WINTER IS HERE!!!! FINALLY!!!!
What a finale! Here are my thoughts...
1) I LOVED that the episode opened with the Faith Militant arc and closed it. The setup was brilliant. And boy did it feel so good to see the them get their comeuppance. However, I was sad to see Margaery go. I always liked her. And I thought her deceiving the sparrow was going to lead to something bigger for her. It turns it out it really was as simple as her just trying to keep her brother alive. The explosion was badass. But part of me kind of wanted them to burn to death (as opposed to an instantaneous explosion) for the shock factor it would create for us as an audience and the characters themselves. The high sparrow's smugness always annoyed me. I wanted for once to see him worried. Then again he was pretty concerned right before the wildfire went off. It's one thing to talk smack about facing death. But when it actually came, he got unsettled. Either way, legendary scene!
2) Still on King's Landing. Nice to finally see Pycelle get what he deserved. And LOL @ Tommen. Dude was such a p**** from the start. And he betrayed his family. Good riddance. And oooh myyyy was it nice to see Cersei get revenge on Septon Unella. Cersei walking out while saying "Shame" as the Mountain started torturing her was so freaking epic on every level. Speaking of. Did the zombified Mountain rape her? I mean I'm assuming so since he kind of had a thing for the dreaded "r" word. I wonder if she'll still be around next season. Alive and tortured like the wizard who cut Varys (I still wonder what happened to him). In spite of all that, I still want Cersei to meet her end. But will it be by Arya, Jamie, or someone else? Only time will tell.
3) Arya kills Frey! Another bloody, feel-good moment! I'm glad they wrapped that storyline up. The fan service this season is great. I know some people complain about that... But they can go
themselves. It all played well with the story.
4) The Tower of Joy was okay. I don't understand why they couldn't concretely say that it was Jon and that Lyanna loved Rhaegar (I'm assuming? Or maybe he really did kidnap her). I did like how it cut straight to Jon, so it was all but confirmed. Still, I didn't think her whispers needed to be unheard.
5) Speaking of Jon, the whole King of the North moment was great. IGN said that it looked like Sansa wasn't happy about Jon's reception? I didn't get that at all. I thought she was happy. It seemed like she totally supported him. Maybe I missed something. Either way, I am worried about her and Littlefinger. Something is obviously going to go down. Also, that was an emotional scene with Davos. Obviously there’s still more in store for the Red Woman. A meeting with Arya perhaps? (as she foreshadowed in season 3)
6) I had no feelings whatsoever about Daario being let go. That's because, as I have stated many times (and will continue to do so every chance I get), the original actor was AMAZING and the recasted actor is terrible. Of course recasting is stupid regardless. It totally ruins the mystique. Dumbest move ever by HBO to recast Daario. The original was such a badass. I have no allegiance towards the recast. I hope he gets killed off or not even spoken of again.
7) Daenerys is finally on the go. Obviously, she is going to run into some kind of difficulty at sea. I imagine she'll run into Euron and he'll have a few things up his sleeve. Dany seems a little OP at the moment, so there has to be an equalizer somewhere.
8) Sam's scene was cool I guess. Nothing really happened. Just a big ass library. Anyone else get nervous as he walked through the shelves? I legit thought he was going to be killed somehow. Like his dad knew where he was going and was going to set him up. But then I realized it was unlikely because they put so much into his arc and it would've been pointless just to kill him off that way right then and there
9) Part of me actually wondered once again if that certain character from the books was going to show up after all. I mean, episode 8 basically pissed that idea away (literally with the Hound). But I thought maybe said character was in the background somewhere. It's still technically a possibility. That being said, I'm very split about the character, and overall I think it's probably better that they go forward without.
10) I can't wait for the final two seasons. All signs are pointing towards Jon and Daenerys meeting up and fighting the White Walkers. Now the question is will they actually hook up as well? That would be the subject of a lot of scrutinization. After all, Jon is technically her nephew. Weird. There's so many other pieces on the board. Should be an interesting close in the next two years. Hopefully they don't screw it all up like Lost did.
Fantastic end to what was a magnificent season. Payoff after payoff after payoff. My only disappointment overall was the White Walker origin. Seemed underwhelming and wasn't explored enough.
Other than that, it was everything I wanted and more. So get ready bitches... Winter is here.