I remember being captivated by these back in the day. I think "she" actually replied to one of my comments on her video, too. High school me thought that was pretty much the most mind-blowing thing in the world.

The Soviets were motivated by fear of death at the hands of Hitler, and even Hitler had to rotate his men through the ranks. You can only push people so far.

I just loved that Rickon ran in a straight, friggin' line. Dodge a bit, boy!

For all those still following along, the correct answer to the question "How do you govern in Essos?" ending up being…

The Mongols consistently rolled up larger forces. It's not uncommon for tactics to break numbers. Maybe not always 3 to 1 miracles, but it's certainly not just a numbers game.

To put it bluntly, there is nothing at stake with these Westerosi squabbles. As another commenter pointed out, the end game is nearing into sight, and if a character doesn't fit into that, he or she is nothing but a loose end.

It shouldn't be overly difficult to break the phalanx and roll up the entire line when you have a giant capable of picking up enemies and using them as a projectile against other enemies.

What was the point of that entire battle plan scene and the "Don't let Ramsay toy with you!" advice only to fight like fucking morons?

"She went to the Faceless Men to train to become an assassin to knock off people on her kill list, realized to fully commit to being a Faceless Men assassin, she'd have to give up who she was and she didn't want to do that."

Also, Braavos was so shitty that I almost expect there to be some crazy twist associated with it.

It did kind of suck.

Furthermore, why does anyone in that castle trust a Frey or a Lannister? These are literally the two most deceitful people on earth.

This story goes. Absolutely. Totally. Completely. Nowhere. If Jon loses the Battle for Winterfell.

Agreed. That's like "Law & Order: SVU" levels of ripped-from-the-headlines plot.

Gene Parmesan. How are you doing?

Yes, I'd put good money on Arya biting it before the end. She is a warrior, not a builder. I predict she makes some sort of heroic sacrifice to get somebody else to the throne - that's her nature.

Arya's cliffhanger last episode ended up being such a narrative cheat, rivalled only by whatever happened in Riverrun.

If I'm being perfectly honest, this was the weakest episode of the season, and maybe even the series.

"I can't possibly conceive of anybody who writes for a living deciding that killing her is a good idea."

Holy shit, that whole body shaking rage was REAL, dammit.