Instead of cutting characters or storylines from the books to save room on the show, Game of Thrones cut a theme: that you are a single thread in a sprawling tapestry of history and prophecy sprawling backward and forward and sideways through time; that you have no control over the shape or design or pattern of this tapestry; that the occasional glimpses you get of the larger tapestry can be exhilarating and terrifying and awe-inspiring; that attempting to unravel the awesome mystery of what it all looks like and how it all connects is a driving force in people’s lives.
Most of the major storylines and characters remain intact; other themes, particularly the exploration of how violence destroys human dignity and connectedness, remain intact. So there’s still much of what you love from the books in the show. But the theme above is not what the creators are interested in exploring. You have to decide how to handle that on your own.
[...] Episode 01: Winter Is Coming Episode 02: The Kingsroad Episode 03: Lord Snow Episode 04: Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things Episode 05: The Wolf and the Lion Episode 06: A Golden Crown Episode 07: You Win or You Die Episode 08: The Pointy End Episode 09: Baelor Episode 10: Fire and Blood Episode 11: The North Remembers Episode 12: The Night Lands Episode 13: What Is Dead May Never Die Episode 14: Garden of Bones Episode 15: The Ghost of Harrenhal Episode 16: The Old Gods and the New Episode 17: A Man Without Honor Episode 18: The Prince of Winterfell Episode 19: Blackwater Episode 20: Valar Morghulis * Follow-up 01 * Follow-up 02 [...]