Banana Scoop

Catelyn’s Sister was Married to the late Jon Arryn

I literally did not know this when I watched the series.  After rewatching after reading the book, it’s mentioned several times, but it was so lost in all the other crazy sh!t going on, I’m sure many viewers like myself completely went over this fact.  Because of this, I was confused about if Catelyn was a Tully or an Arryn and if her sister was like a sister in law or something like that.  And there isn’t even a mention of Catelyn’s brother Edmund.

Geography

The opening to the TV series is a great way to give the viewer the sense of geography.  But when it actually comes to the story, if characters aren’t in one of two obvious castles, it’s hard to give a sense about where everyone is.  Where in the desert is Daenerys?  Where is the inn that Tyrion was captured?  As I was reading the book, I was constantly switching to the well drawn map on the inside cover to get a sense of location that made the experience much better.

Commander Mormont is Father to the Exiled Jorah Mormont

Not once did this come to mind.  As you read the book, you read over the names of characters multiple times, making it easier to trace the heritage.  but in the TV show, a name is said once and it tries to assume that you’ve memorized and locked the name away forever.  Ser Ilyn Payne, Sandor Clegane, Doreah, names for these minor characters are easily forgotten.  And when people only call characters by their first names in the tv seasons, it’s no wonder why I never what everyone referred to as ‘Lord Commander’ and ‘Ser Jorah’ to not be related.

The Dothraki Way

We’re fairly familiar with Westeros culture.  It’s based heavily on the medieval days.  What’s far more interesting is Dothraki culture.  Reading through Daenerys’s parts where she would describe what she was seeing was an absolute delight.  The way they take down other tribe’s Gods and offer them to the Mother Mountain.  The respect all Khals have in Vaes Dothrak.  The story about how the world will end.  Something that was understandably skimped out on in the book for time restrictions.

The Eerie is Far More Impregnable than it Seems

The journey to get to the castle on the Eerie was far more difficult than it seemed in the TV series.  The TV series has a group of guard who pick up Catelyn and Tyrion, but the truth is, the journey up is terrifying and dangerous.  They must take highly trained mules to travel steep cliffs.  And while everyone simply says the castle is impregnable in the tv series, the book makes a far more convincing argument as it talks about the multiple gates and vantage points for archers as an attacking army would try and hike up the mountain.

History of Westeros & Lyanna

To newcomers of just the series, I’d imagine it was difficult to understand how King Robert came to power.  He mentions it once or twice in the episode, but once again, if you’re not paying attention, it can be easily lost in all the ‘da fck is happening right now’.  The book explains the tragedy of Robert Baratheon and what fueled him to finish the war and how he won his seat on the throne.  The swinging of his hammer into Rhaegar Targaryen’s chest at the trident, and the betraying of the Lannisters at the siege of King’s Landing is a story told over and over again, but isn’t quite clarified in the book, leaving the unengaged with plot holes and empty dialogue.

The Words of the Great Houses

This point mainly just points out the appendix George R.R. Martin leaves at the end of the book to help readers get a grasp of all the characters in the book.  With literally hundreds of characters that have names, families, and titles, it can be easy to get lost in which houses they belong to and who they’re related to.  The appendix is a great way to get all the things straightened out and includes the words of the Great Houses.  “We Do Not Sow”, “Winter is Coming”, “Ours is the Fury”.  The tv series briefly goes over these, but reading the dozens of houses and the mythlore behind them in the appendix is far more gratifying.