Differences between books and TV series - Season 3

Game of Thrones (Season 3) vs A Storm of Swords (book) Spoilers may follow.

Valar Dohaeris

 * Nearly the whole scene of the Battle of the Fist of the First Men is omitted.
 * Samwell Tarly is on the Fist of the First Men during the White Walker/Wight attack. He did send out the ravens, but only two of them carried a message.
 * Ghost is not present during the battle, he's with Jon Snow.
 * Most of the remaining brothers of the Night's Watch were all on horseback after their escape.
 * In the books, Rast was never present at the Fist of the First Man as he remained a recruit and stayed at Castle Black.
 * The Wildling spears are all tipped with metal points, while in the novels they're simple sharpened poles.
 * In the novels, giants wear no clothing, they are covered in shaggy fur pelts like mammoths. They are much more like descriptions of a sasquatch or yeti.
 * In the novels, when Jon Snow enters Mance Rayder's tent, Mance is singing a song, which makes Jon think of him as a singer and not the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
 * Mance's wife Dalla and her sister Val were present when Jon encounters him in the novels.
 * Jon does not kneel before Tormund.
 * While Mance is glad Qhorin is dead, he is also sad since he was once his friend.
 * Mance Rayder tells Jon that he visited Winterfell as a singer during King Robert Baratheon's visit.
 * Jon gives a very different reason as to why he wants to join the Free Folk, involving his bastardy and upbringing in Winterfell.
 * Tywin Lannister visited Tyrion many times while he was unconscious.
 * Podrick Payne mentions that Bronn was anointed by the King himself. In the book, Bronn is anointed by a member of the Kingsguard.
 * The scene with Sansa Stark and Shae does not happen in the book.
 * Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish never approached Sansa Stark directly with his offer of escape, but acted through an intermediary - Dontos Hollard. Sansa had no idea that Dontos works for Littlefinger.
 * Baelish never tells Sansa that Arya is alive, as he never visits Harrenhal to observe her as Tywin's cup bearer.
 * It isn't clear if Littlefinger is simply meant to be lying, and never recognized Arya at Harrenhal. Particularly given that Littlefinger doesn't know that Arya escaped Harrenhal, and moreover, that Harrenhal falls to the Starks in this episode, it wouldn't make sense for Littlefinger to realize that Arya was at Harrenhal but do nothing to let her fall out of his control. Compare that he earlier lied to Catelyn about having both Sansa and Arya in King's Landing.
 * The scene between Tyrion and Cersei Lannister in Tyrion's chambers does not happen in the book.
 * The scene where Margaery Tyrell comforts the orphans and hands out food does not happen in the book, though loosely happens "off screen" as it is reported to Tyrion that Margaery is deftly building up support for herself among the commoners by handing out food aid.
 * The dinner scene with the Tyrells and Lannisters does not happen in the book.
 * Davos Seaworth was stranded on a tall spire of rock, not a conical island.
 * Davos was rescued by one of Salladhor Saan's captains, not Saan himself.
 * Davos was not taken to see Stannis Baratheon for months as he was thrown in the dungeon almost the moment he set foot on Dragonstone.
 * In the books it was Lord Bryce Caron who convinced Stannis not to bring Melisandre to the Blackwater, not Davos.
 * Neither Catelyn nor Robb Stark went to Harrenhal.
 * Qyburn was therefore never encountered at Harrenhal having survived a massacre, nor was he affiliated with Robb's army.
 * By this time in the books, Harrenhal was already owned by Roose Bolton.
 * The conversation between Rickard Karstark and Roose Bolton never happened in the books
 * Astapor is constructed of crumbling red bricks in the novels.
 * The Unsullied training also includes the recruits raising a puppy for a year before strangling it to death. Also unmentioned is that during their training the Unsullied are given a potion to drink known as the Wine of Courage, which gradually deadens their bodies' sensitivity to pain. In the books, it is stated that only one in three boys survive the years of training to become Unsullied, while the TV series says that only one in four boys survives.
 * Daenerys is seen traveling with only one ship in TV series. In books she travels with three ships named "Vhagar", "Meraxes" and "Balerion".
 * The ships were sent by Illyrio Mopatis in the books. In TV series, she bought one ship after she had looted Xaro's mansion in Qarth.
 * The assassination attempt on Daenerys Targaryen is made back in Qarth, before she leaves for Astapor. It is also not made by the Warlocks, but by a Qartheen guild of assassins known as the Sorrowful Men.
 * Ser Barristan Selmy does not reveal his identity until much later in the book, after he saves Daenerys from Mero.
 * This change is plot line is the one which could not be avoided as disguising a character in appearance for a TV serial is more difficult than doing so in the books.
 * Daenerys first plans to go to Pentos, but takes a detour to Astapor on Ser Jorah Mormont's insistence.
 * Ser Barristan is accompanied by Strong Belwas in the books, while this character does not exist in the series.
 * Ser Barristan's white hair and beard were grown long as part of his disguise, but not in the series.

