Adapting Game of Thrones Part II: Crows, Dragons and Rising Winds

Seasons 1-4 of Game of Thrones were great translations of the first three Ice and Fire books. While various changes were made, some big and some small, the showrunners largely kept the narrative of the first few books intact. For seasons 5-6, the real changes occurred. This is partially because books 4 and 5 are happening at the same time, just at different parts of the world. To keep the series’ momentum going, the showrunners wisely condensed the meat of both books down into one season. For some book plots, it helped. For others, it did not.

(Warning: heavy spoilers for books 4 and 5 and seasons 5 and 6 follow)

Season 5: Tyrion Goes East

Tyrion’s story is one of the plots that does work better here than it does in the books. For book Tyrion, it was a huge deal learning that his first wife Tysha was not a whore, but a commoner who genuinely loved him. He asks Tywin where Tysha is now, to which he sarcastically replies “wherever whores go.” Tyrion repeats these words over and over in his mind in book 5, as he goes overseas to meet Daenerys Targaryen.

Traveling to meet Dany is still Tyrion’s arc in season 5, but in the show, it’s a lot more potent. Tyrion only goes to Dany in the books halfheartedly, having nothing left to live for after fleeing Westeros. Even though his goal is to get to Dany, he spends his time sulking over Tysha, asking everyone he meets “where do whores go?”

Since Tysha is basically a non-entity in the show, having Tyrion sulk over a character we never see would be redundant. The show wisely brings back the snarky dynamic between Tyrion and spymaster Varys, who tells him of his conspiracy to restore Dany and the Targaryens to the Iron Throne. With no direction in life, Tyrion still makes his way to Dany, but meeting her becomes his new purpose, not asking for Tysha’s whereabouts. It’s a much better focus that ties into the story at hand. This simpler focus also removes some, let’s say complicated subplots that only add more filler to the overall saga.

In the books, Varys sets Tyrion up with a man named Griff and his son Young Griff. Griff is eventually revealed to be a former lord named Jon Connington, while Young Griff is Aegon Targaryen, the son of Prince Rheagar Targaryen (and thus Dany’s nephew). Varys means to restore the Targaryen Dynasty in both the show and books. But the books have him backing young Aegon, who plans on marrying Dany to strengthen his claim to the throne. By removing Griff and Aegon, a complicated piece of backstory is taken off the board, thereby simplifying Tyrion’s journey (and Varys’s plot) to backing Dany’s conquest.

However, the Griff plot seems to be a huge part of the books. Why remove it, since it makes the story more layered? Well, despite its seeming importance, the books actually imply that young Aegon is not a Targaryen. He was supposedly smuggled out of King’s Landing at the end of Robert’s Rebellion, replaced with a baby who the Lannisters killed. Dany receives a prophecy to “beware the mummer’s dragon,” implying that a false Targaryen will rise to compete with her. Young Aegon could be that pretender, which would also explain why the show cuts it. Why adapt a plot that goes nowhere, if it doesn’t serve the overall story? Removing it allows the show to focus on the players that are already in the game.

This mentality of removing filler plots is part of what drives season 5. Another aspect is giving the stories of new book characters to already existing show characters. Since books 4 and 5 are when Martin introduces a bunch of new storylines, it makes sense that the showrunners would simplify things by giving important plots to people we know. For example, Griff is attacked by Stone Men and given the sickness called Grey Scale. The show gives this arc to Jorah Mormont, making his plan to get to Dany more urgent. This mentality is also where Jaimie comes in, driving his season 5 story arc.

Season 5: Jaimie and Dorne

In book 4, Cersei sends Jaimie to the Riverlands to retake Riverrun, the last stronghold fighting against the Throne. The show does eventually adapt this subplot, but waits until season 6 to do so. Instead, in season 5 Cersei sends Jaimie off to Dorne. He is meant to collect their daughter Myrcella, who is betrothed to the Dornish prince Trystan. Dorne has a huge part to play in book 4, but the story there unfolds through a new set of eyes.

In the book, it is Dornish princess Arianne whose POV we read about. Her plan is to raise Myrcella to the Iron Throne. By Dornish law, the first born ascends the throne regardless of gender. Thus, Myrcella should be next in line ahead of her brother Tommen, the current king. Arianne hopes to start a civil war with King’s Landing by backing Myrcella as Queen of Westeros. The show removes Princess Arianne, and gives her plot to Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes. But instead of trying to raise Myrcella, they plan to simply kill her out of revenge for Prince Oberyn’s death. Jaimie, then, must intervene to save his daughter. A fascinating new political subplot, which involved new characters and a peak into Dornish society, is scrapped for a thinly sketched revenge scheme.

