Appearance in Popular Culture : Film Adaptations of the Book Series

The popular book series was also adapted for film into a television series. The great storyline and era the book was set in inspired HBO that they based the very popular TV series Game of Thrones in most ways on the popular book series 'A Song of Fire and Ice' with a few adaptations for screening purposes. The book series contained five books, The Game of Thrones, The Clash of the Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast of Crows and A Dance with Dragons.

Reference: http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Differences_between_books_and_TV_series : 10/12/17

Some Differences in the Book and TV Series 1:

• The TV series starts with three rangers of the Night's Watch going beyond the Wall. In the book, they have already been ranging for days.
• In the book, the White Walker attack happens after several days of riding North of the Wall, but in the TV series it happens in a forest close to the Wall on the same day the rangers leave Castle Black.
• The White Walkers are mostly called Others in the books, especially by the people of the Seven Kingdoms. It is the wildlings that refer to them as 'White Walkers'.
• In the TV series, Will discovers the wildlings massacred and their bodies brutalized. In the book, he says they appeared to be sleeping and likely froze to death.
• There is no mentioning in the book that the wildlings' corpses have been arranged in any pattern.
• The White Walkers are of different appearance in the TV series. In the book, they have white skin and reflective light armor. In the TV series, they have frozen grey skin, dark hair, and a brutal face similar to a skull and the armor they wear in later seasons is black and non reflective.
• In the TV series, Gared and Waymar Royce face the White Walkers' first attack, while Will is exploring the area. In the book, Gared is left a short distance away to protect the horses and Will is climbing a tree to get a visual on the wildlings while Waymar Royce was left beneath the tree to face the White walkers alone.
• In the book, a group (at least five) of "the Others" (White Walkers) approach Ser Waymar Royce, who has a duel with one of them before finally being killed by the group. In the TV series not more than two White Walkers appear, and Waymar is killed in a surprise attack by one.
• The wight girl, who frightens Will in the series, is never mentioned in the book.
• In the book, Ser Waymar Royce is transformed into a wight.
• In the TV series, Gared is the second one to be killed by the White Walkers and Will escapes. In the books, Will is strangled by the wight of Ser Waymar Royce and Gared escapes but is later executed by Ned for desertion. There is a key difference in the fact that in the TV series the death is a beheading at the hands of a White Walker as opposed to being killed by a wight.

Some Differences in the Book and TV Series 2:

• The book starts with Cressen's chapter on Dragonstone, which is also different than Cressen's storyline in the show. In the book, Cressen receives a message from the Citadel first, then Shireen Baratheon visits him. After that, he meets Ser Davos, then he visits Stannis, who has not yet accepted the Lord of Light. Cressen then appears at the feast where he is humiliated by Stannis's wife Selyse Florent, who wasn't present at all when Cressen appears on the show. Then he tries to poison Melisandre and dies in the process.
• In the books, Cressen tries to persuade Stannis to forge an alliance with Robb Stark, even if that meant giving up the North and the Riverlands, citing half a kingdom is better than none. He also tries to persuade him to help Robb avenge his father but Stannis immediately cuts him off and reveals his bitterness at how Ned Stark was closer to his brother Robert than he was.
• In the books, Selyse mentions Melisandre gazing into the flames and seeing Renly dead, which particularly alarms Cressen as he had been a surrogate father to all three Baratheon brothers after their parents died and the thought of one killing another was too much for him to bear.
• In the books, Stannis doesn't receive the letter from Eddard saying that he is heir, because Tomard was killed before he could deliver it. The letter is intercepted by Cersei and used as evidence of Eddard's "treason". Stannis had already discovered the true parentage of Robert and Cersei's children long before Eddard, as he had first taken these suspicions to Jon Arryn, and they had been investigating it together.
• Melisandre is not cruel to Cressen, it is Stannis's wife Selyse doing the mocking. She also realizes Cressen's plan and tells him he doesn't have to do it.
• The poison Cressen uses is not hidden in his Maester's chain, in the books, but in a pouch in his sleeve.
• Maester Cressen dies several days before Stannis allows Melisandre to burn the statues of the Seven, which does not happen on the beach.
• Stannis sends out hundreds of ravens all over the Seven Kingdoms proclaiming himself the rightful king, and declaring that Cersei's children are bastards born of incest. Cersei is enraged, which amuses Tyrion, given that Stannis's allegations are true. She orders all copies of the proclamation burned, and decrees that anyone who repeats the allegations should have their tongue cut out. Tyrion points out that it is now too late to suppress the rumor, and trying to do so would be counter-productive. At Littlefinger's suggestion, they retaliate by questioning the parentage of Stannis's daughter Shireen.
• The show starts with Joffrey's tournament, which is the third chapter in the book (the Prologue's storyline is altered in the series, the second chapter was moved to the first season).

