# GAME OF THRONES: What's your favorite/least favorite book v. TV show casting or changes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926 "2013-04-05T15:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/41 "2013-04-07T22:11:14Z")
For the book readers, did you feel as much sympathy for Theon from reading as I do from watching? Does anyone else feel sympathy for Theon at all? ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/42 "2013-04-07T22:34:55Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Tywin? I know that it’s explicitly stated in the books that he kept his head shaved, but for some reason my mental image of him was with long hair. Weird, I know. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/43 "2013-04-07T22:41:13Z")
I had a fair bit of sympathy for Theon while reading the books, he’s been a hostage since his childhood (although Ned and family treated him fairly well), only to be dismissed by his father when he finally gets to return home. And even when he’s doing his worst he’s not completely unsympathetic in the books. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/44 "2013-04-07T23:06:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Robb’s also a lot madder at her in the series than in the novels, where he has a “you set Jamie Lannister free, but, I broke my betrothal and married Jeyne Westerling, let’s call it even!” attitude. > > Speaking of, they’ve completely changed the character of/beefed up the role of his wife. Yeah, they’ve totally Arwen’d her. I do not like it. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/45 "2013-04-08T01:27:49Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > For the book readers, did you feel as much sympathy for Theon from reading as I do from watching? Does anyone else feel sympathy for Theon at all? I feel sympathy for Theon. You can’t find a more perfect example of stuck between a rock and a hard place than Theon’s situation. It didn’t matter whether he sided with the Starks or the Greyjoys, either way people would have called him a traitor. That doesn’t mean that Theon isn’t incredibly self centered with a bit of a vicious streak, but I do sympathize with his being forced into a no win scenario. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/46 "2013-04-08T02:13:26Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > For the book readers, did you feel as much sympathy for Theon from reading as I do from watching? Does anyone else feel sympathy for Theon at all? I had a lot of sympathy for Theon simply because he was put in a no win situation. Betray the Starks or betray his own family. Yeah, the choices he actually made were all horrible, but he had no good choices to make. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/47 "2013-04-08T02:15:21Z")
I forgot one change I didn’t like. I thought that the Jon-Ygritte-Halfhand situation was done much better in the books. In the show, it seemed to lose a lot of its emotional impact (as well as making TV Jon seem even more clueless). I much preferred Jon letting Ygritte go, only to have her come back and put everyone in danger. The resulting pre-duel scene between Halfhand and Jon was one of my favorite in the books. On TV, it happened too fast. A lot of non-readers think Jon might actually be defecting. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/48 "2013-04-08T05:33:18Z")
Add Thoros of Myr as a casting/design choice I don’t like. He’s supposed to be bald, and being from Myr, I figured he’d look more exotic. Instead he just looks like any other random guy from Westeros. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/49 "2013-04-08T05:41:26Z")
Whoever plays Joffrey is great. I would say the best. He’s perfectly despicable. I’m completely unconvinced by Daenerys. Apart from looking pretty, she doesn’t seem to bring anything to her character. I don’t think it’s the actor’s fault, but as a previous poster stated, Jon’s character doesn’t appear very interesting. In fact, nobody in the Night Watch is interesting. As noted, Sam is a caricature. Similalrly, I think that Arya isn’t great in the series because she’s a great actor but because she has a very good script/role. I think Bran has a good potential. We’ll see soon since he will have a much more interesting part. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/50 "2013-04-08T15:22:01Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > Add Thoros of Myr as a casting/design choice I don’t like. He’s supposed to be bald, and being from Myr, I figured he’d look more exotic. Instead he just looks like any other random guy from Westeros. I posted this in the other thread as well, but I don’t think his personality is anything like what I’d pictured. I always pictured him as a warrior priest, devout and somewhat humorless. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/51 "2013-04-08T15:36:13Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I posted this in the other thread as well, but I don’t think his personality is anything like what I’d pictured. I always pictured him as a warrior priest, devout and somewhat humorless. He was a _failed_ warrior priest, though, wasn’t he?. Didn’t the book make several mentions of him being a drunkard? Like…he followed the Red God, but rather than keep his faith when things didn’t work out perfectly, or when his “magic” didn’t work, like Mel, he basically gave up. Curious, then, then his magic eventually worked…I mean, you’d think R’hollor wouldn’t reward him for losing the faith. But we also have no reason to believe there are any Gods at all, so as long as dragons are back, if you say the “magic words,” magic happens. