Things that the show improved on from the book

[DMC]

People like show-Stannis now? I always thought they hated him? He has only been improved this season of course. Stephen Dillane has given a stellar performance, and I think he is kinda' like Stannis in real life, it seems.

So how is Stannis in real life? I imagine he's very confused. And very angry after visiting the dentist. Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Lord Lannister]

Let's see... in no particular order.

-The Hound- who else could make the act of eating a chicken threatening?

-Arya & Tywin- It worked

-Stannis & Shireen- Nice to see a human side of the man

-Moon Door- Awesome putting it in the floor

-Cersei- Less cartoon villain and more realistic. Her scene with Tommen during Blackwater was awesome.

-No Lady Stoneheart- She ruined Cat, so at least the show Cat remains undesecrated.

[Shpati]

- I like how the show avoids life resurrections. When a character dies, they are pretty much dead. In the books now, they can come back, take the identity of another person, or whatever.

- Trimmed down a good chunk of fillers/drawn out story in aFfC and aDwDs, like Brienne's and Cercei's story.

- Ages

- The physical appearance of Stannis

- Bron

- Tywin

[LindsayLohan]

I liked how the show had Tyrion and Jaime end (for now) with them still being close. In the books, the relationship between Jaime and Tyrion is the quintessential big brother/little brother friendship, and Jaime is oft the only one who cares about Tyrion's well-being. Jaime kicks off a fucking war by attacking Ned Stark in the street over Tyrion's abduction. Reading Tyrion finding out about Tysha and seeing him carry that hate towards Jaime after he left Westeros was actually hard, and I do hope for a reconciliation in the books. The show takes that away, and keeps one of the better bonds. I found that very pleasing.

Also, as someone said, having someone who liked Jeor Mormont (Tyrion) break the news of his death to Jorah was nice. I would hate for it to be in some sort of "Westeros Today" type update from a sheet of paper in Mereen or wherever. Even worse, fucking Victarion after the Battle of Mereen.

[HexMachina]

I liked how the show had Tyrion and Jaime end (for now) with them still being close. In the books, the relationship between Jaime and Tyrion is the quintessential big brother/little brother friendship, and Jaime is oft the only one who cares about Tyrion's well-being. Jaime kicks off a fucking war by attacking Ned Stark in the street over Tyrion's abduction. Reading Tyrion finding out about Tysha and seeing him carry that hate towards Jaime after he left Westeros was actually hard, and I do hope for a reconciliation in the books. The show takes that away, and keeps one of the better bonds. I found that very pleasing.

Also, as someone said, having someone who liked Jeor Mormont (Tyrion) break the news of his death to Jorah was nice. I would hate for it to be in some sort of "Westeros Today" type update from a sheet of paper in Mereen or wherever. Even worse, fucking Victarion after the Battle of Mereen.

Presumably you missed or have not yet seen Jaime's recent interactions with Bronn then? Because that is basically just changing Tyrion resenting Jaime to Jaime hating Tyrion

[Roose on the Loose]

The big weapon D&D have that George doesn't is great actors. Alfie can express his inner torment withy his eyes better and more succinctly than could ever be done with descriptive prose. Sophie and Maisie have each developed a sobering dead-eye, "I'll last longer than you," "And how long have you loved him Myranda?" That shows they're no longer naive little girls.

And Roz. The show had Roz. The books have no Roz.

[Jane Parallel]

Hard to say...

The battles... it's almost always better watch battles than read battles... Blackwater, The Wall, Oberyn vs The Mountain

No Penny

No "where all the whores go" line (that irritates me so much)

GoT Jaqen than book Jaqen

GoT show Dany than book Dany

GoT Ygritte than book Ygritte (in the books she is like creepy and sort of rapist)

No Val

No Aegon dumphair (though the Greyjoy's plot I like)

GoT Bronn than book Bronn

GoT Margeary

As you can see it's almost all about characters... the actors do a terrific job with the scripts they have... all the actors are fantastic but some of the characters they impersonate have been softened by the producers...

[Nipsonfire]

Eddard. He was kind of a naive stuffy old sock in the book but on TV he was tough and sexy. I liked his sword fight with Jaime even though book Jaime would have stomped him, and that they gave him some really ball busting lines. Sean Bean really made that character.