Some Differences in the Book and TV Series 3:

• Nearly the whole scene of the Battle of the Fist of the First Men is omitted in the TV series.
• Samwell Tarly is on the Fist of the First Men during the White Walker/wight attack. He did send out ravens, but only two of them carried a message. Those who remained in Castle Black received Sam's message.
• Sam collapses during the retreat. Only Grenn and Small Paul remain with him. Soon the three fall behind the rest of the survivors, and a white walker attacks them. Sam kills it, earning himself the nickname "Sam the Slayer".
• Ghost is not present during the battle, as he is with Jon Snow.
• Most of the remaining brothers of the Night's Watch were all on horseback after their escape.
• In the books, Rast was never present at the Fist of the First Men as he remained a recruit and stayed at Castle Black.
• The wildling spears are all tipped with metal points, while in the novels they're simple, fire hardened, sharpened poles.
  • In the behind-the-scenes featurettes, the production team explains that most of the wildlings actually do carry weapons made of only sharpened wood or bone because they don't have enough knowledge of metallurgy to make their own. However, in the books, it is mentioned that wildlings will scavenge steel weapons from the bodies of members of the Night's Watch they have killed. Thus, in the TV series, some of the wildlings do have steel weapons, but they're the same design as those used by the Night's Watch to indicate that they were only scavenged.
• In the novels, giants wear no clothing, they are covered in shaggy fur pelts like mammoths. They are much more like descriptions of a Sasquatch or yeti.
• In the novels, when Jon Snow enters Mance Rayder's tent, Mance is singing a song, which makes Jon think of him as a singer and not the King-Beyond-the-Wall. There are five more people in the tent: Mance's wife Dalla, her sister Val, a wildling raider named Jarl, Styr and Tormund. Since Styr and Tormund look like leaders, Jon thinks incorrectly that one of them is Mance.
• Jon does not kneel before Tormund in the books.
• While Mance is glad Qhorin is dead, he is also sad about Qhorin's death since he was once his friend.

Some Differences in the Book and TV Series 4:

• Tywin never sends for a smith from Volantis to re-forge Ice, and it is never said that there are only three smiths able to work with Valyrian steel. The deed is performed by Tobho Mott (Gendry's former master, who appears in Season 1 and Season 2), who is from Qohor. Qohor is famous for having the only blacksmiths who can reforge Valyrian steel, and there are more than three of them. It is possible that the actor who played Tobho Mott was simply unavailable.
• The forging of the swords is done off-screen.
• In the books, the conversation between Jaime and Tywin soon becomes a fiery exchange of words: Jaime explodes in rage when stating that he will remain at the Kingsguard. Tywin responds harshly "You are not my son". This is their last book conversation.
• Jaime tells Ser Flement Brax, not to Qyburn, "If you admire the bloody thing so much, lop off your own sword hand and you can have it."
• In the books, Jaime is angry to receive the new sword, considering it as a cruel jape after his mutilation.
• Tywin first unveils the sword which will be gifted to Joffrey on his wedding day in the small council chamber, and Tyrion is the first person he shows it to. This happens well before the Red Wedding, around the time that Jaime was still in the Riverlands.
• It is not Jaime but Tyrion who muses (not mentioning aloud) that the Lannisters have wanted a Valyrian steel sword for years. Tywin's longstanding quest to acquire one for the family is covered in more detail in the books. He attempted to buy one from various impoverished lesser houses, but their swords were so treasured that none would part with them. Tywin's younger brother Gerion led an expedition to recover Brightroar, the Lannisters' lost ancestral sword, and did not return.
• Sansa meets with Ser Dontos much earlier in the books: this happened a few days after the tourney during Joffrey's name day in Volume two, A Clash of Kings​, a time point corresponding to early stage of Season 2in the TV series. Furthermore, Dontos gives her a hairnet in the book, not a necklace.
• In the books, the wildlings' army numbers between 20,000 - 30,000 people (including the non-combatant ones) according to Thoren Smallwood's estimation, not 100,000.
• The Thenns are not cannibals in the books. This is basically combining them with another wildling tribe, the Ice-river clans, who are cannibals. The Thenns are actually the most civilized of the wildlings, living under their own lords who enforce their own laws.
• In the books, Jon claims that he was a better swordsman than Robb. In the show, Jon says Robb was better than him.

Some Differences in the Book and TV Series 5:

