History AdaptationInducedPlotHole / GameOfThrones

* In the novels, the Mountain's men are still in a local village when the Tickler ask his victims, "Is there gold in the village?" and this line of questioning ends as soon as they break camp and head for Harrenhal. In the show, he asks this question even though everyone he's interrogating has already been herded to Harrenhal, making the question nonsensical since it's unclear what village even ''he'' thinks he's referring to. The line also turns out to be unnecessary story-wise, since Arya's MeaningfulEcho of it never makes it into the show.
* In the books, Robb's wife Jeyne Westerling worships the Seven so it's plausible their marriage might involve elements from the Faith of the Seven. In the show, Robb and Talisa are married by a septon using the vows and handfasting of the Faith even though Robb, as King in the North, should favour the Old Gods and ''both'' faiths should be alien to a Volantene like Talisa.
* In Qarth, Daenerys goes from obviously on the run from the city's most powerful man who's already [[EverybodysDeadDave slaughtered most of her followers]] to [[SwissCheeseSecurity waltzing armed men]] [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs into his bedchamber]] merely by killing the other half of the BigBadDuumvirate, whose power was entirely magical rather than corporeal. Then she [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere simply leaves]], having annihilated the city's leadership. In the books, she's run out of the city by the warlocks after Xaro withdraws his patronage.
* After his break with them, Robb declares that the Karstark forces have marched "home", totally disregarding that the Greyjoys hold the border fortress of Moat Cailin, making it [[ChokepointGeography impossible]] for ''any'' northerners to march home. Retaking the castle even becomes the main Bolton plotline in Season 4, but then in Season 5 Brienne and Pod treat circumventing it as a minor inconvenience that's solved off-screen and Season 7 utterly ignores it when Sansa says, "There's nothing between us and Cersei.". In the novels, Moat Cailin remains an important place that nobody passes unchecked, and the Karstarks set off south and east to pillage the Riverlands in search of the Kingslayer instead.

* In both book and show, Alliser Thorne is shown to have contempt and hostility for virtually every Night's Watch recruit. In the books, this makes him incredibly unpopular among his Watch brothers to the point that he stands no chance of winning the Lord Commander election, and instead pushes Janos Slynt as a proxy. The show however makes Thorne Jon's main rival for the leadership, without explaining how Thorne is so popular despite his dislike for seemingly everyone.

* While Sam’s position at the end of the books is still unknown, in the show he ends up as the Grand Maester in King’s Landing. This ignores the fact that Sam swore his life to the Night’s Watch, and was sent to the Citadel specifically to become a maester in service to the Watch. He has essentially deserted his obligation to the Watch, something that is taken ''very'' seriously in the books, and even in the show, his friend Jon’s desertion at least had to pay lip service to some LoopholeAbuse to get him out of it. But in the show, no comment is made, presumably because Sam was the only important character with any sort of maester training (even though it was never finished) to fill the Grand Maester role because TheMainCharactersDoEverything.

* While Sam’s position at the end of the books is still unknown, in the show he ends up as the Grand Maester in King’s Landing. This ignores the fact that Sam swore his life to the Night’s Watch, and was sent to the Citadel specifically to become a maester in service to the Watch. He has essentially deserted his obligation to the Watch, something that is taken ''very'' seriously in the books, and even in the show, his friend Jon’s desertion at least had to pay lip service to some LoopholeAbuse to get him out of it. But in the show, no comment is made, presumably because Sam was the only important character with any sort of maester training to fill the Grand Maester role because TheMainCharactersDoEverything.

