Differences in adaptation/Game of Thrones: Season 4

The following is a list of differences between Season 4  of the television show Game of Thrones and the second half of the third novel of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, ​A Storm of Swords.

Two Swords

• Tywin never sends for a smith from Volantis to re-forge Ice, and it's never said that one of only three smiths able to work with Valyrian steel is from there. The deed is performed by Tobho Mott (Gendry's former master), who is from Qohor. Qohor is famous for having the only blacksmiths who can reforge Valyrian steel, and there are more than three of them. It is possile that the actor who played Tobho Mott was simply unavailable.
• Tywin first unveils the sword which will be gifted to Joffrey on his wedding day in the small council chamber, and Tyrion is the first person he shows it to. This happens well before the Red Wedding, around the time that Jaime was still in the Riverlands.
• Sansa meets with Ser Dontos a few days after the tourney during Joffrey's name day.
• The Thenns are not cannibals in the books. This is basically combining them with another wildling tribe, the Ice-river clans, who are cannibals. The Thenns are actually the most civilized of the wildlings, living under their own lords who enforce their own laws.
• In the books, Jon acknowledges that he was a better sword than Robb. In the show, Jon says Robb was better than him.
• Dontos gives Sansa a hairnet in the book A Clash of Kings, not a necklace.
• Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister do not arrive King's Landing in time for the royal wedding in the books. Some of Jaime's scenes are from the books but occur much later, after his return. Jaime's scene in the White Sword Tower with Joffrey, however, has no counterpart in the books.
  • This does mark the first time that Ser Preston Greenfield has been mentioned by name as a member of the Kingsguard; before this his name was known only from the books.
• Oberyn's host arrives at Kings Landing before the Red Wedding. When Tyrion meets them he is accompanied by Lord Gyles, Jalabhar Xho and Ser Addam as well as Bronn. Furthermore Oberyn meets Tyrion here rather than in a brothel.
  • Oberyn does mention when he meets Tyrion that he wants to avail himself of the city's brothels, and that Ellaria is interested in joining him. It also established that Ellaria is sexually interested in women as well, because he said she had never been with a blonde woman before. Thus this scene was implied within the books, but happened "off screen".
• It is never stated that Grey Worm has any attraction to Missandei.
  • The books do later point out that just because the Unsullied do not have a man's parts does not mean they do not have a man's heart, and they can still develop emotional attachments to people, moreso now that Daenerys has freed them from their utterly regimented slavery.
• Greyworm and Daario Naharis never bet with each other.
• There is no scene from the books in which Daario gives Daenerys Targaryen flowers. The books do have Daenerys recall that, "off screen", Daario has gotten into the habit of giving her flowers at his daily reports, ostensibly to show her with the country and its people are like: the TV show turned this into an actual scene.
• The TV series has made no mention of Ser Arthur Dayne before, and in some respects combined his legendary status with Ser Barristan Selmy - though Ser Barristan wa a Kingsguard alongside Ser Arthur and a living legend in his own right. Season 4 has reversed this trend by explaining who Ser Arthur was.
• Arya Stark killing Polliver mixes elements from three separate deaths in the books. In the books, three of Ser Gregor Clegane's men are on her revenge list: Polliver took Needle, but it was Raff who killed Lommy (by driving a spear through his neck), while the Tickler was the head torturer at Harrenhal. The Tickler was killed by Jaqen H'ghar in the TV series, but in the books she had him kill another guard named Chiswyk. In the books, Arya does encounter both Polliver and the Tickler at the Inn at the Crossroads (in the TV series it was a different inn). It was Sandor, not Arya, who killed Polliver, but Arya killed the Tickler. She killed him in a frenzy by stabbing him repeatedly, sarcastically shouting the questions he interrogated innocent prisoners with as he tortured them: "Is there any gold hidden in the village?! Silver?! Gems?! Where is Lord Beric?!" - the Tickler's great cruelty being that he knew there was no gold but tortured people anyway. Arya continues stabbing him until Sandor has to physically pull her off of his corpse. In a separate scene, Arya kills Raff, the man who killed Lommy in the books, by forcing him into the same position Lommy was when he brutally killed the injured boy: she stabs Raff in his leg, making him beg her to carry her to a healer, then she sarcastically quotes the cruel taunt he made to Lommy when he died ("'Carry me' he says? Think so?") and then stabs him through the throat. Because Raff's role was condensed with Polliver in the TV series, Polliver was given Raff's death at Arya's hands from the books.

See also

• Differences between books and TV series - Season 1
• Differences between books and TV series - Season 2
• Differences between books and TV series - Season 3