Game of Thrones Season 8, we can finally stop waiting on GURM

[Tasty]

I can't get over the "best story" thing right now. I know it was probably an intentional swerve to maybe imply Tyrion was still setting up Jon, but I mean... is *nobody* in that assembly going to mention the guy who came back from the dead and was a secret Targaryen the whole time, whose origins triggered Robert's Rebellion and had to be kept secret for twenty years... Nobody's going to bring any of that up? No?

Cause that's a great novel all on its own. Bran's story on its own would end up in the Young Adult section.

Instead it's Bran (who, to be fair, is one of my favorite characters and has been from the start) who went North of the wall, got memories from a tree dude, and then did literally nothing else the entire season except give updates on the White Walker's location... then come the big battle the most he does it get bitchslapped out of raven-warging by the NK and then sit around some more.

because naming jon king also means war with the unsullied.
also, he was a queenslayer which we know from jamies storyarc is kind of a big deal in westeros

Since Jon disqualified himself by killing Dany and there were no other strong rulers everyone could abide, they needed a weak one. Makes sense to me.

I know why they *couldn't* do it, but it may be poor dialogue writing to have Tyrion explain his reasoning in such a way.

I see some people raking D&D over the coals for the directing this ep, apparently it was one of their directing debuts (almost certainly to "train" for Star Wars), and yeah... there were some great shots, and the KL scenes were so full of dread and tension, but almost all the dialogue parts felt comically stale... Will need to rewatch to give an honest opinion though, and that's not happening for a bit probably.

[Himu]

“I cried,” Clarke says. “And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house and took my keys and phone and walked back with blisters on my feet. I didn’t come back for five hours. I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

    ”I have my own feelings [about the storyline] and it’s peppered with my feelings about myself,” she admits. “It’s gotten to that point now where you read [comments about] the character you [have to remind yourself], ‘They’re not talking about you, Emilia, they’re talking about the character.”

    “You go on set and play a badass and you walk through fire and that became the thing that saved me from considering my own mortality,” she wrote. Clarke has drawn strength from Daenerys and infused Daenerys with her strength.

    “I genuinely did this, and it’s embarrassing and I’m going to admit it to you,” Clarke says. “I called my mom and—“ Clarke shifts into a tearful voice to perform the conversation as she reenacts the call: “I read the scripts and I don’t want to tell you what happens but can you just talk me off this ledge? It really messed me up.’ And then I asked my mom and brother really weird questions. They were like: ‘What are you asking us this for? What do you mean do I think Daenerys is a good person? Why are you asking us that question? Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you okay?’” “And I’m all: ‘I’m fine! … But is there anything Daenerys could do that would make you hate her?’”

    “Your character makes a choice and you need to be right with that. An actor should never be afraid to look ugly. We have uglier sides to ourselves. And after 10 years of working on this show, it’s logical. Where else can she go? I tried to think what the ending will be. It’s not like she’s suddenly going to go, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put a kettle on and put cookies in the oven and we’ll just sit down and have a lovely time and pop a few kids out.’ That was never going to happen. She’s a Targaryen.”

    “I thought she was going to die,” she continues. “I feel very taken care of as a character in that sense. It’s a very beautiful and touching ending. Hopefully, what you’ll see in that last moment as she’s dying is: There’s the vulnerability — there’s the little girl you met in season 1. See? She’s right there. And now, she’s not there anymore…”

POOR EMILIA

we have to give it up for the actors and actresses who went through all of this

[Himu]

Apparently Emilia didn't know about Daenerys' turn until this season. How is that even remotely possible? How do you not tell her like two seasons ago her characters trajectory so you can plan it all out?

[agrajag]

Apparently Emilia didn't know about Daenerys' turn until this season. How is that even remotely possible? How do you not tell her like two seasons ago her characters trajectory so you can plan it all out?

wow, she hasn't been looking at the clues, she didn't pay attention what a distinguished mentally-challenged fellow

[Himu]

D&D MADE EMILIA CLARK CRY

[brawndolicious]

Tasty is spot on. The entire time of the White Council, I was waiting for someone to bring up Jon's lineage. At least bring it up. Nope. Nothin'

That may be the reason why Jon is still alive, killing him would trigger another conflict and the Dothraki and Unsullied aren't ready to fight again. King's Landing doesn't exactly have walls or supplies left anymore.