* The series ignores most strategic consequences of Daenerys occupying the island of Dragonstone, since Euron's armada can [[OffscreenTeleportation sail past it at will]] in "Spoils of War" and "The Dragon and the Wolf" and the small, rocky island can apparently [[EasyLogistics feed and house her enormous army and Dothraki super-horde]] indefinitely. The only solid consequence is that Daenerys's forces have to ''[[DidntThinkThisThrough backtrack]]'' to pick up the Dornish army despite already rendezvousing with Olenna, Ellaria, and the Sand Snakes. In the books, sea transit is always complicated and Tyrion has to develop intricate plans to elude Stannis's fleet at Dragonstone just to get Myrcella to Dorne, and [[AdaptedOut Jon Connington]] stages his invasion in the Stormlands for strategic and logistical reasons (including possible coordination with Dorne) that are secondary to his desire to revisit ''his'' ancestral home of Griffin's Roost, which is passably defended.

** The series also ignores most strategic consequences of Daenerys occupying the island, since Euron's armada can [[OffscreenTeleportation sail past it at will]] in "Spoils of War" and "The Dragon and the Wolf" and the small, rocky island can apparently [[EasyLogistics feed and house her enormous army and Dothraki super-horde]] indefinitely. The only solid consequence is that Daenerys' forces have to ''[[DidntThinkThisThrough backtrack]]'' to pick up the Dornish army despite already rendezvousing with Olenna, Ellaria, and the Sand Snakes. In the books, sea transit is always complicated and Tyrion has to develop intricate plans to elude Stannis' fleet at Dragonstone just to get Myrcella to Dorne, and [[AdaptedOut Jon Connington]] stages his invasion in the Stormlands for strategic and logistical reasons (including possible coordination with Dorne) that are secondary to his desire to revisit ''his'' ancestral home of Griffin's Roost, which is passably defended.

* The books eventually reveal Varys' actual plan was always to support [[spoiler: a HiddenBackupPrince he believes he's raised to be TheGoodKing]], but with this character ultimately AdaptedOut, in Season 5 Varys is seemingly {{retconned}} into backing Daenerys from the start, even though she didn't show the mass benevolence he so prizes until Season 3 or even any leadership ability until the middle of Season 1, prior to which Varys and Illyrio clearly supported ''[[TheCaligula Viserys]]'' (who never showed either) to the extent that Daenerys was just a pawn they bartered to buy him an army.
** The writers pay lip-service to [[AuthorsSavingThrow addressing this]] in "Stormborn" by having Daenerys confront Varys about his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, but since Varys just deflects the direct question of why he'd support Viserys over Robert by flattering Daenerys and denouncing her father before returning to his same old refrains about TheNeedsOfTheMany and how "incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty" (which are still incongruent with his [[SycophanticServant obsequiousness to the Mad King]] and [[StartXToStopX support for Viserys]]), the scene just winds up [[VoodooShark raising further questions]].

* Daenerys is spared Khal Moro's mistreatment in "The Red Woman" thanks to the SuddenlySignificantRule that a ''khal'''s widow must join the ''dosh khaleen'' in Vaes Dothrak, but why this never came up during Drogo's dying in Season 1 isn't addressed. In the books, it is established at the time that this is the duty of Drogo's bloodriders (all deceased) or of Daenerys' own ''khas'' (who intended to do so right up until she hatched her dragons) and that Jorah was afraid Daenerys might walk into Drogo's pyre to avoid it.

* In the first three seasons, Shae is a HookerWithAHeartOfGold who's NotWithThemForTheMoney to Tyrion and a CoolBigSister to Sansa, a characterization that's incompatible with her ultimately [[SurpriseWitness testifying against them]] as she does in the novels, so late in Season 3 her characterization suddenly swerves into a ClingyJealousGirl pitted ''[[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis against]]'' Sansa with scant justification in order to make her a WomanScorned. This deliberate DerailingLoveInterests is unnecessary in the novels where Shae is always just a [[GoldDigger coy opportunist]] Tyrion projects feelings onto and Sansa means nothing to her and dislikes Shae. In fact, Tyrion is actually somewhat dismayed by her ''lack'' of jealousy when he tells her he has to marry Sansa, and her response is basically "You'll get her pregnant and then be back to visit (and presumably pay) me."

