deer. This one was so good, I actually thought it was from the book for a moment.



2) Theon burning the letter to Robb.



3) Tywin using Tyrion's trial to force Jaime to leave the KG. That was the only instance from season 4 where I felt they made a genuinely creative change to the books, which made far mor sense than the book version.



4) Yoren. The Willem story was great and I really like the actor.



5) Dany's wedding night. I never bought the book version of this, the show's version was better all the way.



6) Aging up the characters. I probably should have started with this, because this is a major improvement imo. The only characters that are really hurt here are Robb and Podrick I think. Many other, more important characters benefit from this however.



7) Cersei and Bobby B talking about their marriage.



8) Bronn. I like Jerome Flynn and I like his take on the character. Apart from the stupid 'can Bronn take on the Hound' (answer no, he can't) his character has always been great.



9) Theon's speech about how his true father died in KL. I hated his storyline in season 3, because it was cringeworthy to watch, but this one speech almost made it worth it. Really sad to think about all the crap that followed this great moment.



There are some other examples probably, but these one just immediatley suggested themselves to me.


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