Have to say, "overworked and burned out" sound like textbook examples of professional problems to me. And I do think it is quite right that the shows' writers should not be so undervalued as to be shuffled in and out, when that wouldn't be done for, say, the actors. If they wanna shorten it, fine. We're not owed…

Wouldn't that count the same for Friends on top of the US audience? It was also popular overseas.

That works too. Now I wanna reread The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

In the show if Daenarys fits the role she's a subversion of it.

:-/ Let me live in my fantasy world for a little longer.

Probably! Thanks for trying to help though.

Do NOT even go there. I thought of that for a quick second and then reassured myself that the writers could not be so cruel.

Not even! My Aragorn is the Official Honourable Justice Sword Wielder Ned Stark wishes he could be. We won't even get into Hufflepuff Jon. Daenarys "Burn 'Em All" Stormborn would be one of those Numenoreans maybe who thought they were bringing a lot of light and wisdom to the lesser Middle-Earth dwellers, if anything.

It's kinda crazy how the 2nd battle eclipsed the first. I just rewatched the Mereen scene for the thrills.

Just saw this somehow. Ah, not quite. The term I'm thinking of is of European origin, more from the Nordic/Finnish myths. It doesn't have the more honourable aspect that Bushido does. When they describe those warriors, it's as if a fell spirit is upon them. In that mood, even if you are an ally you may get mowed down.

How is she entirely responsible for the lives lost? Impossible. It was Jon who underestimated the enemy and whose emotional impulsiveness ruined the plans he and his men came up with. No one yanked his willy and told him he had to do any of that. He could have kept his head and at least minimised the losses.

You mean for the *Vale*. Ramsay would still have killed Rickon, Jon would still have lost his shit, Davos would still have not allowed Jon to storm them alone etc. So basically, exactly what happened anyway, but Baelish would have front seats.

As have I but it's been rough going. It's lovely to see it all come together. I do hope they do right by Arya though — her story line has a lot of potential now and I think the actress is up to the task.

She wrote two letters. The first was addressed to Blackfish when she was at Castle Black which she gave to Brienne when they first set off to seek alliances in the North. The second she wrote after that mission failed to bear much fruit, when they were at the same spot Stannis had set up camp before. We assume it was…

Right. And we can see all that and still frame it in such a way that he comes off looking shiny. No problem with that. Sansa went through a lot worse, at a lot younger age, and people used it as a weapon against her. It's that difference that I meant to highlight, and the other commenter ably showed by presenting Jon…

I agree with you. I made those points elsewhere. Others are working hard to ignore it.

It is so odd the way they spent so much time on Davos' relationship with Stannis and Shereen, yet barely gave those feelings any space since last season. Not a good look but I do hope this means it will get some kind of resolution. How can Davos continue to serve another leader alongside this woman *again* after that?

He found the wooden stag that he made for in the remnants of an old fire. He knows what that red woman is like. He is likely near certain at this point, but is hoping that somehow it is not true.

So Jon still commands his guys, fucks it up and Littlefinger sits back to watch him almost ruin things before saving them anyway? Okay. Edit: More likely they would have holed up in Winterfell for a siege for which we could hope Littlefinger had enough lust left (ew, I know) to wait out.

Can't wait to see them both put to the test in Westeros with a Dothraki horde and dragons.