oh that's controversial ha ha. i must admit i was at a show in Florida recently and they were doing a spoof thing on game of thrones and not as many of the audience got it as i was expecting. possibly it is more popular this side of the water.
You are correct with your first assumption. books to TV show. The episode that the guys where watching this evening was one of the best episodes in the series.
But lets not turn this into a fan zone or anything lol