Books A Song of Ice and Fire (Books) | TV show? What TV show?

Cheers for the wall of text, much appreciated. None of that suggests that they're hacks.

They put faith in a director and ultimately had to allow adjustment to the script (or fly blind) due to time contraints. So fecking what? Every bloody film or tv drama that is an adapation from a novel has changes made either by design or forced circumstances. Go watch some docs on the film making process from start to finish.

The only thing that matters is whether the key elements of the plot (and hopefully the tone) remain. Nothing in that text suggests they didn't hit those boxes during the filming of that episode.


You're welcome. We're in a book thread, you'd expect people in here to be ok with reading.

They insisted on using dozens of live horses, which the director had to advise them that they couldn't do what was scripted with them because of animal welfare, and general practicalities.

‘Originally, we were going to have a lot of horses, like seven horses deep and they were going to charge the horses… and then actually surround the allied troops and crush them with the horses,’ said Sapochnik. ‘The trouble is, if you run horses at people, they don’t like it.’ He continued: ‘The first time they’re alright, the second time they’re like: “I don’t really want to run at these people”, the third time the horses think: “I’m not going”.


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/28/game-...ts-slightly-more-awesome-6034005/?ito=cbshare

They then gave the director 2 and a half weeks less than he needed to get it done. It's widely believed that they had to change major plot points in the outcome of the battle. It's negligent for a show of this scope and budget to go off script when the director was warning of the issues.
 
You're welcome. We're in a book thread, you'd expect people in here to be ok with reading.

"Books be so wordy and shit" - Kanye West, PhD

Nah just thought you could have explained it in less text than the article.

They insisted on using dozens of live horses, which the director had to advise them that they couldn't do what was scripted with them because of animal welfare, and general practicalities.

Not a fan of that at all to be fair.

They then gave the director 2 and a half weeks less than he needed to get it done. It's widely believed that they had to change major plot points in the outcome of the battle. It's negligent for a show of this scope and budget to go off script when the director was warning of the issues.

Fair enough if that's what you're concerned about but you have no evidence for this until Martin gets off his arse and actually delivers his version of things.

You can also probably tell I'm not that bothered about Martin's version of events anyway. I've read the books - couple of them are good reads, the rest range from forgetable to downright shite (Feast) in my opinion. I don't even think he's going to publish them going by his behaviour and even if he does, I'm 50-50 whether I'd keep reading the series going by the recent output.

So I don't really care about what they've changed all that much provided it's decent television. I think it's a meme at this point that DnD have destroyed Martin's work. There's an awful lot of shite in those books as well that his superfans like to forget.

On the wider criticism, I think these people must not have watched many tv dramas because I can think of countless shows that get incrementally worse as the seasons go on (but we all still watch because we want the ending). GoTs is not the first to get sloppy and suffer from poor writing as it all heads towards the end. Not every show can be as well written as Breaking Bad.
 
I think both parties are to blame for the general decline of the show's quality. D&D had a pretty solid vision for the early parts of the show and knew where they were going until the Red Wedding, but by all accounts they hadn't really considered what they'd do once they got to the dual books (which was always going to be tough because it did need trimming) and they never really considered what would happen if they overtook GRRM.

The latter shouldn't have really needed to be a consideration for them because GRRM should've informed them if he thought he was going to start taking decades per book, but at the same time they should've had contingency plans for where they wanted to take certain plots. They've definitely made cock-ups along the way and have interpreted some key characters poorly, but until they weren't sure where they were going with it at all it was a mostly solid adaptation, and about as good as GRRM could ever hope for in regards to being something both faithful to the text and big enough to turn him into a global celebrity.

Last season turned into a bit of a mess because you can tell it's a show that doesn't have any wider direction and is now just plodding to a conclusion, with characters killed off because they're no longer convenient and characters dotting around the map with ease compared to before. There's no real sense of scope anymore because the depth of the world has been sacrificed for getting from point A to B. Which is understandable, in a sense, because D&D signed up to do an adaptation and not an original show, but at the same time they should've thought of what might need to happen should they overtake GRRM.
 
"Books be so wordy and shit" - Kanye West, PhD

Nah just thought you could have explained it in less text than the article.



Not a fan of that at all to be fair.



Fair enough if that's what you're concerned about but you have no evidence for this until Martin gets off his arse and actually delivers his version of things.