* In "The Gift", Littlefinger offers Olenna "information of which [Cersei] is unaware" and the gift of "a handsome young man", which can only refer to Cersei's affair with Lancel since the High Sparrow arrests Cersei for this at the end of the episode. However, these hints are absurd since not only is Cersei obviously aware of her own affair and Lancel's presence in the city (having met him at [[spoiler: Tywin]]'s funeral), but Olenna's intervention is unnecessary since Lancel is praised for having "unburdened himself" rather than reprimanded as if he'd been exposed, and it's never again implied Olenna relayed this information. In the novels, Cersei is exposed by [[HoistByHisOwnPetard her own plot]] to have a knight [[FrameUp falsely confess]] to bedding Margaery in exchange for SexForServices from Cersei herself only for him to have the truth tortured out of him by the High Sparrow.

* In the first three seasons, Shae is a HookerWithAHeartOfGold who's NotWithThemForTheMoney to Tyrion and a CoolBigSister to Sansa, a characterization that's incompatible with her ultimately [[SurpriseWitness testifying against them]] as she does in the novels, so late in Season 3 her characterization suddenly swerves into a ClingyJealousGirl pitted ''[[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis against]]'' Sansa with scant justification in order to make her a WomanScorned. This deliberate DerailingLoveInterests is unnecessary in the novels where Shae is always just a [[GoldDigger coy opportunist]] Tyrion projects feelings onto and Sansa means nothing to her. In fact, Tyrion is actually somewhat dismayed by her ''lack'' of jealousy when he tells her he has to marry Sansa, and her response is basically "You'll get her pregnant and then be back to visit (and presumably pay) me."

* In the first three seasons, Shae is a HookerWithAHeartOfGold who's NotWithThemForTheMoney to Tyrion and a CoolBigSister to Sansa, a characterization that's incompatible with her ultimately [[SurpriseWitness testifying against them]] as she does it the novels, so late in Season 3 her characterization suddenly swerves into a ClingyJealousGirl pitted ''[[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis against]]'' Sansa with scant justification in order to make her a WomanScorned. This deliberate DerailingLoveInterests is unnecessary in the novels where Shae is always just a [[GoldDigger coy opportunist]] Tyrion projects feelings onto and Sansa means nothing to her. In fact, Tyrion is actually somewhat dismayed by her ''lack'' of jealousy when he tells her he has to marry Sansa, and her response is basically "You'll get her pregnant and then be back to visit (and presumably pay) me."

** It's extremely unlikely that Catelyn, the wife of Robert's best friend who is also one of the highest ranking nobles, wouldn't know that the king and queen had a child who'd died in infancy. They'd have sent out ravens the moment a male heir was born.

** Season 7 takes this UpToEleven when Cersei reveals she's pregnant with a ''fifth'' child without even ''mentioning'' the three-child prophecy that caused her so much angst in Season 5 and 6. In order to downplay this discrepancy, she also veers from claiming YouCantFightFate after Myrcella's death because of the prophecy to basically blaming Tommen for his.

* In the books, the gold cloaks identify Gendry by sight but are never affiliated with Amory Lorch or Gregor Clegane, who therefore have no special interest in Gendry when they capture him. In "What is Dead May Never Die", however, Lorch is directly assisting the gold cloaks when he attacks, yet Arya's DeceasedFallGuyGambit still fools everyone even though the real Gendry is a muscular, dark-haired young man not a skinny, blond pubescent, so apparently the gold cloaks were sent out with no description of their target at all, even though it's a plot point that others can spot the family resemblance at a glance. This also causes a problem in that somehow the Gold Cloaks head all the way back to King's Landing, are able to re-arm themselves, and then travel all the way back to catch back up to Yoren and his recruits in the middle of nowhere. In the books, it's just an unfortunate decision to stay in an abandoned keep when Amory Lorch and more of Tywin's men happen to be in the area performing a chevauchée.

