Novel series → TV series · Direct adaptation
A Song of Ice and Fire → Game of Thrones (2011–2019)
Eight seasons that begin as a season-per-book adaptation and end, once the published books run out, as a screen-only ending built from the author's outline.
Source
A Song of Ice and Fire · Novel series · 1996–present · 5 published novels
George R. R. Martin (author)
Bantam Books (Bantam Spectra imprint)
Adaptation
Game of Thrones · TV series · 2011–2019 · 73 episodes across 8 seasons
David Benioff (creator / showrunner), D. B. Weiss (creator / showrunner)
HBO
TrueToPage 59 · Game of Thrones (2011–2019 Broadcast series) · v0.2frozen inventorycatalog score
A Song of Ice and Fire is unfinished. The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are unpublished; nothing from them is used here as fact, only George R. R. Martin's own public comments, labeled as comments.
Fidelity is not stationary across this show's run — see fidelity.by_era. Seasons 1-6 can be checked against published text in some form; Seasons 7-8 cannot, because no published text exists for that period.
The composite and six axis scores describe the entire 73-episode, 8-season run, not any single season.
Screen-only people (Ros, Talisa Maegyr, Night King) are not in the character tables; the source attests nothing about them, so they count under additions restraint instead.
Fidelity
Higher = more of the source is still true. Fidelity is not quality.Season 1
79
Adapts A Game of Thrones as one book to one season, largely following the novel's own chapter order; George R. R. Martin wrote the episode 'The Pointy End.' The published book comfortably covers the whole season.
Season 2
69
Adapts A Clash of Kings as one book to one season (Martin wrote 'Blackwater'), but compresses more of the novel's secondary POV chapters and restructures Cersei's wildfire plotline for pacing, trimming fidelity slightly from Season 1.
Seasons 3–4
71
Splits the series' longest published novel, A Storm of Swords, across two seasons, with Martin writing 'The Bear and the Maiden Fair' and his final script, 'The Lion and the Rose.' The extra runtime keeps fidelity close to the first two seasons, though material begins to move between the two years.
Seasons 5–6
44
Unwinds A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons — two volumes covering the same period through different characters' eyes, because the story had grown too large for one book — into a single chronological narrative, cutting entire published plotlines (Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, Arianne Martell's Dorne, Victarion) and filling gaps with only-outline material Martin shared with the showrunners in a 2013 meeting. This is the last era with any published-book material behind it at all.
Seasons 7–8
—no source text
No published novel covers this period of the story: A Dance with Dragons (2011) is the most recent published book, and The Winds of Winter remains unpublished. Because nothing attested exists for these seasons, nothing here can be scored as preserved — the 0 reflects the absence of a published text to check against, not a judgment on the season's writing.
Plot structure60Seasons 1–4 track the published novels' causal chain closely: one book per season for A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, then A Storm of Swords split across two seasons, with George R. R. Martin writing one of each season's teleplays. From Season 5 the show unwinds the parallel-timeline novels A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons into a single chronological plot and starts filling gaps from an outline rather than a book. Seasons 7 and 8 have no published text to follow at all. The result is a run that is faithfully structured for its first half and an original plot machine for its second, which the mid-range score reflects.strong evidence
Character46Leads keep their vocations and central relationships through the seasons with a published-book counterpart — Tyrion still kills Tywin, Sansa is still married off, Jon is still stabbed by his own brothers — but several lose or trade attested traits along the way: Tyrion's book-canon noselessness becomes a scar, Jaime's confession to Tyrion about Tysha is cut, Stannis's deliberately unresolved book fate is replaced with an on-screen death, and Euron's largely offstage, sorcerous menace becomes an onscreen suitor. For characters whose remaining arc runs past A Dance with Dragons (Daenerys, Jon, Cersei, Bran), the finish line is entirely unattested by any published page, which is a gap in the record, not a preserved fact. Averaging concrete attested misses against large stretches of unscoreable ending keeps this axis in the lower-middle band.partial evidenceN = 21 people