You can also probably tell I'm not that bothered about Martin's version of events anyway. I've read the books - couple of them are good reads, the rest range from forgetable to downright shite (Feast) in my opinion. I don't even think he's going to publish them going by his behaviour and even if he does, I'm 50-50 whether I'd keep reading the series going by the recent output.

So I don't really care about what they've changed all that much provided it's decent television. I think it's a meme at this point that DnD have destroyed Martin's work. There's an awful lot of shite in those books as well that his superfans like to forget.

On the wider criticism, I think these people must not have watched many tv dramas because I can think of countless shows that get incrementally worse as the seasons go on (but we all still watch because we want the ending). GoTs is not the first to get sloppy and suffer from poor writing as it all heads towards the end. Not every show can be as well written as Breaking Bad.

It’s simple: Martin is a good worldbuilder, but he’s not a particularly good writer. One of the reasons the show has to deviate a bit is that Martin has written himself into so many dead ends he seems to be unable to finish it himself.
 
It’s simple: Martin is a good worldbuilder, but he’s not a particularly good writer. One of the reasons the show has to deviate a bit is that Martin has written himself into so many dead ends he seems to be unable to finish it himself.
Absolutely. I'm sort of dreading the release of the new, no doubt horrendously long, book as I have no desire to meander down the bewildering array of story lines that I'm pretty confident he's lost control of and I will feel compelled to read it as I'm sort of committed to finish the slog now.
 
The last couple of books were a bit shit anyway. I honestly think Martin just got a bit bored of going through the motions.

Fair enough blame D&D for the decline in the show, but I'd say the decline in the world and saga is a fair mix of martin and D&D.
 
I think the problems with the books began when he changed his plan to do the first three as a trilogy, flash forward several years and then resume the story. Not entirely sure why he abandoned that idea, seemed to make sense with so many younger characters. Might well have been something to do with Dany's situation in Meereen. I'm not sure what it was but GRRM had to abandon this idea and seems to have found it hard going since. I'm still a big fan of the books though, just wish he'd hurry up.

As for D&D decking it up, in general I don't think they have. The books not being completed always meant that as the show overtook them big deviations were more likely. Ultimately the show is a different beast and may well be the only conclusion to the series we get. They definitely could have done some things better, or just done some things - Stoneheart. Anyways, roll on next year for the final season.
 
It’s simple: Martin is a good worldbuilder, but he’s not a particularly good writer. One of the reasons the show has to deviate a bit is that Martin has written himself into so many dead ends he seems to be unable to finish it himself.

I think he certainly prefers worldbuilding for this series at least.
 
I think the problems with the books began when he changed his plan to do the first three as a trilogy, flash forward several years and then resume the story. Not entirely sure why he abandoned that idea, seemed to make sense with so many younger characters. Might well have been something to do with Dany's situation in Meereen. I'm not sure what it was but GRRM had to abandon this idea and seems to have found it hard going since. I'm still a big fan of the books though, just wish he'd hurry up.

As for D&D decking it up, in general I don't think they have. The books not being completed always meant that as the show overtook them big deviations were more likely. Ultimately the show is a different beast and may well be the only conclusion to the series we get. They definitely could have done some things better, or just done some things - Stoneheart. Anyways, roll on next year for the final season.

It couldn't work because many of the story lines couldn't be put on hold for years. ASOS ended with many unresolved conflicts. He's talked about it a bit:
But what I soon discovered — and I struggled with this for a year — [the gap] worked well with some characters like Arya — who at end the of Storm of Swords has taken off for Braavos. You can come back five years later, and she has had five years of training and all that. Or Bran, who was taken in by the Children of the Forest and the green ceremony, [so you could] come back to him five years later. That’s good. Works for him.

Other characters, it didn’t work at all. I'm writing the Cersei chapters in King's Landing, and saying, "Well yeah, in five years, six different guys have served as Hand and there was this conspiracy four years ago, and this thing happened three years ago." And I'm presenting all of this in flashbacks, and that wasn't working. The other alternative was [that] nothing happened in those five years, which seemed anticlimactic.

The Jon Snow stuff was even worse, because at the end of Storm he gets elected Lord Commander. I'm picking up there, and writing "Well five years ago, I was elected Lord Commander. Nothing much has happened since then, but now things are starting to happen again." I finally, after a year, said "I can't make this work."
 
