Rhapsodies

Everybody’s favorite buddy comedy.

Well the first episode of Game of Thrones has come and gone and I enjoyed every bit of it.

As usual I will avoid spoilers as much as possible and continue on my fascination about just how HBO’s Game of Thrones is different from A Song of Ice and Fire and having read the books does not save you from being surprised constantly and that’s a good thing.

The one surprised me the most was the return of Ser Dontos who had only appeared the once when Sansa saves him from being drowned in wine. In the book his subplot goes through the next two books and considering how Sansa’s story had went in the last season I had assumed that the had written him out completely. While this had disappointed me it did not surprise me much I can only imagine the logistical headache of arranging a contract for an actor to be committed to doing three cameos over just as many years. So I was happily surprised when he reappeared (not completely surprised mind you I figured that them showing him in the previously in GOT montage I figured they were reminding us for a reason.) But in a way I find that the way they did it here was an improvement as we had forgotten about him just as Sansa has and have to be reminded by Dontos himself.

The other big changes were matters of timing. First, Jaimie and Brienne arrive in King’s Landing noticeably earlier in the story than they do in the book (In the book they arrive after episode two) This changes lots of thing most notably that Brienne is actually in contact with her goal and now that she knows it is achievable and know how much the game has changed unlike in the book she is forced to ponder on what she does next. (Also Loras Tyrell hasn’t demanded her arrest but give it time)

The other big change is the story of Arya and Sandor Clegane the Hound. In the third season I had noticed that there wasn’t that much of that storyline before the Red Wedding happened so I assumed they were going to juggle a lot of what happened before in the book and pad the storyline in this season. What I didn’t expect was for them to start with the scene that fatally wounded Sandor in the book and not have that happen (Well not fatally but the wound was infected as it frequently happens in the books and Sandor did die from it) . So now I don’t have the slightest idea what happens to them between now and the next chapter in Arya’s story.

As for the rest… Good as always there is a very funny scene with Daario and Grey Worm betting on who gets to ride with Dany’s. The introduction of Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper was awesome I look forward to seeing more of Pedro Pascal‘s performance and of course Dragons are cool!