Game Of Thrones: 11 Most Unforgivable Cuts From The Books

3. Jeyne Westerling

Few aspects of the show have infuriated readers more than the replacement of Jeyne Westerling with Talisa Maegyr as Robb Stark's ill-advised bride, and with good reason. The character switch was not only unnecessary, but also served to annihilate any faith in Robb's judgment. In A Storm of Swords, the foolishness of Robb's marriage to Jeyne Westerling is tempered by a sense of tragedy that makes it difficult to entirely condemn him for his actions. Bedding Jeyne was a bad idea, and wedding her even worse, but he did the former out of grief for his murdered brothers and the latter out of the honour instilled in him by his father. He knows that he grievously erred in breaking his oath to marry one of Lord Walder's daughters, but he broke that oath out of a sense of duty rather than desire. It was a decision that would ultimately cost him his life and his cause, but it was one brought about by youth and grief rather than simply a disinclination to marry a Frey. The show...handled things differently. Robb and Talisa spent several episodes in Season 2 flirting with one another, until Robb - who has been aged up several years for HBO and cannot plead the follies of youth in this affair - finally makes up his mind to just go ahead and sleep with her. As in Storm of Swords, he shortly thereafter decides to marry her. This time, however, his decision has nothing to do with honour. Rather, he wants to marry her for love. Ignoring Catelyn's warnings, the King in the North Robb Stark marries Talisa before the Seven. The tragedy of Robb's marriage to Jeyne is entirely absent in his marriage to Talisa, and the Red Wedding of the books is far more heartbreaking than on the show.