GameOfThrones/TropesA ([[AdaptationalAttractiveness/GameOfThrones Adaptational Attractiveness]], [[AdaptationalBadass/GameOfThrones Adaptational Badass]], [[AdaptationalHeroism/GameOfThrones Adaptational Heroism]], [[AdaptationalModesty/GameOfThrones Adaptational Modesty]], [[AdaptationalVillainy/GameOfThrones Adaptational Villainy]], [[AdaptationalWimp/GameOfThrones Adaptational Wimp]], [[AdaptationDistillation/GameOfThrones Adaptation Distillation]], [[AdaptationDyeJob/GameOfThrones Adaptation Dye-Job]], [[AdaptationExpansion/GameOfThrones Adaptation Expansion]], [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication/GameOfThrones Adaptation Explanation Extrication]], '''Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole''', [[AdaptationNameChange/GameOfThrones Adaptation Name Change]], [[AdaptationPersonalityChange/GameOfThrones Adaptation Personality Change]], [[AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul/GameOfThrones Adaptation Relationship Overhaul]], [[AdaptedOut/GameOfThrones Adapted Out]], [[AgeLift/GameOfThrones Age Lift]], [[AnimalMotifs/GameOfThrones Animal Motifs]], [[AscendedExtra/GameOfThrones Ascended Extra]], [[AssholeVictim/GameOfThrones Asshole Victim]], [[AsYouKnow/GameOfThrones As You Know]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesB ([[BadassBoast/GameOfThrones Badass Boast]], [[BaitAndSwitch/GameOfThrones Bait-and-Switch]], [[BullyingADragon/GameOfThrones Bullying a Dragon]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesCToD ([[CallBack/GameOfThrones Call-Back]], [[CanonForeigner/GameOfThrones Canon Foreigner]], [[CompositeCharacter/GameOfThrones Composite Character]], [[CruelAndUnusualDeath/GameOfThrones Cruel and Unusual Death]], [[DeathByAdaptation/GameOfThrones Death by Adaptation]], [[DemotedToExtra/GameOfThrones Demoted to Extra]], [[DueToTheDead/GameOfThrones Due to the Dead]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesEToF ([[EstablishingCharacterMoment/GameOfThrones Establishing Character Moment]], [[FamousLastWords/GameOfThrones Famous Last Words]], [[FanDisservice/GameOfThrones Fan Disservice]], [[FantasyCounterpartCulture/GameOfThrones Fantasy Counterpart Culture]], [[Foil/GameOfThrones Foil]], [[Foreshadowing/GameOfThrones Foreshadowing]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesGToK ([[HateSink/GameOfThrones Hate Sink]], [[JerkassHasAPoint/GameOfThrones Jerkass Has a Point]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesLToO ([[Leitmotif/GameOfThrones Leitmotif]], [[OhCrap/GameOfThrones Oh, Crap!]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesPToS ([[PragmaticAdaptation/GameOfThrones Pragmatic Adaptation]], [[RealityEnsues/GameOfThrones Reality Ensues]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesTToZ ([[WhamEpisode/GameOfThrones Wham Episode]])]]]]-]

* Theon's return to the Iron Islands raises unanswered questions about [[OffscreenTeleportation how he found a boat to get there]] since he's still a fugitive from the Boltons ''and'' a despised {{turncoat}} to the rest of the North, who're both still at war with the Ironborn, who aren't exactly Theon's biggest fans either and just lost their last mainland holdings as he was setting out. In the novels, Theon cannot and does not return to the Iron Islands at this time because he's rescued/captured by Stannis, who intends to execute him to please his Northern allies.