Dark Wings, Dark Words

 * Jojen and Meera Reed are introduced much earlier in the books, in Winterfell.
 * Jojen Reed is much younger in the books.
 * In the books Bran dreams of a three-eyed crow, not a raven.
 * Osha, Rickon and Shaggydog had split up from Bran, Hodor, Summer, and the Reeds beforehand in the book. The TV producers said they pushed the Reeds back into Season 3 because there wasn't enough time to fit them into Season 2 without overfilling the season with too many characters.
 * In the books, Catelyn was at Riverrun at her father's bedside when he died.
 * The scene where Joffrey insults Cersei does not happen in the books.
 * While Shae did become Sansa's maid, the two were never on friendly terms as they are in the show.​
 * Loras is considerably upset when he meets Sansa in the books, as she reminds him of more innocent times at the Tourney of the Hand. In the books, Loras killed Renly's two Kingsguard members Robar Royce and Emmon Cuy who were outside his tent when he was assassinated. This was not a calculated punishment, but a "red rage" that the bereaved Loras flew into when he discovered that his beloved Renly was dead. Afterwards, Loras was filled with remorse at his actions. Thus when Sansa first meets Loras after the Battle of the Blackwater, she reminds him that she saw him earlier in the Tourney of the Hand by mentioning that she saw him defeat Robar Royce in the joust. Loras explains that he has killed Royce as well as Cuy, and becomes quite distraught.
 * Sansa Stark's description of Joffrey to Olenna Tyrell is actually much longer in the books. Olenna does ask Sansa to tell here the truth about what Joffrey is like, but (as in the TV series) it becomes increasingly clear that Sansa is worried that they will be overheard by the ever-present spies around the Red Keep. Therefore, Olenna bids her jester Butterbumps to sing The Bear and the Maiden Fair loudly, then louder and louder, until he is bellowing it out at the top of his lungs. Meanwhile, Sansa leans in and whispers to Olenna, while the loud singing drowns out their conversation from any who might be listening. While the exact conversation is not presented in the text, Sansa describes in explicit detail all of the atrocities that Joffrey has committed since becoming king and long before that - lying about Mycah, causing her father to kill Lady, ludicrously ordering a dozen guards to kill a crowd of starving peasants numbering in the hundreds, shooting refugees with a crossbow simply for begging for bread at the castle gates, having her stripped and beaten in front of the entire court, etc. This did not seem to concern Olenna and Margaery, who apparently have already known what monster Joffrey is, and what Sansa told them only confirmed that.
 * Cleos Frey (who was replaced by Alton Lannister in the series) is with Jaime and Brienne in the book. Shortly before the encounter with the Brave Companions, they were attacked by archer outlaws who killed Cleos and injured Brienne. It Cleos' sword that Jaime took when he dueled Brienne. Brienne was injured by two arrows before she fought Jaime. Both managed to injure each other, but Brienne overcame Jaime.
 * Lord Karstark never expresses any thoughts about losing the war in the book.
 * Neither Robb nor Catelyn had any hope that Bran and Rickon might be still alive.
 * Catelyn Stark's tale about cursing Jon Snow with pox is never mentioned in the book.
 * In the books the Wildlings only speak the Old Tongue, though a few speak the Common Tongue, not 7 different languages.​
 * The character Orell appears in this episode, but in A Clash Of Kings, he and Ygritte were two of the three watchers that Qhorin's party encountered. He was slain by Jon Snow. Technically Orell should not appear in the third season. He lives on by warging in his eagle. The TV character "Orell" is more of a condensation with another warg character, Varamyr Sixskins.
 * A character called Small Paul, steward of the Night's Watch, carries Sam on his back in the book.
 * Sam, Grenn and Paul fall behind the survivors of the Watch and encounter one of the Others. Paul is slain but Sam manages to kill the monster by accident, discovering their vulnerability to obsidian (dragonglass) in the proces. The entire scene is omitted from the series.
 * The Night's Watch was retreating through the Haunted Forest in the novel.
 * Arya, Hot Pie and Gendry were all on horseback and were headed for Riverrun using a map Arya stole.
 * Arya came across the outlaws on a road near a river, not the forest.
 * The singer Arya hears wasn't Thoros, but a man named Tom of Sevenstreams, who was singing about a maid of Gulltown, not Rains of Castamere.
 * Thoros wasn't with the outlaws who found Arya. He is described as wearing faded red, almost pink, robes. Being for Myr, he also has a foreign accent.
 * Shae does not come to visit Tyrion until much later in the books, and even then they meet in the cellars at the dragon skulls.
 * Shae never expressed any concern about Sansa.
 * The crossbow scene with Joffrey and Margaery doesn't happen in the books.
 * Renly's homosexuality was only implied in the books, though George R.R. Martin has independently confirmed that he intended Renly and Loras to be lovers. Cersei's private disgust with Renly as a "degenerate" does not correspond to a scene from the novels at this point, though she does make similar comments to this effect disparaging Loras' homosexuality at other points in the book.
 * The events surrounding Theon's imprisonment are not mentioned in the novels until the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons. The reader was left wondering if Theon had survived the Battle of Winterfell, though it is mentioned by Lord Bolton that he is being flayed at The Dreadfort.
 * Sandor Clegane does not appear until much later in the book. He does not reveal Arya's true identity to the Brotherhood Without Banners. Several members of the Brotherhood Without Banners are actually the last remnant of her father Eddard's personal guard that he sent out to bring Gregor Clegane to justice, and one of them, Harwin, recognizes Arya instantly. Harwin was actually present when the newborn direwolf pups were found in the first regular chapter of the series (after the first Prologue scene).
 * The people that find Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth are the Brave Companions (who do not exist in the series), not Bolton's men​. There was no farmer who told them where to find Jaime and Brienne. The noise they made while fighting attracted the attention of the Brave Companions. They also fought for a long time before being found, and ended in a river where Jaime slipped and fell.