Dialogue & voice71Martin personally scripted one episode per season through Season 4 ('The Pointy End,' 'Blackwater,' 'The Bear and the Maiden Fair,' 'The Lion and the Rose'), carrying character voice markers over from the prose during the show's most book-faithful stretch. Once he stopped writing teleplays and the story moved past the last published novel, the show settled into its own house dialogue style rather than continuing to translate page-specific voice. Devices and rhythms survive more consistently than specific lines throughout, which keeps the score in the upper-middle band rather than higher.partial evidence
Theme & tone43Through the seasons with a published-book counterpart, the show keeps the source's grey-morality throughline: no cause is uncomplicated, and every victory costs something. Once the story passes A Dance with Dragons, there is no published text left to check the show's thematic argument against, and the finale's resolution — a queen's sudden turn to mass killing, a disabled outsider chosen as king — is something Martin's prose has neither confirmed nor denied. Scoring this axis across the whole run means roughly half of it is being measured against nothing at all, which is the main reason the number sits low.thin evidence
Coverage62All five published novels appear on screen in some form across Seasons 1–6, but several load-bearing published units never appear at all: Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff and his invasion, Arianne Martell's Dorne conspiracy, and Victarion's fleet and the horn of dragon-binding are all absent, and Tyrion's overland Essos journey is cut well short of its book route. Seasons 7 and 8 then run past every published unit there is. Coverage sits in the low 60s because the spine of each book shows up while a working list of specific published subplots does not.strong evidence
Additions restraint71Through Season 6 the show mostly translates rather than invents — even its biggest deviations (Sansa's Winterfell marriage, Shireen's burning, Hodor's origin) were, by Martin's own account, concepts he had already shared with the showrunners rather than their own inventions. Seasons 7 and 8, however, are majority original material by definition, since no published book exists to draw beats from during that stretch. Averaged across the whole run, the score stays in the upper-middle band because the early and middle seasons anchor it, even though the final quarter is almost entirely invented plotting.partial evidence
Source-backed span: Season 1, Season 2, Seasons 3–4, Seasons 5–6. Seasons 7–8 continue past the published source and are not scored for fidelity; their additions are carried by the restraint axis.
Ending
Side by side, in our words.On the page · A Song of Ice and Fire
The published novels end mid-story. A Dance with Dragons (2011) leaves Daenerys isolated among a Dothraki khalasar after fleeing Meereen on Drogon, Jon Snow stabbed by mutineers with his fate unstated, and Cersei only just having endured her walk of shame. The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, which would carry the story to its planned conclusion, are unpublished; nothing from them is fact.
On the screen · Game of Thrones
The series ends with Daenerys razing King's Landing and being killed by Jon Snow, Jon exiled to the Night's Watch, Bran Stark elected king of the Six Kingdoms, and Sansa crowned queen of an independent North.
Not comparable to a published text. The series finale covers ground the five published novels never reach. Martin has said the 'major points' of his own ending, including Bran's outcome, are things he told the showrunners years in advance, but has also described the book and show as separate versions of the same story and said his ending will differ from the show's in its particulars. No published chapter exists to check the finale's specific plot beats against.