I think that everyone on Tyrion's side knew going with another Targaryen would be unpopular after King's Landing got burned down, it tainted the name quite a bit. And everyone else on Grey Worm's side just hated Jon too much.

I agree that this season could have had a few more (boring) think-tank episodes to explain every single thing but I don't feel it was necessary.

[team filler]

The creator and head writer of Game Of Thrones, David Benioff’s father is: Stephen Friedman. According to Wikipedia:

“From December 2002 to December 2004 Friedman was United States Assistant to President George W. Bush for Economic Policy as well as the director of the National Economic Council.[14] On October 27, 2005 Friedman was asked to replace Brent Scowcroft as the Chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.[15]

“Friedman was the Chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Board, a body which implements the Wall Street policies of the Federal Reserve, during a period of immense financial market upheaval, from January 2008 until May 7, 2009.[16] When Goldman Sachs was converted to a bank holding company in September 2008 the bank then came under the regulatory authority of the New York Fed, which made Friedman’s position as a member of Goldman Sachs’ board a violation of Federal Reserve policy. At the time of the conversion Friedman requested a waiver from this violation, which was granted about 10 weeks later.[17].”

I was repulsed by the program from the start, and, even before I happened upon the facts above, I would ask fans of the show: How is it possible to fail to notice or ignore the themes of GOTs, as is the case with almost all content manufactured by Hollywood, reek of privilege and is reactionary at its core? Withal, the creators of program’s privilegecratic (self-serving) conceit: The world’s (as they limn it) cold, hard, and unforgiving landscape must be mirrored in the psychical landscapes of the ruling elite — who grasp, humanity is hideous and base, and they, the elites, must protect the lower castes, even by ruthless means and “noble lies?”

In short, the highly insular and privileged world and attendant Weltanschauung of neoliberal/neocon ideology of which David Benioff was born into. Worse, why does it not rankle that Benioff et. al. lack the intellectual curiosity to explore beyond its insular precincts and the creative chops to limn — if not art — at least, compelling entertainment?

[agrajag]

[team filler]

[agrajag]

at least it wasn't milton friedman

[agrajag]

or thomas friedman

[Himu]

i'm more hyped for winds of winter more than ever man. I thought I was free but I will remain forever cursed as an ASOIAF fangirl.

[agrajag]

(Image removed from quote.)

[Tasty]

D&D MADE EMILIA CLARK CRY

The shittiest Sarah Connor ever? I'm not too torn up about that..

[agrajag]

HOW DO THEY HAVE LORD ROBIN, SANSA AND TYRION IN THE SAME ROOM WITHOUT SOME ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE CRAZY SHIT THAT WENT DOWN BETWEEN THOSE THREE

 

[daemon]

“I cried,” Clarke says. “And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house and took my keys and phone and walked back with blisters on my feet. I didn’t come back for five hours. I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

    ”I have my own feelings [about the storyline] and it’s peppered with my feelings about myself,” she admits. “It’s gotten to that point now where you read [comments about] the character you [have to remind yourself], ‘They’re not talking about you, Emilia, they’re talking about the character.”

    “You go on set and play a badass and you walk through fire and that became the thing that saved me from considering my own mortality,” she wrote. Clarke has drawn strength from Daenerys and infused Daenerys with her strength.

    “I genuinely did this, and it’s embarrassing and I’m going to admit it to you,” Clarke says. “I called my mom and—“ Clarke shifts into a tearful voice to perform the conversation as she reenacts the call: “I read the scripts and I don’t want to tell you what happens but can you just talk me off this ledge? It really messed me up.’ And then I asked my mom and brother really weird questions. They were like: ‘What are you asking us this for? What do you mean do I think Daenerys is a good person? Why are you asking us that question? Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you okay?’” “And I’m all: ‘I’m fine! … But is there anything Daenerys could do that would make you hate her?’”

    “Your character makes a choice and you need to be right with that. An actor should never be afraid to look ugly. We have uglier sides to ourselves. And after 10 years of working on this show, it’s logical. Where else can she go? I tried to think what the ending will be. It’s not like she’s suddenly going to go, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put a kettle on and put cookies in the oven and we’ll just sit down and have a lovely time and pop a few kids out.’ That was never going to happen. She’s a Targaryen.”

