I put the first part of the article in quotes. If you want to skip it then scroll down. The bottom contains vague spoilers Here are my Top 7: Best Story Changes: 1. “Baelor.” In the titular episode, Ned passes Yoren and says that single word to him. Yoren then taking Arya becomes Ned’s final correct deed. He very likely saved her life; who knows what might have happened had Yoren not snagged her? Ned of course then went on to save Sansa’s life by lying, and got decapitated for his troubles. But that miniscule change, for me, was part of what made the ninth episode the best of them all. 2. The Moon Door in the floor. Dramatically, stylistically… I sort of wish George had thought of it. Having it in the wall is much less cool than right there in front of the throne. Little Sweetrobin doesn’t even have to get up to watch the bad men fly. This one is probably credited to Gemma Jackson rather than the writers, but hey. It really worked. 3. Ned fights Jaime. That needed to happen. I almost like the entirety of the change (even if it would have been cooler at night and in a downpour), including Jory getting it through the eye. Nasty. And awesome. A fight on horseback would not have been as impressive as those two locking swords. 4. Dany yaks. In the book, Daenerys gets the horse heart down with almost no problems. Here, she actually vomits part of it back up into her hands… but it never spills, and then she eats it. For me, that was stronger. More disgusting, sure. But stronger. 5. Tyrion doesn’t tumble. The part of Tyrion’s introduction to Jon in A Game of Thrones came off as corny to me. The first time I read it I became momentarily confused and thought Puck from Alpha Flight had somehow entered the story, eh? So having him stumble out of the stable sodded out of his mind was far more appropriate. Add to that… 6. Tyrion doesn’t go to war. Some people felt cheated that they’d missed the Battle of the Green Fork along with Tyrion who, knocked unconscious by a passing clansmen’s warhammer, slept through the entirety of the thing. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have minded seeing some fighting… I’m just saying I don’t find it realistic that he would have been able to do it. (Death sentence indeed, thanks, dad!) Disemboweling a horse with his pointed helmet? What? No. Sleepytime is better. I thought that whole sequence was brilliantly staged and shot, groggy wakeup especially. 7. Three slaps! George R. R. Martin would have us believe Tyrion only slapped Joffrey twice. And I don’t want to live in a world in which The Joff only got his bell rung double. Three is much better. Actually, this is much better. But three is awesome. Slight future book spoiler in his honorable mention. He tries to be vague but he kinda fails Spoiler Honorable (and questionable) mention: “Not today.” You could argue Syrio mentioning the God of Death was simply an added scene rather than a story change, but I think it has greater impact than that. It likely gives Arya a specific origin for some of her future actions (rather than being motivated by a certain ACoK character whose name begins with “J”). On the flip-side, it may strengthen the argument of the S = J theorists, which would then make it an added scene and not a change. So I suppose whether or not it is actually a change can be debated as well, but I do not personally believe in the S = J theory. I suppose we shall see. More Top 7?s to come. Suggestions for Top 7?s also welcome! What’cha’all got?