the idea that Ned knew that Arya was there as well as Sansa.

Right? That hurt.

OTOH, at least Ned knew Arya was alive and could send Yoren to her. I liked that he swore by the Seven and not the Old Gods.

Having just read that bit, we didn't see much of the battles in the books, either.

No, definitely not Robb's ambush of Jaime - but I thought we saw more of the other battle.

A little more, but not much. Tyrion's sad story of first love is more important than his brief fight during the battle that turned out to be a distraction, if they had to choose (and seems to me that they did, they had a lot to pack into that hour). We did see more of the planning and have more of a sense of Tywin's strategy, but we didn't see much of the fighting.

I am bummed that they didn't include the reference to Robb being a young wolf with more bravery than wisdom who would fall easily to Tywin's cunning.

Treme: is there any way that Eric Ripert can be that nice in real life? Not that he necessarily wouldn't want to be, but in that line of work, I can't imagine that he could be.

On a completely different note, Melissa Leo was heartbreaking in her breakdown scene after she got Sofia (Sophia?) out of juvie.

I'm a little disappointed that Tyrion's little victory in battle was replaced with a drinking game (even though I do adore Bronn), but I was really startled by Shae. She's not even close to the book version. What's the point of that?

Oh, NED.

::sniffle::

Yes, they completely changed her. Is she Dornish? Is this a way from them to introduce Dornish culture?

Oh, I hope not. "Foreign" ought to be outside the seven kingdoms. I don't know where they're going with her backstory, though.

I don't know where they're going with her backstory, though.

Exactly. And I like book!Shae's genuine affection for him. At least that's the way it read to me.

I know it makes her betrayal even more bitter (spoilery for book 3.)

Yeah, I hope they don't lose that aspect of their relationship, whatever else they are doing with her.