So season 2 of Game of Thrones is halfway now, and it is still as enjoyable as the first season.

But the number of changes made are increasing. And not just small changes like changing a name. Whole plot-elements are thrown out.

Like having Ser Rodrick die by the hands of Theon, with the whole plot of Ramsay Snow and his eventual betrayal being removed. In all likelyhood the siege of Riverrun is also cut, IIRC it should have occured by now. Jayne the Westerling has been replaced by Talisa the foreigner, and supporting cast members who should last four more books are removed.

Don't get me wrong, the series is still great but I wonder why some of the changes have been done.

I'm having real trouble keeping up with all the names to be honest. When series 2 started I completely lost as characters were brought in that we had not seen before with no warning or explanation.

I'm going to have to re-watch series 1 and then 2 to get the hang of the plot again. Either that or I sit there with a picture guide with names lol.

Riverrun has already been skipped, but Ramsay should show up soon. There was the scene in this Ep with Lord Bolton requesting to contact his #%&*$# to retake Winterfell.

Ramsay won't show up at all: the complete cast for this season is known and Ramsay is not there, nor are Jojen and Meera Reeds. G R R Martin has apparently said that the series makers were delaying the introduction of some characters (presumably for budget reasons).
I think that the absence of Ramsay and the Reeds will necessarily be damaging to the development of some long lasting sub plots and I wonder how they'll manage that...

Generally speaking, it seems to me that season 2 has been looking cheaper than season 1. Some bits are entirely cut out, some scenes are scaled down (ie tourneys without horses, the incident with the angry crowd happens on feet rather than on horses, etc, my list could be long). Let's hope that some of these budget cuts were done in order to spend money on the Blackwater episode, because this one won't work if it's not an epic battle...

I haven't read the books, but I don't know if some of the changes were more for plot than financial reasons. For example, the scene with the angry crowd would be more terrifying on foot than on horses. It would be easier to escape on horses rather than on foot. If I am surrounded by an angry crowd, I would much rather be on a horse.

I've just started reading the first book on Kindle, well a sample but I intend to buy it, and it seems different to the first series and may help me fill in some holes.

Lots of major and minor changes from the book.

Some changes I can understand: they are trying to streamline the story (making it less complicated). Some scenes that have been added almost seem like an afterthought by Martin himself (via the series's writers), like Cat's and Littlefinger's encounter in Renly's camp (IIRC Littlefinger never made it to Renly in the book).

Other changes are just plain annoying, like renaming "Asha Greyjoy" into "Yara", because the producers fear the audience is too dim and might confuse Asha with the Wildling Osha (in Winterfell).

Can't figure out (other than to create further interaction between a Lannister and a Stark) why they replaced Roose Bolton with Tywin Lannister in Harrenhal. And in the books, Joquen didn't kill the Tickler.

Or the whole Daenerys storyline so far: they killed off one of her bloodriders, and the whole Quarth episode so far is way off.

And regarding Ramsay and the Reeds: either Martin told the producers some details we don't know yet (regarding the Reeds), but leaving these characters out of the series will force them to make profound changes to the main story arc in later seasons.

Or buy the books and read them. Lot's of work but worth it. And you'll get a much better feel for the characters.

Apparently George Martin said that the TV producers were delaying the arrival of the Reeds rather than skipping them, so I would assume that they will meet further along the road, but it means that all the initial trust built by the green dreams will not be there, and the writers will have to alter the story to make the Bran/Reeds relationship work.
I'm not sure George Martin commented on Ramsay being delayed or not, but the last episode seems to suggest that he'll be sent by his father instead, and I'm guessing that they're just delaying him for season 3 - still, his deception won't look the same at all.

Anyway, at this point I'm annoyed by the changes (I rarely see how it improves anything at all, I sometime see how it saves money though) but I'm still hopeful that they'll do better later. The second book is not an easy one to adapt I think - none are easy actually, there's so much reliance on internal monologues, feelings, dreams, etc in the books, all of which are nearly impossible to translate to a movie format. In the series 1, Bran story was one that was suffering a lot from that, but I think it hits almost all characters in the current season.

For those who have not tried the books, read them! Seriously, there is so much more in them, you won't be bored because you'll learn a lot more, and you'll have a lot more questions (not really more answers :p ) in your mind to keep you eager to see what's next in the saga.

The changes they are making are getting increasingly annoying IMO.

- Tywin Lannister smiling and joking? Huh?!
- I get that they want to build up the relationship between Jon and Ygritte faster here than in the books, but come on!
- What's with Bran and Rickon fleeing Winterfell before it gets sacked? They are supposed to hide in the crypts....I can only hope they snuck back to Winterfell while Theon killed the Miller's kids.
- The whole coup d'état thingy in Qarth, by Xaro and Pyat Pree. Not only does Daenerys' actress becomes increasingly irritating, her whole story is being butchered: Irri dead, most of her Khalasar apparently too, Jorah talking to Quaithe instead of Daenarys, the warlock's guild steal the dragons. I see no reason for the series to deviate so far from the books.
- Jaime Lannister totally acting out of character by killing a fellow Lannister (especially one that seemed to worship Jaime), the whole escape attempt, and why arent't they in Riverrun in the first place?