Walk of Punishment

 * Brynden Tully isn't too upset with Edmure Tully for missing his father Hoster Tully's funeral boat with his flaming arrow. The book makes it explicit that Edmure misses because he is so consumed by grief at his father's death that he cannot shoot straight. Brynden later tells Catelyn that Hoster himself, at the funeral of Hoster and Brynden's father, was so consumed by grief that he also missed his father's funeral boat.
 * Edmure had been enraged that Walder Frey had sent "a cripple and a bastard" (Lothar Frey and Walder Rivers) to the funeral, but Robb had greeted them with courtesy and gives Lothar Frey a spot as pallbearer.
 * Podrick doesn't get a reward for saving Tyrion Lannister's life in the book. Particularly, he isn't rewarded with prostitutes: Podrick is much younger in the books, only about 12 or 13 years old, but was aged-up for the TV series.
 * Tormund and Orell are not among the Wildlings that Mance Rayder sends to scale the Wall.
 * Also in the books, Mance sent 120 men to scale the Wall, led by Styr the Magnar of the Thenn. In TV series he sent only 20.
 * The specific scenes with Tyrion, Littlefinger, Ros, Bronn, and Pod at the brothel do not happen in the books, though after Tyrion is made Master of Coin he comments on discrepancies in how Baelish has been running things.
 * Samwell Tarly doesn't see the birth of Gilly's baby in the book.
 * The events surrounding Theon's escape are not mentioned in the novels until the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons.
 * Locke (analogous to Vargo Hoat) does not personally maim Jaime in the book. Vargo gives the order, but one of his subordinates in the Brave Companions, a fat Dothraki named Zollo, carries out the deed.
 * Vargo Hoat never participated in Brienne's attempted rape as he was already informed about Tarth's sapphires.
 * The literal "game of thrones" that Tywin Lannister plays with the Small Council does not occur in the books. However it is an accurate assessment of the disposition of these characters: Baelish is zealously ambitious, Varys is content to let Littlefinger think he has the upper hand, and Pycelle has survived numerous regime changes in King's Landing by not actively competing with the other advisors. Cersei is determined to be at her father's right hand even when he doesn't provide her with a position to be so. Tyrion, meanwhile, actively disdains trying to win his father's favor at all, and mocks the others by going out of his way not to.
 * Tywin's Small Council has more members in the books. Mace Tyrell, his bannermen Matthis Rowan and Paxter Redwyne, Kevan Lannister, and the High Septon are all present at the first council meeting
 * Arya Stark and the Brotherhood Without Banners don't stop at the Inn at the Crossroads, but a different inn further southwest known as the Inn of the Kneeling Man. The irony is that last episode, Arya made a big point stressing that the Red Fork of the Trident River is a hundred feet wide and difficult to cross...yet in order to reach the Inn at the Crossroads from Harrenhel, they would have to have crossed the Trident "off-screen" during the middle of the previous episode (as they are already having a meal at the inn by the end of the episode). In the books, the Inn of the Kneeling Man is south of the Red Fork, between Harrenhal and Riverrun.
 * Hot Pie therefore stays at the Inn of the Kneeling Man in the books, not at the Inn at the Crossroads. He stays behind to work baking bread, and he hasn't been mentioned in the subsequent fourth and fifth novels.
 * The innkeeper of the Inn at the Crossroads, Masha Heddle, was killed at the end of the first novel, when the Lannister armies overrun the Riverlands. Tywin has her hanged from a gibbet for allowing Catelyn Stark to kidnap his son. Tyrion himself is upset at this, as Masha was just an innocent bystander and didn't have any choice whether Catelyn took him prisoner or not. The inn is subsequently run by Masha's nephew. Masha's death hasn't been explicitly established in the TV series. In this TV episode, Hot Pie says that "the innkeeper" was impressed by his baking skills, but this doesn't necessarily mean that Masha is still alive in the TV continuity, as Hot Pie doesn't state what the specific name of "the innkeeper" is.
 * Melisandre leaving Dragonstone to search for "a king's blood" is a heavy condensation of Stannis Baratheon's storyline in the third novel. In the books, his brother King Robert does have one acknowledged bastard son, Edric Storm, who was raised at Storm's End. In the second novel, after Renly is assassinated outside of Storm's End by a shadow-creature, Cortnay Penrose the castellan holds out against Stannis and refuses to hand over Edric, so Melisandre has to make another shadow-creature to assassinate him as well. Subsequently Stannis takes control of Storm's End, and takes Edric Storm back to Dragonstone for safe keeping. After Stannis' crippling defeat at the Battle of the Blackwater, Melisandre urges that she must make a blood sacrifice by burning Edric alive as an offering to the Lord of Light. Much of the Dragonstone subplot in the third novel revolves around whether or not Stannis will go through with sacrificing Edric Storm. The TV series apparently didn't want to introduce too many new characters, so Edric Storm's place as a bastard son of Robert possessing royal blood has been condensed with Gendry. In the books, Melisandre never journeys to the Riverlands to find Gendry.
 * Willem and Martyn Lannister are not distant relatives of Tywin, but his nephews. They were not captured by Edmure Tully in the Battle of Stone Mill, but by the Starks long before: Willem and his cousin Tion Frey (son of Genna Lannister and Emmon Frey) were captured in the Battle of the Whispering Wood, while Martyn was captured in the Battle of Oxcross. However, it isn't clear if Robb was simply being sarcastic to make dramatic emphasis that if Tywin didn't stop when his own eldest son was prisoner, he won't stop when his more distant relatives are prisoners either. In Kissed by Fire, Edmure says they are Tywin's nephews.

