i know it was said earlier but the whole Tywin, Arya scenes never happened in the book. However i am glad that they happened in the show.

I would whole-heartedly agree, except for one thing. There seem to be events outside the castle walls (especially Harrenhall in this case) that are moving along quite rapidly. Yet, Tywin, who is leading the war effort for King's Landing, seems to be doing very little or have any real sense of urgency. That was one of my major problems with this last episode is how they just dropped, offhandedly, that Stannis was moving toward King's Landing and would be there soon. While there is plenty of tension amongst the characters, they've built very little tension on the war, which is supposedly going to come to a head in the next two episodes. So, now I have to ask, will the season finale be two-hours?

I agree....it's definitely an element that works very well within the TV series.

Tywin doesn't suffer fools, and with Arya, he clearly admires this girl's intellect and survival instinct.

Also, they both had fathers who were decent men, but were exploited by others, so I think he can appreciate her comments that her father died because he was too loyal.........which is probably why he has allowed her to maintain the facade of peasantry.

Ramsay Bolton was almost entirely cut, Roose Bolton almost entirely cut, the Tullys entirely cut, so on and so forth. Those are major characters.

I'm guessing those characters will take on larger roles in the 3rd season, which should center on A Storm of Swords

Sure, with major opportunities for their characterization already missed. And even then, I'd really only apply that to the examples of Boltons, the Tullys may well just be gone.

As with season one, changes made to the story have improved the narrative greatly; If the character isn't important to the narrative, cut them. They could have eliminated Brienne as well for all she mattered to the story, even still, I'm happy with how this is developing so far.

Maybe, but maybe not. As the old saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words"..... so those characters can be fleshed out much more quickly on TV than in the novels.

I agree....and to my point (above), Brienne is a good example. TV viewers already have a good idea concerning Brienne's loyalty.

When (or if) the Tully's, Roose Bolton, Ramsay Bolton, etc., are introduced, I think viewers will quickly understand their respective character.

This.

Performance and visual storytelling is a much more elegant medium for conveying introductory or foundational descriptions.