There are several problems with this. On the one hand, it’s understandable why we would want someone we’re familiar with (Jaimie) to anchor this new part of the world. It also makes sense to remove Arianne to simplify the narrative. But by doing so, the show removes everything that made Dorne unique in the books. Interesting new characters like the Sand Snakes, supreme badass Areo Hotah and Prince Doran have none of the depth that the books gave to them.

The Snakes have no personality, and come off as violent thugs. Doran isn’t the conflicted ruler he should be. And Areo Hotah, the royal guard who’s one of the most impressive fighters in Westeros, is just there. Ellaria Sand’s character is neutered as she is consumed by revenge, never thinking of the consequences of her actions. Her plan to kill Myrcella can’t make up for Arianne’s clever (if ill-planned) book plot. Everything the show does in Dorne feels like a pointless side quest, adding nothing to the main story. What’s more, everything feels too convenient, like Jaimie turning up just as the Sand Snakes strike.  

Dorne’s biggest crime in the books is that most of these interesting new plots ultimately go nowhere. But at the very least, they develop Dornish culture and their characters’ worldviews. They also introduce a new political element that could still play heavily into coming events. The show sidesteps all this development to rush in Jaimie, get rid of Myrcella and then in season 6 have the Sand Snakes stage a (very quick) coup. Ellaria mocks Doran as he dies, saying he did nothing while his family was killed. The books go to great lengths to show how Doran is actually a quiet schemer, spending years backing a Targaryen restoration.

This leads to another book 5 filler plot, involving Doran’s son Quentyn failing to propose to Dany.  Ultimately, he’s killed by one of Dany’s dragons. Kind of makes sense why that plot was cut, right? Even so, it at least established how Dorne was more connected to Dany and Westeros than we initially thought. By simplifying Dorne’s motivations to Ellaria’s quest for revenge, and removing Doran’s development, it lessens Dorne’s importance to the story.

It’s no wonder why Dorne’s season 5 arc was the most reviled by fans. So reviled, in fact, that it only gets two scenes in season 6. The coup is the first, while the second shows Dorne allying itself with both Dany and the Tyrells. Ultimately, Dorne is still helping to back Dany’s conquest. But despite the books' filler, Dorne came off a lot better there than in the show, which made the country feel so pointless and disconnected there was barely a reason to include it. For these reasons, Dorne is definitely the weakest adaptation of the books to date.

Seasons 5 and 6: Sansa, Theon and Ramsay

But it’s not the only translation that backfires. Almost everything involving Theon Greyjoy, Ramsay Bolton and Sansa Stark is gruesome to watch, for several reasons. The books had Ramsay’s torture of Theon occur off page, so when we next see Theon he’s been fully conditioned into Reek and is deathly afraid of Ramsay. We saw Ramsay’s evil through Theon’s eyes, so the books didn’t need to develop Ramsay as anything other than a truly terrible person. The show has us witness Ramsay’s torture of Theon, and so much more. By season 5, Ramsay’s random acts of evil are already excessive, and yet they continue.

As part of the show’s mandate to simplify storylines, Sansa Stark (still in the Vale in the books) takes the place of Jeyne Pool aka “Fake Arya Stark” and marries Ramsay. She is then raped by Ramsay as Theon is forced to watch. Now rape is par for the course in Westeros, but this scene is problematic for several reasons. One: Sansa is once again victimized, after escaping the Lannisters showed her growth as a character. Two: it doesn’t reveal anything more about Ramsay that we didn’t already know. He never really changes as a person throughout the show, only committing more evil acts that get more devious as time goes on.

Finally, we have reason number three: the rape does nothing to further Theon’s rebellion. We’ve already seen Ramsay torture Theon from season three onwards. Forcing him to watch Sansa get raped isn’t the catalyst that causes Theon to rebel. It’s simply another way Ramsay bends Theon to his will. So if this scene doesn’t forward Theon’s rebellion, say anything new about Ramsay and actually regresses Sansa instead of strengthening her, what was the point of it?

Now, after seeing season 6, a lot of these scenes do make more sense. Sansa’s rape does end up strengthening her, as she and Theon flee, meet Brienne and end up at the Wall. The Battle of the Bastards soon happens, and Sansa ends up making Ramsay pay for all his vile deeds. So while these controversial season 5 moments don’t really work in that season's context, they do provide some emotional season 6 payoffs. 