[Northbound3.0]

Dany's arc this season, has been an improvement over the books. Streamlined, precise and to the point.

[Pashernate Reader]

Bronn. That's it, really.

[Direwight]

One minor change I like and which doesn't get mentioned often is how it was Ned who informed Stannis about the twincest. Although to be fair that's probably more of a "wouldn't have worked as well in the show" thing.

[green_caitlin]

Daario Naharis. It's one of the unbelievable things about the book (or rather about the author :)). How are we supposed to believe in Daenerys' Great Passion for a farcical man with gold teeth, who looks like he was taken directly from an operetta? It's farcical in itself. Turning him into a 'standard handsome guy' was a very good move. Can't express how relieved I was when he showed up for the first time. :D

Also, ser Alliser. Not the complete villain from the books as I remember him (naturally, I may be wrong, but that's my impression). Just a grey character. I've just gone through some of the episodes from the previous season and noticed that. Definitely a change for the better, too. It's good to have an antagonist that can be admired/respected, at least at some moments.

[Prince Lou of House Reed]

I think Daario would have stood out a bit more if he was more flamboyant like in the books instead of just looking like a random northerner but hey that's just like my opinion man.

[green_caitlin]

Same with me - just my opinion. And I wouldn't mind flamboyance, but equipping a character with gold teeth and multi-colour hair is another thing. A bit overdone, I think. So if I am to choose between this kind of flamboyance and the typical appearance... well... :)

[Good Guy Garlan]

Yeah, show!Daario is so beige he camouflages with the walls, but at least he's inoffensive and not a redneck clown like in the books.

[Coldivore]

1. stannis - i never really grew to him in the books, i found him weak and dull and a bit witless. but show stannis is possibly the most bad ass character in the show. he is now who i actually think would make a great king of the seven kingdoms. i can't see anyone else more experienced and with the right balance of firmness and fairness.

• I disagree with this point. He is not dull, and definitely not witless in the books. He may be motivated by his views of justice and right, but witless or reckless are the wrong words to describe his personality. Don't get me wrong, I love his character in the show more than in the books, since he shows so little emotion there, but he's still one of my favorite characters.

However, I don't think that he would be a good king, or even a little loved by his people. You need to tolerate sometimes, and Stannis is always just. Even in little matters. I agree with you that show Stannis is better than book Stannis!

2. a feast for crows - this book was for the purists really. basically unfilmable. i felt the show writers did an excellent job making this timeline interesting and flow along nicely. it was a big ask. brienne's chapters in particular and jamie's were really tough reading.

• Totally agreed. The book was impossible to film without adjustments here and there.

3. dany in mereen - this was far too ponderous and aimless in the books, it was sped up perfectly to match the overall pace i feel.

• Dany's chapters were mostly boring, full of politics mostly. Her character in the books is much more naive than the show. Although I hate her on both the show and the books, the show's Dany is a btter version. More tolerable.

3. merges - characters simply had to be merged for the show to work. jeyne/sansa was not expected but it worked out well, made perfect sense. gendry taking on a few roles was excellent, made him into a decent fleshed out character.

• Couldn't agree more. I liked what they did with Sansa, and I anticipate that they will also merge the Abel and spearwives characters with Brienne and Pod. Would be excellent.

4. the dragons - they always seemed a bit silly to me in books for some reason. they are as realistic a depiction of them as i've ever seen tbh (no i've never seen a real one) in the show

• Well, I think this depends on how deep you can imagine. To me, I have much more badass depiction of them even before the show.

Also additional changes that I think are great:

• Jorah's merge with Jon Connington. Gave him more significance, since the Aegon plot would never make sense now.

Omitting Qwentyn Martell's whole storyline. I hated it. Unless, a specific theory that I believe in proves true in the future.

Jaime's change of storyline. Although I hate omitting Arianne (I love Arianne, for weird reasons).

Bad choices would be:

• Changing a lot when it comes to the Martells'. Dorne sucks in the show.

Davos' change of storyline.