Mapping
19 rows. Every source unit, including the ones that never appear.| Source unit | What happens there | On screen | Notes | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Game of Thrones (1996) | Eddard Stark is drawn from Winterfell to King's Landing as Hand of the King, while his children scatter and a Targaryen exile grows in power across the sea. | Season 1 (2011) | kept — one novel adapted as one season, following the book's chapter order closely | strong |
| A Clash of Kings (1999) | Five kings claim the realm at once while Stannis Baratheon besieges King's Landing with Melisandre's fire magic behind him. | Season 2 (2012) | kept — one novel to one season, with several secondary POV chapters condensed | strong |
| A Storm of Swords (2000) | The War of the Five Kings turns on the Red Wedding, the Purple Wedding, and Tyrion's trial and escape. | Seasons 3–4 (2013–2014) | split — the longest published novel is divided across two seasons | strong |
| A Feast for Crows (2005) & A Dance with Dragons (2011) | Two volumes covering the same stretch of time through different characters' eyes: King's Landing, Dorne, and the Iron Islands in one book, the Wall and Daenerys's Meereen in the other. | Seasons 5–6 (2015–2016) | merged and reordered — the two parallel-timeline volumes are combined into one chronological narrative, with outline material added for storylines the show carries past where the books stop | strong |
| No published novel | Nothing published by George R. R. Martin covers this period of the story; The Winds of Winter is unfinished. | Seasons 7–8 (2017–2019) | no source — the show is working from Martin's outline of his intended ending, not from any published book | strong |
| A Storm of Swords, epilogue | Catelyn Stark's body is pulled from the river and revived as the vengeful, undead Lady Stoneheart, who leads the Brotherhood without Banners. | omitted | cut — Catelyn's arc ends at the Red Wedding on screen; no revival follows | strong |
| A Feast for Crows / A Dance with Dragons, Griff chapters | A man calling himself Young Griff, presented as Rhaegar Targaryen's surviving son, sails for Westeros with Illyrio Mopatis's and Varys's backing. | omitted | cut — Young Griff, Jon Connington, and the whole invasion plot never appear | strong |
| A Feast for Crows, Dorne chapters | Princess Arianne Martell schemes to crown Myrcella Baratheon queen against her father Doran's cautious plans. | Season 5, Dorne subplot | replaced — the show drops Arianne and Doran's slow-play politics for an invented poison-and-revenge plot centered on Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes | strong |
| A Dance with Dragons, Theon chapters | Ramsay Bolton marries a smallfolk girl, Jeyne Poole, passed off as 'Arya Stark,' and abuses her at Winterfell while Theon is forced to watch. | Season 5, Sansa is married to Ramsay at Winterfell | merged — the show gives this storyline to Sansa, who in the books is at the Eyrie during this period, rather than to Jeyne Poole | strong |
| A Storm of Swords, Tyrion IX | Jaime tells Tyrion that his first wife Tysha was never a hired prostitute and genuinely loved him, upending the story their father told him. | omitted | cut — the Season 4 finale keeps Jaime freeing Tyrion and Tyrion killing Tywin and Shae, but Jaime never delivers this confession | strong |
| A Feast for Crows / A Dance with Dragons, Victarion chapters | Victarion Greyjoy sails the Iron Fleet east on Euron's orders to bring back Daenerys, carrying a captured horn said to bind dragons. | omitted | cut — Victarion never appears; his fleet and the horn subplot are dropped entirely | strong |
| A Dance with Dragons, final Jon chapter | Jon Snow is stabbed by several of his own Night's Watch brothers in a mutiny at Castle Black; the published text ends there. | Season 6, 'Home' | unattested — the show resolves the stabbing with an on-screen resurrection two episodes later; the published books leave Jon's fate at 'stabbed,' with nothing more confirmed in print | strong |
| Hodor's origin (unpublished; concept Martin shared with the showrunners in 2013) | According to Martin, Benioff, and Weiss, Hodor's real name and simple speech trace back to a time-loop warging event; this has not appeared in any published book. | Season 6, 'The Door' | attested only by creator interview, not by published prose | partial |
| Shireen's burning (unpublished; concept Martin shared with the showrunners) | Martin has said in interviews that he always intended for Stannis and Melisandre to sacrifice his daughter Shireen to R'hllor; it has not happened in any published book. | Season 5, 'The Dance of Dragons' | attested only by creator interview/commentary, not by published prose | partial |
| A Dance with Dragons, Stannis's northern campaign | Stannis marches on Winterfell through snow and loses a battle to the Boltons; the published text moves on without confirming what happens to him next. | Season 5, 'Mother's Mercy' | invented ending — the show supplies a definitive on-screen death (by Brienne's sword) that the published text deliberately withholds | strong |
| A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion's journey east | Tyrion travels overland through Essos with Illyrio's dwarf-jousting caravan, crosses paths with Young Griff's company, and is captured by Jorah before reaching Daenerys. | Season 5 | condensed and replaced — the show cuts the overland caravan and the Young Griff meeting for a shorter, more direct route | strong |
| A Feast for Crows / A Dance with Dragons, Euron chapters and reports | Euron Greyjoy is a largely offstage, ominous pirate lord linked to horn magic, a mute captured crew, and a claim on the Iron Throne pursued by proxy. | Seasons 6–8 | altered — the show gives Euron an onscreen, talkative character who courts Cersei in person, trading the book's distant menace for a visible antagonist | partial |
