[Book Spoilers] Nitpick without repercussion!

[ckongo]

The show writers have taken the opposite view from the books in some ways.

- Renly acts more like Stannis (stiff and serious); Stannis more calm at their meeting. And there was almost no dialogue for a parley. And no peach!

- Renly directly states he doesn't like Petyr despite them often joking together at council in the books

- Petyr telling Tyrion to "waste someone elses time" when he suspected Tyrion might suggest Petyr go to Catelyn to suggest trading the girls for Jaime (which is exactly what happens in the show)

I get annoyed when the show takes out good scenes/characters and instead adds shit ones.

-That Daenerys scene where she has her dragons in air tight baskets and won't let them out almost like an HBO exec came out and whispered in her ear. Then that weird scenario with Xaro cutting his hand...

- We know Joffrey is evil. But the writers want some excuse to put in Ros.

Oh, and how they said Harrenhal did not have the SPACE for the prisoners.

[Davos55]

Oh, and how they said Harrenhal did not have the SPACE for the prisoners.

I never thought of that, but it really makes no sense now that you say it. It is an absolutely enormous "castle" and there are plenty of places for prisoners to be held.

[Raksha the Demon]

it was just too brief, shoulda been harder to stomach, shoulda been more effective

So far in the TV series, Sansa has been hit twice and (this time) menaced with worse but saved from it. In the book, it was implied that she was slapped around at least hard enough to leave bruises fairly often; and in the scene where Joffrey tried to strip her, she was struck by a sword (I think on her legs) with enough force to require medical attention (I think there were welts, though she did recover, physically). Sansa's physical suffering and constant stress, and how she endured and survived it was a key element in her storyline; but HBO seems to be far more interested in showing naked prostitutes and more and more Roz scenes.

Excuse me if I believe that Ned Stark's older daughter is a far more important character than Roz. And how much time would it have taken for the Hound to say "that's enough"? They could have cut three seconds from the prostitutes' foreplay, or cut out the scene with Joffrey abusing the prostitutes altogether.

I don't know why they had to send Littlefinger to Catelyn? Littlefinger really isn't stupid enough to think that Catelyn will just forget the last 20 years of her life and fall into his arms as if she never met, married, loved Ned Stark and bore him five children. Well, at least book-LF wasn't that stupid. This Littlefinger is dumb enough to reveal intimate details about his motivations and early life to the hired help (last season; one of the scenes I can't fast-forward quickly enough).

Renly and Stannis are neither charismatic nor interesting. (Natalie Dormer's Margaery is both; I thought it rather funny that poor Renly seemed scared to death of her proposed consummation of the marriage, especially when she offered to bring Loras in to help)

[teemo]

here's another. it's fine if they are going to switch the scene of the interrogation from the village to harrenhal. but then they should ummmm come up with new questions maybe. they keep asking if there's gold in the village. what village? god knows how far it is from where they are now. why is that a major concern?

perfect nitpick...winner.

[RobertOfTheHouseBaratheon]

1. That Dany Scene, it was getting interesting until Xaro pulled off some ancient Klingon rite to give Dany access to the city. It was such a contrived plot hole it sticks out like a sore thumb amoungst the book scenes. GRRM would never write something so cliche.

2. It's like they don't care about Stannis's story, they've become attached to Robb & Tyrion's that they don't want to add a new character to take the limelight. Have they not read all the books, do they not know how important Stannis becomes? In my opinion they should have spent most of the first episode in Dragonstone really fleshing out Stannis and Davos instead of giving us that catchup episode. They could have had Stannis receiving dispatches on the situation recapping Robb and Tywin and adding Renly's situation on that amazing table they built. That way we'd be told clealy what battles happened where and when and it would be a great catchup with Robb's situation without a pointless scene that told us nothing.

3. The Mountain needs to gain weight, quickly.

4. Could they not have had a scene of Tyrion/Cersei finding out Stannis's ships have left Dragonstone, cue panic, "we not ready for an attack". Viewer believes Stannis is going to attack KL then a couple of scenes later at Renly's camp it's announced they are beseiged by Stannis. That's what happens in the book, it would add tension and surprise for the viewer.

(edited to add point 4)

[birdsong66]

Suggesting that Chinese Dumplings will trump Twelve of The Thirteen at the gates of Qarth.