And Now His Watch is Ended

 * After having his hand cut off, Jaime rode on the same horse as Brienne, at first tied back-to-back, then face-to-face as part of the abusing he suffered from his captors.
 * On the way to Harrenhal, three of the Brave Companions (Rorge, Shagwell and Zollo) sneaked at night to where Brienne slept, intending to rape her although Vargo Hoat forbade them because he believed Jaime's lie about sapphires. Again, Jaime intervened in time to save Brienne from gang-rape: he yelled "sapphires" loudly enough for Hoat to hear him. The three thugs beat Jaime severely till he lost conscious, but his yell did the trick: Hoat came and stopped his men. Since then, Hoat put guards to make sure no one harms Brienne. Brienne thanked Jaime for his help.
 * Varys told Tyrion the tale of how he was castrated before the Battle of the Blackwater, while they were discussing the strange circumstances of Cortnay Penrose's death. In both versions Varys explained that he traveled around in several of the Free Cities before being castrated in Myr, but in the books, he also adds the detail that he was born in Lys.
 * Varys never captures the sorcerer who cut him in the books.
 * Varys' scene with Ros does not exist in the books; Ros is an invented character for the TV series, but even in the books no character spys on Littlefinger for Varys this way. In the books, no one else is aware of Littlefinger's plot to sneak Sansa out of the city.
 * Bran Stark's greendream with the Three-eyed raven doesn't have an exact equivalent in the books.
 * The scene with the Lannisters and the Tyrells in the Great Sept doesn't happen in the books.
 * It is not Joffrey but Stannis who mentions Aerion Targaryen. In fact, Aerion was the older brother of Maester Aemon.
 * It's somewhat ironic that Joffrey mocks Aerion, given that Aerion's personality was actually quite similar to Joffrey's: mentally unbalanced, pointlessly sadistic, cruel to animals, and terrorizing his younger siblings.
 * Joffrey wants to show Margaery the tombs of the last Targaryens (presumably the Mad King Aerys II, his son Rhaegar, and Rhaegar's children Aegon and Rhaenys), and that Robert Baratheon wanted them burned and scattered in the Blackwater River, but the High Septon convinced him to give them a proper funeral. In the books, the Targaryens were very proud of their descent from the Old Valyrian Freehold, and maintained the Valyrian custom of cremating their dead. Thus there are no tombs containing the corpses of past generations of the Targaryen dynasty. Even Rhaegar Targaryen was cremated after he died at the Battle of the Trident. Rhaegar was a man who Robert Baratheon utterly hated and even fantasized about killing again even years after he died, but even Robert still gave Rhaegar a proper funeral (when Rhaegar's soldiers who surrendered at the Trident insisted on it), cremating his body according to the customs of Rhaegar's family. Robert never had to be talked out of throwing their remains into the Blackwater river by the High Septon.
 * That being said, the books never specify what exactly the Targaryens did with the resulting ashes: they might have scattered them, but it is entirely possible that they interred urns containing the ashes (i.e. in a columbarium within the Great Sept of Baelor). Joffrey does state in the episode that Aerion Brightflame's ashes are kept in an urn, but of course, Aerion was burned from the inside out when he consumed wildfire. Joffrey's line still seems to imply that burning the last Targaryens would have been an insult; but his line might plausibly be interpreted as that scattering the ashes (instead of interring them) is what would have been offensive.
 * The books don't give explicitly detailed descriptions of what the Seven look like, other than basic details such as that the Father carries a set of scales, the Crone carries a lantern, etc. Being a visual medium, the TV series of course has to make fully realized artwork depicting the Seven. This episode shows the interior of the Great Sept of Baelor for the first time, and the statues of the Seven in the main sanctum are depicted as Greco-Roman or Renaissance artistic nudes, i.e. the Father looks like a Classical statue of Zeus, with a flowing robe that does not conceal his nudity. The Faith of the Seven is meant to be a loose analogue of the medieval Catholic Church, which was quit conservative and frowned upon such artistic depictions of nudity (albeit Jesus was frequently depicted as naked or nearly so on the cross, etc.) Then again, the Art History of the Seven Kingdoms doesn't need to necessarily correspond to social currents in real life, and such artistic depictions of nudity and religious figures were common in the Renaissance, i.e. the Sistine Chapel.
 * Theon Greyjoy never openly stated that he considered Eddard Stark to be his real father in the books, nor did he ever admit to anyone that the boys he killed and tarred were not Bran and Rickon.
 * The scene where​ Cersei Lannister discusses Jaime and the Tyrells with Tywin never happens in the books.
 * Varys does not discuss Sansa Stark with Olenna Tyrell in the books. In fact, Varys takes no particular interest in Sansa in the novels and the plot to have her marry a Tyrell is Olenna's alone.
 * The scene where Margaery Tyrell and Sansa walk along the coast never happens in the books.
 * There is no character named Allana in the books, either of House Tyrell or otherwise.
 * The Tyrells planned to marry Sansa to Willas Tyrell, who is Lord Mace Tyrell's eldest son and heir, not to Loras, who by this point in the books has become a Kingsguard and cannot marry.
 * Craster has his throat slit by Dirk in the novels, while in the TV series, a dagger is thrust into his throat by Karl, up into the roof of his mouth.
 * Lord Commander Jeor Mormont is stabbed in the gut in the books, not by Rast (who was not there but remained back at Castle Black) but by Ollo Lophand. Mormont did not manage to fight his murderer.
 * Before dying, Mormont told Samwell Tarly to go to the Wall, and to tell them "All. The Fist. The wildlings. Dragonglass. This. All. Tell my son. Jorah. Tell him, take the black. My wish. Dying wish. Tell Jorah. Forgive him. My son. Please. Go".
 * Sam stays back in the books, holding Lord Commander Mormont as he lays dying. Mormont commands him to escape with the others but he doesn't. Then two of Craster's old wives convince him to take Gilly and the babe and leave.
 * Sam and Gilly escape on horseback in the books (the Night's Watch still had some of its own horses when it arrived at Craster's Keep).
 * The Unsullied respond to Daenerys Targaryen' offer of freedom by shouting "Dracarys!" in the novels.
 * Daenerys swings the slaver's whip in Kraznys mo Nakloz' face and then releases Drogon on him with the command "Dracarys".
 * Daenerys offers her ships along with Drogon to buy Unsullied.
 * Missandei is already aware that Daenerys can speak Low Valyrian.
 * Missandei is also much younger than she is presented in the TV series. In A Dance with Dragons Dany says she has great wisdom for just turning 11.
 * Daenerys orders the Unsullied to harm no child under twelve. In the TV series, she wasn't so specific, and just said "harm no child".
 * Daenerys' followers are aware of her plans beforehand and attack the slavers as soon as signaled (when she shouts "Dracarys" and the dragons begin to attack).