| A Feast for Crows, kingsmoot chapters | The kingsmoot is a multi-day political convention on Old Wyk where several claimants, including Asha and Euron, make their case for the driftwood crown. | Season 6, 'Home' | condensed — the multi-day convention and cast of claimants are compressed into a single scene where Euron wins | strong |
| A Dance with Dragons, Bran chapters | Bran reaches the three-eyed raven's cave beyond the Wall and begins his training in warging and greensight. | Season 5 — Bran does not appear | delayed — the show holds Bran's entire storyline out of Season 5 and resumes it in Season 6 | strong |
Change log
The argument. The mapping above is the evidence.- OmittedLady Stoneheart — Catelyn Stark's undead revival and vengeance quest — never appears; her arc ends at the Red Wedding.A Storm of Swords, epilogue → S3E9, 'The Rains of Castamere'Removes an entire published-book thread and a recurring question the books keep asking about mercy and revenge.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- OmittedYoung Griff, presented as Rhaegar Targaryen's surviving son, and his invasion of Westeros are cut entirely.A Feast for Crows / A Dance with Dragons → no episodeRemoves a rival claimant to the Iron Throne and a major published mystery about his true parentage.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- MergedJeyne Poole's forced marriage to, and abuse by, Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell is given to Sansa Stark instead.A Dance with Dragons, Theon chapters → Season 5, WinterfellChanges which character absorbs the story's most brutal abuse arc and sends Sansa somewhere the books do not, at this point.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- OmittedJaime's confession that Tysha genuinely loved Tyrion and was never a hired prostitute is cut.A Storm of Swords, Tyrion IX → no episodeRemoves the specific revelation that pushes book-Tyrion to kill Tywin, softening his motive on screen.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- CondensedTyrion's overland journey through Essos with Illyrio's caravan and Young Griff's company is cut to a shorter, more direct route to Daenerys.A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion chapters → Season 5Trims a slow, digressive book thread but also removes his near-meeting with Griff.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- Identity / design changeTyrion loses half his nose at the Battle of the Blackwater in the books; the show gives him a facial scar and keeps his nose intact.A Clash of Kings → Season 3 onwardThe books make Tyrion's disfigurement a running source of other characters' cruelty toward him; the show softens that.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- InventedStannis's final battle against the Boltons ends with an on-screen death, executed by Brienne; the published books leave his fate after that battle unresolved.A Dance with Dragons → S5E10, 'Mother's Mercy'Supplies a definitive ending the source deliberately withholds.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- InventedJon Snow's stabbing by his Night's Watch brothers is followed by an on-screen resurrection two episodes later; the published books end with the stabbing and nothing more.A Dance with Dragons, final Jon chapter → S6E2, 'Home'Confirms an outcome the published source has, as of now, only left open.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- Kept, unflinchingThe Red Wedding is staged with the same wholesale slaughter of Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark, and their bannermen that the books describe, without softening it.A Storm of Swords → S3E9, 'The Rains of Castamere'A gentler adaptation could have pulled back from killing a season's protagonist mid-episode; the show did not.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- InventedShireen Baratheon's burning by her own father has no published-book counterpart; the show stages it on Martin's account that it was always his plan.unpublished — Martin interview and Season 5 Blu-ray commentary → S5E9, 'The Dance of Dragons'A scene this dark is staged years before any published text confirms it happens at all.Attribution: concept credited to George R. R. Martin, per his own account; staged by Benioff and Weiss
- Ending changedThe series finale — Daenerys's turn to mass killing and death, and Bran Stark's election as king — resolves the story with material that exists nowhere in the five published novels.no published text beyond A Dance with Dragons (2011) → S8E5–E6There is no published prose to compare this to; Martin has said only that some broad endpoints (Bran's outcome, among them) were his idea from early conversations, not that the execution matches his planned prose.Attribution: outline attributed to George R. R. Martin per his and the showrunners' accounts; screen execution by Benioff and Weiss
- ReorderedA Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, which cover the same period through different characters, are unwound from their split-POV structure and merged into one forward-moving timeline.A Feast for Crows (2005) / A Dance with Dragons (2011) → Seasons 5–6Solves a structural problem specific to print that television can't reproduce, but changes how and when information reaches the audience.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- CondensedThe multi-day, multi-claimant Iron Islands kingsmoot is compressed into a single scene.A Feast for Crows → S6E2, 'Home'Trims out Victarion's presence and Asha's fuller case for the driftwood crown.Attribution: unknown / production decision
- Tonal shiftEuron Greyjoy becomes a talkative, on-screen suitor to Cersei rather than the largely offstage, ominous, magic-touched pirate lord of the books.A Feast for Crows / A Dance with Dragons → Seasons 6–8Trades the source's dread-through-absence for a more conventional, visible antagonist.Attribution: unknown / production decision
People
Trait score = attested traits kept ÷ attested traits shown. Unstated traits are not rows.Tyrion Lannister56
Kept as central wit. Tysha omission and Young Griff omission are the load-bearing misses.
