7 Abandoned Game Of Thrones Plotlines

In some regards, HBO's small-screen take on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga began to diverge pretty drastically from the novels as far back as Season 3 , and we're actually now at a point in the current fifth season of the show where most of the characters are being taken down completely new roads. The plan still seems to be to touch base on all of the major events of the books (at least loosely) but elements of the how, the why, and the who of our protagonists' journeys are now almost unrecognisable in some instances. 

So taking that into account, whether they like it or not, fans are probably used to a few liberties being taken with the source material by now - but what about the stuff from the saga HBO did begin to adapt before seemingly forgetting about altogether? 

To date, there are plenty of unresolved plot strands running through Game of Thrones. Some, such as the introduction of Catelyn's family, were necessary to begin in order to get the principal characters to the point they needed to be at on the show before being abandoned, and others still haven't been revisited in the books yet either.

Let's take a look at some of these storylines from TV and the book series - and the characters involved - and discuss the possibility of returning to them on the show in the future.

The Ironborn may be a miserable pack of pricks, but the decision not to run with their A Feast For Crows storyline in Season 5 still annoyed many fans. Theon's father Balon and sister Yara (Asha in the books) were introduced in Season 2 to serve as the catalyst for the eldest living Greyjoy boy betraying his "brother" and King, Robb Stark. When Theon found himself a prisoner of the Boltons, his sister attempted a rescue, only to come to the conclusion that Theon (now "Reek") was beyond saving and... that was that. That was the last we saw of Yara and her kin on the show, but there's a lot more going on in the novels should they choose to adapt it.

For one, Balon is pushing up daisies (well, pebbles!) after Melisandre's little trick with the leeches leads him to fall to his death near his home on Pyke. No mention was made of this on the show so it's assumed he's still alive. His demise leads to a "Kingsmoot" which sees his even more ruthless brothers Aeron, Euron and Victarion (along with Yara) vying for the crown. 

Apparently the Greyjoys were shelved in favour of Dorne, but they obviously have a major part to play in future novels so it'll be interesting to see if they make a comeback in Season 6.