Kissed by Fire

 * It is Styr, the Magnar of Thenn, who questions Jon about the number of Sworn Brothers who remained at the three manned castles of the Night's Watch (not only in Castle Black). Jon's answer is "500 at Castle Black. 200 at Shadow Tower, perhaps 300 at Eastwatch". That was a deliberate lie. The actual number of the brothers who remained at the castles was no more than 700: 400 at Castle Black, 100 at Shadow Tower, less than 200 at Eastwatch.
 * In the series, Ygritte refers to Lord of Bones as Rattleshirt. In the books, only the Night's Watch brothers call him by that nickname for mockery, not the Wildlings.
 * Ygritte didn't take Jon's sword to lure him into the caves. The Wildlings were camped in the caves for the night.
 * The chamber where Jon and Ygritte were was pitch black, with only their torch for light.
 * The first time Jon and Ygritte made love was in the middle of the other Wildlings, under their sleepings furs at night.
 * Ygritte never mentions the second man she slept with, only her first.
 * The scene where Cersei asks Littlefinger to investigate the Tyrells never happens in the novels.
 * The scene where Tyrion discusses the wedding with Olenna never happens in the book.
 * It was not Gendry but Lem that stopped Arya from attacking the Hound.
 * Arya told the Hound "You go to hell!". Beric said "He has", either referring to the event Gregor Clegane shoved Sandor's head into a brazier, or speaking metaphorically about the Hound's life.
 * Arya first learned of Gendry's intent to join the Brotherhood when he asked to be knighted by Lord Beric.
 * Lord Karstark is brought before Robb in front of a full court in the novel.
 * Rickard Karstark killed Willem Lannister and his cousin Tion Frey (son of Genna Lannister and Emmon Frey), not Martyn Lannister.
 * Catelyn did not try to persuade Robb to spare Rickard, only Edmure tried to.
 * Robb does not use his sword to behead Rickard Karstark in the novel. He uses an axe, and takes several swings to take his head completely. Robb is disgusted by the act in the novel, throwing down his axe afterward.
 * In the books ​eight men killed the Lannister prisoners, only two died and one was too wounded to move.
 * It was Greatjon Umber who punched Karstark for calling Robb "boy".
 * Karstark's forces did not account for half of Robb's army in the novels. Indeed, it is kind of absurd to insist that one noble House makes up almost half of the entire North's army. This might be explained away by Robb meaning that it was almost half of his currentgarrison at Riverrun itself. In the books, the Karstarks have around 2,300 men. Robb brought twenty thousand Northerners south, and they were joined by a perhaps equal number of soldiers raised by the Riverlords. They have been taking some losses in the war, and Robb has divided his forces between Riverrun in the west and Harrenhal in the east.
 * Robb's plan was not to attack Casterly Rock in the books, it was to re-take the North from the Ironborn. At this point, Robb had returned to Riverrun from his campaign harrying the Westerlands. Casterly Rock and Lannisport were left with only a skeleton force of defense, but even so, Robb was reluctant to attack its solid defenses with the few men he had, particularly given that he had to divide his forces when the Greyjoys attacked the North. The TV series presents this as a last-ditch effort spurred by the defeat of Stannis by the Lannisters and the loss of the Karstarks. Robb's plan in the books was indeed to return to the North, to drive the Greyjoys out and rebuild his power base from a more defensible location. There was some concern that soldiers would abandon the fight to gather harvests for winter, but the reasoning was that they'd at least still defend the North itself if the Lannisters tried to advance through the Neck. Thus in the books, Robb doesn't just need the Freys' soldiers, he physically needs to cross back over the Twins to retake the west coast of the North from the ironborn.
 * The Freys had already pledged their forces to support Robb, but left his side soon after he broke their marriage pact. This apparently occurred "off screen" at some point before episode 2 of Season 3, "Walk of Punishment", when Robb's marriage to Talisa is presented as public knowledge (Bolton and Karstark refer to her as Robb's wife). In the books, the loss of the Frey alliance is treated as a major disaster, costing them some four thousand badly needed troops. The TV series treated it like Robb wasn't particularly concerned, even though it was arguably worse than losing the Karstarks, given that the Freys have more men and control a vital strategic passage into and out of the North.
 * Overall, the books were ambiguous as to whether Robb executing Karstark was the right decision, while the TV series presents no practical argument for why it must be done, making it appear to be an even worse mistake. In the books, it's pointed out that Robb has to kill Karstark to atone for the two Lannister prisoners he murdered, otherwise the Lannisters will probably respond by executing Stark prisoners in retaliation; that, and Robb needs to maintain basic discipline in his command, and can't let such direct treason go unpunished otherwise he will look weak. Then again, the TV series already built up Catelyn's release of Jaime Lannister to be far worse than it was in the books, in which after being told that Bran and Rickon died at Winterfell, Catelyn fears (not unjustifiably) that Joffrey might kill Sansa simply on a whim, despite the fact that they hold his "uncle" hostage, so the only safe option is to get her daughters out of harm's way as soon as possible. Both decisions did have practical underlying reasons in the books, not pure emotion or ideology, so presenting Robb's decision to execute Karstark as having no practical merits sort of evens out for how much worse Catelyn's decision has been presented. In the books, Robb also has sex with then marries Jeyne/Talisa out of grief when he hears that Bran and Rickon are dead, so neither Catelyn or Robb feel they can justifiably be angry at the other, because they both made brash mistakes. The decision to break the alliance with House Frey, however, cost Robb more troops than the Karstarks had, and denied him a vital strategic passage back to the North.
