“Game of Thrones has succeeded where all others have failed. It’s managed to keep the main structure of the books intact while cutting out extraneous plotlines and characters and introducing its own new elements.” — Jonathan Raeder
WARNING: Article includes spoilers from the first three seasons of Game of Thrones.
Adapting the massive, sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire books into a television show seemed impossible. The number of characters, the numerous and intricate plots spread over vast distances, the seemingly prohibitive cost required to make a fantasy world believable, and the incomplete status of the books made even author George R. R. Martin declare the series untranslatable to TV. No one could have predicted that not only would it be adapted into a show, but that the resulting experience would be critically acclaimed, incredibly popular and mostly accurate to the books as well.
Shows adapted from books usually fail. Even successful examples, such as Dexter and True Blood, twisted their source material until it was barely recognizable. Game of Thrones has succeeded where all others have failed. It’s managed to keep the main structure of the books intact while cutting out extraneous plotlines and characters and introducing its own new elements. Fans of the books have been rewarded with a show that does a great job translating the story into a new medium and working within its limitations. However, it hasn’t always been that way.
While the show has been remarkably accurate to the books, there have been missteps. The books have their share of sex, but the show ramps it up to an often-distasteful level with no real purpose. Jon Snow’s storyline in season two was butchered out of an admirable desire to build up his relationship with wilding Ygritte, resulting in a few muddled scenes that left many viewers confused and tarnished a fan-favorite character, the grizzled veteran Qhorin Halfhand.
Perhaps the most egregious addition was the altered Daenerys storyline in season two. She doesn’t have a whole lot to do in the city of Qarth in the books, but it does end with a trippy sequence in the House of the Undying, filled with strange images and prophecies that set the stage for the series to come — many of which have come true and many that have yet to pass, even in the books. Instead, the show introduces a subplot in which her dragons are stolen — creating an Internet meme of Dany repeatedly yelling “My dragons, my dragons!” — that doesn’t fit with the rest of the series and ultimately makes her whole plotline that season irrelevant. She gets her dragons back, leaves and is right back where she started.
However, the show has also made some great choices and grown in its first three seasons; the showrunners and writers have learned what to cut and what to add. Some characters have received added importance and screen time in the show, such as Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, and, most notably, Margaery Tyrell. In the books, she’s never seen outside her assigned role, playing the part of the innocent young maiden. The show, on the other hand, reveals her manipulations and political savviness. The younger characters have also been aged up, a necessary change that makes their actions more believable.
Based on the books released so far, Game of Thrones seems to have enough material to work with to create several more seasons, with a fair amount of new content added. By then, the next book will hopefully have been released, but there’s no telling where the series will head to without the final book, which might not be released for many years. While it would be a tragic blow to Martin if Game of Thrones finishes his story before he can, the show runners have proven they have the chops to make it interesting. Perhaps they’ll go on hiatus until he’s done writing. Maybe they’ll make their own ending and the show will finally become a completely different entity. We’ll have to wait and see.
As we stand on the cusp of season four, it seems likely the people behind Game of Thrones are even more comfortable with their version of Martin’s world, ready to give us the best of his books while leaving out unnecessary tangents and providing their own new spins on his material. Season three recovered admirably from the mistakes of season two, and it seems season four could be the best yet. Prepare yourself. Winter is coming.
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