    “I thought she was going to die,” she continues. “I feel very taken care of as a character in that sense. It’s a very beautiful and touching ending. Hopefully, what you’ll see in that last moment as she’s dying is: There’s the vulnerability — there’s the little girl you met in season 1. See? She’s right there. And now, she’s not there anymore…”

POOR EMILIA

we have to give it up for the actors and actresses who went through all of this

if this was what she went for:

"there’s the little girl you met in season 1"

She surely managed to do it. The disbelief and sadness when she realizes what Jon did was well portrayed. You could see why she just felt like "why?"

[Kara]

Sansa had the best arc and the Starks won the game of thrones.

In the sense that their house wasn't extinguished, sure, but:

1. Jon is exiled to (to continue the Serbia metaphor) die Militärgrenze and our last image of him is leading the unwanted masses back into the wilderness. #Moshe
2. Arya's PTSD is so bad that she abandons two siblings who could use her skills to solidify their respective (uncertain) bases of power to go Magellan.
3. In a best case scenario Bran will be a Leto Atreides II figure whose concerns increasingly drift into the etheric and ethereal while his court’s ambitions remain mortal and mundane. In a more likely scenario he will oversee a polity that isn't economically viable (the Rock, Stormlands, and Iron Islands are explicitly nonviable at the end of the show and the crown had public finance issues even before it was riven by a series of existential and internecine conflicts) that is constantly beset by intrigue and overly ambitious fief holders.
4. Sansa fulfilled her brother's ambition of an independent north but she did so in the immediate aftermath of a series of existential and internecine conflicts that acutely affected her lands which as it happens aren't exactly The Reach. In a best case scenario her reign will be something akin to the last Tudor monarch (to continue the War of the Roses metaphor this dumb show was built upon) and in a worst case scenario one of her dumb fail relatives will usurp her because despite all their protestations of moral rectitude the denizens of the north are just as perfidious as everyone else. (To say nothing of having a long-term cold war with the Six Kingdoms.)

[Himu]

Rating arcs:

Sansa starts the story obsessed with being potentially queen. She’s naive and smitten by the most impermanent of superficialities such as pretty dresses, princes, and balls. Over time, her father’s head is lopped off, she’s abused emotionally and physically. She ends the story unbroken and the queen she always wanted to be but the road taken to get there was paved with heartache and pain. The Stark that was the least Stark becomes arguably biggest and most influential.

Arya is...what exactly? An adventurer? Since when has she ever posed any interest in sailing west of Westeros? Like, okay. Not as good as Sansa’s.

Bran...I won’t even approach it.

Jon, as a man who gives up his family, his love, his claim, and more for his own freedom. I guess you could say works but within the context of the show is flawed.

Tyrion. Um. I guess you could say he’s responsible for his father, brother, sister, nieces, and mothers deaths. Like Bran says he’ll spend his whole life fixing his mistakes.

There’s a lot of dead weight here in the aftermath. Sansa clearly has the cleanest arc.

[Himu]

Sansa had the best arc and the Starks won the game of thrones.

In the sense that their house wasn't extinguished, sure, but:

1. Jon is exiled to (to continue the Serbia metaphor) die Militärgrenze and our last image of him is leading the unwanted masses back into the wilderness. #Moshe
2. Arya's PTSD is so bad that she abandons two siblings who could use her skills to solidify their respective (uncertain) bases of power to go Magellan.
3. In a best case scenario Bran will be a Leto Atreides II figure whose concerns increasingly drift into the etheric and ethereal while his court’s ambitions remain mortal and mundane. In a more likely scenario he will oversee a polity that isn't economically viable (the Rock, Stormlands, and Iron Islands are explicitly nonviable at the end of the show and the crown had public finance issues even before it was riven by a series of existential and internecine conflicts) that is constantly beset by intrigue and overly ambitious fief holders.
4. Sansa fulfilled her brother's ambition of an independent north but she did so in the immediate aftermath of a series of existential and internecine conflicts that acutely affected her lands which as it happens aren't exactly The Reach. In a best case scenario her reign will be something akin to the last Tudor monarch (to continue the War of the Roses metaphor this dumb show was built upon) and in a worst case scenario one of her dumb fail relatives will usurp her because despite all their protestations of moral rectitude the denizens of the north are just as perfidious as everyone else. (To say nothing of having a long-term cold war with the Six Kingdoms.)

