That 3000-year flashback gave me a bad feeling about this.

I hate to say this, but Brooklyn failed in her own genre. If
anything, Mary was too polite.

Those were big examples, as you say. But there's lots of little stuff that fits my criteria. To take an example from the end of this season: Arya and the Hound almost enter the Vale, but then leave. What? Why? Even more importantly, how incompetenet were the guards to LET them leave? And then it never gets referenced…

Locke was fine as an ersatz Vargo Hoat. The trouble began when they tried to think of more for him to do…

Now you're switching arguments from external measurements to the writer's opinion of a work always being correct. You're giving me whiplash here. ;)

I think that all the filler material they've written so far has either been pointless because it dead ends or circles back to where it started (for example the Night's Watch traitors sequence), or simply bad because it doesn't fit dramatically with what's been previously established or is…

Oh, right, I forgot that financial success always trumps artistic merit. Thanks for reminding me.

It's not that I think reanimated Cat is necessary to the overall plot, it's the fact that now the showrunners will have to think of something completely new for Jaime and Brienne to do, and they've proven again and again how inept they are at thinking up plot points that deviate from the books.

See also: Jojen Reed.

He might very well stay dead on the show, since the scene from the books can't play out exactly that way any more.
I'm just saying that in the books, he's clearly not dead yet. But unless he has a major role in books 6 or 7 that Martin has informed the showrunners about, we might not see him again.

I'm not sure that qualifies as "stability". Cersei does more to upset the status quo in Westeros than anyone since… her late hubby, I'd say.

There's no way the Hound is dead. The gravedigger is so clearly him, he might as well go "woof"…

So… is this confirmation that Jojen isn't important in the books either? Good to know, I guess.

OTOH, I miss the line about Tywin not shitting gold after all.
But they probably thought that would introduce inappropriate humor into a serious scene.

No, the crate had already been shown loading on to the ship.

Also, Front-de-Boeuf in Ivanhoe.

There's no ice zombies in either battle, are there? It's all wildlings as far as I can recall.
The first one is the raiding party south of the Wall trying to strike the relatively unprotected rear of Castle Black, the second is the frontal assault by Mance's main force.

The last episodes:
Well the title for next week is The Watchers of the Wall, so that's Castle Black, obviously. Apparently they're going to conflate the two battles. I don't know if Stannis showing up is enough of a surprise to qualify as the traditional ep 9 shocker. I've always been assuming Tyrion's escape would…

I know, right? What sort of stupid guard would let Arya go after hearing (and apparently believing) that's who she is?

Probably because she lured Gendry away with her grown-up charms…