Smaller Changes that Irritated You

[Lady Stonehearts Simp]

We all know the complaints now. How drastically the show changed the story. But what were some of the smaller, less consequential changes that you hated the most?

 

For me, they’ll way the Tower of Joy was butchered is unforgivable. First off, the cut Oswell Whent for no reason. And then they gave Arthur Dayne a second sword for no reason. The choreography was awful. And the Kingsguard armor looks so ducking ugly. 

[kissdbyfire]

I’m lucky, I never got as far as the ToJ scene… 

As to the changes, there are plenty that I wouldn’t have minded if they’d managed to produce a good quality show w/ a coherent story. Sadly they failed miserably, and because of that I will begrudge and moan and bitch about every single change, even the tiniest, most inconsequential ones forever.

 

[StarkTullies]

I will only talk about the first season, the best-adapted season with only "minor" changes... but many of those minor changes had long-term consequences leading to major changes later on.

• The opening scene.  White Walkers (show) were portrayed as one-dimensional monsters right from the start.  They cornered Will and the show gave no plausible explanation for his escape.  This sets up the show for over-hyped yet ultimately easily defeatable supervillain monsters with no motives except that they are evil monsters.  The Others (books) laughed, had a language, etc.: implying that the Others will be quite different from the White Walkers before the end.
• Show Will warns Ned about the White Walkers... and then Ned never mentions it again.  If Book Gared had warned Ned (he didn't, too incoherent to do so), Ned would probably have executed him anyway, but he still would have followed up about the Others.
• Flipping Ned and Catelyn's viewpoints in the very beginning.  Show Catelyn begged Ned not to go to Kings Landing; Book Catelyn talked him into it.  This unnecessarily changed the nature of both characters.
• Transferring the life-changing speech to Jon from Donal Noye to Tyrion Lannister.  This was Tyrion's first "good act" in the show, and "the villain" (according the George Martin) was turned into a hero he was never supposed to be from the very beginning.
• Sam bonding with Jon about being mutual virgins.  Show Sam always looked for loopholes in how he could break his vows, while Book Sam meant his vows (though did break them, and felt guilty afterwards).  This is a setup for Show Sam also later casually saying "the Night's Watch isn't for me...", while Book Sam was appalled that Jon wanted to send him to the Citadel.
• Show Robb willingly sacrificing 2,000 men as a mere diversion so the other 8,000 men could capture Jaime by stealth.  Book Robb wouldn't have done that, and it also downplays the importance of the split army.  Therefore Roose never led the other half of Robb's army, therefore the North capturing Harrenhal doesn't happen, and therefore Qyburn's introduction in the show makes no sense... etc., etc.
• Cutting the Tullys and Riverrun out of the first season, so therefore Jaime is just a perpetual prisoner in a poorly guarded, constantly moving cage in an open camp.  It changes the nature of Jaime's attempted escape in Season 2, damaging Jaime's character in the process.
• Drogo killing Mago.  George Martin specifically called this out as a "butterfly effect", though since the show was so dumbed down by the time Dany reunites with Dothraki at the very end of Season 5, it probably didn't matter anymore whether Mago was still alive or not.
• Tyrion telling the story of Tysha to Shae and Bronn, rather than to only Bronn a little earlier.  Shae mocks Tyrion in saying "of course she was a whore"... which I guess is when the show confirmed that Shae's statement was the show's truth.  Which again leads to major changes in Tyrion's arc later on.

[The hairy bear]

Not sure if it counts as small, but the idiocy of having Jaime kill his cousin to escape (and the fact that it worked) was one of the lowest points in the first seasons for me.

[kissdbyfire]

3 minutes ago, The hairy bear said:

Not sure if it counts as small, but the idiocy of having Jaime kill his cousin to escape (and the fact that it worked) was one of the lowest points in the first seasons for me.

Yeah, it was. Two things were very clear from the start irt how the showrunners felt about the Lannisters: they looooooooved Tyrion, Cersei & Tywin, and they really disliked Jaime and went out of their way to paint him in the worst possible light. From the scene you’ve mentioned that didn’t work but also showed him as a monster, to all the comments about Jaime being so stupid etc. Another great character butchered beyond recognition. 

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

9 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

Yeah, it was. Two things were very clear from the start irt how the showrunners felt about the Lannisters: they looooooooved Tyrion, Cersei & Tywin, and they really disliked Jaime and went out of their way to paint him in the worst possible light. From the scene you’ve mentioned that didn’t work but also showed him as a monster, to all the comments about Jaime being so stupid etc. Another great character butchered beyond recognition. 

Oh my, D&D's romanticization of Tyrion is almost sickening.

