The season 4 finale of Game of Thrones happened recently and while there has been plenty written about it, I still wanted to share a few thoughts on the TV series as a whole. A couple of you may already know that I touched on the book series here, A Post of Ice and Fire, so if you haven't read all the books or haven't seen the entire TV series you may want to look away because, there will be spoilers!
Now I've read enough Stephen King in my lifetime to know that movies and TV productions rarely, if ever, follow the source material. Generally they will re-shape the story the way they see fit rather than go by what is already considered an incredible read. Game of Thrones is no different but I was surprised at how close they did stay to what was happening in the books as a whole. It would have been near impossible to use the different character, POV style that Martin used in the books but the show, and especially the actors, did a tremendous job in conveying what each character was going through during their plights and ordeals. The characters for the most part stayed true to form from the books and most of the major events were there although slightly tweaked for television reasons. Overall, I was very pleased with how the show turned out with only minor gripes*...that is, until season 4. Specifically the last two episodes.
There have been some well documented complaints regarding season 4 ranging from the accidental(or maybe intentional) introduction of major characters who have yet to be introduced as actual characters in the book(The Night's King*) to the infamous rape scene* between Cersei and her brother/lover/enemy Jaime. But for me, the last two episodes really let me down as far as the show's connection to the book is concerned. The 2nd to the last episode, The Watchers on the Wall, was a full episode dedicated to the Wildlings' assault on Castle Black. The show was basically trying to recreate, what was up to that point, the show's greatest episode, Blackwater. Both were beautifully shot with the best special effects the show could provide while focusing on only that one specific event instead of jumping around Westeros and beyond. The big difference between the two, other The Watchers on the Wall missing most of the popular characters, is that we got to see the climax of Blackwater instead of waiting another episode. I've read the books so the whole time I was watching The Watchers on the Wall I was waiting for Stannis to show up to save the day. I wanted to see the initial battle of Stannis's army versus a front line of giants. That would of been epic! But instead we got Lord Snow walking off into the snow. End of episode. I'm sorry but if you are going to dedicate an entire episode to the assault on Castle Black you should of did it justice by including Stannis and his army, triumphant in the end.
Of course by dedicating an entire episode to one event meant the show had a lot to cover during the finale, The Children. And, in my opinion, they failed at that. First thing they had to do was conclude the previous episode by having Stannis show up in this episode but instead of a straight on fight with giants and such we get some military pincer maneuvers picking off various Wildlings in the forest. And then the mighty King Beyond the Wall surrenders, without so much as raising his sword to defend. Not epic, not how it happened in the book. Next was the actual Children themselves. I don't think I have been as disappointed with how characters looked vs. the book than what I was with how the Children were portrayed. Instead of elf-like, feline types we get street urchins. Look, I get how they blew their budget wad on The Watchers on the Wall but after watching several seasons of Face Off I don't think it would have been too difficult(or expensive) to get a couple of make up types to come in and do it right. Hell, call Face Off and make it one of their challenges. And don't get me started on Bloodraven.
To me, the biggest fail was when Tyrion escaped from the dungeon which included him killing his father, Tywin. Because of the time constraints they put on themselves the show delivered most of the goods on how Tyrion escaped and what he did to Shae and Tywin before he got on to the boat but the show left out the biggest piece of the puzzle, Tysha. Tyrion didn't go back to face Shae and Tywin because of Shae and Tywin, he went back because of what Jaime told him about Tysha when Jaime was helping Tyrion to escape. Not getting the Tysha back story changed the whole dynamic of the scene and made Tyrion seem petty and vengeful instead of devastated, wrought with anger and grief. Knowing what really happened with Tysha made finding Shae in Tywin's bed all the more disturbing and gut-wrenching, leading to Shae's death. It also made killing Tywin for saying whore one more time more believable and understandable. This was probably the show's biggest misstep to date. I would also love to talk about the Lady Stoneheart scenes but apparently those may never happen at all.
There were some great moments in the finale. The meeting and resulting fight between the Hound and Brienne, which never took place in the book, was legendary and far more exciting/fun than what actually happened in the book. I was also moved by the scene of Daenerys locking up her dragons. It was wonderfully played by Emilia Clarke and really brought more depth to her story and character. And I loved how the episode ended with Arya* giving the coin to the ship captain and saying those most famous/infamous of words, Valar Morghulis, before setting sail into the vast, open, uncharted waters. Very metaphoric.
Season 4 ends where book 3 in the series ends and if you have read my previous post on the book series then you know how I feel about the books going forward. I don't know how the show in going to happen in regards to how the books happen but there is a lot to work around regarding the next two books if the show is going to continue to be successful. They would have to combine both A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons over the next two seasons otherwise characters will get left behind or forgotten about completely. And at the pace Martin is writing and releasing his novels in the series the TV show will blow past where the books are sometime in 2017-18. Looking forward to the ride.
*minor gripes- Belwas! BELWAS! Where are you...
*The Night's King- A pretty crappy thing to do whether it was intentional or not.
*the rape scene- One thing I have really disliked about the TV show is how they are always trying to portray Cersei as more sympathetic than how she is in the books. The rape scene had not only magnified that but also cast Jaime in a bad light after the book had been trying so hard to present him as more noble as the story goes on.
*Arya- Although truth be told, as great as the Arya character is on screen I still think the book version is much, much better. Arya is one of those characters who suffers the most from not using the POV style from the books. When you can see what she is thinking as well as how she is acting(she also is only 9 years old in the book!) then she becomes a much more formidable force. Her's is a true decent into darkness and her connection to Nymeria is sorely missed. She is my favorite book character.