 * Beric's second death smashed in the head with a mace by Ser Burton Crakehall.
 * He wasn't hit with an axe, nor was he hung and stabbed in the eye at the same time. Those were two separate deaths. It may have been too difficult to portray the actor with a caved-in skull using practical effects.
 * Selyse is often by Stannis' side in the books.
 * Stannis never apologized to Selyse about anything. The books are ambiguous about if Stannis is consciously aware that Melisandre had sex with him to create a Shadow-creature, or if due to the magical powers involved, he didn't clearly remember what happened.
 * It is uncertain whether Selyse found out that Stannis was sleeping with Melisandre, and if she cared.
 * Selyse did not keep her stillborn children in jars in the novels. In fact it is never mentioned in the novels that she ever gave birth to stillborns. She mentions "Edric" as the name of one of her stillborns. Edric Storm is a bastard-son of Stannis' brother Robert, who was kept on Dragonstone for safekeeping in the novels, but who was removed from the TV series; Edric is actually a fairly common name in the Stormlands.
 * The song Shireen sings in the show, and is also played during the ending credits, was sung by her fool Patchface. Shireen was scared of the song.
 * Stannis never told Shireen Davos was a traitor in the novels, nor did Davos ever give her a toy ship.
 * The pyromancer's name that Jaime mentioned is Rossart.
 * Jaime's story about killing Aerys is given in two parts:
 * During the journey with Brienne and Cleos Frey, Jaime muses how he approached Aerys, who had sent him earlier to kill Tywin. Aerys asks if the blood on Jaime's sword is Tywin's. Jaime answers "Rossart's". Too late Aerys realized that Jaime turned against him. He lost control of his bowels, tried to run for the throne, but Jaime caught him and slit his throat. Before Jaime could leave and let some braggart take the credit/blame, Elys Westerling and Lord Roland Crakehall entered and saw him standing over Aerys' body. Crakehall was not surprised, figuring (incorrectly) that Jaime killed the mad king so the Lannisters can seize the throne. He asked Jaime "Shall I proclaim a new king as well?". Jaime knew what he meant: either Tywin, or Robert Baratheon, or one of the surviving Targaryens. He thought for a moment of the boy Viserys or baby Aegon. But when he glanced down again at Aerys' body, he thought "his blood is in both of them". "Proclaim who you bloody well like," he told Crakehall. Then he climbed the Iron Throne and seated himself with his sword across his knees, to see who would come to claim the kingdom. As it happened, it had been Eddard Stark.
 * Jaime did not kill Rossart in front of Aerys in the books, nor was he present when Aerys gave the command to ignite the wildfire caches; in the books, Jaime was fighting to defend the Red Keep, but he knew the battle was lost. He sent a messenger to ask Aerys's leave to ask for terms of surrender; Aerys sent back the reply that Jaime bring him Tywin's head to prove his loyalty. When the messenger mentioned the pyromancer Rossart was with the king, Jaime guessed they were about to go through with their plan, and went to stop them. He killed Rossart trying to sneak out of the Red Keep to enact Aerys' orders.
 * There were three pyromancers involved in Aerys's plot to raze King's Landing, not one as the TV series implies. Jaime slew Rossart during the Sack along with Aerys, and then hunted down and killed the other two (Belis and Garigus) in the days following the battle, to ensure all those who know of and could enact the plan were dead.
 * Eddard Stark was not the first to find Jaime after killing Aerys. Elys Westerling and Roland Crakehall were the first to enter the throne room and see Jaime standing over the mad king's body.
 * Shireen never visits Davos in the books, nor does she attempt to teach him how to read. Maester Pylos is the one who offered Davos to teach him, after Davos was released from jail, and he agreed.
 * Ser Barristan did sit on the Small Council in the books; he was present at the meeting where Daenerys's assassination was discussed, heard Jorah Mormont was the source of the information and was the only one besides Eddard Stark to protest the decision.
 * Ser Barristan and Jorah Mormont never befriended one another while serving under Daenerys.
 * Littlefinger never sent Olyvar to Loras in the books. The only book character by that name is Olyvar Frey, son of Walder Frey, who served as Robb's squire and proved to be very loyal. He never had anything to do with the Tyrells or Littlefinger.
 * Indeed, at this point in the books, Loras swears that he will never love again after Renly's death. Of course, having sex with Olyvar in the TV series wasn't presented as a new "romantic relationship".
 * Loras was not the heir of Highgarden in the books, elder brother Willas was. In fact, he had two older brothers, Willas and Garlan.
 * The Lannisters discovered Olenna's plan to marry Sansa to Willas by Dontos Hollard: Sansa innocently told him about the Tyrells' offer, unaware that he serves Littlefinger. He told Littlefinger, and that's how it was informed to the Lannisters.
 * Since Tyrion did not like the idea of marrying Sansa, Tywin said that if he didn't have her, she would be wed to Lancel or another of Tyrion's cousins. Kevan was not sure if that would work, for Lancel did not recover yet from his injuries.
 * Tywin did not intend to marry Cersei to Loras, but to his older brother Willas Tyrell or to Balon Greyjoy, by her choice, and it was much later in the novel. Cersei was not thrilled by either alternative "the old squid or the crippled dog boy".
 * In the series, the Unsullied are given new names after being castrated. In the books, they draw new names every day.

