"without all this extra torture porn crap" . . . are you kidding me? From reading your posts, it appears that your position is actually that if the terrible things depicted are also in the books, then it's okay, but if they aren't, then it's sadistic torture porn. You're twisting yourself into knots to forgive GRRM's…

I'm arguing in circles? I matched your list of terrible things from the show that aren't in the books with a list of terrible things in the books that aren't in the show. I'm speaking to your original claim, which was that the showrunners are sadists striving to top the books for violence and horror. I'm just saying…

SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY

I was a pretty easygoing child, and yet when I think back to how much I worried about things that didn't fucking matter (like pink slips), I want to go back to tell my young self to relax. Childhood would be great if we were capable of realizing, as children, that most of the good stuff was awesome and most of the bad…

I had a wonderful oak tree from when I was about 8 to when I was about 12. It had two levels, and the top level made a perfect reading nest. I could stay up there for hours, and no one bothered me because my brother was too little to climb it ,and my sister was not the tree-climbing sort. Sure there were fire ants,…

I know. I'm so ashamed. I blame my half-brother. Fuck that guy.

Oh ffs, I can take a lot of arguments regarding the show's violence, but to pretend that the show even holds a candle to the violence and horror in the books is ridiculous.

Well, and in fairness to Ned, he didn't know Stannis had found religion.

Oh hey now, I love Ned! I just meant he's not best remembered for his acumen.

But human sacrifice isn't a norm; Stannis is worshipping some weird foreign god. Incest is also not a norm; if it were, Jaime and Cersei wouldn't be in such danger of discovery. I will agree that they probably didn't have a lot of love for Shireen, though. We love her, but to Stannis's men she's probably just his…

Yeah, I'm having a slow day.

Oh yeah, good point. :)

It'd be a little hilarious if killing Shireen causes the snow to melt enough for Stannis to get to Winterfell just so he can get killed by Brienne.

I don't think he knew. Or at least I don't think he could admit to himself that Stannis would go that far.

If it were just about survival — enduring a siege for instance — I would agree with you. Stannis would eat his shoes and expect his men to do the same before he'd sacrifice Shireen. But it's about winning, and Stannis has convinced himself he has to win. He could take his men and fuck off back to The Wall like Davos…

The problem isn't people talking about the books. The problem is people whose criticisms basically boil down to "it was different in the books." It's just boring.

I think there's no way in hell Jon is dead-dead. I'm more curious as to whether the show will leave viewers thinking he's dead until next season. More groundwork has been laid in the books for his resurrection, such that next to no one I know who's read the books thinks he's actually dead. I can see a lot of…

Littlefinger would not consider what is happening to Sansa rape. He didn't pawn her off to be a sex slave; he pawned her off to be a wife. I mean, yes, it's horrible, but frankly I don't think he gives a good god-damn as long as it furthers his ends and they don't actually kill her (which he assumes they won't,…

You mean the guy who was a complete dick to his son and then gave zero fucks when his son's dismembered . . . member arrived in the mail? Yeah, he's delightful.

I love how people keep trotting this out as an example of why Stannis must be a good guy, because Ned Stark supported his claim. Look, I love Ned, but it's not like he was renowned for his good judgement. Ned, like Stannis, believed in following the rules. Remember when he beheaded the Night's Watchman who had a…