It couldn't work because many of the story lines couldn't be put on hold for years. ASOS ended with many unresolved conflicts. He's talked about it a bit:

His process is fecking stupid to me. No wonder he's all over the place.
 
It couldn't work because many of the story lines couldn't be put on hold for years. ASOS ended with many unresolved conflicts. He's talked about it a bit:
Thanks for that. I think he's overstating the problems a bit. I think it could have worked but I suppose we'll never know now. I wonder if GRRM would do it differently if he could do the books again.
 
I liked the last two books on a second reading, but yeah I can see how they were a nightmare to adapt to TV. Not that the producers didn't manage to feck it up even more with their own ridiculousness.
 
The book officially getting released for 20th November.

The book is obviously Fire and Blood Part 1. :) At least GRRM kept his promise that at least one book will be released this year. Let's hope that he finishes Winds of Winter this year.

http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/04/25/fire-blood-on-the-way/

Better something that nothing, I guess, although I am not sure that we really needed this enciclopedia considering that one was released just 2 years ago.
 
The book officially getting released for 20th November.

The book is obviously Fire and Blood Part 1. :) At least GRRM kept his promise that at least one book will be released this year. Let's hope that he finishes Winds of Winter this year.

http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/04/25/fire-blood-on-the-way/

Better something that nothing, I guess, although I am not sure that we really needed this enciclopedia considering that one was released just 2 years ago.

Ah feck off, thought it was genuinely happening for a moment there.:lol:

I feel like he's basically given up at this point.
 
Ah feck off, thought it was genuinely happening for a moment there.:lol:

I feel like he's basically given up at this point.
Funny thing is, he probably won't finish Fire and Blood 2, ever. Considering his ability to get distracted (it is not only ASOIAF which is in hiatus, but also the first spinoff 'Dunk and Egg' which was supposed to be an epic 12 novellas, but now for more than a decade he hasn't released anything new).

So, I guess that by 2023 we will finally have a new book. Which won't be Winds of Winter, Fire and Blood 2 or Dunk and Egg 4, but will be a new spinoff.
 
Funny thing is, he probably won't finish Fire and Blood 2, ever. Considering his ability to get distracted (it is not only ASOIAF which is in hiatus, but also the first spinoff 'Dunk and Egg' which was supposed to be an epic 12 novellas, but now for more than a decade he hasn't released anything new).

So, I guess that by 2023 we will finally have a new book. Which won't be Winds of Winter, Fire and Blood 2 or Dunk and Egg 4, but will be a new spinoff.

Aye, he's probably chucked it at this point, story is too much for him to resolve and so he's prolonging the next book endlessly. Shame.
 
Would it be better for him and everyone waiting if he just came out and said it's not going to happen?
Probably yes, but I fully believe that he genuinely thinks that it is going to happen, and it is clear that he is working on it (unlike Pat Rothfuss on Kingkiller Chronicles). Just that taking a very long time (Dance took 6 years, this is likely going to take 8 or so, but Dance was already kind of written in 2005 considering that a lot of chapters were written at the same time as Feast).

All he needs to do to finish these is to stay alive for another 20 years. Or leave these books to some interested young author.
 
He'll be long dead before he's anywhere close to completing this series. Best we can hope for is that he leaves detailed notes and a decent author finishes it.
 
The book officially getting released for 20th November.

The book is obviously Fire and Blood Part 1. :) At least GRRM kept his promise that at least one book will be released this year. Let's hope that he finishes Winds of Winter this year.

http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/04/25/fire-blood-on-the-way/

Better something that nothing, I guess, although I am not sure that we really needed this enciclopedia considering that one was released just 2 years ago.
Cheers.
 
I was barely interested in Winds after reading Feast and Dance anyway. Man needs a fcuking editor badly.

The fact he's dicking around with side-projects more than wrapping up his (now hugely overrated due to the show response) magnum opus, is laughable.
 
He’s 69 years old, extremely unhealthy and probably has about $50million in the bank. Can see why he doesn’t care if he finishes the next book or not, neither would I.
 
He’s 69 years old, extremely unhealthy and probably has about $50million in the bank. Can see why he doesn’t care if he finishes the next book or not, neither would I.
As far as I know, he is very healthy. He is kind of fat and looks like a wizard, but never heard that he has any types of health problems.
 
