If one thing is true about ASOIAF it's that Martin likes to drop characters off cliffs every once in while, which I think is good or else everything is false jeopardy. There was a hint of deus ex machina with a certain auburn haired character in the last two books, but I think he balanced it nicely by doing very, VERY bad things to this character before and after the event(s) in question. Martin always gets his pound of flesh from his players, which is nice to see. I believe wholeheartedly that jeopardy for characters we care about must be real, which is what made Babylon 5 and now BSG great.

I only mentioned D. Day Lewis because I saw it on another forum. I think "fantasy" casting can't hurt, like saying "If they make the series I'd like to see...Marcia Cross play Catelyn". Believe me, I realize more than most that we're a long way off from seeing this on film. We'll be talking about the book release of The Winds of Winter before we see "Thrones" on tv, I think.