The Climb

 * The bickering between Meera Reed and Osha does not occur in the novel. In fact, Osha, Rickon and Shaggydog are not even part of Bran's party, having left on a different course after The Sack of Winterfell.
 * Meera did not hunt any rabbits, but fish and frogs.
 * Jojen had no dreams about Jon.
 * Melisandre never goes to the Riverlands in the novels, and thus never encounters the Brotherhood Without Banners. She never meets Thoros, Beric, Arya or Gendry. Gendry is never taken by Melisandre's men. In fact, Melisandre had been interested in another one of King Robert's bastards being kept on Dragonstone called Edric Storm. However, Edric's character and storyline have been cut with the series.
 * Tywin never has a conversation with Olenna concerning Loras and Cersei. At this stage in the book, Loras is already in the Kingsguard so he cannot marry anyone. Cersei was offered to Willas Tyrell instead, a character that has been cut from the series, so this serves as a highly condensed version of that subplot.
 * Interestingly, in the books Arya Stark actually does know some basic High Valyrian, which she learned as part of her lessons with Maester Luwin. Then again she's stated to not know it very well, as she's only a child and hasn't been studying it for many years, so it's debatable if even book-Arya would have been able to understand two other people speaking in fluent High Valyrian.
 * Jaime did not try to persuade Roose Bolton to let Brienne go with him.
 * Roose said that Brienne would stay in Harrenhal for Vargo Hoat's entertainments, not under arrest for abetting treason.
 * Tyrion never confronted Cersei about Mandon Moore.
 * Cersei never admitted that Tyrion saved the city by using wildfire. According to Tywin, she was (unjustly) given the credit for that.
 * Orell never cuts loose the rope to which Ygritte and Jon are clinging to. In fact, Orell had already been slain in A Clash of Kingsby Jon Snow and was never there to climb the wall, although he does live on as a warg in his eagle.
 * The Starks, not the Freys, were the first to offer that Edmure, instead of Robb, will marry one of Lord Frey's daughter. The Freys accepted the offer.
 * Brynden Tully never threatened Edmure. On the contrary, he said "I am the last man in the Seven Kingdoms to tell anyone who they must wed, Nephew. Nonetheless, you did say something of making amends for your Battle of the Fords".
 * Walder Frey never wanted Harrenhal in the book.
 * Loras never acqaints himself with Sansa to the extent shown in the show. Sansa was not even offered Loras by the Tyrells, but his elder brother and the heir to Highgarden, Willas Tyrell.
 * Sansa has never been given early warning about her impending wedding to Tyrion. On the marriage day, she was taken from her room under threat of force right to the ceremony.
 * Shae knew about Tyrion's impending wedding to Sansa before he told her. She told him that she had heard a page telling Ser Tallad about it, who had heard it from a serving girl who overheard Kevan talking to Tywin about.
 * Ros does not exist in the book, so her execution in the episode was new material.
 * Black Walder Frey was not on a visit in Riverrun to negotiate the wedding with Lothar Frey, it was Walder Rivers.
 * Melisandre says Thoros was sent to Westeros to convert King Robert to the religion of R'hllor. In the books, he was sent to convert the Mad King (the faithful of R'hllor believed Aerys' obsession with fire would make him a willing convert). Thoros did still hang around the royal court under King Robert and became one of his drinking companions, but he had even less luck preaching about the Lord of Light to Robert than he did to Aerys.
 * Ygritte hates the Wall in the books, and never had any dreams of standing on top of it. She also never reveals to Jon that she knows where his true loyalties lie.
 * Jarl is leading the climb up the Wall in the books, not Tormund.
 * Jon and Ygritte are not among the dozen Wildlings who first scale the Wall.
 * While climbing the Wall, large pitch of ice broke off the Wall, Jarl and other climbers fell and were killed. Once the remaining climbers reached the top, they threw ropes to the Wildlings on the ground. Ladders were pulled to the top of the Wall, and only then Jon, Ygritte and the other Wildings climbed much more safely and conveniently (though the climb was still dangerous and cost more lives) than in the series.
 * In the books, Jon and Ygritte reach the top of the Wall around midnight, not in daylight.

The Bear and the Maiden Fair

 * Robb Stark's wife Jeyne Westerling, changed to "Talisa Maegyr" in the TV series, never told him that she was pregnant. It is possible that Jeyne is pregnant in the later books, which chronologically would mean she became pregnant around this time if she has.
 * Neither Orell (who was killed by Jon in "A Clash of Kings") nor any of the Wildlings ever disapproved of the growing romance between Jon and Ygritte. Indeed, some of them encouraged it, and were confused by Jon's initial retience towards Ygritte/
 * The scene with Theon Greyjoy does not specifically happen in the books, but is loosely adapted from flashbacks given in later books. The books never outright state that Theon's torturers castrated him, but it was twice alluded to in "A Dance with Dragons".
 * There are minor book characters named Myranda and Violet, but they do not have anything to do with the Boltons and Theon's torturing.
 * The conversation between Sansa and Margaery about the marriage to Tyrion does not occur in the books. Sansa never discussed it with anyone, because she was not told until the wedding itself, and the Tyrells distanced themselves from Sansa after their plot was discovered.
 * The conversation between Tywin and Joffrey does not occur in the books.
 * The conversation between Tyrion and Bronn does not occur in the books.
 * Tyrion never gave any chain to Shae.
 * Shae was not upset at all about Tyrion's impending marriage to Sansa. On the contrary, she told him indifferently: "I don't care. She's only a little girl. You'll give her a big belly and come back to me." Tyrion was quite upset at Shae's indifference, which proved to him that she does not have any true feelings to him.
 * There is no mentioning in the book that there are 200,000 slaves in Yunaki.
 * Daenerys' meeting with the Yunkish envoy is different in the novel. First, the Yunkai'i meet her with an army of slave soldiers and sellswords at their back. Second, they do not offer her any ships to carry her to Westeros (that offer was made much earlier by Xaro Xhoan Daxos), but one chest of 50,000 gold marks (not bullions) which she does not keep when she rejects their terms. Third, she orders Drogon to breathe fire on the envoy as he leaves, setting his tokar (a Ghiscari garment) on fire.
 * The Yunkai envoy's name is the books is Grazdan mo Eraz.
 * Osha never mentions any husband or other relatives.
 * There was no goodbye conversation between Jaime and Brienne before he left Harrenhal.
 * As Jaime left Harrenhal, he said goodbye to the Brave Companions, promising them "I will be back. A Lannister always pays his debts".
 * Jaime never told Qyburn or anyone else except Brienne that he saved the residents of King's Landing.
 * Jaime did not ask Qyburn if he was expelled from the Citadel because "he fondled one boy too many". That comment may refer to the pedophile Septon Utt (so far did not appear in the series), another member of the Brave Companions, who used to molest and murder children until he was caught and hanged by the Brotherhood without Banners.
 * Jaime decided to rescue Brienne after having a fevered dream of her, not after hearing from Qyburn that Vargo Hoat/Locke refuses to accept the ransom her father offered. Jaime was irritated to hear that, but did not change his mind until after the dream.
 * While Jaime was gone, Vargo Hoat tried to rape Brienne, but she fought him and bit off one of his ears. When Jaime returned to Harrenhal, he noticed that Hoat's left side of his head is covered with bloody bandages.
 * Brienne's fight with the bear is different in the book. First, she fights it with a metal tourney blade. Jaime did not notice immediately it was a blunt sword but only after she stabbed the bear without causing any injury. Second, when Jaime arrives he is accompanied by 200 Northmen commanded by Steelshanks who outnumber the Brave Companions/Locke's men two-to-one. Third, Vargo/Locke tried to rape Brienne and she bit off his ear. Fourth, Steelshanks and several other Northmen killed the bear with a dozen or so crossbow bolts. Fifth, Jaime and Brienne do not climb out of the arena, the bear is killed before there would be need to do so.
 * Gendry never learns that he is Robert's bastard.
 * Orell never takes an interest in Ygritte (since he was killed by Jon in A Clash of Kings).
 * In the books, Margaery never tells Sansa that Tyrion might make a good husband. Instead, her brother Garlan, who doesn't exist in the series, does it. Also, in the books, it happens later, at the wedding itself.