They clearly won the game as far as you could win it. They rule the six kingdoms and rule another kingdom to the north of that. Jon is basically king of the freefolk. Arya will take the Stark sails abroad. Stark’s came out ahead of every single family in the realm. The Lannister’s are down to one lord heir and it’s a dwarf, which is genetic. Riverlands is a ticking time bomb now that the North, which it supported during the war of the five kings, has declared independence. The Vale is ruled by Robin Arryn. Sam is a maester. Bronn is lord of the Reach. Every single family either has downgrades, were nuked, cut down to one heir, or something else.

The Stark’s didn’t come out cleanly but they definitely got out of it far better than anyone else. They won.

[Tasty]

Starks for sure played the long game while everyone else was only looking for immediate vengeance or results.

Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.

The lone wolf dies but the pack survives.

The North remembers.

[agrajag]

lol Starks didn't do shit. They just kept falling upwards through a series of increasingly unlikely circumstances.

[Himu]

Speaking of power vacuums, is there a single lord in either realm that is on par with Sansa for her hand in marriage? You could say Bronn or fucking Gendry but it seems to me that Sansa would be marrying beneath her station.

[Tasty]

If the nobles get together and elect a king after the old one dies then really the king has been made into a figurehead monarch, while the six noble houses plot and scheme to distribute wealth and power amongst themselves. It makes sense that Bran is king in that capacity. Not sure why Sansa would want to be independent, then - she loses her vote as a noble and the real power she has by having a large standing army relative to the other holds. The Iron Fleet is completely destroyed, right? And House Frey has no heirs, leaving Riverrun unoccupied? So, really, Queen Sansa can extend her sphere of influence all the way from Winterfell to Casterly Rock after she forces Tyrion to give it to her, which she can do because he has no soft or hard power available to him. And if Tyrion wants to defend it then he's going to have to ask Bronn of Highgarden (this still makes me lol), who would just take it for himself or at least a large portion in exchange, so there's no situation here where Tyrion doesn't lose most if not all of his title.

I guess what I'm saying here is that, aside from the nonexistent character development which you can just imagine if you close your eyes, there are huge power vacuums and new dynamics that deserve even just the slightest elaboration.

That's all well and good if Sansa's thinking of just the next decade, but the North being independent, even if it's just for a generation, is hugely important culturally. And if they can keep that independence up even longer, then that's all Sansa really wants anyways. She doesn't want power for its own sake, she just wants to protect her Northern allies.

In addition she probably trusts Bran enough to keep the 6 kingdoms playing nice under his rule, and to not try shit in the North -- he is a Stark after all, and I can't see any of the houses pulling any obviously anti-Stark/North shit under Bran's three-eyed rule.

[Himu]

https://twitter.com/Tracy97907944/status/1130504767250214917

[agrajag]

the North is largely barren, with the majority of the land being uninhabitable, and unviable for agriculture. The North is basically Russia, destined to consolidate military power and lash out at its more prosperous Southern neighbors.

[agrajag]

And House Frey has no heirs, leaving Riverrun unoccupied?

Riverrun

spoiler (click to show/hide)

past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to   Howth Castle and Environs

[close]

is ruled by the Tullys, not the Freys. The Freys were a vassal house that temporarily usurped after the Red Wedding.

Yeah, and Edmure is alive.

[Tasty]

Oh, so what you're saying is that Bran is a puppet monarch that keeps the six kingdoms under foreign domination of house stark

I mean, kinda? And that's gotta be what the people of Westeros think too, right? There's now two thrones, and Starks on both of them. There's no way the common people wouldn't be talking about nepotism and sibling plots.

That's not how I see it playing out in *reality,* just that Bran's rule is probably much less susceptible to plots against him (and his House) since he has three-eyed raven powers. And his name is Stark. More of a deterrent than an active quid pro quo thing.

[Himu]

People are complaining about 24 hour rule for the biggest show on tv currently having a series finale. Sorry but fuck you.

https://twitter.com/Free11Be/status/1130511634290663424

https://twitter.com/ZayneC301/status/1130506419969642496

That's one thing I loved about GoT. It was the last show of my memory to have that "event" feel. It was the last show I can remember that had the feel of the pre-DVR era. Back in the day, if you didn't watch a show you were shit out of luck and no one would hold your hand. It was straight fuck you if you hadn't watched it and made priority to watch it. I miss shit like that. Where tv felt like a big cultural event. GoT pissing on spoiler culture

[agrajag]

lol imagine all the commoners who aren't privy to all the plot details, the Bran being clairvoyant three eyed raven, Jon being a Targ, etc.are all thinking wtf just happened. Why'd they make the crippled Stark boy king?

