I vowed last year that I would stop comparing the HBO series Game of Thrones to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, in part because it becomes more and more difficult to hold a story told in the television format to the story found in a (so-far) five-volume, 3,000+ page series of novels. Also, the TV series deserves to be judged on its own merits, not just for its fealty to its source material. That said, the first few episodes gave depth to two characters that, to the best of my recollection, was missing in the books.
SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to talk about things that have happened so far on season 3 of Game of Thrones, some of which also happened in the book A Storm of Swords (book 3 in the ongoing series). This will, of course, draw on things in the first two seasons and first two books. I am still only halfway through book 5, A Dance With Dragons, so if something I say here contradicts something I haven’t read yet, shut up. I’ll finish the book, really.
Via fanpop.com
Margaery Tyrell: The books are told in third-person, but each chapter is from the point of view of a specific character. You therefore see certain events from a specific character’s perspective. The death of Ned Stark, for example, was seen through Arya Stark’s eyes in the book, and we learn about Sansa Stark’s experience later. At no point so far have we seen anything from the point of view of any of the Tyrells. Most of what we have seen of Margaery Tyrell is through the eyes of Sansa and Cersei. Cersei is obviously a less-than-reliable judge of Margaery’s character, but the fact that Cersei hates her is a mark in Margaery’s favor. It is therefore fascinating to see how the show develops her.
We know from an exchange with Littlefinger in season 2 that Margaery is ambitious (“You want to be a queen.” “No, I want to be the Queen.”) Now we get to see her schemes firsthand. Natalie Dormer plays the role with both hypnotic beauty and a very subtle cunning (which might be redundant.) She is genuinely kind to the orphan children, even if we know she has an agenda. That scene was a brilliant foil to Joffrey’s character, who refused to get out of his litter lest the common people try to hurt him. Joffrey expects the people to follow and obey him because they have to, because he is their king, end of story. Margaery knows that she must earn their trust and their love, and that this will bring their obedience. The books only show this through Cersei’s horrified eyes.
The scene with Margaery, Lady Olenna Tyrell, and Sansa was painful to watch, knowing that we really shouldn’t know if Sansa should trust these two unfamiliar women. (Kudos on casting Diana Rigg, BTW.) Sophie Turner, who I still think turns in one of the best performances on the show as Sansa, plays the sudden outburst of emotion brilliantly, telling Margaery and her grandmother that Joffrey is a monster. Margaery uses that intel with Joffrey, finally cracking his shell. Joffrey has never allowed anyone to get remotely close to him emotionally, and it was not clear at all if he had any interest in other people except to control or hurt them (cf. the two prostitutes Tyrion sent on his birthday, one of the most unpleasant scenes in a generally unpleasant show.) Margaery realized that cruelty is the way to Joffrey’s heart. It’s a fascinating scene, and I hope they keep developing her bold yet risky venture.
Via itsuv.net
Jaime Lannister: For the most part, Jaime’s story has tracked the books fairly closely. I still have high hopes for the development of his relationship with Brienne, and we saw the beginnings of his odd affection for her when he saved her from the soldiers, unwittingly at the cost of his sword hand. Those of us who know the story were just waiting for that moment, because that is when Jaime goes from being malevolent to something of a subject of pity.
The show has given us individual moments that shine a light on the misery of Jaime’s life, much like they have done with Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, but the scene where Jaime fights Brienne last week added an element that I do not recall from the books. Before the hand-cutting scene, he and Brienne are talking, and she is mocking his skill with a sword. Jaime offers the excuse that he has been in chains for the better part of a year, so is not in peak form. That’s when Brienne drops the bomb that maybe he was never as good as he thinks, but rather that people have blown sunshine up his ass for his entire life because he is Tywin Lannister’s son.
I had never considered this, but it adds a whole extra element of pain to Jaime’s situation. Jaime has only had two driving motivations in life: his skill with a sword, and his love for his twin sister. He can’t do anything about the latter, so he devoted his life to the former. The loss of his sword hand means the loss of the only purpose he is allowed to have. That, by itself, is enough to spark feelings of pity in the books, without ever justifying Jaime’s many crimes. The shows has now raised the question: what if the one skill he has ever possessed was never really a skill at all? That is some cold-ass shit right there.
