Changes you wouldn't mind.

[Cereal Forel]

That may be so, but that's not really a trade off that the producers would have to make. Dany's amount of screen time in season one won't affect her amount of screen time in season two in any way.

No, that's definitely true. Let me put it this way, I would gladly trade Dany time for Stark time in the first season, how's that? :)

If you ignore that it was the motivating factor behind Robert's call for the assassination of Daenerys, and hence the inciting incident for their falling out, that almost sounds plausible.

:shrug: Robert had been trying to assassinate Dany and her brother since he took over the iron throne. Her pregnancy was certainly the tipping point in his falling out with Ned, but that could be easily explained away if you think about it. Ned has always fought Robert tooth and nail about his wan-ton view of killing children. If the pregnancy had never happened, Robert would have likely tried to assassinate her for one of many reasons.

I'm not arguing that the pregnancy shouldn't be included. I think the series should be as accurate as possible. But if it is (and I have a suspicion that it might be based on the previews we've seen), I won't be that upset over it.

[Padraig]

:shrug: Robert had been trying to assassinate Dany and her brother since he took over the iron throne.

While Viserys did tell Dany that, IIRC we have no other evidence that Robert tried to kill the Tagaryens before hand.

When you say, get rid of the pregnancy, do you mean that they should get rid of the whole Stallion that Mounts the World thread? Meeting the Dothraki crones etc? Dany been pregnant itself doesn't take up anytime but that does. We do know that somebody has been cast as a Dothraki crone, so I think it will feature. And i'd be surprised if she doesn't get pregnant. I don't see her role been downplayed. (HBO seems to be playing up her character so far). And her losing her child will make the final episode very tragic. The fact that she probably can't conceive again is an important plot point also.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Robert had been trying to assassinate Dany and her brother since he took over the iron throne.

Quite the opposite. Robert had never tried to assassinate Danaerys and Viserys until she became pregnant. Jon Arryn stopped him while he was alive, and then she was under the protection of Illyrio and he didn't dare spark a conflict with Pentos. It wasn't until Daenerys became pregnant that he started trying to have her and her brother killed.

[Mad Monkey]

What about Viserys's and his "Usurper's hired knives" following them around their entire life? Are you implying that you know better than Viserys Targaryen, the King of Westeros!?!!??

There are other ways you could do the assassination plot besides pregnancy. Like, Robert could be pissed that Dany found a nice guy and settled down, or maybe Varys might "find" a belligerent note that Viserys wrote to Robert comparing him to an obese reindeer.

Yeah, really. This cause so many complications and takes up so much screen time. If you take this out, there is plenty of room to give to Cersei and Lancel's relationship. I think a lot of people would be really happy to see this fleshed out.

Exactly. Besides, television is all about sex; what's hotter than Cersei on Lancel action? Certainly not Eddard Stark reading books about genealogy for an entire season.

[Cereal Forel]

While Viserys did tell Dany that, IIRC we have no other evidence that Robert tried to kill the Tagaryens before hand.

When you say, get rid of the pregnancy, do you mean that they should get rid of the whole Stallion that Mounts the World thread? Meeting the Dothraki crones etc? Dany been pregnant itself doesn't take up anytime but that does. We do know that somebody has been cast as a Dothraki crone, so I think it will feature. And i'd be surprised if she doesn't get pregnant. I don't see her role been downplayed. (HBO seems to be playing up her character so far). And her losing her child will make the final episode very tragic. The fact that she probably can't conceive again is an important plot point also.

Yes, I mean get rid of the entire "stallion that mounts the world" thread of her story line.

I guess it's possible that there were never hired knives following her and Viserys around their entire lives, we all know Viserys was delusional. I always took it at face value considering how much hatred Robert had for all things Targ, Jon Arryn be damned.

Hopefully it will be featured, but if it isn't I won't be upset. :)

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

I guess it's possible that there were never hired knives following her and Viserys around their entire lives, we all know Viserys was delusional. I always took it at face value considering how much hatred Robert had for all things Targ, Jon Arryn be damned.

But why, when we have Robert making it perfectly clear to Ned that he never did any such thing?

[Jack Sparrow]

But why, when we have Robert making it perfectly clear to Ned that he never did any such thing?

Plus, don't we know from Dany's chapters that these "hired knives" were never actually seen? Wouldn't there have been some actual attacks? And, if there weren't any attacks, how would they know there were hired assassins after them? When Robert decided to hire an assassin in AGoT, there is a corresponding attempt on Daenarys's life, and this is after she is married to Drogo and has bodyguards.

[Cereal Forel]

But why, when we have Robert making it perfectly clear to Ned that he never did any such thing?

Maybe I'm just misremembering then. I don't recall that little tid-bit.

[Monday]

Yes, I mean get rid of the entire "stallion that mounts the world" thread of her story line.

On a different thread (I forget which one) someone made the point that the whole 'stallion who mounts the world' thing is important because it shows that prophecies are not only open to false interpretation, but can be utter BS.

[Ran]

Well, the prophecy may not be utter BS, as such. I think I'd read it as being misinterpreted -- the "stallion that mounts the world" are the dragons or Dany herself, basically.

Vic,

Robert does indeed say that he wanted to send assassins early on, but Jon Arryn dissuaded him from it. This is at the council meeting where the decision is made to put a price on their head after all.

It was a paranoid delusion of Viserys's.

[Civfan]

I agree about Tyrion's flip, unless it really is important. Also Cat's "it should have been you" line.

I would like it if they took out Viserys grabbin' at Dany's nipples. :| Really making him less cruel to her in the very beginning would be cool. I seem to recall her having some pleasant memories of him, but that's hard to believe when he's talking about letting horses rape her if it makes him King(right in the very beginning, too.) Also if he seems to care about her or respect her (I mean, she should be above everyone else in the world in his eyes, since she's a Targayen too..) it might make more sense when she 'betrays' him and falls to becoming a 'lowly' dothraki. Nawmeans? Hope that made sense.