| Appearance | Grotesque proportions; mismatched green and black eyes; hair mixed white-blond and blackPeter Dinklage is not made up to the book's face. · AGoT Tyrion descriptions | altered |
| Body / ability | A dwarf whose body limits conventional knighthoodAGoT | preserved |
| Personality | Youngest son of Tywin; uses wit as a weaponAGoT | preserved |
| Vocation / role | Serves as Hand in King's Landing and designs the Blackwater defenseACoK | preserved |
| Relationships | The Tysha lie is the wound that defines his break with Jaime and TywinConfession cut at S04E10. · ASoS Tyrion/Jaime | omitted |
| Plot function | Kills Tywin and flees WesterosASoS | preserved |
| Arc | Travels east with Young Griff, not as a Varys road-trip advisor arriving cleanly at DanyADWD Tyrion | altered |
| Moral code | Late-book voice is bitter, drunken, and capable of targeted crueltyShow Tyrion stays wryer and more advisory. · ADWD | altered |
| Voice | Sardonic diction, sexual jokes, courtroom speechesAGoT-ASoS | preserved |
Sansa Stark43
Close through S4. S5 is the break.
| Appearance | Eleven years old at the start of AGoTAged up (AWOIAF: 13 on show, then further). · AGoT | altered |
| Personality | Tully coloring; trained in courtesy as armorTrue in King's Landing seasons. · AGoT Sansa | preserved |
| Relationships | Betrothed to Joffrey; abused at court after Ned's deathAGoT-ASoS | preserved |
| Plot function | Smuggled to the Vale by Littlefinger after the Purple WeddingASoS | preserved |
| Arc | Lives as Alayne Stone and learns Vale politics from LittlefingerAFFC Sansa | omitted |
| Identity | Is not Ramsay Bolton's wife; that plot belongs to Jeyne Poole posed as AryaS05 merge. Martin Rolling Stone 2019: he would prefer his version. · ADWD | altered |
| Vocation / role | Northern daughter whose power is political observation, not a Winterfell revenge plot yet in printAFFC | altered |
Jon Snow86
Ghost: I'll set preserved. Hardhome fight is a plot_function miss.