As far as I know, he is very healthy. He is kind of fat and looks like a wizard, but never heard that he has any types of health problems.

Just take out the extremely unhealthy part, it still applies
 
I've never read the books but I know a lot about them from following the show so closely and wanting to investigate the differences between them. I think the next book will come out eventually (I'm going with autumn 2019), but sadly I also think George has begun to suffer from creative fatigue, which strikes every artist regardless of what they do. Bands can update their sound, change members, or go solo, and film directors can change style or go to TV, but the only thing authors can do is start new stories - and if you create a series that's as adored and as popular as A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, releasing side projects isn't going to please anyone. He's been writing this story for more than twenty years - it's basically impossible to maintain any interest in a project for that long. As I implied, I think he's waiting for the show to finish before releasing what will effectively be a "director's cut" in the second half of 2019. A Dream of Spring must be miles off, though.
 
:lol::lol: He's never going to finish the books. Clearly he's lost interest, maybe he feels the pressure of not delivering an satisfying ending, who knows?
The only ending we will get is from the show which I believe he has told the show runners the ending.
 
I am rewatching the show now and it is really brilliant. Some of the dialogues are amazing. However, a few things I noticed that I missed during the original watch:

1) Robert and Cersei had a trueborn son in the books who died while a baby. Never happened in the books.

2) Tywin and Jaime had a dialogue which made no sense (it never happened in the books, neither of them is a POV). Essentially Tywin asks Jaime why Ned is still alive and really underrated Ned. In the books, he clearly respects Ned and says that Cersei did a terrible mistake by killing him. Instead they should have kept him hostage to ensure North doesn't rebel while Stannis rebels (Stannis is obviously the man Tywin fears most from all the other kings).

3) Robert is much better than I remembered. The actor did an amazing job to portray him.

4) The dialogue between Varys and Illyrio doesn't make too much sense. In the books, they are obviously saying that it is too early for the war to start, because Aegon isn't ready. Here it is because Daenerys is still not ready. However, minutes later, Varys sends the letter to kill Daenerys.

5) Jon is much more peripheral character than I remembered (probably the same as in the books, book 1 was mostly about Ned). In fact, he didn't even appear in episode 5 and 6, likely the only 2 consecutive episodes he doesn't make an appearance. Daenerys doesn't appear in episode 5 too, probably making that episode (next to episode 9 of the second season), the only episode when the two main characters of the show aren't shown at all.

6) There was too much nudity, some of it just for the sake of showing tits, arses and cnuts (and dicks too). I think it is less in the others.

7) Kind of amazing how much debate was whether Cersei was raped, considering that Daenerys was clearly raped at the beginning of the show.

3 episodes to go to finish the first season now.
 
I am rewatching the show now and it is really brilliant. Some of the dialogues are amazing. However, a few things I noticed that I missed during the original watch:

1) Robert and Cersei had a trueborn son in the books who died while a baby. Never happened in the books.

4) The dialogue between Varys and Illyrio doesn't make too much sense. In the books, they are obviously saying that it is too early for the war to start, because Aegon isn't ready. Here it is because Daenerys is still not ready. However, minutes later, Varys sends the letter to kill Daenerys.

5) Jon is much more peripheral character than I remembered (probably the same as in the books, book 1 was mostly about Ned). In fact, he didn't even appear in episode 5 and 6, likely the only 2 consecutive episodes he doesn't make an appearance. Daenerys doesn't appear in episode 5 too, probably making that episode (next to episode 9 of the second season), the only episode when the two main characters of the show aren't shown at all.
Haven't read the books and don't have anything to add to the points I've deleted, but:

1. I think that was maybe to humanise Cersei early on, so that we could begin to understand why she might murder Robert in a later episode? We might love Robert Baratheon (superb character, superb performance, as you said) and we might hate Cersei but she was still in an abusive, loveless husk of a marriage with a man who slapped her about the place, humiliated her in public, and went off hunting when she gave birth to Joffrey. All because she wasn't Lyanna Stark. Cersei miscarrying their only actual child together, and then her mentioning that to Catelyn, just adds a layer to her character that her only decent aspect of her nature is her dedication to her children. In the end she kills Robert for Joffrey. It's a little unusual and it throws the book canon into question, but it makes enough sense in the context of the show.

