SUMMARY
  • Direwolves’ significance in the books was lost in the 'Game of Thrones' TV adaptation.
  • Fans are upset that the HBO show omitted the Stark children's warging abilities.
  • The show only depicted Bran Stark’s warging, missing the depth found in the books.

Fans have complained about the Game of Thrones‘ finale for years, which has led to growing calls for a reboot that sticks closer to the original source material. They believe the show strayed too far from George R.R. Martin’s original novels.

A still from Game of Thrones (Credits: HBO)
A still from Game of Thrones (Credits: HBO)

Of course, the last season upset a lot of fans, but now they’re even more annoyed. The main point of contention? The omission of a crucial element from the books—the Stark children’s warging abilities.

Missing Powers: The Stark Children’s Warging Abilities

House of the Dragon's connection to Game of Thrones
Bran Stark played by Isaac Hamstead-Wright in Game of Thrones (Credits: HBO)

The Game of Thrones TV show skipped some parts from the books. Even though the creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, teamed up with George R.R. Martin, they had to cut and tweak things to fit everything on TV. One of the elements that was cut was the Stark children’s warging abilities.

In the TV show, only Bran Stark has the mystical ability to warg—control animals with his mind. In the books, however, all the Stark kids have this power and each has their own direwolf. Some fans are disappointed because the show didn’t include this cool detail from the novels. This is why they’re calling for a reboot that sticks to the original lore. Check out some fan reactions:

It comes after their disappointment with the ending of Season 8, which fell short for many reasons. One of them was Daenerys’ sudden descent into madness and tyranny, which felt rushed to some viewers.

In the books, warging isn’t just a special ability but also a strong link to the Stark family’s history. Each Stark kid’s relationship with their direwolf shows off their own special qualities. For instance, Jon Snow’s direwolf, Ghost, is like his furry alter ego, reflecting his wild side and his inner conflicts.

Yet, the show reduced these symbolic elements, focusing solely on Bran. The direwolves, which are super important to the Stark family in the books, barely got any screen time. This tweak made the show lose some of the book’s depth and complexity, and fans weren’t excited about how these key elements got treated.

George R. R. Martin Wants to Change One Thing About A Song of Ice and Fire

George R.R. Martin
George R. R. Martin (Image by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, recently joked that if he could change one thing about his books, it would be to actually finish them. At a talk in Oxford, the 76-year-old said he wishes he had the whole series done by now, which got a big cheer from the audience. Check out his quote (via Oxford Writers’ House on YouTube):

I don’t know, I could probably change more than one thing. If I could change one thing about one of my books, I’d have them finished.

Martin talked about how he envies self-published authors who don’t have deadlines and admitted he’s been struggling with the next book, The Winds of Winter. He hasn’t written much since late 2022 and recently squashed rumors of any big news.

Fans are eagerly waiting for the last two books, hoping for a better ending than the one from the TV show. Martin has promised the books will have a very different ending, especially with more dragon info, but for now, we’re all still in suspense.

Game of Thrones is available to watch on HBO.

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