Which book character do fans wish Game of Thrones hadn’t omitted? Poll results:

Game of Thrones has two more seasons left. While we can’t know for certain, we expect those final years to keep new faces to a minimum as the producers wrap up storylines featuring members of the large, established cast. That means fans of George R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire series can probably give up hope of seeing all of the characters from those novels make it to the small screen. A couple years ago, the question was, “What characters from ASOIAF do you want to see?” Now it’s “Who do you wish hadn’t been omitted?”

We asked you guys that question last Friday. Let’s see how the voting went.

So it came down to Arianne Martell and Lady Stoneheart battling for the top spot. Honestly, I expected Stoneheart to take it, so it was nice to be surprised. The fans miss you, Arianne!

Many commenters said they chose Arianne because they thought she might have been able to improve the beleaguered Dornish storyline, which has gained a reputation as the weakest part of the show. Here’s Salty on the subject:

"[W]ith Dorne we were introduced to one of the coolest characters of the entire series through Oberyn. And then to see what the show did with Dorne afterwards was a huge disappointment and I think including Arianne and allowing her character to grow could have increased the entertainment value of Dorne. Think about the possibilities. They could’ve had Arianne seduce Jaime for instance (instead of Aerys Oakheart). And even if Arianne goes on to lead a coup against her own father (Prince Doran) in the books, it makes sense for her to lead the coup because she is the heir (unlike Ellaria Sand who just happened to be Oberyn’s lover). But oh well…."

Firannion commented further on what the show lost by omitting Arianne:

"Agreed that by cutting out Arianne and her queenmaker plot, the show forfeited the most interesting aspect of Dorne: the existence of an alternative paradigm for inheritance, which could be a major game-changer if adopted by others of the Seven Kingdoms."

On the show, the Dornish storyline definitely had less shading than other areas, to say nothing of the Dornish storyline in the books. Although I wonder if Game of Thrones ever had the time to give that plotline the attention it deserved, Arianne or no.

Although Lady Stoneheart may not have topped the poll, she still had her supporters, like DarkStark:

"Lady Stoneheart Lady Stoneheart Lady Stoneheart. It would have worked wonderfully in Season 4 to give fans hope after the utter annihilation of the Red Wedding. We needed hope.Instead, they kept us wondering and hoping, even teasing us a bit. Until the Hound totally pissed on the idea in Season 6."

Others, like Steve, didn’t see the point of the character. “The show producers were right to leave her out.” I agree that, at this point in the novels, Stoneheart hasn’t done a ton, although that could change in The Winds of Winter.

The young Aegon V Targaryen was another popular choice. He’s one of the bigger characters cut from the novels, and some commenters wanted to see his story onscreen. “He is most likely going to have the biggest impact on the story,” Young Dragon wrote. Then again, Davos 4 King brings up a counterpoint: “The show leaving out Aegon pretty much tells me all I need to know about his endgame in the books.”

Priscilla, meanwhile, wished we’d seen Aurane Waters, the handsome bastard whom Cersei put on her Small Council in A Feast for Crows, on the show:

"I would go with Aurane Waters because his appearance in the books show how out of touch and delusional Cersei is. Okay, this was established already, but hear me out: Aurane Waters reminds Cersei of Rhaegar and she goes out of her way to give this man power just because she thinks he is hot. It would remind the viewers that Cersei is actually a Targaryen fangirl, whose dream was to marry a dragon and be the princess her father promised her she would be; that she is also losing the seduction skills and her beauty, as Aurane is just playing with her and, lastly, that Jaime has been Cersei´s second choice."

Actually, Aurane is one of the few characters I think has a chance of showing up in seasons 7 or 8. After all, now that Cersei’s officially running the Seven Kingdoms, there are plenty of opportunities for her to make terrible decisions.

Big Hazza picked Penny, a dwarf Tyrion encounters on his trip to Meereen.

"Her existence in the books is so so so important for Tyrion’s arc in ADwD. Leaving her out meant that Tyrion in the show went from being miserable and depressed to be jolly and happy without any extra character development. I love Peter Dinklage and I quite enjoyed that part of season 5, but it lacked meaning. It was a transition more than anything else. In the books Tyrion finally realizes what it means to be a dwarf. It’s an eye opening and perspective shifting journey for him. The show just gave us the Tyrion we all know and love, which is fine. But there could have been so much more."

Needs more Penny.

Naturally, Quaithe wanted a character cut from Daenerys’ travels on Essos: Galazza Galare, a religious leader in Meereen who advises Daenerys. Quaithe does a little theorizing about Galazza’s true role. Do you agree?

"I wish they added Galazza Galare as well, it would have made the Meereen plot more enjoyable onscreen. She made the plot in the novels interesting as it took my second reading to be certain she is the Son’s of the Harpy’s mother and thereby enjoying the Meereen storyline so much more."

We’ve been talking a lot about human characters. What about the animals? Mormonts Raving will not be denied:

"Where’s Mormont’s Ravon gone?!? I loved it in the books that he happily adopted Jon as the new lord commander, and that Jon walked around with a menagerie of birds and direwolves following him everywhere."

You know, I never really gave much thought to what Jon must look like with a huge wolf and a talkative raven following him around, but now I can’t stop picturing it.

Some commenters, like Aiad, expanded the discussion to characters who appeared on the show, but didn’t much resemble their book counterparts.

"Saying Areo Hotah was on the show is like saying Jeyne Poole was on the show. (She was in a 2 minutes scene in the first season). Sure, someone had her name. But the character isn’t there, the plot isn’t there, she doesn’t marry ramsay, she doesn’t fear for her life, gets tortured, raped by ramsay (or worse), she doesn’t escape with Theon… It was all given to Sansa.So, what Jeyne Poole really on the show? I say no… No more than Hotah."

Stxyn followed up on that:

"I would like to see another Small Council meeting about great book characters who could have been done better the show. I vote for Euron Greyjoy, who in the Winds of Winter sample chapter ” The Forsaken” emerges as the most terrifying figure in the whole series, straight out of Alan Moore’s “Black Freighter” comics."

Now that’s a good idea.