4) Wasn't this because he initially wanted Viserys on the throne as he had no idea how much of an idiot he was? Daenerys even alludes to this in 'Stormborn': "Before I came to power, you favored my brother. All your spies, your little birds, did they tell you Viserys was cruel, stupid, and weak? Would those qualities have made for a good king in your learned opinion?"

5) I wrote about 1x5 a little while back for that blog I used to plug on here and noticed the same thing you did. "Across Game of Thrones’ sixty-seven episodes, there are only three in which both Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are completely absent. There’s the penultimate episode of season two, ‘Blackwater,’ which remains in one location as Stannis Baratheon attacks King’s Landing; there’s ‘The Lion and the Rose,’ which features Joffrey Baratheon’s fateful wedding to Margaery Tyrell; and then there’s ‘The Wolf and the Lion,’ an episode which makes the calculated decision to excise the show’s two fantastical strands (The Wall and Essos) to focus on the families and factions engaging in the unspoken political conflicts at this preliminary stage." I had to stop that blog because I got a full-time job and a part-time writing job at the same time, and that meant I had to prioritise things - my Game of Thrones blog lost.
 
Another thing of the show is that the power of Lannisters has been widely exaggerated in the show. In the books, they have two armies, one lead by Jaime with around 15k soldiers and one lead by Tywin which has around 20k soldiers. Which combined are equal to Robb's army of 35k or so soldiers.

In the show, Tywin gives to Jaime half of the army, 30k strong, essentially making Lannisters army 60k or nearly double as big as is on the books.

Seventh season is obviously worse with Lannisters defeating Tyrells, which in the books:

A) couldn't have happened even before the war of 5 Kings. Tyrells have twice as big as army at the beginning of it.

B) at the end of the war of 5 Kings, the Lannisters army is in no shape to fight a war. Only North and Baratheons have suffered more victims.

In fact, it could be argued that Vale has the strongest army at the end of the war of 5 Kings.
 
Another thing of the show is that the power of Lannisters has been widely exaggerated in the show. In the books, they have two armies, one lead by Jaime with around 15k soldiers and one lead by Tywin which has around 20k soldiers. Which combined are equal to Robb's army of 35k or so soldiers.
Robb had 18k with him when he went South, not 35k. The armies of the Riverlords were never explicitly given in the books but given the size of the Freys as one of the largest - around 4k- - it's fair to assume they'd have around 30k, although how many remained after being broken by Jaime in the middle of AGOT is a question.

I'd also assert that the Tyrrells remained the strongest faction by the end of ADwD. Most of those who perished at Blackwater were the Kingslander force under Tyrion and the Storm lords under Stannis, with the only Reach lord joining him after Renly's death being the Florents. The army at Bitterbridge that joined Tywin were 60k strong, and their lands were mostly untouched by the fighting.
 
Robb had 18k with him when he went South, not 35k. The armies of the Riverlords were never explicitly given in the books but given the size of the Freys as one of the largest - around 4k- - it's fair to assume they'd have around 30k, although how many remained after being broken by Jaime in the middle of AGOT is a question.

Robb had 18k, but I think that is without Manderleys who joined later. Riverlords if I am not mistaken had around the same, with Freys obviously having the largest army, but Edmure had already called his bannermen, and why every bannermen has significantly less soldiers than Freys, there were still a lot of them. So, I think it is safe to assume that Robb had 30-35k soldiers, with one third of them being under the command of Roose. His army and that of Lannisters were roughly equal on size.

I'd also assert that the Tyrrells remained the strongest faction by the end of ADwD. Most of those who perished at Blackwater were the Kingslander force under Tyrion and the Storm lords under Stannis, with the only Reach lord joining him after Renly's death being the Florents. The army at Bitterbridge that joined Tywin were 60k strong, and their lands were mostly untouched by the fighting.
Not sure I agree (remember this). Stannis had under his command most of Reach lords. Of course, Tyrells forces and Tarly stayed loyal to Tyrells, but I thought that a lot of Reach lords joined Stannis. Storm lords alone (or with Florents) couldn't make an army as big as that of Stannis.

Tyrells might still have had the largest army, but they kind of fought a lot, and suffered losses both in the battle of Blackwater in addition to the attack from Victarion. On the other hand, Vale army was totally absent from fighting (no dead soldiers, no economical losses, a lengthy war of course costs a lot), and they have a shitload of knights. Of course, Dorne combined with the Black Company forces should be also very strong.