* Locke's stance toward money and bribery changes with the needs of the plot. First he spares Brienne only because he's convinced she's worth a high ransom (he wants money) but then he maims Jaime because it's more enjoyable than riches (he doesn't want money). Then he throws Brienne in a [[BearsAreBadNews bear pit]] because her ransom isn't enough (he wants money) but when confronted he claims torture is more enjoyable (he doesn't want money). His book counterpart Vargo Hoat never even pretends to have a code yet still has calculated reasons for crippling Jaime[[note]]In the books, Hoat is a sellsword who betrays the Lannister garrison at Harrenhal to Roose Bolton only to find out that Roose intends to betray Robb Stark and join the Lannisters, thus leaving Hoat open to Tywin's revenge. Therefore, Hoat maims Jaime on the slim hope that Roose will fear being held guilty by association enough to remain loyal to the Starks and just have Jaime secretly killed or maybe even given back to Hoat to sell to Rickard Karstark. Unfortunately for Hoat, Roose simply explains most of this to Jaime, who agrees to tell Tywin that Roose was blameless.[[/note]] and only throws Brienne to the bear (which he's done to others in the books but not the show) after she ''[[EarAche bites off his ear]]''.

* "Winter is Coming" has a small one that only becomes clear when Lysa's letter is revealed to be a ploy. In the books, Catelyn's reaction is to urge Ned to go to King's Landing, which plays perfectly into the schemer's [[BatmanGambit expectations]] of the only person they know at Winterfell. In the show, Catelyn [[AdaptationalContextChange staunchly opposes]] Ned going south, meaning the schemer was just shooting in the dark.

* In the Season 7 premiere, Daenerys takes over an [[AbandonedArea abandoned]] Dragonstone and finds Baratheon banners still scattered about, implying not only that Stannis left no garrison but that in the twenty-five episodes since his departure not even the local peasants [[NeverRecycleABuilding bothered to occupy]] this BigFancyCastle that [[ChokepointGeography dominates the sea routes to King's Landing]]. In the books, Stannis leaves a small garrison which, due to the castle's immense strength, ties down significant Lannister forces to blockade and besiege, culminating in a [[StormTheCastle bloody assault and hundreds of enemy casualties]].

* Euron memorably campaigned on joining Daenerys and giving her his "big cock" at the Kingsmoot in Season 6, but in Season 7 he suddenly claims Cersei is the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman and does everything he can to please her. This might be self-interest for Euron himself after Yara and Theon joined Daenerys, but it's unexplained why [[ElectiveMonarchy his electors]] are fine with this [[NotWhatISignedOnFor total policy reversal]] from allying with the Dragon Queen to fighting against her, especially since the Lannisters explicitly "[[IFightForTheStrongestSide look like the losing side]]". In the books, Euron is forced to send just his best ships to join Daenerys because his electors demand he ''attack'' the vulnerable Lannister alliance instead.

* In "Valar Morghulis", Ramsay commands the ostensibly loyal forces besieging Theon in Winterfell at Robb's behest, yet once Theon's crew betrays him Ramsay's forces are forgotten and everyone blames the subsequent sack on Theon's men [[NoQuestionsAsked without wondering how this could happen]] with Ramsay right outside. This is especially evident at Winterfell itself where [[AlmostDeadGuy Maester Luwin]] claims it's no longer safe and urges Bran to flee to the Wall rather than any nearby nobles without explaining why. If he assumed it was Theon's men why would he be wary of other Northmen, and if he suspected treachery why wouldn't he elaborate? In the novels, the sack is depicted on-stage with Ramsay slaughtering the loyal besiegers before also betraying Theon and concocting a cover-story that he [[TheCavalryArrivesLate arrived too late]] to do anything but rescue some "survivors" like Big Walder and Little Walder (who corroborate the lie), but Maester Luwin knows the truth and specifically warns Team Bran that [[EverybodysDeadDave everybody's dead]] because of the Bastard of Bolton.