| Identity | Presented as Ned Stark's bastardAGoT | preserved |
| Vocation / role | Joins the Night's Watch and is elected Lord CommanderAGoT-ADWD | preserved |
| Moral code | Honor vs the duty to save wildlings from the OthersADWD | preserved |
| Plot function | Stabbed by brothers of the Watch at the end of ADWDADWD Jon | preserved |
| Arc | Resurrection after the stabbingExcluded: source has not attested it in print. Counted as invented beat instead. · unpublished | not depicted |
| Relationships | Relationship with Ygritte among the wildlingsACoK-ASoS | preserved |
| Relationships | Direwolf Ghost as companionTreat condensed as altered for trait status? Use preserved-condensed as preserved if still true. Ghost exists on show. · AGoT+ | preserved |
| Plot function | Never fights a White Walker at Hardhome in the novelsShow S05E08. The book fact is that he stays at the Wall; showing him fighting is a different fact. · ADWD | altered |
| Identity | Parentage not confirmed in published narrationShow confirms R+L=J. Source has not stated it. Excluded from denominator (cannot miss an unstated identity). The confirmation is an invented-or-outline beat. · unpublished / theory | not depicted |
Daenerys Targaryen33
| Appearance | Thirteen years old when sold to DrogoShow ages her to 16 (AWOIAF). · AGoT | altered |
| Appearance | Silver-gold hair and violet eyesHair is platinum on screen; violet eyes not consistently used. · AGoT | altered |
| Relationships | Marries Drogo; relationship becomes consensual over time in the novel, not on the wedding nightShow stages the wedding night without waiting for consent. · AGoT Daenerys | altered |
| Plot function | Hatches three dragons on a funeral pyreAGoT Daenerys X | preserved |
| Vocation / role | Takes the Unsullied at Astapor and styles herself breaker of chainsASoS | preserved |
| Arc | Attempts to rule Meereen rather than sail west immediatelyUse altered: compressed, Barristan removed, Quentyn omitted. · ADWD | altered |
| Relationships | Does not receive Quentyn Martell as a suitor who then dies on a dragonADWD Quentyn | omitted |
| Relationships | Barristan is her living Kingsguard-steward in MeereenADWD Barristan | omitted |
| Identity | Targaryen claimant to the Iron ThroneAGoT+ | preserved |
Jaime Lannister57
| Identity | Kingslayer; twin and lover of CerseiAGoT | preserved |
| Plot function | Pushes Bran from the towerAGoT | preserved |
| Body / ability | Loses his sword handASoS | preserved |
| Arc | Honor arc through Brienne of TarthASoS | preserved |
| Relationships | Tells Tyrion the truth about TyshaASoS | omitted |
| Vocation / role | AFFC riverlands campaign toward Lady StoneheartAFFC Jaime | omitted |
| Plot function | Does not go to Dorne to fetch Myrcella in the novels at this pointShow Dorne plot. · AFFC/ADWD | altered |
Cersei Lannister60
| Identity | Queen; incestuous mother of Joffrey, Myrcella, TommenAGoT | preserved |
| Plot function | Walk of atonement after the Faith imprisons herAFFC | preserved |
| Arc | Maggy the Frog prophecy includes a valonqar who will choke herAWOIAF: show prophecy omits valonqar choking. · AFFC Cersei | omitted |
| Plot function | Burns the empty Tower of the Hand with wildfire, killing no one in that fireShow destroys the Sept with wildfire instead. · AFFC | altered |
| Personality | Paranoid, wine-soaked POV ruler after Tywin's deathAFFC | preserved |
| Vocation / role | Not Queen Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms in published booksShow crowns her. Excluded (source hasn't made her queen in print). Invented beat. · unpublished | not depicted |
Arya Stark60
| Appearance | Nine years old at the start; trained toward water dancing rather than courtesyAged up (AWOIAF: 11). · AGoT | altered |
| Vocation / role | Needle; a list of names; Syrio ForelAGoT | preserved |
| Plot function | Harrenhal / Jaqen three namesSet preserved. · ACoK | preserved |
| Arc | Sails to Braavos and trains with the Faceless MenASoS-AFFC | preserved |
| Plot function | Does not kill a Night King; no such figure exists in the novelsExcluded. Invented beat. · unpublished / show original | not depicted |
| Body / ability | Nymeria lives in the riverlands wolf pack; Arya wargsShow Nymeria cameo only; warging largely dropped. · ASoS-AFFC | omitted |
Ned Stark75
S1 only.