Essentially, I think that the forces of Tyrells, Vale and Dorne/Aegon should be around the same, but Vale don't have a purpose, neither a strong leader (Tyrells have the best general in Tarly, followed by Dorne/Blacl Company in JonCon). Lannisters are severely weakened and at that stage would easily lose against either of these three armies. Starks and Nights Watch under Jon are still a non factor, Stannis has a weaker army than Boltons (who are weaker than Lannisters). Storm lords practically are destroyed at this stage.

So something like:
1) Tyrells, Dorne/Black Company
2) Vale (but lack purpose and general), Iron Islands/Euron
3) Lannisters, Jaime/Cersei
4) Boltons
5) Stannis
6) Jon

Daenerys obviously beats everyone (when she gets her dragons back), but she is still nowhere near crossing the sea.

At the other hand at the show it seems to be:

1) Daenerys
2) Lannisters
3) Euron
4) Jon

with the other fractions being essentially destroyed at this stage.
 
Robb had 18k, but I think that is without Manderleys who joined later. Riverlords if I am not mistaken had around the same, with Freys obviously having the largest army, but Edmure had already called his bannermen, and why every bannermen has significantly less soldiers than Freys, there were still a lot of them. So, I think it is safe to assume that Robb had 30-35k soldiers, with one third of them being under the command of Roose. His army and that of Lannisters were roughly equal on size.

Counting his army this way is a bit counter intuitive since it was split into 3 different commands, the 6k horses he led to relieve Riverrun, the River force (unspecified) under Edmure's command, and the 12k foot under Bolton that already suffered heavy losses at Green Fork and later Duskendale. I may be a bit off here but can quite confidently state that at no point did he field 35k soldiers simultaneously against the Lannisters, which speaks to his military talent that by the time of his death he's never suffered a defeat.


Not sure I agree (remember this). Stannis had under his command most of Reach lords. Of course, Tyrells forces and Tarly stayed loyal to Tyrells, but I thought that a lot of Reach lords joined Stannis. Storm lords alone (or with Florents) couldn't make an army as big as that of Stannis.

No, Stannis's command at Storm's End was 5k of the Dragonstones lords and mercs, he then inherited the majority of the 20k horses Renly led. Loras took away Renly's corpse and reached Bitterbridge before Stannis's messenger could, assuming command of the 60k foot soldiers there. The Florents were the only major Reach house to declare for Stannis, so it's close enough to make no matter anyway. I mean if we get banal about it we can probably peruse TWOIAF and find a vassal house or two of the Florents and add them to the mix.

Tyrells might still have had the largest army, but they kind of fought a lot, and suffered losses both in the battle of Blackwater in addition to the attack from Victarion. On the other hand, Vale army was totally absent from fighting (no dead soldiers, no economical losses, a lengthy war of course costs a lot), and they have a shitload of knights. Of course, Dorne combined with the Black Company forces should be also very strong.

I'm sure they suffered losses, but you seem to overestimate it. They entered the fray in KL when Stannis's forces were already occupied in the crossing, took them by surprise and crushed them. The victor in a rout tend not to suffer a lot of losses, and Victarion's battle were basically raids against small garrisons in 4 tiny islands (the Small Shields). How many can they lose? A thousand, two, top, not likely to even be close.

The Vale is strong for sure, untouched by the fighting and one of the great houses, but the repeated usage of 'Knights of the Vale' seems to have create a false impression. Nowhere in cannon was it stated that they are uniquely strong when it comes to horses, especially when you take in to account their mountainous terrain and the tremendous cost of an armoured knight in the medieval period. If anything, the Lannisters are more likely to be able to field the most mounted units with their financial advantage. Dorne by Doran's own admission is the least populous and poorest of the 7 Kingdoms, so the boastful claim of '50k shields and spears' by Quentyn is doubtful as well.

My ranking of strength at the end of ADwD would be sth like: Reach>Vale>Lannisters>Dorne>fAegon. Then of course, Danny arrives with her screaming horde and Wyrms and rekt them all, or she won't.
 