"I invoke Shu Mai"--Xaro

Seriously. Funny. That.

The dialogue as a whole was snipped and altered in a way that can only be detrimental to the development and characterization of those involved. Why did Cat not put forward her offer of a great coalition and alliance of high lords to fight the Lannisters, and let the people choose their king afterwards? Why did Stannis not promise to give Cersei and Joffrey's heads to Cat, yet still make it abundantly clear that Robb is "no less a rebel than my brother here"? In fact, Cat may as well not have been there at all, whereas her presence and suggestions were key in the book.

bolding mine

With what they (D&D, HBO) have done to her character, in what could well be described as the infancy of this series, she may well not be a character at all. Personally, I'm fairly well entrenched in the "GoT producers don't like Catelyn, the character, the idea, the necessity" camp. Perhaps if Esme B. had been cast as Catelyn it would all be different. LOL.

[Natmus]

How does Tyrion keep himself updated on the whereabout of Catelyn? In episode 3 Cat arrives at Renlys camp, and later the same episode Tyrion dispatches Petyr (who manages the brothel meanwhile, one wonders?) to Renly. And Tyrion must be aware of Catelyn being at Renly's camp, because Petyr is able to bring Ned's bones to Cat there in episode 4. No reason for Petyr to bring them along if Cat wouldn't be there, but how did they know?

Also, why is Cat there at all, according to the show? In the book she had a reason and a mission, but I'm not really sure what the show is pretending she is doing there.

[Buckwheat]

1. No peach!

2. Joff, Ros and the whateverhernameis scene.

3. Too little Sansa.

4. Volantene whoever who might be Jeyne in disguise.

5. Now Catelyn is not intelligent enough to think of releasing Jaime himself? LF needs to spell the plan out for her? What.

6. Littlefinger wearing a toga or whatever that was. I have no special reason, but it annoyed me.

[secretninjaboy]

My biggest beef with this season: the complaints about having not enough hours to tell the story, but they waste so much screen time! We now have Talisa (WTF IS THAT) and Ros is becoming this incredibly huge character in every fucking episode. It was annoying, and then the Joff scene with her was just too much. Cut the bull, HBO, and get your act together, because the next two seasons cover a lot of material, and they don't have time to replace characters and spend half the time on fucking Ros.

[White Raven]

I don't know if anyone's pointed this out yet, but... I just realised that you'd only pronounce Qarth the way Dany does if you saw it in writing first. If someone just came to you and told you that the city is called Qarth, why would you pronounce it "Quarth"?

That's interesting, does Jorah pronounce it "Qarth" or "Quarth" when he talks to Dany? i can't remember.

[Davos55]

He pronounces it Qarth, and so does Dany when she replies. Then for some reason later she says Quarth. Perhaps it was meant to be a metajoke about people mispronouncing it or something.

[Xander Baratheon]

because Petyr is able to bring Ned's bones to Cat there in episode 4. No reason for Petyr to bring them along if Cat wouldn't be there, but how did they know?

I knew reading this thread was a mistake because now the episode has become an even bigger disappointment to me. Every episode this season has been me at the end going, "Meh. Well, next week things will straighten out and this show will get back on track..." Also, I'm just going to add Stannis and company in general as a letdown. If I hadn't read the books since last season I don't think I would have any idea who any of those characters really are . Davos in particular.

[RaiyneStark]

My nitpick is the modernization of the female characters. I'm a modern woman and enjoy being so, but part of the appeal of ASoIaF for me is how different the medival lifestyle and sensibilities are. In the scene where Robb meets Talisa, she shows him no respect (He is a KING) and then she says something sassy to Roose Bolton! Gasp! We all know how Talisa would have faired with book Lord Bolton had she spoken to him that way.

[teemo]

My nitpick is the modernization of the female characters. I'm a modern woman and enjoy being so, but part of the appeal of ASoIaF for me is how different the medival lifestyle and sensibilities are. In the scene where Robb meets Talisa, she shows him no respect (He is a KING) and then she says something sassy to Roose Bolton! Gasp! We all know how Talisa would have faired with book Lord Bolton had she spoken to him that way.

Bolton could have shown viewers the meaning of flaying right there.

