8 Things Game Of Thrones Did Better Than A Song Of Ice And Fire

As of A Dance With Dragons, there have been 24 different point-of-view characters in the books. That would be 24 plotlines crammed into an already busy 10 episode (or fewer) season. Unfortunately, some characters couldn't make the cut.

Fortunately, the showrunners knew exactly who to incorporate into the show and who to leave behind. While Quentyn Martell's quest to marry Daenerys was a highpoint of A Dance of Dragons, it's ultimately pointless, so leaving him on the chopping block feels like the right move.

Similarly, Jon Connington's plot with Aegon(?) in the books seems like it will end up as another misdirection. There's almost no chance that this boy is the real Aegon Targaryen, especially when all evidence, including the show, points to it being Jon Snow. As such, leaving him out makes way more sense.

The show reduces Euron Greyjoy to Jack Sparrow with a boner. He's much more interesting in the books, but simplifying his plotline, including cutting out his brothers Aeron and Victarion, gets Euron exactly where he needs to be. Sending him all the way around the world, as the books do, would only waste time and confuse casual fans, so if something had to go, his journey was the right call.

Quentyn, Connington, Aegon, Victarion, and Aeron are all great characters, but in the grand scheme of things, cutting them out helped with the show's pacing. Throwing them in the middle of a season would have felt unnatural, so their controversial cuts were ultimately worth it.