re: I have the disquieting feeling that the GoT TV series is starting to drift

BOOK SPOILERS



The show is totally exposing it's weakness in writing when it does steer off completely away from the books. Here's just a couple of examples.

Last season, the scene where Yara (Asha) goes to try to save Theon was rushed and sloppily done.

The scene where Jon and some guys go to Craster's Keep to kill the mutineers was something straight out of Hollywood. It was so un-game of thrones-like and cliche it made me embarrassed for the writers. Also, the Ygritte dying in Jon's arms thing was horrible.

Now this season where we have this Dorne thing. I was intrigued by the show putting Jaime in Dorne because I didn't like Jaime in the Riverlands in the book. But, at least it was still smart and political and not just cliched action. When I saw that Jaime was going to be in Dorne, I thought he would go diplomatically to visit and try to mend relations, and visit his (daughter). And maybe try to sneak her out that way. Maybe he would take the place of Arys Oakheart, or the storyline would be similar to that.

He wouldn't just smuggle into Dorne on a ship and just randomly run out to her in the middle of the garden while she's with her fiance, and is all like, "Come on, let's go!" By the way, what the hell is up with Myrcella and Trystane? All they do apparently is walk up and down the water gardens all day and talk about how they are getting married. And Myrcella has been there for like years now. And apparently all Doran does is sit in his wheelchair and look at the water gardens all day. The Dorne stuff has been so stupidly, sloppily done that it really makes me fear for this show.

The best parts of Game of Thrones are the sneaky underhanded politics, the complex characters, the complex narratives, etc. The fights are supposed to be more of a product of tension, not flashy 3v2 or 8v1 unrealistic, badly choreographed, rushed, sword fights.

Unless they bring in some new writing or get a lot more major input from George RR Martin, I predict the show will severely drop in popularity after the next season.