We’ve known for a while now that Season 5 of Game of Thrones would go even further off-book than ever before. But some show watchers might be surprised at exactly how far away from the book’s plot many of the main characters have already strayed. One prime motivator for HBO is efficiency. Series creators Dan Weiss and David Benioff appreciate that they already have an enormous cast and many, many plotlines to track. By condensing the story, or having already-familiar characters take the place of new ones introduced in books four and five, Game of Thrones is making it much easier on their viewers. Speaking specifically about Jaqen H’ghar taking the place of the Kindly Man in Braavos, Weiss and Benioff recently told Vulture:

We were lucky enough to have a show last long enough to be faced with this choice—introduce another character in what is already the largest cast in TV by a large margin, or bend things slightly to bring back a loved character in whom they are already invested.

We’re going to see a lot more of those character-swaps this season and, ultimately, that’s good news for the show. Just because George R.R. Martin's sprawling yarns make for bestselling books, it doesn’t mean every single bend in his story will make for the most compelling television. So here are the six main characters who have already left the book’s plot in the dust this season and moved on to more adventurous pastures.

Sansa and Littlefinger

You’ll want to thank your lucky stars Weiss and Benioff took it upon themselves to make major changes to Sansa’s original story line. If not, you’d be subjected to a lot of boring (from a TV perspective) scenes of Sansa, under the secret identity of Alayne, and her little cousin Robin wandering around the Eyrie. A recently released chapter of George R.R. Martin’s next book, The Winds of Winter, finds Sansa still hanging at the Vale with Littlefinger and includes descriptions that are inline with the little girl of the book (e.g., “her tummy gave a little flutter”) but not at all in keeping with the young woman Sophie Turner has become. Thankfully, the show decided to send Sansa to Winterfell in place of another character, Jeyne Poole (don’t worry, you’ll never meet her). Now things are way more interesting for Sansa and completely unpredictable for book readers. Will Sansa follow Jeyne Poole’s path, or is another, (spoiler alert!) even more dramatic arc in her future? We have no real way of knowing, but as long as the older Stark girl continues to grow more empowered (and not, as some fear, headed for a repeat of her role as victim), we’ll be watching enthusiastically.