[Rinso]

Actually, almost any change bugs me at this point... I do mind making Ned a badass fighter, and I'm kinda 'meh' on the Tullys not appearing in Season 1.

I could go without Tyrion's acrobatics, they are out of place when he spent three books complaining about his stunted, useless body.

As for the Stallion who Mounts the World, I think it showed that prophecies are not... absolute. In ACOK, when she was in the House of the Undying, Dany got a glimpse of a possible future in which her son had become the conquering Stallion. Destiny can be predicted, but it's not fixed; actually there is not destiny, there are destinies. Rhaego was supposed to be the Stallion, but life just took another path, and now we have the Prince who was Promised.

[Cereal Forel]

Vic,

Robert does indeed say that he wanted to send assassins early on, but Jon Arryn dissuaded him from it. This is at the council meeting where the decision is made to put a price on their head after all.

It was a paranoid delusion of Viserys's.

Ah that's right, I do remember that.

This series has a lot of prophecies :worried:

[trio]

I could go without Tyrion's acrobatics, they are out of place when he spent three books complaining about his stunted, useless body.

Well he wouldn't be complaining in the script about his body.....and I do suspect strongly that he's going to be a lot more physical in future books. But neither do I think the flip is that important, so you could cut it out. It does show, I guess, a physicality that would make it vaguely believable that he could be halfway decent in the later battles.

The nipple-tweaking is possibly already cut out. In the trailer we saw that scene and Viserys was across the room delivering those lines. Perhaps he still does it, but I wouldn't be suprised if it's gone.

Tyrion's nose? I'd bet you any money that it's going to be a gruesome scar across the face, but the nose is still there. Cos otherwise they're going to have to do very time consuming Voldemort-style prosthetics which could be very difficult on a daily basis for a character that's in so many scenes. And who would be frequently lit in quite bright sunshine also, so the prosthetics would have to be flawless.

My own personal change I'd not only not mind, but would welcome: the editing of Kettleblacks. There are too many of them and I can't keep them straight. Make 'em just one guy.

Also, I had no interest in being introduced to Aurane Waters. He pops up, looks hot and intriguing, but ends up being nothing and doing nothing. He just flees with a couple of ships. It's a long way off, but I'd ditch him entirely.

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Eh, not necessarily. Aurane Waters could very easily show up in later books. By the time a season 4 rolls around though (if we get that many seasons) we should have a better idea what he's up to.

[spikebrennan]

Some changes I wouldn't mind:

* Cutting the Three-Eyed Crow entirely, and coming up with a better way to provide exposition regarding Bran's development of his warging skill. Perhaps Old Nan can just tell him.

* Cutting the House of the Undying entirely. (A lot of people will disagree here because the scene seems so cinematic, but I believe that long extended symbolic prophecies work a lot better in text than they do on screen. I'm concerned that portraying the House of the Undying the way it is in the book will seem like David Lynch/Twin Peaks weirdness, will be extremely confusing to viewers who aren't familiar with the books and with backstory elements such as Rhaegar/Lyanna.

* Cutting the Lady Hornwood subplot. It's entirely off-camera (and wouldn't work on-camera without showing what Ramsay Snow looks like-- which is no good because that would spoil the Reek plot twist).

* Combining Amory Lorch with Gregor

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

* Cutting the Lady Hornwood subplot. It's entirely off-camera (and wouldn't work on-camera without showing what Ramsay Snow looks like-- which is no good because that would spoil the Reek plot twist).

The Lady Hornwood subplot is pretty crucial to Bran's season two storyline, though. It leads to great disorder in the North, providing an explanation for the ironborn's relatively swift conquest; it gets Ramsay into the Winterfell dungeons and hence leads to his sack of Winterfell at the end; and it introduces a number of characters that will be important in the North in ADWD. (You could perhaps replace it with something else, but most likely that would take place largely off screen as well.)

[Guest Other-in-Law]

Also, the subplot isn't entirely off screen. The background for it is on screen, with Lady Hornwood herself, Lord Manderly, and the Umbers discussing her remarriage at the Harvest Feast at Winterfell. Only the bastard isn't seen, of neccessity.

[Rinso]

Some changes I wouldn't mind:

* Cutting the Three-Eyed Crow entirely, and coming up with a better way to provide exposition regarding Bran's development of his warging skill. Perhaps Old Nan can just tell him.

* Cutting the House of the Undying entirely. (A lot of people will disagree here because the scene seems so cinematic, but I believe that long extended symbolic prophecies work a lot better in text than they do on screen. I'm concerned that portraying the House of the Undying the way it is in the book will seem like David Lynch/Twin Peaks weirdness, will be extremely confusing to viewers who aren't familiar with the books and with backstory elements such as Rhaegar/Lyanna.

* Cutting the Lady Hornwood subplot. It's entirely off-camera (and wouldn't work on-camera without showing what Ramsay Snow looks like-- which is no good because that would spoil the Reek plot twist).

* Combining Amory Lorch with Gregor

Apart of combining Amory Lorch with Gregor, all of those would bug me to no end....

[FatCatOberyn]

I don't think anything needs to be removed. The only complaints I have so far is on the stuff they have already changed. GRRM has given HBO what I believe to be the perfect material for a TV show, so no changes are necessary, plot-wise. The only reason why they should ever cut something, in my opinion, is if they are incapable of filming it right.

And something I saw the other people mentioning. Cat's "It should have been you" line, should definitely NOT be removed. Her hatred for Jon Snow is part of her character, and should not under any circumstances be cut out.