Season 7: Game of Thrones' (possibly) Worst Yet

After its season 7 finale, Game of Thrones (GoT) sparked a lot of reaction from viewers and book readers. GoT is a TV series adaptation of George R. R. Martin's medieval fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF), first published in 1996. I feel the need to clearly state the statement below:

ASOIAF is a masterpiece.

That statement is not an exaggeration. If the TV show is good, the books are more than 10 times better. As is usual with screen adaptations of novels, books, or comics, the screen adaptations rarely do the source material justice. Game of Thrones, however, is not good. So if you want the real deal, the books are the answer.

Let me state that I am an avid fan of the books. I absolutely love them, and I believe it is an exceptional experience reading them. The books are so intricate and detailed, there will be clues you miss when you read them the first time. I've read them cover-to-cover 7 times, and there are still things I miss. The books are crafted in such a way as to leave readers with enough clue to piece things together, things that might happen in the future, things that happened in the past, and things that are happening right now in a different location in the books. The characters are multidimensional, and because the books are presented in point-of-views, you really get to know the characters. You know their fears, aspirations, motivations, and weaknesses. The books is so immersive, that you can read them multiple times and you'll still find moments so powerful regardless of the fact that you know what will happen next. Every single word, every single detail has a purpose. It is just that good.

Believe me when I say that if you don't read the books, you are missing out.

The show is something else entirely.

When it started in its first season, I am perfectly aware that the show is a faithful adaptation of its book counterpart, with obvious limitations. These limitations were primarily caused by budget caps since GoT wasn't very popular back then. Book readers were aware of this, and yet the first season managed to capture the essence of the books and carried it over to the TV screen. This was when George R. R. Martin still had influence in determining where the story should go, which characters can or cannot be omitted from the books, and so on. These changes were made due to feasibility concerns, and as imperfect as it was, the first season was a good start.

The second and third season saw its first major departure from the books. These changes don't really have much impact to the show, since the show has established itself as a watered-down version of the books. However, as the story progress and season 4 started, the repercussions of small changes that took place in previous seasons started rolling in, bringing serious consequences to the many interconnected story arcs from the books, that in my opinion, was terrible.

The show is currently way ahead of the books, and since the source material is not yet available, the show writers are forced to improvise. It is safe to say that they fail miserably.

I don't promote elitist behaviour and personally find them annoying, but it appears that the hate book readers feel towards the show is justified. It is common knowledge that the books and the show are different stories now, and the cause of that is understandable. It would be impossible to give the plethora of characters in the books a decent amount of screen time, so the writers had to make do. However, since one of the BEST (and I mean BEST) aspects of the books is the characters, I couldn't bear when the show destroyed many key characters.

Below are tha characters that the show has ruined beyond redemption. As far as season 7 there have been more than these, but I'll try to stick to really important characters and avoid being excessively nitpicky.

**SPOILER ALERT**

1. JAIME LANNISTER

Jaime is one of the best characters in the books. As seen in his POV, he is very complicated, and is a good man condemned by the world for a single heroic act that was perceived as treason. Jaime is a competent commander, he inspires loyalty and admiration to those who truly know him. In the show, he is basically an idiot who blindly loves her sister and will do anything she asks of him, albeit now without asking questions first. The show paints the Lannisters as the villains, while the books stresses the importance of understanding that often there are no pure villains, instead people with different morals acting in different shades of grey for different reasons.

2. ELLARIA SAND

Book Ellaria is an astute woman who understands that violence is an outdated method of conflict resolution, and is loath to participate in crimes. She shows great understanding of the world and how being exactly like it will not make the world a better place. Show Ellaria is a murderous, grasping, politically incompetent psychopath.

3. ARYA STARK

Book Arya is a conflicted child, one who is motivated by revenge to kill her enemies yet finds that revenge and hatred takes a toll on a person. Despite these, she chose to took it upon herself to bear the weight and persevere through it all. Show Arya is a superhuman whose sole purpose is to look 'awesome'.

