13 Problems Only Game Of Thrones Fans Will Understand

8. The Great Book Readers/Show Watcher Divide

The audience for the show is pretty much split into two distinct groups: those who've read the books, and those who haven't. While there's plenty of other shows that draw inspiration from some source material, such as The Walking Dead or any of the popular superhero shows, none have such a clear divide between the two. Those who haven't read them go into the show without any knowledge or expectations, and have to tread carefully on social media and comments section, putting up with book readers who at worst will spoil things, and at best can just enjoy a smug feeling of being in-the-know. On the other hand, book readers have to contend with knowing what's going to happen, meaning the reaction to certain events may not be as visceral as those who haven't read them, and dance around subjects when trying to hold a conversation with non-reader friends, resorting to texting each other across the table or literally having to walk away to have a separate discussion (speaking from experience on both of those). There's also the fact that the show is moving further away from the books, missing out key characters and plotlines, which can be extremely infuriating, and at this point it's best to treat them as two different entities, which are getting to the same end by differing means.