Game Of Thrones Season 5: 9 Book Changes And What They Mean For The Show

Is Winter Still Coming?

Readers of A Song of Ice and Fire are used to having a little extra knowledge compared to non-book reading Game of Thrones fans. They know where the show was headed, and who was doing what, and are able to pick up on any exposition or subtle hints dropped throughout the TV series. Sadly they usually tell everyone about it in the comments section. Creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff have already shown they are unafraid to make changes to the books, but previously it was still pretty clear to readers where each story was headed. The changes were, on the whole, fairly small and easy to accept. In season 5, however, they have taken these changes to a whole other level. Story-lines have been condensed; alive characters are dying; others don€™t even exist at all. It€™s levelled the playing field between readers and non-readers, and keeps everyone on their toes. It€™s understandable why the show's runners are moving further away from the source material; by the time book six - The Winds Of Winter - is released, season 6 of the show will at the very least have started filming, and the show will almost certainly have ended before George R.R. Martin wraps up his epic series. That means that, while they know the ultimate end goal of Martin, and will no doubt have plenty of access to ask for the direction each character is going in, they€™ve had to go their own way a bit as well. Other changes are necessitated by the medium; the POV style of the books couldn€™t be used on TV, and similarly there€™s already a huge cast on the show for viewers to keep up with, so not every character is going to make it in. And with just 10 hours of storytelling a season, as opposed to hundreds and hundreds of pages, some story-lines can€™t be as sprawling as they are on a page. Nevertheless, the show has made some pretty huge changes this series, one that leaves book readers pretty much as in the dark as anyone else. As we€™re now halfway through season 5, here€™s a look at some of the main ones, and what they€™ll mean going forward.
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Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.