10 Great Characters Game Of Thrones Ruined
2. Benjen Stark
The TV show answered a long pondered question by fans: what happened to Benjen Stark? Well, according to the writers, he was in fact the mysterious character Coldhands. Although this has not been confirmed in the books - and is in fact unlikely - it made sense to bring Benjen back as this character. There were already too many characters for all the writers to wrestle with by season six, so Benjen = Coldhands was easier then establishing and introducing someone else into the narrative.
The trouble was, the character didn't do anything. Benjen's time beyond the wall could have been used as a plot device to give Jon and the others key information about defeating the White Walkers. Hell, by this point Benjen was half a Walker himself. Surely this was the obvious way to help resolve a major plot point.
But nope, despite Benjen presenting the writers an opportunity for a little exposition, they just brought him back to rescue Jon after his ridiculous venture beyond the wall. It was a meaningless scene, with a wasted character.