Neglecting Wyman Manderly, and most importantly his role with Davos and the Frey Pies story (even though it's a theory, it's a strong one and I love it).

That's what I have in mind right now. The show is good so far, I approve, but this season is the least enjoyable.

[Coldivore]

Also: Daario in the show is much better than in the books! He seems a douche in the books, a typical sellsword, he's a bit more unique in the show. Love what they did with his character and storyline.

[Wyman Manderly's Meat Pies]

• I disagree with this point. He is not dull, and definitely not witless in the books. He may be motivated by his views of justice and right, but witless or reckless are the wrong words to describe his personality. Don't get me wrong, I love his character in the show more than in the books, since he shows so little emotion there, but he's still one of my favorite characters.

However, I don't think that he would be a good king, or even a little loved by his people. You need to tolerate sometimes, and Stannis is always just. Even in little matters. I agree with you that show Stannis is better than book Stannis!

• Totally agreed. The book was impossible to film without adjustments here and there.

• Dany's chapters were mostly boring, full of politics mostly. Her character in the books is much more naive than the show. Although I hate her on both the show and the books, the show's Dany is a btter version. More tolerable.

• Couldn't agree more. I liked what they did with Sansa, and I anticipate that they will also merge the Abel and spearwives characters with Brienne and Pod. Would be excellent.

• Well, I think this depends on how deep you can imagine. To me, I have much more badass depiction of them even before the show.

Also additional changes that I think are great:

• Jorah's merge with Jon Connington. Gave him more significance, since the Aegon plot would never make sense now.

Omitting Qwentyn Martell's whole storyline. I hated it. Unless, a specific theory that I believe in proves true in the future.

Jaime's change of storyline. Although I hate omitting Arianne (I love Arianne, for weird reasons).

Bad choices would be:

• Changing a lot when it comes to the Martells'. Dorne sucks in the show.

Davos' change of storyline.

Neglecting Wyman Manderly, and most importantly his role with Davos and the Frey Pies story (even though it's a theory, it's a strong one and I love it).

That's what I have in mind right now. The show is good so far, I approve, but this season is the least enjoyable.

This season couldn't reach more than a 7/10 without Wyman or Arriane. It is known.

[yanmaodao]

Ooh, forgot to mention this one. This one is a bit more speculative, as I'm not sure the show necessarily even did this on purpose. Nevertheless, I like that it happened to end up this way.

Too many male members of the Paramount Houses are badass, and too many female members of the Paramount Houses are beeeaaautiful.

I like that in the show Jaime (while still very skilled) isn't as great a fighter as book Jaime, and show Cersei isn't as beautiful as book Cersei, though Lena Headey is obviously very good-looking. (That wig makes her look worse.) I mentioned I prefer show Cat to book Cat; this extends to her appearance.

The most beautiful woman in the realm just happens to be the queen, and the only woman more beautiful than her, who hasn't come to the realm yet, just happens to be another queen, the one who will (may?) replace her? Gee, what are the odds?

I get that being wealthy gives you access to better health and nutrition and beauty supplies, but I'd imagine that hits diminishing returns pretty quickly after you get past the "minor noble" level. (EDIT: and even then, I'd imagine that there are a lot of beautiful peasants. Genes can be strong, and the people of the Middle Ages, particularly by the High Middle Ages which is the Westerosi time-equivalent, were not nearly as dirty and impoverished as a lot of people think. The "Dung Ages" is a Renaissance fallacy.)

It's more than possible that due to the book's POV structure means that this isn't meant to be taken as absolute in the books either, that characters are only saying this because all they know is their own small world, an aristocratic bubble. But you wouldn't know it from many of the fans, who defend these rankings as absolute truths.

[ValrianSunni]

I love the books dearly, but imo, here are a few things the show improved on over the books:

Tywin and Arya at Harrenhall

Sansa for Jeyne

Shireen teaching Davos to read

Shireen and Stannis

Shireen ( ok, I like Shireen)

Melisandre's shadow baby

No acolytes in Oldtown yet.

great actors

Jaime in KL for Joffrey's wedding

Bronn

Jaqen h'ghar

"sold himself into slavery to pay his own debts"

Jorah and Tyrion as slaves

Lady Olenna