Game of Thrones

[Omega Alpha]

The other side of this is that the Lannister cousin would be considered somewhat of a coward and traitor for bringing Queen Cersei terms that she would never agree to. If he had courage, he would have told Robb to shove it up his ass when he heard the terms, but he chose to leave prison and deliver them. The rules of diplomacy meant that the Cersei couldn't have him killed for bearing the message, but there's no reason why Jaime couldn't when presented with the opportunity. It sends a message to other Lannister bannermen who are willing to collude with the Starks: "Lannisters always pay their debts... wherever they may be." They haven't gotten into it on the show, but the Lannisters are fond of humming "The Rains of Castermere" whenever they meet with troublesome allies in the books, a song about Tywin having a noble line formerly loyal to the Lannisters exterminated for turning against him.

Did the cousin even know what the terms were before she read them? And he's a prisoner just delivering a message, that hardly counts as treason.

[Titan76]

Yeah, but they haven't shown the conclusion of the scene. In the book, spoilers:

it wasn't revealed what she was doing with Jaime and why until afterwards. Maybe they're doing the same on the show.

end of spoilers

It wasn't revealed, but spoilers:

Cat had already found out about Bran and Rickon before she went to see Jamie and it was explain in the book. In fact, this was the reason why she went to see Jamie, because she wanted what was left of her family back.

end of spoilers

[FanboyStranger]

Did the cousin even know what the terms were before she read them? And he's a prisoner just delivering a message, that hardly counts as treason.

In the books, he did. Not really clear on the show (and it's a different character anyway). And treating with traitors, as the Lannisters consider the Starks, could be considered as treason, especially when you consider how charitable the Lannisters are to people who wrong them. (Remember that singing a funny song about Robert and Cersei was considered treason.) Most people would see it as diplomacy, but the Lannisters aren't most people. At the very least, it would be seen as cowardice, and Jaime sending a message that he's still around to those who would treat with the Starks.

[Marie August]

It wasn't revealed, but spoilers:

Cat had already found out about Bran and Rickon before she went to see Jamie and it was explain in the book. In fact, this was the reason why she went to see Jamie, because she wanted what was left of her family back.

end of spoilers

Yeah, I know. My point is that it wasn't explained until afterwards in the book. So maybe they're doing the same thing on the show. Explaining afterwards what her motivation was.

[Marie August]

In the books, he did. Not really clear on the show (and it's a different character anyway). And treating with traitors, as the Lannisters consider the Starks, could be considered as treason, especially when you consider how charitable the Lannisters are to people who wrong them. (Remember that singing a funny song about Robert and Cersei was considered treason.) Most people would see it as diplomacy, but the Lannisters aren't most people. At the very least, it would be seen as cowardice, and Jaime sending a message that he's still around to those who would treat with the Starks.

I don't think Jaime would do that. My impression of Jaime's character (at least in the books) is that he's not needlessly vindictive or cruel. He doesn't even really hate the Starks, or see them as traitors. Fighting the Starks wasn't personal for him. Pushing Bran out of the window wasn't personal either. He felt it was necessary and unfortunate. And killing this guy was exactly the same. Necessary to escape, and unfortunate since he didn't really seem to dislike the fellow.

[Chiasm]

Game of Thrones has a far better piece of source material than Dexter and Vampire Diaries. And they never pretended to be a close representation of their original books. Season 1 of Game of Thrones was very accurate to the novel, and left me with the expectation that it would be true to George R. R. Martin's vision.

Season one and book one of Dexter mirror each other very closely with only two big differences at the end: a character still alive on the TV show dies at the end of book one and Debra learns his secret at the end of book one. Where the series improves is that it never introduces the subplots of Aster and Cody becoming mini serial killers and it gives more character development to secondary characters.

[jediracer]

whoah, that was pretty spoiler-ish!

[GreatKrypton]

I have to say, one of my favorite elements from Book 2 was spoilers:

all the work Tyrion did to defend the castle. Not really seeing that on the show so far, IMO. And really... no chain

end of spoilers???

[Superbeast]

I have to say, one of my favorite elements from Book 2 was spoilers:

all the work Tyrion did to defend the castle. Not really seeing that on the show so far, IMO. And really... no chain

end of spoilers???

Episodes 8 and 9 will focus on the Battle of Blackwater. Your concerns are for naught. Bron will earn his sigil and you will see how.

[FanboyStranger]

I'm really curious how they're going to pull it off. Not in a negative, "there's no way they can pull it off" way, but generally interested in the kind of choices they're going to make in depicting the battle on the Blackwater. I'm actually pretty excited, even though I know it won't compare to the images I already have in my head.

[Superbeast]

Episode 8 will show the preparations and Stannis fleet arriving, 9 should be the bulk of the battle. I think we'll see a fair few wide CGI shots of wildfire being used, they asked for more money because they didn't want it to disappoint and it's why Robb's armies battles have not been shown in full, they had to prioritise scenes and allocate funds accordingly.

[jediracer]

I think it's safe to assume they've been saving most of their budget this season for those episodes.

[Conn Seanery]

I realize they've alluded to the battle in the show, but enough with the details already.

[jediracer]

wasn't me this time!

[Marie August]

Season one and book one of Dexter mirror each other very closely with only two big differences at the end: a character still alive on the TV show dies at the end of book one and Debra learns his secret at the end of book one. Where the series improves is that it never introduces the subplots of Aster and Cody becoming mini serial killers and it gives more character development to secondary characters.

There's a reason that 99% of the time, books are better than their movie/tv version. And it's because aspects of the original story are cut out or changed. A book writer usually knows how a story is going to end, and they structure everything appropriately. And I've rarely seen changes to something good that actually improve it.

Typically when a movie/tv version is better than the original work is when it is mostly accurate to the original (like The Watchmen, The Lord of the Rings and the first season of Game of Thrones).

I think that the reason that Dexter works so well despite the fact that it is not following the source material is because it follows a very workable show structure. Insert overarching villain/mystery for the season. Insert overarching villain/mystery for the episode. It's a good formula for TV because it works even though the writers have no idea where they are going in the next season. They don't need an overarching plot for the whole show. Just for each season.

A show like Game of Thrones cannot work in a similar way. It would not be nearly as good if there wasn't a solid direction for where it was going to be next season and the season after right now. I don't have faith that a team of tv writers can make changes that will improve a story as complex as The Song of Ice and Fire series.