Second Sons

 * It is not Grey Worm but Strong Belwas who offers Daenerys to cut Prendahl Na Ghezn's tongue when the latter talks rudely to her. When Mero talks rudely to Daenerys, none of her guards offers that.
 * The scene between Prendahl Na Ghezn, Daario Naharis and Mero picking coins to decide who would assasinate Daenerys does not happen in the book. It is Mero and not Daario who sneaks into Daenery's camp after his defeat and flight from the Battle of Yunkai. Mero almost slays Daenerys before he is stopped and slain by BarristanSelmy (still disguised as Arstan Whitebeard). Only after that point, Selmy's true identity is revealed.
 * Daario is a captain of another sellsword company called the Stormcrows along with Prendahl na Ghezn and a character called Sallor the Bald. In the novels, it is these two characters that Daario beheads to gain the trust of Daenerys. He sneaked into her camp (with no malicious intent), but was caught by the Unsullied. He showed Daenerys the severed heads, and declared "the Stormcrows are yours". Mero was not part of the Stormcrows but a commander of the Second Sons, and so was not slain by Daario.
 * Shortly before the ceremony, Tyrion told to Sansa that if she didn't want to marry him, they would wed her to Lancel instead, so if she prefered to marry Lancel - she could ask to.
 * The wedding scene between Sansa and Tyrion is different in the book. Sansa is alot more distraught throughout the procedure, and outright refuses to bend down when Tyrion attempts to cloak her - her only act of defiance throughout the entire ceremony. Thus Tyrion had no choice but to stand on Dontos' back in order to cloak Sansa in the colors of House Lannister, while evryone had a good laugh. There was no chair that Joffrey took in the show.
 * When Sansa asks Tyrion what if she never wants him to touch her, he answers "that is why the gods made whores for imps like me".
 * Neither Shae nor anyone else checks Tyrion and Sansa's bed for stains of maidenhood blood.
 * The scenes between Gendry and Melisandre never happen in the book, although there is some truth to them. In the show, there are leeches gorging on Gendry's blood, but in the book, there are leeches gorging on Edric Storm's blood, an acknowledged bastard of King Robert present on Dragonstone. Edric's bloodletting is performed as medical treatment, but off-screen. Stannis comments offhandedly that Edric coughs, shivers, has a fever, and Maester Pylos has been leeching him.
 * Melisandre never gets intimate with anyone except Stannis (and that is only implied to take place off-screen).
 * Sam's encounter with the white walker is different in the novel. Firstly, the White Walker that Sam slew in the book with the Dragonglass dagger occured shortly after the Battle at the Fist of the First Men, when the surviving Night's Watch members were retreating back to the Wall. The creature that Sam encounters with Gilly is a Wight (a human slain by a White Walker and has risen again at their command), formerly a steward for the Watch named Small Paul, who carried Sam for a while during the retreat from the Fist, and was killed by the Other which was subsequently destroyed by Sam. In the novel, Sam sees many Wights surrounding him, most of which he recognises as his fallen Black brothers (Chett, Lark, Softfoot, Ryles and others). He attemps to use his dragonglass dagger in this scene to kill the Wight of Small Paul, but fails as Dragonglass is only effective against White Walkers, and it shatters when he tries to stab the Wight with it. Sam tries his steel dagger, but for no avail, for Wights are not affected by stabbing of normal weapon. Luckily, Sam manages to grab a burnt wood and thrusts it into the Wight's mouth, thus destroying it, but there are many more wights attacking them. At that point, countless ravens swarm and attack the Wights, saving Sam and Gilly.
 * The scene where Cersei threatens Margaery and informs her about House Reyne of Castamere does not happen in the novel, although the scene still voices a good deal of Cersei's interior monologues regarding Margaery.
 * Cersei was born six years after the Reynes and Tarbecks were destroyed by Tywin, hence she could not have seen the rotting bodies.
 * Stannis never comes to visit Davos in jail.
 * Stannis does not express sorrow for the death of Davos' four sons, or just one son in the series, at the Battle of the Blackwater.
 * The order in which Stannis names the "false kings" while burning the leeches is opposite than in the show: Joffrey, Balon and Robb.
 * Gilly wouldn't give her baby a name before he is two years old, according to the Wildlings custom that she follows.