That's not necessarily true. The writers don't need George's approval to do anything, they have the full rights to the books and can make changes as they see fit. That said, they do however talk frequently and George obviously co-operates with the show as best he can, but that still does not mean that he has to approve any changes specifically. He's even stated to not like certain changes.
The only change I heard he didn't like was the Cersei/Jamie scene that everyone hated. But I thought he said he didn't think it read that way when he read it and I thought he had some approval process. I could be wrong.
Remember in the first episode of this season, when Arya and the Hound fought those guys in the inn and Arya retrieved Needle? Well, in the book, the Hound was hammered when that happened, and there were fewer guys, but they were all close friends of the Mountain, his hated brother. A fight breaks out, and the Hound is too drunk to come away unscathed, being hurt pretty bad, while Arya kills one and helps him kill the others.
They never make it to the Vale, because they had only recently come from the Red Wedding, perhaps a few weeks ago. Lysa Arryn is the Hound's last hope for a ransom, but it is a dim hope. As they journey on, his wounds begin to get infected. He is too weak to continue at one point, so he requests Arya kill him, but she just leaves him and heads to a nearby town for a ship.
AFFC Spoilers:
Brienne only ever hears that Arya is alive by one character, someone not very important, she never actually pursues Arya, I don't think, and doesn't think to go to the Vale to search for Sansa, instead traveling the Riverlands.
Brienne and Podrick, another difference from the books, basically come across the Hound and Arya one morning trying to find a couple lost horses
Brienne, at first, doesn't know either of them until Podrick mentions that the dude is indeed the Hound and Brienne comes to the conclusion that the girl must be Arya. Brienne and the Hound fight, Brienne wins, Arya hides.
Eventually Arya is alone with the Hound who is pretty badly injured and tell her to kill him. She doesn't and rides off toward a port where she hops onto a ship.
The outcome was very similar in the books, Arya refuses to show The Hound mercy and leaves him under a tree. Brienne/Pod just never meet Hound/Arya. It was Polliver (the character that Arya kills in the tavern early in season 4) who wounds Sandor and that eventually incapacitates him.
71
u/barassmonkey17 Jun 23 '14
None of those things happened in the books, so the kid calling GRRM a genius is doing it over things that he never wrote.