| Moral code | Lord of Winterfell, Hand of the King, honor as moral codeAGoT | preserved |
| Plot function | Executed at Baelor after confessing under a mercy dealAGoT | preserved |
| Arc | Investigates Jon Arryn's death and the royal children's parentageAGoT | preserved |
| Body / ability | Does not win a sword fight with Jaime in the street; he is injured when his horse fallsShow: they duel (AWOIAF). · AGoT | altered |
Catelyn Stark75
| Identity | Lady of Winterfell; mother of the Stark children; TullyAGoT | preserved |
| Plot function | Seizes Tyrion; later released as part of Jaime's escort bargainAGoT-ASoS | preserved |
| Arc | Murdered at the Red WeddingASoS | preserved |
| Arc | Resurrected as Lady Stoneheart, leading a vengeance bandASoS epilogue / AFFC | omitted |
Robb Stark67
| Vocation / role | King in the North after Ned's deathAGoT | preserved |
| Relationships | Marries Jeyne Westerling from honor after sleeping with herTalisa love-match. · ACoK/ASoS | altered |
| Plot function | Murdered at the Twins under guest rightASoS | preserved |
Stannis Baratheon75
| Identity | Robert's heir by law; Melisandre's king; Davos's lordACoK | preserved |
| Plot function | Loses BlackwaterACoK | preserved |
| Arc | Alive and marching on Winterfell at the end of ADWDShow kills him in S5 after burning Shireen. Shireen-burning is a stated Martin future beat; the campaign around it is not published. · ADWD | altered |
| Voice | Legalistic, joyless dictionACoK-ASoS | preserved |
Theon Greyjoy67
| Plot function | Ward of Winterfell who betrays Robb and takes the castleACoK | preserved |
| Arc | Broken by Ramsay into ReekADWD | preserved |
| Relationships | Escapes Winterfell with Jeyne Poole, not SansaADWD | altered |
Bran Stark67
| Arc | Pushed from the tower; greenseer path northAGoT-ADWD | preserved |
| Plot function | Reaches the three-eyed crowADWD | preserved |
| Relationships | Jojen lives to guide him in the published booksShow kills Jojen at the cave. · ADWD | altered |
| Vocation / role | King of WesterosExcluded. Reported Martin destination via Hempstead Wright. · unpublished | not depicted |
Barristan Selmy50
| Plot function | Dismissed from Joffrey's KingsguardAGoT | preserved |
| Arc | Joins Daenerys and remains alive as her Meereen steward and a POVKilled S05E04. · ADWD Barristan | omitted |
Lady Stoneheart0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | Catelyn resurrected, mute, leading the Brotherhood in vengeanceASoS epilogue / AFFC | omitted |
| Plot function | Intersects Brienne and Jaime in the riverlandsAFFC | omitted |
Young Griff / Aegon VI0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | A boy presented as Rhaegar and Elia's surviving sonADWD | omitted |
| Plot function | Travels with Tyrion and Jon Connington toward a Westeros landing with the Golden CompanyADWD | omitted |
Arianne Martell0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | Heir of Dorne; AFFC POVAFFC | omitted |
| Plot function | Plots to crown MyrcellaAFFC | omitted |
Quentyn Martell0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | ADWD POV sent to woo DaenerysADWD | omitted |
| Plot function | Dies attempting to tame a dragonADWD | omitted |
Victarion Greyjoy0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | Ironborn POV sailing to Meereen with a dragonhornAFFC/ADWD | omitted |
| Plot function | A distinct plot function from show-Euron's pirate raidsAFFC/ADWD | omitted |
Jeyne Poole0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | Winterfell steward's daughter forced to pose as Arya and marry RamsayADWD | omitted |
| Plot function | Escapes with Theon toward StannisADWD / TWOW sample not scored as ending | omitted |
Jeyne Westerling0
Never appears on screen.
| Identity | Robb's wife, a Westerling, not present at the Red WeddingACoK/ASoS | omitted |
Creator stance
Time-stamped. Co-creators are never collapsed.George R. R. Martin
author of the source novels
2011-2014 (Seasons 1-4)
Participating adapter
Martin personally wrote one teleplay per season for the show's first four years, adapting his own chapters directly to script.
His four scripts are 'The Pointy End' (S1), 'Blackwater' (S2), 'The Bear and the Maiden Fair' (S3), and 'The Lion and the Rose' (S4).
George R. R. Martin
author of the source novels
2019 (post-finale)
Consulted, mixed
After the show ended, Martin said he would not change his own planned book ending to satisfy fans who disliked the finale, and described the book and the show as two separate versions of the same story existing side by side.
He gave the showrunners an outline of his intended ending years earlier but was no longer writing scripts by this point.
