8 Game Of Thrones Moments That Are So Much Better In The Book

7. Jon Snow's Whole Experience With The Wildlings

Despite the fact that Jon Snow is regarded as one of the central, most important characters in the entire television series, he's frequently portrayed as incompetent, and has a huge reputation for being overly dour and moany. That's how he was up until recently, anyway. After his relationship with the Wildlings progresses (thanks, Ygritte) he grows a bit more of a backbone, but how it's accomplished in the books makes so much more sense, and is so much more satisfying. In A Clash Of Kings, Jon Snow has a whole arc that sees himself and four other members of the Night's Watch try and outrun a hawk. That might sound absurd, but it's not just any hawk...the hawk in question is being controlled by a Warg, and enables the Wildlings to hunt down Jon and his companions. As the arc progresses, three of the Sworn Brothers are killed, leaving only Jon and the ranger Qhorin Halfhand left alive. One of the strengths of this sub-plot is that it shows Jon as much more capable than the other Night's Watch members in the face of adversary, and depicts him as immensely brave. All of this takes place before Jon meets Ygritte, too €“ the Jon who meets Ygritte in the show is mopey and bumbling, and his strength doesn't come until much later. On top of that, in A Clash Of Kings, when Jon and Ygritte finally do meet, the dynamic of their encounter is much more interesting, with Ygritte telling Jon the story of €œBael the Bard€, a song that heavily implies the Starks have Wildling blood running through their veins.