• Cersei Lannister was accompanied by Melara Hetherspoon and Jeyne Farman, when she went to see Maggy. It was Jeyne who was terrified of Maggy, and she even escaped when Maggy woke up. Melara was described as being even more brave than Cersei and was more than eager to meet Maggy. TV Melara is a condensation of both girls from the novels. She retains Jeyne's cowardice but still accompanies Cersei as book Melara did.
• Maggy's prophecy has several differences in the books: Melara Hetherspoon is also interested in hearing her future so she also takes part, Maggy predicts that Robert Baratheon will have sixteen children rather than twenty and she predicts the deaths of both Cersei and Melara, but the former at the hands of the "valonquar", the Valyrian term for "little brother", whom Cersei believes to be Tyrion.
• Maggy's physical appearance is quite different on the show. In the books, she is very old, wrinkled, and has no teeth left. She is also nicknamed "Maggy the Frog".
• Robin Arryn never did any strenuous physical activity, as the slightest physical exertion caused him to have seizures.
• Petyr Baelish never agreed to foster Robin at Runestone. In fact, Lord Royce along with other lords declarants tried to forcibly take Lord Robin with them and Lord Baelish managed to prevent that from happening.
• Brienne never told Podrick to leave, she was in fact never less than polite to him.
• The Unsullied was named Stalwart Shield, not White Rat. He was killed after leaving the brothel. It also took six Sons of the Harpy to kill him, though he was able to stab one before dying. His body was also bought to the throne room for everyone to see.
• The Sons of the Harpy did not leave a mask when they killed. They painted a Harpy in the victim's blood near the body. In fact, they were never seen in the books, and they were never described wearing masks.
• White Rat was described as the Sons' first victim in TV series. In the books, the Sons have already killed many before, but their victims were mostly unarmed freedmen, killed at the streets or at their homes. Stalwart Shield was the first Unsullied to be killed which indicated that the Sons had become more daring.
• The re-opening of the fighting pits was Hizdahr's idea, not of the Yunkish people.
• Hizdahr was indeed sent to negotiate with Yunkai, but they never agreed to comply with the abolition of slavery, nor to cede power to a council made up of freed men and former slaveholders, on the contrary: they demanded a compensation in gold and gemstones for their losses as a result of the disruption of slave trade; that Yunkai would resume slaving, and Daenerys must not interfere; that Hizdahr would marry her and become the king of Meereen. Daenerys did not like those terms, especially the second, but agreed. To celebrate the peace treaty, Hizdahr ordered to open the fighting pits.
• Daario was not present in Meereen at that time as he was sent to negotiate with Lhazareen.
• Cersei never thought Jaime had released Tyrion but suspected the Tyrells, because a golden coin of House Gardener was found in the possession of a missing galoer named Rugen (actually Varys in disguise), who disappeared the same night Tyrion did.
• At that point in the books, Tywin's body was already in state of decomposition and a foul stench emanated from the body, so nobody wanted to come close to the body.

Some Differences in the Book and TV Series 6:

• Myrcella, Doran Martell, Trystane Martell, Areo Hotah and Maester Caleotte are alive. Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes never plotted to harm any of them.
• Myrcella was attacked by Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne. She survived but her ear was cut off by Dayne. At that point, she is on the way back to King's Landing, accompanied by Nymeria Sand, and Trystane remains at Sunspear.
• Davos, Alliser Thorne and Eddison Tollett are not present at the Wall in the immediate aftermath of Jon Snow's assassination: Davos was sent earlier by Stannis to the White Harbor; Thorne was sent by Jon to scout beyond the Wall, and he has not returned yet; Eddison Tollett was sent by Jon to Long Barrow, assigned as the chief steward.
• No Bolton soldiers catch up with Theon Greyjoy and Jeyne Poole (Ramsay's wife in the books).
• Theon and Jeyne are found by Mors Umber instead of Brienne and Podrick and are sent to Stannis' camp. Stannis plans to execute Theon and send Jeyne (who is still impersonating Arya Stark) to the Wall before he attacks Winterfell. Theon also reunites with his sister Asha (Yara) who has also been captured by Stannis.
• Arya is not routinely attacked while she is a blind beggar. Instead, she is attacked daily by a man she cannot see while cleaning dead bodies in the House of Black and White. The attacker turns out to be the Kindly Man, who is Jaqen in the TV series.
• Kevan Lannister, not Jaime, tells Cersei the news about Myrcella. Cersei believes Tyrion is responsible. At that point, Jaime is not present at King's Landing hence is unaware of what happened to his daughter. He is in the Riverlands, leading the Lannister troops to Riverrun.
• The bloodriders Aggo and Rakharo, not Jorah and Daario, go to search for Daenerys. Daario is currently held a hostage by the Yunkai, and Jorah is with Tyrion as a member of the Second Sons.
• Cersei never comments in the books that Myrcella's personality is the opposite of hers.
• Myranda does not exist in the books. Two of Ramsay's servants, Yellow Dick and "Little" Walder Frey, are killed in Winterfell by unknown people (presumably Mance Rayder and the spearwives). Ramsay's reaction to the murders is rage, not sorrow.
• Doran never says he was jealous of Oberyn.
• Brienne and Pod are searching fruitlessly for Sansa at the Riverlands, while she is safe in the Vale. They never meet the Stark girls and Theon, and are not involved in the events at the North.
• In the books, Jaime loathes Cersei for sleeping with many different men.
• Cersei discusses Maggy's prophecy with Qyburn, not Jaime.
• Jeyne Poole (replaced by Sansa in the series) broke several ribs after Theon landed on top of her. Also, the tip of her nose turns black from frostbite.