Game Of Thrones: 7 Storylines Season 5 Decided To Skip

A Song of Ice and Fire has been a work in progress for nearly 20 years, and each book has taken longer to write than the last. Until a few years ago this wasn't a major problem, but then Game of Thrones became a worldwide hit and opened George RR Martin's world up to a new audience; one not so happy to wait. With a season each year it was inevitable that the show would catch up to the books. Although showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss know how the series will end, they seem to be heading for it by a different route.

Small changes have appeared throughout, but Season 5 took it further, killing off the likes of Barristan Selmy, Stannis and Shireen Baratheon (all still alive in the books), and changing more than just character deaths. Two large books were crammed into one 10 episode run, meaning that several storylines were either partially or entirely skipped. Cutting new characters and settings in favour of tried and tested fan-favourites might work well for marketing, but the problem with Game of Thrones is that all men must die, and there's no one replacing them.

This lack of major new characters in Season 5 led to slow pacing, bizarre character motivations, and plots that ended up leading to nothing. With Season 6 fast approaching, it seems only fair to have a look at some of the plotlines last year decided to not just change, but cut out altogether. (Warning: book spoilers are coming.)