User blog:Draevan13/Differences between books and series

Obviously, the series can't be identical to the books. Actors chosen won't always be similar (though makeup can make them close enough) to the characters they're based on, locations are impossible to replicate in perfect detail, certain plot points or motivations need to be explained out loud, battles or events are too costly to make as they are in the books, etc. However, my problem with the series is that many differences aren't necessary.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the series. My problem is, having read the books to death, I always get annoyed when I notice differences. Little things that could easily be fixed with makeup or dye, i.e, most of the Lannisters not having the golden blonde hair from the books, instead brown or dirty-blond hair or none of the Targaryens having the right eye color really bug me. I know that it's said it impedes the actor's performance, but having worn contact lenses for years, I find that hard to believe. The absolute nadir being Jaqen's hair. They only dye a single strand of hair white instead of half his hair, that's just being lazy.

But of course, these are small wardrobe and makeup problems. My real problems are with the characters and plot points. The series has an annoying habit of killing off characters at the wrong time (i.e the Tickler), killing off characters that are still alive and will play a role in later books (i.e Xaro Xhoan Daxos or Pyat Pree, which means they'll have to invent brand new characters to fill their role), not killing characters that are supposed to die (i.e Preston Greenfield) or not introducing characters (i.e the Reeds or the Undying, though I hear they'll be doing it in season 3). I see very little reason to not follow the plot points from the books, especially since the author is on the development team. Now, I'm not an author, but it seems to me that he would have a problem with HBO changing so much, where doing it as it's written wouldn't be a problem. Not to mention adding in characters out of the blue (Ros, never understood why she's there) or changing a character's names and motivations (i.e Jeyne becomes Talisa) In the book "A Storm of Swords", it makes sense when Robb marries Jeyne for reason X. I'm not going to spoil the third book, for fear of the block-hammer descending from on high, but Robb marrying Talisa in the series  MAKES NO SENSE . I do not understand why HBO keeps changing everything when "being faithfull" wouldn't cause any problems.

Of course, some changes make sense. The Battle of the Blackwater from the books would have been spectacular, but the whole fleet battle would have been to expensive to make. Adding the White Walkers in the season finale is obviously to bait the viewers for season 3. Making certain events and characters POV make sense in a TV series. Regardless, I have an small feeling of dread for the third season. The plot points and characters are going to get more complex, and I wonder what they're going to change next. Draevan13 (talk) 22:37, July 24, 2012 (UTC)