Starkiller

It is just more clear in the books. On the show you can see him working hard since taking over as the Hand. Him organizing the Red Wedding is part of that. But Bolton makes it clear when he stabs Robb that The Lannisters were behind it. And they played the Rains of Castamere (also the title of the episode) right before the slaughter began

I'm hoping they reveal Bolton's reason in the next episode, because that would also explain who one of the mystery characters is on the show.

Charles Dance is awesome as Tywin. Really, he is as good as Dinkledge is as Tyrion. He just gets less screen time.

Tywin was behind it in the books, and I suspect it will become clear in the series as well down the road. Bolton turned on Robb in exchange for something that could only be granted by the king. Also because he had to make up for the loss of Jaime's hand by his men. And I think it's safe to say Frey wouldn't have killed the Starks if he didn't have guarantees of protection from the Lannisters. Tywin basically secured the North and the Riverlands in one stroke, or at least ended their rebellion.

"Why doesn't George R.R. Martin use Twitter? Because he killed all 140 characters!"

Ah, wedding season in Westeros...

Well, they could cut out most of Dorne and House Martell from the story. So far in the books I don't see what they really add to the main story so far. Though I would love to see the Mountain vs the Red Viper.

Maybe, but it's possible next season will jump into book 4 as well.

Well, season 3 is only the first half of book 3. So at that rate, the series will last 12 seasons (if each of book 3-7 is split). Of course, Aria and Sansa will look like they are in their 20's by the time the series ends...

But what happens around her is really the point. Her little sister is far more fun, but what does it bring to the story? That remains to be seen.

I don't think the change with Robb affects the story all that much, honestly. And as they had to edit the story down, removing the Westerlings was a pretty easy way to cut without affecting the important parts of the series. As for Sansa, I'd say she's a critical character even if she isn't all that interesting herself. She is what ties the Starks' story to Kings Landing. And as Tywin points out in a recent episode, she could be the key to controlling the North. If Robb's war fails and with his brothers thought to be dead, whoever marries Sansa becomes the Warden of the North and essentially replaces House Stark. Hopefully the character gets more interesting, but she is clearly a key figure even if just by association.

They skip over details of Theon's torture in the books, but it is clear that it happened. Robb did get married in book 2. But the woman he married was a different character. Not sure why they changed who she was.

It was in the books, though HBO is more graphic about it.

Kind of like Ros' reaction when she tried to tempt Varys in season 2. He's a man who can't be tempted by sex or titles (since he could never have a title).

I've read all the books, and I'll skip the spoilers. But I will say that even 5 books in, there are so many unanswered questions. Even questions that may come up from the series so far are still unanswered. The dragons, the god of fire, the white walkers, and Bran and Jojan's dreams are obviously the big supernatural questions we've seen. Then you have the politics of Westeros, which is all most everyone south of the Wall is concerned about and everyone is distracted away from the far more deadly supernatural stuff. I will say that my favorite bit of intrigue to watch is the schemers, Littlefinger and Varys. Again, I won't spoil what happens with them through book 5. And even through the series it's clear that Littlefinger's goal is propel himself "up the ladder". But through all 5 of the books so far, I'm still not sure what Varys' motives really are.

Geek culture has made major inroads into pop culture nowadays, between video games, scifi, fantasy, and superheroes. I think a large reason why, fittingly, is the advance of technology. Believable special effects today could not have been replicated a few years ago. And geek-type stories on screen often depend on being able to sell the vision. The stories have always been good in books, but computer effects were necessary to pull it off well on screen. Now, as long as there's a good story, Hollywood can make it work in a screen as long as there's a budget for it.

The books are so big, there is just no way to fit them all into a TV series without some editing. But the show has done a great job of that editing when they needed to. I wonder how much Martin has an input into those edits. After all, he is still the only one who knows how it all will turn out in the books. Unless he told the show runners everything, anyway. Season 1 was very consistent with the book. The real divergences began with season 2. I'm sure they will continue.

No way they bring in a big name as a #3 RB. We already have 2 NFL starting RBs on the roster. Our 3rd RB is going to be a nobody like Renaud, Mooney, Harper, or whoever.

It seems a bit early for this to prove anything. I think we all knew the interior OLine was terrible last year. That hardly lets CJ off the hook and the game film clearly showed him missing holes and trying to turn everything into a home run. The real question is how many carries CJ will lose to Greene. Clearly CJ was pretty worthless in short yardage situations, an area Green is good at. But how many other snaps will CJ lose?

"special guest" or "special" guest?

Joey Kent was much worse than Calico

I'm less upset that they let Finny go and more upset that they didn't franchise him and trade him. Honestly, this team probably won't be in position to contend while he is still at the top of his game.

Nothing official. Sounds like 2014.

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