[birdsong66]

Also, I'm just going to add Stannis and company in general as a letdown. If I hadn't read the books since last season I don't think I would have any idea who any of those characters really are . Davos in particular.

So. Much. This.

I've actually encouraged non-readers to wait in reading the books, until after the HBO season completes, or altogether...I mean, if you're already unsullied, why open that pandora's box of frustration? :tantrum: Just watch with someone who has read them and is willing to fill in the blanks.

I'm a problem solver. :thumbsup:

[Tadco26]

He pronounces it Qarth, and so does Dany when she replies. Then for some reason later she says Quarth. Perhaps it was meant to be a metajoke about people mispronouncing it or something.

I'm sure it was, but it contributed to the whole thing coming across as almost a parody of the show between that, the spice king declining to give his name "as too hard for foreigners to pronounce" (who really thinks their own name is too hard to pronounce?), Dany saying she would starve to death and then threatening to come back when her dragons were grown and the whole hand cutting ritual they made up. It was everything that gives fantasy a bad name. I understand the reasons for not wanting to show the dragons this episode, but the thing is the only reason they "needed" to show the dragons is because the writers made the thirteen insist on it. As I said before, they could have easily rewritten it as follows:

13 recieve Dany and refuse to let her enter

Dany offers to reward those who help her now once she comes into her kingdom

Spice King wants to see dragons first

Dany offers to show them all after they have eaten and rested

Xaro agrees to host them

[_Oberyn_]

My nitpick is the modernization of the female characters. I'm a modern woman and enjoy being so, but part of the appeal of ASoIaF for me is how different the medival lifestyle and sensibilities are. In the scene where Robb meets Talisa, she shows him no respect (He is a KING) and then she says something sassy to Roose Bolton! Gasp! We all know how Talisa would have faired with book Lord Bolton had she spoken to him that way.

Actuality there is

that peasants use to be rude and lippy to their kings.

True story :rofl:

[RaiyneStark]

Actuality there is

that peasants use to be rude and lippy to their kings.

True story :rofl:

Good one!

[RSasoiaf]

I'm sure it was, but it contributed to the whole thing coming across as almost a parody of the show between that, the spice king declining to give his name "as too hard for foreigners to pronounce" (who really thinks their own name is too hard to pronounce?), Dany saying she would starve to death and then threatening to come back when her dragons were grown and the whole hand cutting ritual they made up. It was everything that gives fantasy a bad name. I understand the reasons for not wanting to show the dragons this episode, but the thing is the only reason they "needed" to show the dragons is because the writers made the thirteen insist on it. As I said before, they could have easily rewritten it as follows:

13 recieve Dany and refuse to let her enter

Dany offers to reward those who help her now once she comes into her kingdom

Spice King wants to see dragons first

Dany offers to show them all after they have eaten and rested

Xaro agrees to host them

The issue here is that they wanted Dany to go all "Fire and Blood" once again. They did get she looks cool and they seem to think it´s the only thing they can have her do so far this season. Therefore, they just needed some excuse for her to go "I will burn you all with my dragons". It´s something this show has been quite consistent with, they pic a few bits and they keep reinforcing the same idea each episode. It was like that with Dany´s dragon eggs last season, it is like that with Baelish, it is like that with Dany this season. Only now the idea is: You see, she has dragons and she will burn everyone who stands in her way, dont forget she has dragons and she will kick hass.

I think they could have got something better for her to do and Dany would be a good character to expand from the books. I would be ok if they expand Dany at the sacrifice of other characters. But what they do is also in line with book Dany so i guess it´s ok, but it is not perfect writting.

[Targaryen Kaiser]

I also feel that Joffrey is being portrayed as way too cruel and Cersei not cruel enough. It's ok to humanize her a bit like with that scene with Robert in S1, but lets not forget that she's still a bitch and capable of very cruel things when it comes to protecting her family.

Too be honest, I really like Lena's Headey portrayal of Cersei. Humanizing her now may make her "fall" in AFFC and ADOD have more impact for the non- book viewers.

The only think that somehow bothered me was the brother's Baratheon parlay but not that much. I am a fan of the books but I have already contemplated that some things in the TV series will be different (unless they change dramatically the plot).