 

[jorma]

Nah, he's going to be bran the builder II and bring peace and prosperity to the war savaged kingdom and be the most adored ruler in westeros since the dawn of man.

[agrajag]

how about Meghan McCain apologizes for being a war mongering, xenophobic, entitled, talentless, far right faildaughter

 

[MMaRsu]

Dope finale I liked it especially Jon stabbing Dany YEAH BOYYY KING IN THE NORTH

[samir]

HODOR IS THE TRUE KING HE WAS ROBBED

[Himu]

lol imagine all the commoners who aren't privy to all the plot details, the Bran being clairvoyant three eyed raven, Jon being a Targ, etc.are all thinking wtf just happened. Why'd they make the crippled Stark boy king?

 

Right? More than that, most of the lords there didn't know Bran's story. What were they catching up while Grey Worm went to fetch Tyrion? "Oh hey, we might execute my "brother" but let's talk about how I became the three eyed raven?"

[Tasty]

Nah, he's going to be bran the builder II and bring peace and prosperity to the war savaged kingdom and be the most adored ruler in westeros since the dawn of man.

I was *just* thinking of Bran the Builder parallels.

[Himu]

Nah, he's going to be bran the builder II and bring peace and prosperity to the war savaged kingdom and be the most adored ruler in westeros since the dawn of man.

I was *just* thinking of Bran the Builder parallels.

I think a theme with GRRM is that history repeats itself and that the wheel will never be broken.

Jon is Aemon, the exiled Targaryen; Bran is Bran the Builder. It's like poetry, it rhymes. Or something.

[samir]

For all you nerds who also read the books, how much does the plot differ? And why is GRRM so fucking lazy?

[Tasty]

lol imagine all the commoners

Dope finale I liked it especially Jon stabbing Dany YEAH BOYYY KING IN THE NORTH

I guess we don't have to imagine!

[Himu]

For all you nerds who also read the books, how much does the plot differ?

Um. Vastly.

And why is GRRM so fucking lazy?

I wouldn't call him lazy. He just wrote himself into a hole.

[CatsCatsCats]

Its over now, go home

[agrajag]

It's ridiculous that Sansa wouldn't quietly reinstate Jon after they all packed up and left. What are the Unsullied going to do? Good luck to a bunch of spearmen trying to get past Moat Cailin.

Sansa is a power hungry bitch, she never cared about Jon or Sansa or her father, etc.

[Himu]

lol imagine all the commoners

Dope finale I liked it especially Jon stabbing Dany YEAH BOYYY KING IN THE NORTH

I guess we don't have to imagine!

I wonder how MmaRsu feels about being compared with a commoner.

[Tasty]

Dude actually does seem to write a lot, and we can see that in all the other material he's published outside ASoIaF in addition to all the Winds chapters he's read at cons, etc.

Problem is even by his own admittence, Winds is way too long and the publishers are basically begging him to split it up some how.

I'm sure a big part of him doing supplemental stuff is because he wrote himself into a few holes though, but at least he ironically has the show now to maybe help him out of them.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Shows over

Close thread plz

[Himu]

Shows over

Close thread plz

https://twitter.com/aPIMPnameMOSES/status/1130500084393758720

[TVC15]

Won’t the remaining dothraki rape and kill Bran like a week after he takes the throne since he’s all weak and shit?

[Himu]

https://twitter.com/bethisloco/status/1130341245170020353

Did we talk about the water bottle? Who hired the PA's on that fucking set man?

[Himu]

This post aged well.

Unfortunately, whether the final episode is good or not I feel it will be divisive.

You have:

- People who think this should end like a Disney movie
- Cynical book readers
- Cynical tv watchers
- People who have legitimate criticisms but seem to be overblowing them
- Generic fantasy fans who expect LOTR
- People who are ride or die hardcore
- People who just want to see it all burn
- People that have realistic expectations of the show
- Casual fans
- Theorists
- People who bitch about everything no matter how good or bad it is
- Some of us have been watching for one year and binge watched it because of the hype for the last season
- the rest of us have been a fan of the books and show for a decade plus

And we're all in one big pot.

In other words...

(Image removed from quote.)

[agrajag]

yeah dothraki running amuck in King's Landing is every far right nationalist's wet dream. Let's send these horse eating savages back to their mud huts and Make Westeros Great Again!