George R. R. Martin
author of the source novels
October 2022
Consulted, mixed
At a public conversation with Neil Gaiman, Martin said Hollywood has an obligation to be faithful to the written material it adapts, and that he hates the phrase 'make it my own.'
This was a public onstage conversation (Symphony Space, NYC), not a Not a Blog post, and it addresses adaptation fidelity in general rather than Game of Thrones by name.
George R. R. Martin
author of the source novels
May 2024
Consulted, mixed
In a Not a Blog post, 'The Adaptation Tango,' Martin repeated that screenwriters who try to 'make it their own' almost always make a book worse, while praising FX's Shogun as a faithful exception.
About adaptations in general (praising Shogun); does not name Game of Thrones.
George R. R. Martin
author of the source novels
September 2024
Consulted, mixed
In a post titled 'Beware the Butterflies,' Martin argued that one small adaptation change compounds into larger deviations down the line, and warned of more such 'toxic' changes to come.
The original post was about House of the Dragon and was deleted from georgerrmartin.com about 30 minutes after publishing; that URL now returns a 404, so this row is sourced to contemporaneous reporting rather than the primary post. It is the clearest public statement of the 'butterfly effect' idea, though it is not about the flagship Game of Thrones series by name.
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss
showrunners / adapters
2017 (Season 7)
Participating adapter
Once the show passed the published novels, Benioff and Weiss said it was already too late for the story to line up with the books, argued the divergence would let readers still be surprised, and said they had discussed the endgame with Martin years earlier so knew the shape of his ending.
Answered jointly in this interview; no separately attributed quote for each was found, so this is one row for both.
No other adaptation of this source is catalogued.
Sources
Every score note points here. Wikipedia is a lead, not an authority.- productionA Song of Ice and Fire — Bibliography (georgerrmartin.com)
Publication years and publisher for the five published novels - referenceA Song of Ice and Fire (Wikipedia)
Series overview and confirmation that The Winds of Winter is unpublished - referenceGame of Thrones (Wikipedia)
Season and episode count, air years, and show creators - primaryGame of Thrones Season 7: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss Interview (Time)
Showrunners' account of departing from the published books and their prior meeting with Martin - secondaryGeorge R.R. Martin and Neil Gaiman Slam Unfaithful Adaptations (CBR)
Martin's October 2022 public remarks on adaptation fidelity - primaryThe Adaptation Tango (Not a Blog)
Martin's May 2024 Not a Blog post on faithful vs. unfaithful adaptations - secondaryA Brief Timeline of George R.R. Martin's House of the Dragon Discontent (The Ringer)
Reporting on Martin's September 2024 'Beware the Butterflies' post and its butterfly-effect argument - secondaryGeorge R.R. Martin says outspoken fans won't influence book ending (Fox News)
Martin's July 2019 stance on the book ending versus the show ending - secondaryThe Three Most Shocking Game Of Thrones Spoilers That George R.R. Martin Told The Showrunners (ScreenRant)
Hodor, Shireen, and Bran endgame beats Martin shared with the showrunners in a 2013 meeting - secondaryGame of Thrones Author Confirms Shireen Spoiler For Books (ScreenCrush)
Confirmation that Shireen's burning was always planned as a future book event - secondary15 Biggest Changes Game Of Thrones Makes To George R. R. Martin's Books (TVLine)
Overview of major book-to-show plot and character changes used across the mapping and change log - secondary10 Major Things About Tyrion Lannister From The Books That Game Of Thrones Left Out (ScreenRant)
Tyrion's book-only traits: the lost nose, the Tysha revelation, his personality - secondaryWhy Game Of Thrones Killed Off Stannis Baratheon Before The Books Did (ScreenRant)
Stannis's book-ambiguous fate versus the show's definitive on-screen death - secondaryWhy George R.R. Martin Stopped Writing Game Of Thrones Episodes (SlashFilm)
Which episodes Martin wrote for Seasons 1-4 and why he stopped after Season 4
Record asoiaf-to-got-hbo · schema 0.2 · scoring 0.2-inventory · frozen seed inventory. Fidelity is not quality; the score is not a review.