My ranking of strength at the end of ADwD would be sth like: Reach>Vale>Lannisters>Dorne>fAegon. Then of course, Danny arrives with her screaming horde and Wyrms and rekt them all, or she won't.
Your ranking is likely correct, however considering that Dorne and fAegon are likely going to join forces, I think that will put them comfortably ahead of Lannisters (who at this stage have lost Kevan, Jaime is going to be a prisoner of Lady Stoneheart and already doesn't care much about Lannisters or Cersei, so essentially they have no commander, no purpose and have been fighting longer than anyone else).

JonCon as a commander declaring for fAegon with Black Company and Dornish forces, beats the shit out of Lannisters, and probably beats the Vale. Heck if it wasn't for Tarly, I would have had them beating Reach too.
 
Your ranking is likely correct, however considering that Dorne and fAegon are likely going to join forces, I think that will put them comfortably ahead of Lannisters (who at this stage have lost Kevan, Jaime is going to be a prisoner of Lady Stoneheart and already doesn't care much about Lannisters or Cersei, so essentially they have no commander, no purpose and have been fighting longer than anyone else).

JonCon as a commander declaring for fAegon with Black Company and Dornish forces, beats the shit out of Lannisters, and probably beats the Vale. Heck if it wasn't for Tarly, I would have had them beating Reach too.

I have a sneaky feeling that it won't happen. Everyone kind of expect it by now but it'd just be typical GRRM to make Arianne kaputz the whole thing. Jon Con however would manage to defeat Mace Tyrrells and throw the whole thing into a massive free for all.

Should have also clarified that the ranking above is merely based on logistical factors (manpower, resources etc...). The Lannisters were basically finished by the end of ADwD with Cersei shamed, Jaime going AWOL and Kevan murdered. We also don't know if the Vale for example would have a Westeros equivalent of Hannibal. If we are talking purely from a strategic PoV then your initial supposition would be right, since Littlefinger is playing them all for fools.
 
Rewatching it now, and the drop in quality between the first and second season is really noticeable. I didn't found this the case back then, but now that I am turbowatching, it is clear. Saying that, it is still brilliant.

The battle of Blackwater was amazing, but feck me, it took Tywin one day (and night) to reach Kingslanding from Harrenhal. We moaned about teletransportation in the seventh season, but it was happening all the time in this show.
 
Rewatching it now, and the drop in quality between the first and second season is really noticeable. I didn't found this the case back then, but now that I am turbowatching, it is clear. Saying that, it is still brilliant.

The battle of Blackwater was amazing, but feck me, it took Tywin one day (and night) to reach Kingslanding from Harrenhal. We moaned about teletransportation in the seventh season, but it was happening all the time in this show.

The time travelling happened in season 1 episode 1
 
The time travelling happened in season 1 episode 1
Yeah, it did. But here it was even worse, because the entire travelling actually happened within one day. When it came to stuff in season 1 and 7 it happened within an episode but it might have been a week or two in the world there. Here we see Tyrion mentioning that Stannis is one or two days away, then next shot you see Tywin deciding to go to Kingslanding.

Oh, and I love Tywin. Greatest villain in the history of the shows and books.
 
Rewatching it now, and the drop in quality between the first and second season is really noticeable. I didn't found this the case back then, but now that I am turbowatching, it is clear. Saying that, it is still brilliant.

The battle of Blackwater was amazing, but feck me, it took Tywin one day (and night) to reach Kingslanding from Harrenhal. We moaned about teletransportation in the seventh season, but it was happening all the time in this show.
This is an argument I raised a few times when people were complaining about Euron's teleportation at the beginning of season seven. In season one, Tyrion goes from Winterfell to Castle Black in the space of an episode, pops up at the Inn at the Crossroads one episode after that, and ends up in the Vale one episode after that. Other than Daenerys' speedy DrogonAirlines flight in 7x6 and the boat journey to Eastwatch in the previous episode, it's the fastest any character has moved in the show's entire run.

As a side point, I'm not bothered by Euron's speed, but more that he passed Dragonstone FOUR TIMES without Daenerys noticing. Even in the show, the point of Dragonstone is that it's a strategic position that acts as something of a gate to King's Landing. It could have been explained away pretty easily if they'd used stuff that's there for them in the books - that Euron can have his ship move quickly and silently in the mist - but instead we have to just assume that Daenerys was either asleep or just not looking when an entire fleet sailed past her island.