4. PETYR BAELISH / LITTLEFINGER

The mastermind behind the war that erupted in the Seven Kingdoms. He understands that chaos is a window of opportunity for him to get what he wants. He started as a son of a petty lord and is currently a Lord Protector of the Vale and Lord of Harrenhal. He is beyond understanding the game, he is very good at it. Show Littlefinger is an arrogant know-it-all who is fooled in his own game, and as with the Lannisters, exists in the show to give thw word 'evil' a face.

5. JON SNOW

Book Jon is a competent commander, shaped by his upbringing as a lord's bastard. He is able to relate to the downtrodden and will go to extreme ends to help them. He's grown to be a capable commander and an adept negotiator. He is honourable and courageous, understanding that actions have consequences and is not afraid to face them. Show Jon gallops toward an open field, leaving himself open to a barrage of arrows while being the head of an army, therefore putting his army and the result of battle at an extreme risk, and then lost his horse, and assumed that he can single-handedly withstand a cavalry charge. Enough said.

6. BRANDON STARK Bran lost the function of his legs and with it his purpose and hopes, but is given a new purpose to find "the three-eyed raven". His journey and training is slow and hard, his powers are difficult to control, serves a greater purpose, and cannot be used at will. Show Bran is all-knowing psychic.

7. STANNIS BARATHEON

Stannis is one of the greatest battle and commanders in Westeros, and possibly the best tactician. He is just and fair to a fault, harsh and quick to judge, extremely witty and has a very entertaining dry sense of humor without realising it. He's done bad things and aspires to do great things, in spite of being hard and not easily winning friends. He is a brilliant naval commander, a man that inspires fear from his enemies, and is resourceful. Show Stannis was a foolish religion fanatic and died a stupid death after attempting a desperate charge against a cavalry using infantrymen.

9. RANDYLL TARLY

Lord Tarly is one of the greatest soldiers and battle commanders in Westeros. More than just a ferocious fighter, he is also an astute politician and lord. His name commands respect and admiration from his allies. He has a strict moral code. Show Lord Tarly was roasted alive for being loyal to a queen she left his liege lord for. It's confusing whether he was loyal or not.

10. BENJEN STARK

Deus. Ex. Machina. Bran is in trouble? Benjen will mysteriously appear and save him, only to disappear again. But now that Jon is in trouble, he comes back swinging and saves Jon, only to die in the end. Is he dead for real? No one knows. If someone important is in trouble he is likely to rise again and help them. Granted, the fate of Benjen Stark in the books is currently unknown, but it's safe to assume that he wouldn't be a plot device that miraculously solves seemingly unsolvable problems.

11. EURON GREYJOY

Book Euron is a true villain, and is one of a very select few. He is truly evil, sadistic, abusive, mad, manipulative, cruel, and mercurial. However, he is also charming, generous to his men, wins friends easily, and is a visionary of sorts. He is a very accomplished sailor and is almost devoid of fear. Show Euron is a bully with flamboyant clothes.

There are many other aspects beside the characters, such as the horrible pacing and writing, horrendous script, comedic device, and lore accuracy that really don't do the books justice. The show omits the important things for the sake of catering to a larger audience and yet, in multiple occasions, made decisions about the story to cater to a select few. To explain these would require multiple essays and a resolve so strong as to keep up with so many discrepancies and criticise them one by one in an objective manner.

I wouldn't boast to be entirely unbiased. There is a bit of bias involved because as a book reader, I know how great the story is. I know how great the characters are. I know how detailed the world is, and how everything is not entirely what it seem, with so many possibilities to understand many other events had the readers make an effort to read carefully and build thought-out conclusions. The books are unexpected because the characters are at risk. Martin wants the readers to fear for the characters. The show has reduced this to a simple good versus evil story, while sometimes adding sex scenes and deaths to boost view counts and sometimes, just for the sake of it.

As unbearable as this season was for me, I admit that I still look forward to it as it is the only thing available until the sixth book is released.

Thank you for reading, until next time!

#GameofThrones #ASongofIceandFire #GeorgeRRMartin #HBO