Quote Originally Posted by BlacKnight View Post
This would be much more convincing had they actually followed the books. They didn't.
The most glaring issue is that they cut out Aegon and gave his (probable) role to Cersei.
They put themselves in this mess, then decided to force elements of the books ending in their version even if it made no sense.

And I seriously doubt that the books ending will really resemble that of the show. The biggest difference being that the Others and the Winter problem won't be dealt with before the Iron Throne.
I'm almost certain that Daenerys's end will be largely the same. Only it will be far more reasonable with young Griff in the picture, an imposter stealing her just reward after all the sacrifices she made. And not barbecuing civilians for ****s and giggles.

But this isn't the only change they made. In the books, Ramsay is married to a fake Arya. Sansa is learning from Littlefinger as he conspires in the Eyrie. The northern Lords are conspiring against the Boltons and the Freys, with fat Lord Manderly serving Frey pies on Ramsay's wedding feast and secretly helping Ser Davos retrieve Rickon before the North can rally behind Stannis. Stannis tells his men to "pray harder" to the Lord of Light when cut off by a blizzard instead of burning prisoners, and has swore those loyal to him that in case of his death they'll place his daughter on the throne or die trying. Varys has just murdered Kevan Lannister with a crossbow in order to maximise chaos before young Griff's arrival with the Golden Company. Ellaria Sand is trying to break the circle of violence and convince the Sand Snakes not to take revenge for Oberyn Martell's death on innocent Myrcella. Doran Martell is conspiring to return the Targaryens to the throne, and has sent his son Quenty to marry Daenerys and seal the alliance, though Quentyn is burned when he tries to tame the imprisoned dragons after Daenerys flees on Drogon's back. Ser Barristar Selmy is alive and well, ruling Meereen as regent for Daenerys after deposing her husband. Eurone Greyjoy is a much cooler character, with enslaved warlocks at his combat, a full suit of Valyrian Steel scale mail, a supposed Dragonbinder Horn, and an expressed desire to marry the Dragon Queen and become god among men. And I might even be forgetting other things they've changed.

The showrunners started mucking things up even before they "ran out of material to adapt". That excuse holds no water. They just thought they could do better.