SPOILER ALERT! So am I the only one excited about a new round of GoT?

[Hupp n at em]

That sounds like my commitment to watching The walking Dead 

You're not alone in that boat. 

The rest was pretty good: I enjoyed Mereen

Aside from the continued trend of the writers having Dany speak almost entirely in "EPIC ONE LINERS"™, I thought Mereen was excellent all around.  The North had some issues but was very enjoyable nonetheless. I am a little confused on why people are saying this is the best episode the show has ever had, but I guess that's a widely held opinion at the moment.  We'll see if it holds up given time.

[Charlie_]

Despite the many criticisms of various parts of the battle (of which I could make many), I think the way they portrayed the chaos, blood and mud of the melee was very effective. Even if the wall of bodies and certain other elements were somewhat silly, the general effect of HORROR worked very well! It was seriously gritty, dirty, blood-and-sweat sort of fighting.... Not pleasant.

[Captain Blood]

Despite the many criticisms of various parts of the battle (of which I could make many), I think the way they portrayed the chaos, blood and mud of the melee was very effective. Even if the wall of bodies and certain other elements were somewhat silly, the general effect of HORROR worked very well! It was seriously gritty, dirty, blood-and-sweat sort of fighting.... Not pleasant.

Agree with that 
Obviously most of the battle was ridiculous in a whole variety of respects as pointed out above. But then it is fantasy after all, not a historically accurate portrayal, and so not bound by real world physics etc.
I think season 6 so far has been distinctly meh, for many of the reasons described all through this thread - although mainly because instead of now cherry-picking the best bits of Martin's voluminous epics to create a powerful, heady distillation of all the best bits, best characters, best lines and best story elements, the producers are suddenly having to make stuff up from scratch themselves. And the result is - IMHO - distinctly flabby and mediocre compared to what went before. By no means awful, but fairly obviously not quite as good.
But I did feel this episode was more of a return to form. Let's hope episode 10 seals it with an even bigger bang 

[Hupp n at em]

Let's hope episode 10 seals it with an even bigger bang 

 

And besides that likely event, I'm looking forward whatever is happening at the Twins.  It should be quite interesting. 

[Hammers]

Despite the many criticisms of various parts of the battle (of which I could make many), I think the way they portrayed the chaos, blood and mud of the melee was very effective. Even if the wall of bodies and certain other elements were somewhat silly, the general effect of HORROR worked very well! It was seriously gritty, dirty, blood-and-sweat sort of fighting.... Not pleasant.

Certainly. I thought is was *emotionally* one of the most captivating scenes I have seen in television drama. I thought, quite frankly, it was in many parts horrifying.

The sheer fact that Sansa had warned Jon about what he was facing made it all the worse, which has a lot of predecessors both in drama and history. Irrational of him to proceed but not unprecedented. I just don't quite get why she would not have told him? Could she have become that crass? It would, in a way, make sense...

[Elk101]

Certainly. I thought is was *emotionally* one of the most captivating scenes I have seen in television drama. I thought, quite frankly, it was in many parts horrifying.

The sheer fact that Sansa had warned Jon about what he was facing made it all the worse, which has a lot of predecessors both in drama and history. Irrational of him to proceed but not unprecedented. I just don't quite get why she would not have told him? Could she have become that crass? It would, in a way, make sense...

The way in which she told Jon that Rickon was effectively dead anyway showed that side to an extent.  Sansa would never have jeopardised the battle by charging headlong towards him. The smile as she realised she'd caught the Bolton army was another. The death of Ramsay and the way she dealt with it underlined it. She has become a realist at the expense of many of the traits that Jon still clings to. She's sort of on her way to becoming a female Littlefinger.

[Captain Blood]

The smile as she realised she'd caught the Bolton army was another. The death of Ramsay and the way she dealt with it underlined it. She has become a realist at the expense of many of the traits that Jon still clings to. She's sort of on her way to becoming a female Littlefinger.

Indeed, I think this is the point. Whereas in the books, GRRM has Sansa lose her naivety yet manage to more or less retain her saintliness in the face of appalling treatment at every turn, Weiss and Benioff have clearly decided to follow a more predictable (and probably more realistic) character evolution - and have some of the cruelty inflicted on her start to rub off on her.

[Charlie_]

The one thing I just can't really get over is that they brought little Rickon back (not so little anymore) for this season, gave him two brief scenes, AND NOT A SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE!!!

[Hammers]

The one thing I just can't really get over is that they brought little Rickon back (not so little anymore) for this season, gave him two brief scenes, AND NOT A SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE!!!

That's a problem to you? I've grown accustomed to it, the off hand dismissal of characters.

[Charlie_]

That's a problem to you? I've grown accustomed to it, the off hand dismissal of characters.

One line is all I wanted, even if it was something lame like "you killed my wolf, you bastard!" 

[Elk101]

One line is all I wanted, even if it was something lame like "you killed my wolf, you bastard!" 

He didn't even say "aaaarggggh" when he was killed.

[Brummie]

Perhaps, but I don't think they would have put themselves in so much peril just to make a trap...

Also, now that I think more about it, are there no scouts in the North anymore? It seems that 10 000 knights were able to just walk up the continent without anyone noticing or being alarmed? 

The North is a big place (bigger than the rest of the 7 kingdoms combined i think) with a spare population, and considering just how many Northerners are dead or probably on the sidelines about whose side to support, I doubt anyone would want to get their feet wet and start informing on a 10,000 man army.

[Charlie_]

The North is a big place (bigger than the rest of the 7 kingdoms combined i think) with a spare population, and considering just how many Northerners are dead or probably on the sidelines about whose side to support, I doubt anyone would want to get their feet wet and start informing on a 10,000 man army.

Though it should be noted that to get to the North you have to go through / past Moat Caillin, a ruined fortress that guards the only road through an impenetrable swamp, the only way to the North on foot.... And Moat Caillin is currently held by... The Boltons!

But having just typed that out, I guess the small force of Boltons defending it could have been defeated by the Vale army!!!

[Timbor]

Yeah, I am pretty sure Littlefinger told Sansa the forces were stationed at Moat Cailin when he met her in Moletown.  But you would at least think if there was a nominal Bolton presence there, they would have been notified.  Perhaps we can just chalk it up to the hubris of Ramsay?

[Hammers]

A lot of expected 'tying up loose ends' this episode, but I liked:

-I did not foresee Arya popping up to deal with Walder Frey like that. A rather nice, but a rather cursory weaving in of the Frey pie, in the book served by Manderly.

- Tommen throwing himself off the wall was not expected (by me) but a rather 'logical' step given his nature. I like that bit. But Cersei's reaction to that? Jamie's? Have they become that tempered or already accepting the faith foreseen for their children? I can't quite see why she would why she would claim the Iron throne after that, even they try to justify it by making her say 'I like doing what pleases me'. Even if I think a fictional character should have an arch of development, it is not consistent enough with her fierce lioness mother character established in many previous episodes.

-Sad to see Margery Tyrell go. Excellent character/actress.