‘Game Of Thrones’ Being Ahead Of ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’ Offers Fans Many Benefits


Book fans will likely disagree, but there are many benefits for the show fans to be ahead of A Song of Ice and Fire with Game of Thrones. The show has a new lease, and can fix many of the problems featured in the first five seasons.

One of the biggest benefits is that the show is no longer being forced to stick to particular storylines to keep the book fans happy. As long as George R.R. Martin is happy, Game of Thrones can take a different story arc with various characters. This is something the show has done in the past, but has been criticized by book lovers. Now, the book lovers will have no idea whether some of the storylines are even on track with the books or not.

This is a benefit to the book fans, too. By the show taking a completely different take, the show will not spoil Winds of Winter, which Martin is still yet to release. From the end of Game of Thrones Season 5, book fans had panicked and begged Martin to quickly finish writing so the book would be released before April. With Martin continually missing deadlines, that wasn’t possible.

Of course, some of the book changes fans haven’t liked. Just recently the A Song of Ice and Fire fans complained about a change to Daenerys’ character, as Blasting News reports. It seems the writers just can’t win at times.

Something that many fans—both show and book lovers—complained about was the slow pace of the show. There were times that the storylines could have been moved ahead much quicker, and this is something that some fans say is a problem with the books. With the show adapting specific books, rather than just doing a full adaptation of all at the same time, it meant that storylines were dragged out longer than necessary.

This is something that can change with Game of Thrones Season 6. Now ahead of the books, there is no specific book timeline to stick to. It has already been noted by numerous YouTubers that the show has sped up some storylines, including Arya Stark’s and the Greyjoys’.

There is no deep mythology for the show to spell out for viewers, who would have no idea about the full mythology if they have not read the books. Show fans can simply sit back and enjoy whatever the Thrones showrunners have in mind.

This is something Vox has noted about the benefit of the show being ahead of A Song of Ice and Fire. The Dorne and Meereen storylines were starting to stall, heading in directions that weren’t conclusive or interesting for many. The show has the ability to turn that around and do it quickly. This has already happened with Dany’s storyline now that she is heading back to Meereen with more Dothraki followers.

Vox even suggests that Martin has written himself into a corner and is struggling to get out of it. By the show overlooking some of the book storylines and now getting ahead of the show, there is no need for Thrones to end up in the same state.

There are definitely problems for book fans with the show ahead. Spoilers will happen and theories could be revealed long before the book fans read about it in Winds of Winter. This has happened this week with Hodor’s name being revealed.

HBO continues to air Game of Thrones on Sunday nights, and will continue the King’s Landing storyline in this week’s episode. Will Margaery Tyrell end up doing the Walk of Penance?

[Photo by Steven Snowdon/Getty Images]

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