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/52 "2013-04-08T19:02:02Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > One of the things better on the show than the books is that all the kids are aged up. It’s one thing to imagine Jon Snow doing shit in your own head at 14, it’s another thing all together to see an average 14-year old boy doing it. Or Robb. Or Dany. It’s all creepy and hard to believe enough with their new ages, so their book ages would be unwatchable on tv. (I get through the books pretending their years or months or something don’t match up to Earth 24-hour, 365 cycles and they’re all a couple years older in Earth time). > [@Athena](#): > > This is the one thing that I think improved upon the book. I always thought the Jeyne Westerling thing came off a little too quickly; all of a sudden, Robb just shows up with a new bride. It didn’t work for me in the book at all, not enough backstory, not enough depth. This is one area where I think the concept of a 15/16 year old Robb works best. Of course he’s not thinking about the Freys, he’s a teenager who has little idea of love and you could imagine him falling for and deciding to secretly marry the lady that nurses him back to health. > [@pancakes3](#): > > For the book readers, did you feel as much sympathy for Theon from reading as I do from watching? Does anyone else feel sympathy for Theon at all? Not in Book 2 so much, but DEFINITELY in Book 5. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/53 "2013-04-08T19:11:48Z")
Thoros and Robert Baratheon were big friends, mostly because Thoros was the only person that could match him drink for drink without passing out. He was a huge drunk, glutton, and womanizer… then his magic started working. Funny how a little thing like resurrection (albeit Beric’s rather than his) can make you rethink your life. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/54 "2013-04-09T02:16:20Z")
Not that wild about Ciaran Hinds as Mance. I love the actor, but I pictured somebody different; a younger Ian McShane would work well. Hinds’ ROME co-star Tobias Menzies ([pics](https://www.google.com/search?q=tobias+menzie&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&ei=3nljUZLnJ4K-9gTosIDoBw&biw=1440&bih=807&sei=4XljUcWwAYui8QSY9IDQBw#um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&authuser=0&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=tobias+menzies&oq=tobias+menzies&gs_l=img.3..0l10.78335.78335.0.78793.1.1.0.0.0.0.54.54.1.1.0...0.0...1c.1.8.img.jNnqHwKPl54&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,d.eWU&fp=db88c441c86eb29&biw=1440&bih=807)) is cast as Catelyn’s brother Edmure. He would have been a good Stannis. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/55 "2013-04-09T13:56:50Z")
Hard to believe that the actors who play Joffrey and Jojen are both in their early twenties. Martin has confirmed that Strong Belwas will not be a character due to time and budget constraints. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/56 "2013-04-09T16:46:09Z")
Whataminiit! The Tickler is dead, isn’t he? So there’s not going to be a “Where’s the gold hidden? Where’s the silver!? Where is Lord Beric!?” as Arya freaks the fuck out? I just noticed-- Arya hasn’t killed anyone, has she? What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/57 "2013-04-09T17:00:49Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I just noticed-- Arya hasn’t killed anyone, has she? What’s up with that? She killed the stable boy in Season One. But yeah, she didn’t kill the Tickler, she had Jaqen do it instead. Kind of a bummer. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/58 "2013-04-09T18:22:27Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > She killed the stable boy in Season One. But yeah, she didn’t kill the Tickler, she had Jaqen do it instead. Kind of a bummer. I guess they replace it with her just killing Poliver (he has Needle right now,) but it will certainly lose the impact that scene had in the books. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/59 "2013-04-09T18:44:33Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Whataminiit! The Tickler is dead, isn’t he? So there’s not going to be a “Where’s the gold hidden? Where’s the silver!? Where is Lord Beric!?” as Arya freaks the fuck out? > > I just noticed-- Arya hasn’t killed anyone, has she? What’s up with that? I’ve read the books but I’m only up to ep. 4 or 5 from season two of the show, but this interrogation just took place. They take the prisoners one at a time (Polliver and the Tickler) and torture them while asking about the gold and jewels and the “Brothers without Banners.” I think it’s the same episode where she has Jaqen kill the Tickler. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926/60 "2013-04-09T18:50:29Z")
It’s a fairly small role so far, but the kid they have playing Podrick Payne is pretty much dead on the way I’d imagined him in the book. Beyond that, I think the short shrift they’ve paid the Iron Islands story overall is annoying- we see Theon show up to Pyke, Balon gives him the finger, so to speak, he captures Winterfell, but then the next thing we know, he’s in the Dreadfort being tortured? No mention whatsoever about the Ironmen taking Moat Cailin and cutting Robb off from the North, no mention of Ramsay Snow/Bolton being such a freak/creep, no mention of Reek yet, and no mention whatsoever of what’s happened to Yara/Asha in the meantime. All very disjointed in my opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-whats-your-favorite-least-favorite-book-v-tv-show-casting-or-changes/654926.md?page=4)