Other minor changes I hated:

• We didn't get to see Ned Stark cradle a dead Jory Cassel in his arms, and in the rain.
• They robbed us of Ser Garlan (idc how minor he is in the books, I would have loved to see him in the show.)
• They dumbed down Sansa and Jon (seriously, they both failed geography in the show)
• Had Robb confine Catelyn to her quarters because ???
• Made Jon overly sullen and moody
• Provided us with a boring lunch between Lady Olenna, Margaery, and Lady Sansa, instead of giving us the epic feast with the giant egg and Butterbumps screaming "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" at the top of his lungs
• Robbed us of Daenerys' "Freedom! Dracrys! Dracarys!" She has really great quotes in the books, but the show gave her empty speeches.
• The lack of jewelry, crowns, and jeweled hair nets gets to me also
• Also I was extremely bored with Talisa :/ 
• Asha's (Yara) story arc..

[kissdbyfire]

6 minutes ago, Ser Arthurs Dawn said:

• The lack of jewelry, crowns, and jeweled hair nets gets to me also
• Also I was extremely bored with Talisa :/ 

Agree w/ everything. And don’t get me started on snow!Tyrion

Just to add, yeah, lack of jewelry etc but instead we had the most hideous wigs ever, just atrocious - the wigs looked like roadkill on characters’ heads. 
 

And Talisa! Talisa, the early 20th century nurse being sassy w/ the king she didn’t know was painful to watch besides being boring af. Like something out of a cheap romance novel or a bad soap. And then the stabbing of the foetus in the womb for maximum shock was also so bad. It’s funny, the showrunners seem to be very proud of their RW, but it was terrible and stupid. 

[Angel Eyes]

The lack of hats, particularly in the North. If you're worried about everyone looking alike, give the principal actors unique hats.

[Nevets]

The Hound not getting to tell his own story to Sansa.  It sets up their whole dynamic.  Plus it's cinematic as hell.

Halfhand and Jon's flight from the wildlings, leading up to the order to desert.

Talisa, the time traveling Red Cross nurse.  Why exactly did Robb marry her?  Not to save her honor at cost to his own, that's for sure.  Stark honor?  Either stupid or merely an illusion.  The Lannisters got whitewashed while the Starks got smeared and slandered.

While not exactly minor, I really miss the Horrors of Harrenhal.  In the book it's one of the scariest places you can imagine a lone 10-year-old being stuck in.  On the show, it almost feels like just a really bad vacation.

[kissdbyfire]

4 minutes ago, Nevets said:

While not exactly minor, I really miss the Horrors of Harrenhal.  In the book it's one of the scariest places you can imagine a lone 10-year-old being stuck in.  On the show, it almost feels like just a really bad vacation.

Damn, those chapters are so good! I hated everything about it in the show, and I especially hated kindly grandpa Tywin.

[Nevets]

16 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

Damn, those chapters are so good! I hated everything about it in the show, and I especially hated kindly grandpa Tywin. /cdn-cgi/mirage/da73728698a693d14e03ebfae227eb9cc2ee375eaadc22e6f153b5b7b79b6b50/1280/https://asoiaf.westeros.org/uploads/emoticons/default_bang.gif

I was looking forward to seeing how they handled all the sex, violence, and sexual threats and violence in those chapters.  That it would be dialed back I expected.  That it would be completely ignored was ... irritating.  Like I said, it felt like just a really bad vacation.

[Many-Faced Votary]

I honestly tried to give this a fair response, but virtually none of the changes remained "small," or even if they did, they were part of sweeping and highly problematic changes in context. Butterflies become dragons, after all.

Consider Cersei's prophecy, for example. Her supposedly having had a stillborn child with Robert (i.e., four instead of three children) should have completely invalidated it, so she spent her entire life believing something that was objectively false for... reasons. (Although on the topic of Maggy the Frog, I suppose modifying the number of children Robert had for literally no reason is a rare example of a change that remained small without shifting the meaning and implications.)

ETA: Also, I just remembered that Maggy was a sexy witch from Les Misérables instead of a crone whose appearance screamed "(dark) witch," for funsies or something. (Oh, and Cersei was super-nice to Melara and totally didn't kill her, but that is of course a huge change.)

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

19 hours ago, Angel Eyes said:

The lack of hats, particularly in the North. If you're worried about everyone looking alike, give the principal actors unique hats.

Idk what they were thinking with the Northern costumes, especially for the noble houses. They applied *too* much simplicity in their wardrobe to the point that it made no sense for the Northern region. The only fur is on the shoulders of their capes. No fur trims or edges, which is more effective for warmth (and it's prettier ). No protection for the neck or ears. Lack of color for nobility, and bright colors would be useful if someone were to get lost in the snows.

[EggBlue]

I try to stick to earlier seasons since the second half of the series was full of huge changes:

1. Dany's wedding scene with Drogo changed to rape

2. Hoster Tully's funeral scene: in the show, Blackfish angrily mocks his nephew while in the book he kindly consoles him about failing to shoot the first arrows. honestly, that's a 180 change for Blackfish's character. he is not beloved in the book for his sass. he's beloved because he's the embodiment of "family, duty, honor" and the perfect uncle!

3. show-Cat didn't have book-Cat's ambition. in the book, she wants Ned to go to the South and her daughter to be queen. meanwhile, show-Cat rolls her eyes at her daughter's dream to marry the fucking crown prince.

4. in the book Joffrey has a way of showing himself better than the piece of shit he is when he wants to, especially in book 1. in the show one wonders what Sansa sees in him.

