*Possibly minor book spoilers, but not enough to warrant spoiler tags, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong*
Hmmh. Feeling rather ambivalent about this season. I realize that D&D needed a certain amount of filler to create ten full-length episodes out of only half a book (granted, it's a lengthy fucking book, but still the shortest book in the series by far when cut in half), but the quality of that filler... Eh. Podrick and Shae got far too much attention (in Shae's case, for the second season in a row), and the direwolves not nearly enough (again, for the second season in a row), but it's understandable since the CG is doubtless expensive as hell. Nevertheless, I wanted to see Grey Wind rip shit up. :(
Complaining about these things one by one would feel like nitpicking, but I feel that with things such as Anguy showing off with his crazeh bow-skills, the climb over The Wall being needlessly intense, and Jorah, Grey Worm and Daario doing ninja stuff against an oslaught of Yunkai soldiers, season 3 doesn't really sync up with the previous seasons (nor with the books), which have a far more realistic, authentic feel to them. (the very thing that attracted me to the books in the first place)
I never found Vargo Hoat interesting in the slightest, so I don't mind him being replaced by Locke. Though I did prefer Hoat's reasoning behind cutting Jaime's hand to Locke's, the latter of which was basically "Hey, you know what, I don't like your attitude. Chop chop." Tormund Giantsbane in the show felt different from the amiable, complacent and totally awesome Tormund Giantsbane in the books, but he's still pretty awesome just because he's Tormund Giantsbane. I'm mildly chagrined by the casting of Mance Rayder, since I always thought Ciarán Hinds would make an awesome Doran Martell, but I'm just glad he's a part of the cast.
Still, the season has its moments. For instance, personally, it always rather irked me that Kraznys never had a proper "Wha-? The slutwhorebitch speaks Valyrian?"-moment in the book. Thoros was also much more fun than he was in the books, and the actors for Walder Frey, Roose Bolton, Edmure, the Blackfish, and of course the Queen of Thorns were all excellent.
All in all, I'd still call it one of the better shows on television right now, and I'm definitely hopeful for season 4. I certainly hope that Jaime's earlier arrival in King's Landing will bring about some more interaction between Tyrion and him. I would've loved to see more of that in the books.
