the Dalaverse

Winter Season Three is coming here! Since I finished A Storm of Swords a couple weeks ago, I had just enough space between it and "Valar Morghulis" to have some thoughts on how it's being adapted (I read the first book after seeing S1 and the second basically concurrently with S2).

First off, my general take on film adaptations of books is that I'm not a purist and I don't expect a direct translation. Even when filmmakers change an element drastically, it doesn't wipe the original from existence; sometimes I prefer the change, and sometimes I merely appreciate that it's its own story and it has to meet different conventions from a novel. Like, I don't hate the HP movies just because they got a lot of shit wrong. For example, Sirius in OotP is far less unhinged than book!Sirius, and I like both choices equally because I feel they're each suited to their medium. The only time I get really upset is when it's a truly grievous mistake/change, such as what the studio made Chris Columbus do to the end of "The Golden Compass" (FOREVER BITTER). But usually, I am content to have both version existing in the world.

And now: spoilers for the show so far and the books up until about 200 pages into A Feast for Crows which is where I am right now.



So my favorite part of this whole episode may have been that short scene between Shae and Ros. I like Ros, okay? I don't like all the sexposition scenes (although it's true that Esme Bianco is probably my favorite cast member to see naked because her body is insanely gorgeous), but I don't have all this seething hatred of her taking up valuable screen time that I seem to see everywhere. I like her because the show uses her for extra insight between the different factions of characters.

And honestly, I'm hoping they alter the Shae storyline drastically from the books, as I suspect they're going to do. I found the "everybody betrays Tyrion including his dad, his BFF, his girl, and retroactively his brother" thing in AFFC to be rather over the top. It seemed like GRRM piling terrible stuff on top of his favorite in order to garner sympathy, and I mean, Tyrion is already a likeable character with most of the best lines; it's not necessary. We KNOW Kings Landing is a terrible place and you can't trust anybody, give it a rest already, bro. Also, I love that they've actually developed Shae's character, and that she's been some kind of support for poor Sansa. Bringing Littlefinger into the intrigue so early also works for me - of course they cut Ser Dontos so they couldn't use that as a blind, but it also gives Sansa some agency. I'm really interested to see how that whole mess plays out now.

Continuing on the female characters with agency role: I also don't hate Talisa. In fact, I think that storyline is a vast improvement over the books, where Jeyne Westerling is bland and underdeveloped and that whole plotline with Robb basically happens offscreen. I think possibly GRRM did it to make the Red Wedding more shocking? Like, no Robb chapters for awhile and then BOOM Red Wedding. But it doesn't work for me because I don't care nearly as much, at least on Robb's behalf (I care a whole hell of a lot more on Catelyn's). The way to get me to care is to make Robb's wife a three-dimensional character, so that I can see why he would be tempted to break his promise to Walder Frey and so I'm invested in their relationship. The show did that, and so I think the Red Wedding will have more emotional impact.

Another change I like which is pretty much demanded by film format: no Whitebeard, we know who Barristan Selmy is from the start. In the book, that double reveal of who Selmy is and why Jorah originally came to Dany's service is, well, a bit dramatic -- too dramatic for TV IMO. I loved that Jorah just came out and said "Yeah, that's totally Barristan Selmy," because of course we'll recognize him from the first season (and a whole disguise/reveal plotline is just not necessary for a 10-episode season with so many characters and storylines already). AND I like what they've done with Jorah in general; true, he's much more attractive than he is in the books, but frankly we've already got one creepy old man obsessed with a beautiful young woman in Littlefinger/Sansa. I much prefer to see Dany and Jorah as partners with a bit of sexual tension.

One change I'm not sure about is the Davos/Stannis/Melisandre struggle. I need to rewatch to be sure, but I thought they changed it to Melisandre sacrificing Davos' son(s?) rather than four of them dying at the Battle of Blackwater. Maybe that's to give him more reason to hate her, but it seems unnecessary because he's already got plenty of reasons. But I did prefer Stannis throwing him in the dungeon, because pretending he didn't know Davos was down there for ages was really stupid.

What else...no Arya or Jaime and Brienne yet, boooo. Although the shots of the bear fight from the previews look awesome. I am so looking forward to that. And no Bran, but his endless wanderings with the Reeds were my least favorite bit of ASOS so whatevs (I freaking hate Jojen Reed. The seer child trope is so tired, and he's annoying as hell). The Jon Snow stuff was brief but pretty faithful, like the Tywin and Tyrion scene. Ciarin Hinds is perfect for Mance Raydar and I cannot wait for Diana Rigg to show up. Queen of Thorrrrrrns <3

And I thought it was hilarious that Cersei lampshaded Tyrion's dashing, sexy, totally non-disfiguring scar. Peter Dinklage is already way too handsome to be playing Tyion-as-written, so I'm glad they didn't try to insult our intelligence with prosthetics and makeup. The Lannister/Tyrell dinner scene was also delightful. Margaery is winning the non-election and Joffrey is in so far over his head.

Oh! One change I didn't like was Sam not sending the ravens, because he totally DID and Stannis eventually comes to their aid. That just made Sam look needlessly dumb. I was a bit fuzzy on that bit - has all the horror on the Fist already happened? Do we not get to see any of it?

So basically, I really enjoyed it. While I love the books and ASOS was a great read in particular, I like that the show is "fixing" some of the things I find problematic about GRRM's writing, such as his treatment of female characters and his penchant for dramatic reveals.