Oh hells to the no. I actually want to see the novel series finished at some point in this century.

D'oh - I really need to start reading that 3rd book

Been saying that about the 5th book for weeks, and just started a SoIaF RPG campaign last night.

How is the new RPG, it seems very L5Rish, but with d6s instead of d10s (system wise).

The rules seem to work that way. You roll a number of dice equal to your rank in the skill plus specialties and keep a number equal to your skill. We only did character creation the other night, on top of your own character you begin by creating a House for your party to be aligned with. With heraldry and all. It also has tables for everything in case you're having trouble with a character concept.

On a more exciting note, the Night's Watch book is about to come out and if Green Ronin is anything like White Wolf, Michelle's copy will arrive shortly.

A Game of Thrones

Spoiler:

Now with more zombies than the walking dead

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So, I feel like Season 2 was still a good show but I can't help but feeling disappointed in it. I felt like they deviated much more from the novels than in the 1st season, and not only in good ways. The worst examples of that being items that were cut which are important later in the series. Which means that you know when they become relevant they're going to have to change even more of the story. Such as:

Spoiler:

Never truly introducing the Bastard of Bolton, the Reek character is completely absent and the only time he is mentioned is once in passing by Roose Bolton. Also, Dany didn't see Rhaegar and Lyanna with a child in her visions at the house of the undying.

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Maybe my expectations were too high though, since Book 2 is by far my favorite of the series.

I was looking for those same things and wondering wtf happened there myself, but I wouldn't go as far to say I was disappointed in the season. However:

Spoiler:

Having Tywin in Harrenhal from the beginning was a change I rather liked. The scenes with him and Arya as his cup girl were very good and made me like Tywin moreso than when reading about him in the books. I can live with that change.

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I don't think it'll need spoilers for this, but leaving out the Reek siblings in Bran's story definitely was a let down, but I see that they've already been casted for Season 3, so that'll soon be rectified. I guess they felt it better to introduce them after the occurrences of this season in Winterfell, letting the other characters shine there instead..

As for the 3rd thing you mentioned:

Spoiler:

Yes, I was a little disappointed in what was left out of the House of the Undying. I wanted to see it burnt to the ground, rather than the just the Warlock, as well as Rhaegar's scene.

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Finally, spoiler question:

Spoiler:

The white rider that looked Sam in the eyes... that was Benjen Stark, right?

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more annoyed that arya has only killed one person, and even then, he just kinda fell on her.

My girlfriend had no clue why Winterfell was burning at the end of that season finale though. It did not explain that transition well at all. There were 500 northmen outside the gates, the Ironborn are about Theon over to them, and then all of sudden no one is there and Winterfell is burning.

Now, I know what happened, but if I hadn't read the series I'd be really confused. Sure, they may explain it in Season 3 but it's not so much a cliffhanger as seemingly a plot hole.

Spoiler:

No, I don't think so. It doesn't fit the description of Blackhands at all. I think it was just a Wight.

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There was an article on io9 about the best changes of the season, and I think they addressed this pretty well (important part italicized near the end:

Spoiler:

No, that was a white walker, which are different from wights. Wights are reanimated people; white walkers (the Others, do you book readers) are something else entirely.

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Spoiler:

Blackhands? Do you mean Coldhands? Benjen (probably) isn't Coldhands; one of the Children of the Forest that Bran is with said that Coldhands was killed long ago, and Benjen would only be 3-4 years passed at this point.

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Regarding Benjen Stark, from BOOK 5.

Spoiler:

Coldhands was pointed out to have been killed LONG ago by the the Children of the Forest. Benjen Stark might be dead 2-4 years now at most. and that saidBenjen Stark might very well be the Hooded Man that Theon sees in the Ruins of Winterfell. IMO, too much has been made "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell."

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Regarding the White Walkers:
The White Walkers are described as having "icelike" weapons. The two possible white-walkers shown on screen at the end of episode 10 both had icelike weapons. The rest of the wights were for sure shown with normal weaponry.

Regarding Rose Leslie (Ygritte)
She does a superb job in her role.

Man, my Benjen view is shattered.

Spoiler:

So do you think Coldhands will be someone we know, or is the 'who' of who he used to be just not going to be important?

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Hopefully she'll do a superb naked job next season.