Game of Thrones Season 5 - anyone still watching? Unhidden spoilers ahead!

[binary solo]

Season 5 is a serious low point as far as adapting the books goes. It's just gone off base so much. Jaime in Dorne, achieving pretty much nothing nearly so interesting as that was plotted in the books. Sansa doing something completely different to what she is supposed to be doing, I can't imagine why they needed to marry her to Ramsey. Ramsey being married to a Stark is really a minor point and could have been dropped completely, so obviously the writers decided Sansa's arc in the books it too boring to put on screen.

Stannis has been utterly character assassinated beyond recognition.

For all that some people hate the LOTR movies as being terrible adaptations of the LOTR books, those movies are a total masterpiece of film adaptation by comparison to this.

I hope I haven't been too spoiled by this season. I was contemplating not watching it because I thought I might get too spoiled, but I also thoght there is a helluva lot of Dance with Dragons and Feast for Crowes to still get through (other than Bran) that spoils are unlilkely. But really in what they've done with some characters this season it has significant implications for the destiny of those characters in the books. I'm pretty sure Barristan dies in the next book, because I don't see the show killing him off without them knowing that Barristan has no part to play in the end game. I dunno what they're doing with Jorah's Greyscale, I suspect there will be a miracle cure somewhere. Perhaps the curing of the Greyscale will be by a red priest(ess) a la the healing of Victarion's arm by the red priest who accompanies him. Which will never make an appearance in the showe because the Greyjoys are completely gone from the show. Seems like time invested in Balon and Asha was completely wasted on the show.

I hope The Winds of Winter is out before the next season, but I suspect I probably won't be able to watch the next season because the story in S6 will advance beyond TWoW, or at least telegraph spoilers. So I'm thinking this is the last season I'll be watching until I've finished the books, or until GRRM is dead and the series in book form will never be finished. In a way it's kind of good that the TV show has turned to shit, with only a few exceptions, because now I do not feel at all conflicted about not watching the show in order to avoid spoilers for the proper story.

Kinda pissed at GRRM that he had 5 years to get TWoW done and he mostly pissed that time away writing for the show, doing side projects and traveling around to conventions and hobknobbing with fans. Thankfully I think the TV show has really put GRRM off now and maybe he will redouble his efforts to tell the real story.