5. Tyrion is an angel in the show! please!

6. Talisa! I won't elaborate. that was just killing Robb's character.

7. angelizing Jorah Mormont. for god's sake I liked the show version of this creep. that tells you how much of a change that is. and it's not just that the actor is hot. it's in the demeanor and lack of any aggressive behavior.

8. the silly change in Renly's character from the starting point.

9. Margery acts wayyyy older than her book counterpart and I missed Garlan terribly. 

10. humanizing Tywin in his scenes with Arya! as if Tywin thinks twice about his fierce daughter or enjoys the company of a small sharp child. Tywin is a hateful man who sees people as tools. also, those scenes took away all Roose scenes. 

11. despite GRRM's compliments about show-Shae, I personally think the book-Shae works better. although, admittedly, show-Tyrion has it in him to be loved by Shae , while book-Shae has no reason to fall for that creep.

 

 

 

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

12 hours ago, EggBlue said:

2. Hoster Tully's funeral scene: in the show, Blackfish angrily mocks his nephew while in the book he kindly consoles him about failing to shoot the first arrows. honestly, that's a 180 change for Blackfish's character. he is not beloved in the book for his sass. he's beloved because he's the embodiment of "family, duty, honor" and the perfect uncle!

I haaate what they did to my Edmure! But I also don't like how he's treated in the books either. Someone once said that he's the Meg Griffin of the series.

[Raven Princling]

Not sure if these count as small.

1: Talisa annoyed the hell out of me. Some random woman from across the Narrow Sea speaks to a King in that sassy tone and never gets anything for it- not a threat, nothing. Her entire character felt so out of place, and I do not know why they swapped Jeyne Westerling for her. 

2: They put so much focus on Tyrion's whoring (especially in season one) and whitewashed his character him a lot.

3: They did the same thing with Cersei (whitewashing). Although Lena Headey as Cersei is one of my favorite things about the show, the scene of her telling Cat about stillborn son with Robert is completely out of character. Even if this happened in the books, Cersei would be too prideful to expose it like that.

4: They made Daenerys an annoying brat in season 2 to the point I started disliking her. The fandom obsessing over her did not help. The scene of her and Qarth merchant specifically annoyed me. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not remember Dany going around demanding things from people just because of who she is. Not in Clash at least and not the way she did in the show.

5: They completely took away Joffrey's ability to make appearances. Show Jeoffrey was just a brat from the get-go.

6: This is really petty  and irrelevant, and I will admit it, but I disliked the show's Valyrian language. It sounded way harsher than I imagined when reading the books. 

7: They butchered Loras as a character and made his sexual orientation the sole focus. It annoyed me, because book Loras is more than that the fact he likes men. Esp considering the fact that he probably loved Renly (instead of going to brothels after his death in the following books).

8: Way too many pointless brothel scenes that took away from potential characterization. 

9: Yara. Enough said.

10: Absence of Riverrun from first 2 seasons. I think it first appeared in season 3 when Hoster died. 

Edit: I remember the way the show made Doreah a traitor annoying me too.

[kissdbyfire]

2 minutes ago, Raven Princling said:

7: They butchered Loras as a character and made his sexual orientation the sole focus. It annoyed me, because book Loras is more than that the fact he likes men. Esp considering the fact that he probably loved Renly (instead of going to brothels after his death in the following books).

This! They destroyed Loras. Well, they destroyed everyone, so he’s in good company in that regard. But just thinking of Olenna making homophobic jokes about Loras makes me so mad all over again.

[EggBlue]

43 minutes ago, Raven Princling said:

7: They butchered Loras as a character and made his sexual orientation the sole focus. It annoyed me, because book Loras is more than that the fact he likes men. Esp considering the fact that he probably loved Renly (instead of going to brothels after his death in the following books).

this I completely agree with. I'd say they butchered Renly in the same manner. they basically turned them from complex characters who happen to be gay and deal with that in their society among other things into silly stereotypes defined by their sexuality, which is irritating. but also kind of ironic, considering the books are older than even me and were written by an old white dude, while the show is a product of the 21st century! 

43 minutes ago, Raven Princling said:

Edit: I remember the way the show made Doreah a traitor annoying me too.

oh, I had forgotten that! that was a stupid change. I say that for the whole Qarth storyline . 

[Angel Eyes]

14 hours ago, EggBlue said:

 

oh, I had forgotten that! that was a stupid change. I say that for the whole Qarth storyline . 

Granted, the Qarth storyline isn't much better in the books.

[EggBlue]

1 hour ago, Angel Eyes said:

Granted, the Qarth storyline isn't much better in the books.

yes, Qarth was boring in the book. but it made better sense and it involves the House of Undying chapter that we are debating about to this day. I don't remember debating that much about the show's House of Undying scene.  and I never as a show fan liked Qarth's sack or that the Dothraki were massacred only to turn up again for the sack and fade away afterward yet again. in fact, the most intriguing part about the show Qarth was Quaithe which I personally naively kept expecting to show up again!