This article is dark and full of spoilers.
After a very, very long winter, Game of Thrones premieres this Sunday bringing with it a dream of spring. And while thousands of viewers anxiously wait to learn what will befall our favorite heroes and villains following the fallout from the Red Wedding, for those of us who have already read A Storm of Swords, much of the surprises in the upcoming series lie not in where the season is headed, but rather in how it will choose to deviate from the books.
Here are nine book to screen changes that have us excitedly anticipating season 4 of Game of Thrones. And if you have not read A Storm of Swords, you should beware: here there be spoilers.
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Lannister family bonding.
Now that Jaime’s made his way back to King’s Landing, for the first time ever on the show, all of the Lannisters will be living under the same roof. Jaime’s early arrival is one of the biggest book to screen deviations this season, and possibly the one we’re most looking forward to watching play out, simply because it offers the opportunity to explore so many complicated familial relationships for the last time.
Unlike in A Storm of Swords, this season Jaime and Tyrion will have the chance to bro it out and get up to their old shenanigans before Tyrion’s incarceration. We’ll get the chance to watch Jaime react to the accusations against Tyrion as they play out, and his struggles between familial loyalty and honor will be all the more visible as he will definitely have to struggle with the promise he made to Catelyn Stark regarding Sansa — especially considering that unlike in the books, Jaime will be in King’s Landing at the same time as Sansa.
Furthermore, the trailers are highlighting the interesting relationship between Jaime and his son, Joffrey — a relationship we never got to fully experience in the books before Joffrey’s death. How will witnessing his son’s death affect his feelings towards his accused brother and grieving sister? Will Jaime’s return have any influence whatsoever in Joffrey’s behavior?
And finally, many of the season 3 standout scenes involved Tywin interacting with and manipulating his two children. Now that for the first time all three are back together, that is definitely going to make for some interesting family dinners… and even more uncomfortable small council meetings. Might we finally get to see Daddy Tywin catch a whiff of the twincest that’s been happening right under his careful watch?
Brienne hanging out in King’s Landing.
Besides the Knight of Flowers, we don’t get to see Brienne interact with too many people when she arrives in King’s Landing before she gets locked up, but we doubt that the series will go down the same route with her as in the books, as it seems impractical to keep Brienne in a tower for the majority of the season.
It will be fun to watch our matter-of-fact Brienne try and fit in with the backhanded scheming of King’s Landing, but it will be even more interesting to watch how refined ladies like Cersei react to her. In so many ways, Brienne symbolizes all of the things Cersei wishes she could be, in terms of freedom and strength, and yet she will definitely be considered an unladylike curiosity in the court. Without Joffrey’s death to preoccupy her, will Cersei be openly jealous of Jaime and Brienne’s blossomed bromance?
And of course most importantly, despite Jaime’s sure to be conflicted feelings, Brienne will feel honor-bound to respect Catelyn’s wishes regarding Sansa. Now that she’ll be in the same castle as the girl she’s sworn to protect, how will she use her influence with Jaime to keep Catelyn’s promise?
Oberyn Martell taking on the Throne.
Despite only actually speaking in a couple of chapters in A Storm of Swords, like the Queen of Thorns before him, The Red Viper is a definitive fan favorite. And one of the great things about this book being split into two seasons is that we’ll get to see a lot more of him as he takes over King’s Landing with his sultry Dornish charm and fiery vengeance. We eagerly await his own inevitably scripted Tywin Lannister showdown.
Shae’s betrayal.
Possibly one of the most altered relationships from the original books, Shae and Tyrion have been fascinating to watch because unlike in the novels, where even Tyrion himself is acutely aware of Shae’s money-hungry nature, in the HBO series Shae has been portrayed as a woman who truly loves Tyrion and has taken on a fiercely protective maternal role in Sansa’s life. So, while the novelized Shae can be downright mean at times by belittling Lollys’ rape and showing no interest in helping anyone other than herself, the televised Shae longs to have a true and honest relationship with Tyrion — even if it means forsaking his Lannister wealth and running away from King’s Landing.
