Gendrya will be better in the books

[Gendry looks good in black]

D&D absolutely ruined both Gendry and Arya. They made Arya an emotionless robot who didn't care about Gendry's feelings at all and they also made her waaaay to confident in the sex scene. As for Gendry oooo boy he might as well be a completely different character. In fact he kind of is. In the show he takes the roll of Edric Storm and not the Gendry in the books. Now I love Joe as Show!Gendry and he does a great job with what he’s given, but I still don’t know why the fuck they casted his grown ass to play Gendry. In the books Gendry is around 14/15 years old. He’s moody, standoffish, rude and extremely distrustful. A stark difference from Joe’s older, calmer more layback Gendry in the show who is around 18/19. His hatred for highborns is also a lot more aggressive so the fact that he becomes friends with Arya has a stronger impact. And his eventual crush on her shows a lot more.

Them casting a grown ass man to be Gendry was what ruined Gendry and Arya's relationship from the start. Because at the time Joe and Maisie’s age difference was the main reason their relationship dynamic and most Gendrya scenes that happened in the books had to be changed. It would have been really weird to have Gendry crushing on Arya when one acter is an adult and the other is a literal child, so they had Arya be the one with feelings first aka the "girl likes older guy trope". when in the books it's "boy likes tomboy girl" trope.

This change in dynamic made Gendry a plot devise for Arya’s storyline more then his own person. It makes him her first crush with little to no focus on Gendry’s feelings or perspective.

For example Book!Gendry would question the hell out of Arya if she suddenly tried to have sex with him. He's not nearly as submissive and would challenge Arya on any idea. It makes their relationship a lot more equal and makes Gendry her partner and not her love sick puppy.

Their reunion in the books will be a lot more complicated which I find exciting.