Readers vs. Viewers - Game of Thrones surprises

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No spoilers (I promise!), but as expected, Season 3 Episode 9 of the Game of Thrones TV adaptation produced the shocked, utterly outraged reaction that I - along with thousands of other readers of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire - expected. Unlike TV viewers, we knew what to brace for, which this gif captures so magnificently. I could watch it all day...

Having only started reading the books in 2011, I'm admittedly a relative newcomer to the epic fantasy novel series - and I still have A Dance With Dragons to complete to catch up properly - but I remember getting to the end of the A Storm of Swords chapter covered in Episode 9 and putting down the book... for two days. If TV viewers contemplated abandoning the show after the Ned Stark incident, or even Jamie's encounter with the Brave Companions, they were going to quit the series forever after a certain "celebration." It's ballsy, it's completely unexpected and it's as shocking on the screen as it is on the page.

Valar Morghulis...


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