So what could make Shae finally betray her true love in the series? We don’t think any amount of money that Cersei might throw at her would do the trick. Our best guess is that she will either have to feel that she has been personally betrayed by Tyrion, or that she will be acting to try and protect the only person whom she sees as innocent in all these affairs — the naive Sansa. Her devotion to Tyrion throughout the series will make make her inevitable murder even more shocking. But after Tyrion and Shae’s love has been portrayed so lovingly for three seasons, how are people going to react when he finally strangles her in the end? At that point, will anyone still feel comfortable calling him a hero?
Gendry’s winding story.
Gendry’s story is very clear cut in the novels, which is why his diverging storyline is such a mystery. Since leaving the Brotherhood Without Banners, he’s taken on a sort of Edric Storm role, but while Edric was sent to the Free Cities by Davos, Gendry was last seen rowing off to King’s Landing.
What role Gendry will play in the politics of King’s Landing remains a mystery, but considering most of the big players are currently residing there, it’s doubtful that the showrunners would go through all the trouble of setting Gendry up only to have him go back to his blacksmithing ways. Will he play a part in aiding in Sansa’s escape? Will he pull a Podrick and insist on helping Brienne with her search for the Stark girls? Will he trust anyone enough to reveal Arya’s existence? Or will he catch a ride with Tyrion over to the Free Cities and run into Arya again? We don’t have much to go on based on the promos so far, but we can’t bear to think that this cutie’s Baratheon Bastard status will just disappear into irrelevance.
Yara’s defiant search.
The depths of Asha/Yara’s full badassery have yet to be explored on the show, which is why we’re so so excited that Game of Thrones seems to be expediting her storyline to show at least some of what’s going on before Balon Greyjoy’s death. Unlike the books, Yara is now fully aware that Theon’s alive, and more importantly, ever the obedient daughter, she’s still willing to go against her father’s advice to fight for her little brother’s return.
The Greyjoy’s don’t get a lot of book time devoted to them before A Feast for Crows, so it will definitely be a treat to get to see the drama of Balon’s death unfold before our very eyes this season. The Greyjoy family dynamics are complicated, to say the least, so it will be fun to experience Yara and Balon’s father/daughter relationship before all of the cray cray uncles show up. Because these people do not sow — and nor would we ever want them to.
Barristan Selmy’s backstory blowup.
The trailers have us hoping that this season we’ll actually get to experience the siege of Meereen from Jorah and Barristan’s point of view, but this leads to the inevitable question of why Barristan Selmy will need to seek Dany’s forgiveness. Unlike in A Storm of Swords where his reveal is a surprise, Dany already knows Barristan’s backstory, and has seemingly accepted the role he played in King Robert’s Kingsguard. A blowup over Jorah’s loyalties is definitely in the cards this season, but we can’t help but be curious as to why Selmy’s making the journey down into the sewers too.
Bran over the Wall.
Bran’s journey over the Wall is moving forward fast this season, and it looks like we’re going to have to be pulling in material from book five. The most exciting part about this news is that it means that Bran’s upcoming stories must be substantial enough that the showrunners feel comfortable stretching out Bran’s story even this early on.
Jon and Sam’s bromance.
All of Jon’s struggles in the third book were amplified by the fact that he didn’t have his best friend and constant conscience by his side helping to boost his confidence and help him make intelligent, brave decisions. Sam’s always believed in Jon more than he believes in himself, and having him there as a guiding light that admires him has pushed Jon to always strive to be the kind of man Eddard would be proud of — an honorable defender of the weak.
Considering that we don’t have the added bonus of hearing Jon’s thought process in the television series, Sam’s presence on the Wall during the Wildling battles will definitely be a welcome way of gauging Jon’s feelings by watching him confide in one of the few people that he wholly trusts. With Sam by his side, Jon’s leadership skills, that have had to take a backseat in season 2 and 3 for plot purposes, are bound to shine through as he rallies the troops to defend the Wall. And of course, their inevitable girl-talk regarding Ygritte and Gilly will be fun too.
Game of Thrones season 4 premieres this Sunday, April 6th on HBO at 9pm EST.
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