Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones."
Television and movie adaptations of popular books are often heavily scrutinized for changes made to the original source material. So when showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss took on the task of adapting George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series — which totals nearly 5,000 pages — they had their work cut out for them.
Certain changes (for example, Sansa Stark's marriage to Ramsay Bolton) have resulted in major backlash from critics. But other additions to our favorite storylines have resulted in an added level of depth and entertainment.
Scroll down for a look at the best scenes in the series that weren't in the books.
Ygritte confronts Jon Snow, and shoots him three times with her bow and arrow.
Jon and Ygritte's short and sweet love affair remains one of the best couplings in the series so far. In the book series, Jon simply hops onto a horse and rides away when a fight breaks out between him and wildlings. Hours later, he realizes there's an arrow piercing his leg — likely Ygritte's doing but we never know for sure. The showrunners opted instead to write an emotional confrontation between Jon and Ygritte. Both characters tear up, and Jon confesses his love for Ygritte before trying to walk away.
"I know you won't hurt me," Jon says. Ygritte replies with her iconic line: "You know nothing Jon Snow." Jon smiles back at her. "I do know some things. I know I love you ... I know you love me. But I have to go home now."
She shoots Jon in the leg, back, and side, wounding him but allowing him to escape. Ygritte is one of the best marksmen in the show — if she truly wanted Jon dead, he'd be a goner. This scene served as a touching reminder that their relationship was real.
Arya serves as Tywin's cupbearer and the two develop an interesting bond.
In season two, Arya is captured and brought to Harrenhall. While this happened in the books, the lord she winds up serving is Roose Bolton, not Tywin Lannister. Book readers were pleasantly surprised to watch the budding relationship between Tywin and Arya. In episode seven, one scene in particular served to both humanize Tywin and reveal Arya's sharp intelligence and survival instincts.
Tywin cleverly instructs Arya to eat his hot meal — a gentle gesture that can be interpreted as him having her test his food for poison. Arya, posing as a lowborn, asks Tywin questions about war and in he tells her stories about old rulers. Tywin seems to know Arya isn't who she says, but is strangely affectionate toward her instead of suspicious. Instead of punishing her for lying, Tywin appears to be both impressed and amused by the young girl.
Catelyn Stark tells a story about Jon getting sick when he was a boy.
In season three, after Catelyn learns Winterfell was attacked and that her sons Bran and Rickon are missing, she tells Robb's wife Talisa a story. This was a totally new anecdote — not something sourced from the books. Catelyn explains how much she hated Jon as a baby, and how she prayed to gods for him to die. Then, Jon fell ill and nearly did die. Catelyn — filled with remorse — made an internal promise to the gods. She swore she would love Jon, and ask Ned to make him a true Stark if he lived.
But when he got better, she went right back to hating him. And now, years later, Catelyn blames herself for all the misfortune fallen upon her family. "I couldn't keep my promise," she says. "Everything that's happened since then, all this horror that's come to my family, it's all because I couldn't love a motherless child." This scene was both moving and character building, as Catelyn's complex relationship with her family is brought to the forefront.
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