But while these payoffs did work, they still don’t automatically forgive those choices in season 5. We’ve already seen Ramsay being evil in multiple ways. We’ve already seen Theon’s torture, which gives him ample reason to escape. We’ve already seen Sansa’s various hardships, which do fuel her progression in season 6. All the payoffs that come with the Battle of the Bastards still would’ve had impact, without us having to have seen that rape. If you wanted to imply it, fine. Again, it’s par for the course in this world. But having to see it, after all the excessive torture the show has put us through? It’s overkill, and another show addition that just doesn’t work, even if it’s somewhat justified by the great ending we get.

Season 6: Sweet, Sweet Justice

With that said, all the developments in season 6 make it the best Game of Thrones season yet. By this point, the story has surpassed the books, so the show focuses more on wrapping up some plots while moving others towards the end game. Out of sync timelines come together, characters interact more and several plots play out to their logical conclusion. The few remaining book 4 arcs that had yet to be adapted, like Sam’s journey to Oldtown, Jaimie’s siege of Riverrun and the Kingsmoot on Pyke are all translated in ways that gel with the story of season 6. Minor changes are made, yet the essence of those scenes remain.

Jaimie’s reunion with Brienne at Riverrun continues his redemption, while also highlighting his conflicting loyalties. Sam’s quest to be a maester reunites him with his father, showing how much stronger he’s become. The Kingsmoot doesn’t have the grandeur of the books, but it does allow for a great reunion between Theon and his sister Yara. Having Theon at the Kingsmoot (unlike the books) was a nice touch, as he and Yara take the place of another pointless new book character (Victarion Greyjoy) and get to Dany faster.

Everything in season 6 feels like more set up for the finales to come in seasons 7 and 8. And yet, this set up comes with closure for numerous characters and side plots. Even if these events haven’t happened in the books yet, they feel like organic extensions of where the show was going. And man, are they satisfying. Characters we both love and love to hate die, while our heroes actually score some key victories. Something important happens in every episode. And while you could say too much is happening, everything’s given room to breathe. The pacing is excellent, like the run up to the Battle of the Bastards and a key trial in King’s Landing. 

But I haven't even mentioned what's happening in the far north, with Bran Stark and Jon Snow. One of the best things to come out of season 5 was the episode Hardhome, which saw Jon actually go to recruit Wildlings instead of reading about events in a letter. All hell breaks loose as White Walkers attack, reminding us that despite all the politics, there’s still a giant horde of ice zombies to deal with. That episode made us remember the Walkers are a threat, and reinforces Jon’s motivations going forward.

It also bleeds into Bran’s story, as he trains to use his newfound powers to view the past. Bran’s scenes are great additions, with thrilling flashbacks building on his few book 5 chapters to deliver key backstory from the books. Not only are these windows to the past great, but they confirm several key book theories in both fist pumping and heart wrenching ways. 

Season 6 is still, in a way, adapting Martin’s saga, even if it’s largely moved on from his text. Depending on how The Winds of Winter plays out, several of these events may be entirely different or right on the money. You could say that instead of being a direct adaptation, the show has now become its own beast, keeping the spirit of the books alive but taking its own direction. At least it's actually moving the story along, letting Dany finally begin her journey west to claim her birthright. Just a tiny thing, that. 

Conclusion: A Song for the Ages

Book readers just need to accept that some plots will never turn up in the show. We’ll never get Lady Stoneheart, a beloved character who is resurrected, but at this point the show doesn’t even need her. Arya may have taken her place, given how we leave her in season 6. It’s just one of many plots that had to be sacrificed to keep the story moving. 10 hours is a lot to work with when adapting such large novels, but changes still need to be made. While the show has stumbled with some plots, it’s still one of the best fantasy sagas we have right now.

As a show, it’s one of the best on TV. As an adaptation, it’s one of the best around, even with a few flaws. Quite simply, Game of Thrones is a miracle, given how it could take five incredibly dense novels and expand and simplify them into 60 plus episodes. With seasons 7 and 8 on the horizon, the Great Game will continue. Alas, it will come to an end, but even then we’ll have two more books to (eventually) enjoy. The song will go on, and when it does end on both page and screen, we’ll be left with not one but two great versions of this epic fantasy series. Not many sagas can claim to have an adaptation be the equal of the books (not even Potter and Rings). Game of Thrones is one of the few, and that’s a tale worth telling.