* When Davos rows Melisandre ashore in "Garden of Bones", the two of them cross the open beach to a cave containing a locked gate and act as if it's blocking the only passage to Renly's camp, even though Renly's massive army is encamped in the open field so a single, unguarded, underground entrance makes no sense. In the novels this scene takes place in the bowels of Storm's End after Davos pilots Melisandre beneath the castle walls to bypass the [[SupernaturalRepellent ancient enchantments]] blocking the passage of her shadow assassin.
* Rodrik Cassel takes 200 men to follow Theon's bait to Torrhen Square but then his men (who outnumber Theon's 10:1) [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse just disappear]] and he's captured alone without explanation, so other forces must be summoned to deal with Theon. In the books, Theon has more men and leaves most of them to fight Rodrik at Torrhen Square, and rather than be inexplicably captured Rodrik easily defeats Theon's diversion and returns with even more men to besiege Theon in Winterfell until Ramsay arrives.

* Matthos (who's easily in his twenties) argues the Lord of Light's power by bringing up his answered childhood prayers for his father's safety even though Melisandre and her red god are obviously a new influence at Stannis' court judging by Maester Cressen's protests in "The North Remembers." In the books, Davos' twelve-year-old son Devan is a new convert to the Lord of Light, but his four eldest sons (including Matthos) still follow the Faith of the Seven.

* During their parley, Stannis declares his conflict with Renly will be settled at dawn, yet his fleet is still far out to sea the next day, meaning Stannis sailed in and out for the parley without bringing his forces close enough for battle the next morning as he implied, or to catch anyone who might flee after [[spoiler: Renly's murder]], which he was clearly planning. In the books, the parley takes place between the two armies and Stannis only fails to capture those who flee because he lacks the cavalry to catch them.

* Theon's return to the Iron Islands raises unanswered questions about [[OffscreenTeleportation how he found a boat to get there]] since he's still a fugitive from the Boltons ''and'' a despised {{turncoat}} to the rest of the North, who're both still at war with the Ironborn, who [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating aren't exactly Theon's biggest fans]] either and just lost their last mainland holdings as he was setting out. In the novels, Theon cannot and does not return to the Iron Islands at this time because he's rescued/captured by Stannis, who intends to execute him to please his Northern allies.

* By Season 7 the ''only'' reason Sansa can give for [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim why Littlefinger is still around]] is, "We need his men," which rings really hollow given Lord Royce's assurance the Vale rode north for Sansa's sake and the fact she already has all she needs to condemn him for killing Lysa and selling her to the Boltons, both of which the Vale lords already suspect. Moreover, Season 7 revolves around setting up a ShockingSwerve with Arya rather than anyone doing anything to erode Littlefinger's position yet everyone accepts Sansa's accusations based on Bran's omniscience with NoQuestionsAsked. In the novels, Littlefinger is affable and ingratiating rather than the ObviouslyEvil [[TheFriendNobodyLikes guy nobody likes]].

* Locke's stance toward money and bribery changes with the needs of the plot. First he spares Brienne only because he's convinced she's worth a high ransom (he wants money) but then he maims Jaime because it's more enjoyable than riches (he doesn't want money). Then he throws Brienne in a [[BearsAreBadNews bear pit]] because her ransom isn't enough (he wants money) but when confronted he claims torture is more enjoyable (he doesn't want money). His book counterpart Vargo Hoat never even pretends to have a code yet still has calculated reasons for crippling Jaime and only throws Brienne to the bear (which he's done to others in the books but not the show) after she ''[[EarAche bites off his ear]]''.

* In the books, the gold cloaks identify Gendry by sight but are never affiliated with Amory Lorch or Gregor Clegane, who therefore have no special interest in Gendry when they capture him. In "What is Dead May Never Die", however, Lorch is directly assisting the gold cloaks when he attacks, yet Arya's DeceasedFallGuyGambit still fools everyone even though the real Gendry is a muscular, dark-haired young man not a skinny, blond pubescent, so apparently the gold cloaks were sent out with no description of their target at all, even though it's a plot point that others can spot the family resemblance at a glance.