Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Game of Thrones- Show vs. Books



There's always been a bit of tension between Game of Thrones and the books the show is based on. George R.R. Martin is not, by his own admission, a fast writer, and as the HBO production overtakes his story there has been a lot written about how the two stories may diverge. And diverge they are- Martin has recently released a sample chapter about characters that are not even on the show, and is on record as saying that his story will be substantially different.

The thing that really got me thinking was the news that seasons seven and eight of the show will be shorter than the usual ten episodes. This has many people wondering how the producers are going to wrap up with so many story elements still needing to play out? The implication is that HBO will cut Martin's story even more, to fit it all in to two shorter seasons. The other thing that came to mind is the reading Martin did at Balticon over Memorial day weekend- it was an Aeron Damphair chapter but was all about Euron Greyjoy, who has just been introduced on the show. Euron is apparently going to be a big deal in the endgame of this series, judging from the reading- you can find a transcript here- and this again begs the question. How much of this story are they going to cut?

In addition to upping Euron's profile considerably, the reading also gives new life to a rather bizarre fan theory- the eldritch apocalypse theory- which basically states that Euron is going to turn the upcoming naval battle with the Redwyne fleet into a mass blood sacrifice- giving up both his men and his enemies'- in order to achieve some great power. You can read all about the theory here and it's very compelling. I actually kind of like it and hope it happens more or less the way the author describes- but what a gamechanger it will be, if true! And I can't see the show producers going that way- I mean there's only a few episodes left in this season and then two more shortened seasons- how is that going to work?

But then again if Poor Quentyn's theory is right how will HBO handle that? Will they have to include the Euron storyline in some form? Given that they have just introduced Euron on the show, they must be planning on doing something with his arc- so time will tell. And it's of course very possible that the eldritch apocalypse theory is wrong.

Even if this isn't an issue there still seems to be a lot of story to tell yet- presumably the Wall has to come down, Daenerys has to arrive in Westeros with her army, Jon has to deal with the Boltons- but the show has been on the move. They're ahead of the books now- the Three eyed Crow is dead, Arya has spurned the Faceless Men, the Vale has entered the war- Martin has not gotten to any of this yet, and while he probably will in the next book, we know that his take is going to be slower moving. So if HBO is speeding things up with the endgame in sight, every episode from here on out could be potentially huge. Who knows what we'll see? And with episode ten "The Winds of Winter", I wonder if we'll see the Wall come down at the end of this season?

You can read more about the Balticon reading and my general thoughts on that in my post from last week.

Poor Quentyn has a lot of great info and you can find the eldritch apocalypse theory there.

For more information on Euron and what may happen (it supports the eldritch apocalypse theory nicely) check out this reddit forum. VERY interesting.

And of course if you don't want spoilers, don't go ANYWHERE near these sites!

14 comments:

  1. I don't watch Game of Thrones but my husband loves it and I've been thinking about getting him the books. I've heard that there are things out of order and different story lines and it all sounds very confusing - especially when you don't know much about it! It'll be interesting to see how this all gets wrapped up and how closely the books and the show end up resembling each other.

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    1. I think he's like the books if he likes the show. They're long but there's so much nuance there that the show doesn't capture- certain characters like Jaime, Davos, even Jon himself- are so much deeper in the story. I agree about the books and the show being different- they are pretty different at this point and I'm very intersted to see just how much divergence takes place!

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  2. I've read the books, and love the show as well. I'm more concerned that I'll love these last few seasons, and be disappointed by the books. That wasn't an issue before, since I had read the books first. Even when things differed, I still was able to enjoy the show, because I was able to separate the two. Now that I have tv images in my head, instead of the ones I've thought up, I'm a bit concerned. Someone needs to light a fire under GRRM's ass.

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    1. I know what you mean, I HATE it when the movie image spoils the image I have in my head. I'm usually OK with the book image remaining intact, but with the show moving ahead- what will happen when the book comes out? I don't know! And lol yes he needs to get moving, we're waiting YEARS for these things!!

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  3. Interesting post - I've only read the first book and watched a few episodes - overall, I admire his imagination so much but his world is too dark and violent for me. But I love book vs. screen comparisons, so thanks!
    Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I love his imagination too but I get you on the darkness of it- the violence and savagery of the story is a bit much at times, and not for everyone. If it wasn't for certain characters I really like, I probably wouldn't be as in to it as I am. And it is always fun to compare book to screen!

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  4. I hadn't heard about the shorter upcoming seasons. That's a bit of a bummer, especially since I never feel like 10 episodes are enough. I've accepted that the show is going to end before they books do, but it'd be really, really nice if we could at least get The Winds of Winter before this decade is over, lol.

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    1. Yeah I was surprised! Shorter seasons means compressed storytelling so I'm thinking each episode now could really move things along. I think we're in for a wild ride! And I know what you mean- 10 isn't enough! I'm already kinda lamenting the end of the season and we have 3 left lol.

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  5. I watch GOT but really don't have any interest in reading the book. I do know a little bit about the controversy surrounding the show VS book thing but ultimately, majority of the shows/movies based on books diverge from their original material so it's not really a surprise there. I think HBO will do what they think will capture their audience. Since Martin hasn't even finished writing the book yet, he can definitely change things around even after he already told HBO what he thinks will happen in The Winds of Winter.

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    1. I'm one of those people that likes the adaptation to be as close to the original as possible, but I see your point. With the books not finished, HBO HAS to do their own thing and I'm fine w/ that. I used to worry I'd be spoiled for the books, and to some extent I will, but Martin has said his story will be different and so I'm looking forward to seeing two versions! Should be fun. :)

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  6. Game of Thrones is such a strange one for me, because generally I don't like film/TV adaptations of books I've really liked, but in this case I actually love the books and the show equally. In fact, at the moment I'm liking the show better, simply because it seems to be really picking up the pace, and you can start to see the end of it, whereas the last couple of books were a bit meandering. I'll definitely be interested to read the next book when it finally comes out to see how different it is, but right now I really am enjoying the current season of Game of Thrones, and I can't wait for the next few episodes, as presumably these are the ones the series have been working up to.

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    1. I'm the same way, adaptations don't always work for me especially if they're loose adaptations. And I've been hard on the show before, but I have to say I am enjoying this season. I think part of it is we're beyond the books now so I can just watch and see what happens and not compare it so harshly to the books. :)

      I agree about it picking up the pace- that's nice too. And the books do meander lately, no doubt. It's taking too long to finish the story. And I think you're right- it's nice to see what happens next, I think we're going to see what we've been waiting a long time for and it should be good. :)

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  7. I only skimmed this because I'm WAY behind on GoT and I plan to eventually start watching it again (and finish the series ... someday). But I agree that this is always a fear when books are made into series - we want them to remain faithful to the books most of the time, but it's SO hard to do that when time is limited. Hope they do a good job with this!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  8. You know I haven't really watched it, and I'm still halfway through the first book... But you always make me feel like I should give it another go. Dammit, Greg ;) It's really interesting to me how the show's overtaking the books though. Also I like Daenerys and I want to find out what happens to her but I'm so lazy. Well, you've made me reconsider, again :)

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