[Tasty]

Jon *wanted* to be on the Wall, or north of it, whatever. How many times does the dude need to say "fuck off I don't want this" before people realize he's kind of a weird loner who made more friends among wildlings than Westerosi before his untimely (but great PR-wise) death and resurrection.

Jon Snow is the equivalent of Solid Snake at the end of MGS1. Except replace Meryl with Tormund.

Edit- Beaten but I think I'm onto something with the Snake comparison.

[Tasty]

Won’t the remaining dothraki rape and kill Bran like a week after he takes the throne since he’s all weak and shit?

He may be weak in body, but they're weak in mind. He'd warg into any would-be assassin, if it came to that. Most likely he'd tell some guards ahead of time before the force arrived.

Maybe. The full extent of Bran's powers were never really well established, even before he became the 3ER.

[El Babua]

Dude actually does seem to write a lot, and we can see that in all the other material he's published outside ASoIaF in addition to all the Winds chapters he's read at cons, etc.

Problem is even by his own admittence, Winds is way too long and the publishers are basically begging him to split it up some how.

I'm sure a big part of him doing supplemental stuff is because he wrote himself into a few holes though, but at least he ironically has the show now to maybe help him out of them.

He's not as slow as people claim. He did write a 200k+ word tome on Targaryen kings in between Dance and Winds. I'm guessing it's both structural issues he dealt himself from Feast/Dance on top of making sure Winds is satisfying after those 2 books being essentially build up.

Again, it's rumored he supposedly had an almost complete version of Winds in 2015 but he pulled it back cause he was unsatisfied with the material. Same deal with dance where he had like a 600 - 700 page head start and it still took him 6 years.

[Tasty]

[team filler]

imagine choosing to live under a surveillance state with the promise of a little more security and peace 

[Himu]

Otakon is an even better parallel than Meryl.

I still don't understand how Sam became a Grandmaester without a single ring.

[BisMarckie]

If the nobles get together and elect a king after the old one dies then really the king has been made into a figurehead monarch, while the six noble houses plot and scheme to distribute wealth and power amongst themselves.

That’s pretty much every real world monarchy ever. Absolute power was always a myth.

[Bebpo]

For all you nerds who also read the books, how much does the plot differ? And why is GRRM so fucking lazy?

Lotta differences in how characters are portrayed. Like Stannis is way different (and fucking awesome) and still alive in the book. Book Jaime is pretty different too. Also a lot of other characters and their arcs.

I mean the thing is if you just enjoy the character arcs along the way, the book has like double the cast and that's a bunch of good stories you don't get in the show. Like Quentyn Martell in Book 5 is a fun arc that is missing from the show.

I kinda want GRRM to get pissed at the show spoiling his old concept outline and just make a lot of things even more different because of that. Like don't bring Jon back (since the last book ended cliffhanger on his assassination) lol, that'd be hilarious. Or have him be a wolf for the rest of the series or something.
Or say fuck all these losers and let Stannis sit on the throne in the end. Hell, if he makes it past Winterfell in the books and closer to endgame I'll be happy.

[BisMarckie]

Otakon is an even better parallel than Meryl.

I still don't understand how Sam became a Grandmaester without a single ring.

It‘s a metaphor for the higher education system. They‘ll give you a degree for pretty much anything these days.

[Himu]

For all you nerds who also read the books, how much does the plot differ? And why is GRRM so fucking lazy?

Lotta differences in how characters are portrayed. Like Stannis is way different (and fucking awesome) and still alive in the book. Book Jaime is pretty different too. Also a lot of other characters and their arcs.

I mean the thing is if you just enjoy the character arcs along the way, the book has like double the cast and that's a bunch of good stories you don't get in the show. Like Quentyn Martell in Book 5 is a fun arc that is missing from the show.

I kinda want GRRM to get pissed at the show spoiling his old concept outline and just make a lot of things even more different because of that. Like don't bring Jon back (since the last book ended cliffhanger on his assassination) lol, that'd be hilarious. Or have him be a wolf for the rest of the series or something.
Or say fuck all these losers and let Stannis sit on the throne in the end. Hell, if he makes it past Winterfell in the books and closer to endgame I'll be happy.

ASOIAF as we know now from the book Sam showed is about Dany and Jon though.

[thisismyusername]

I put a question mark there.  I really meant for that thread though, didn't word that well. lol

Damn it.