"And so on paper it would appear that the show resurrected an entire storyline exclusively so that Jaime and Brienne had a reason to be heading to the same location, and yet neither character seemed particularly changed by the experience, and the short term value of the story is frustratingly unclear." <— This is dead…

I had been hoping that we'd see this happen when it became clear we were getting the Riverland plot this season. I figured it was delayed by a year because they did that whole Dorne thing and that was…a thing that happened, but it will be fine now because you can't send him to the Riverlands and have nothing changes.…

I hope so! But I am concerned that Show!Varys has been whitewashed too much the last couple seasons and they'll give that scene to Qyburn instead as part of a Cersei power grab

I think Qyburn's rumour is about wildfire caches

Not allowed to get into book knowledge here, so I'll just say it was a fairly common custom:

His grandfather and father. Ned was leaving to be fostered at the Eyrie

okay i kinda love the version of the theme music these trailers have used

SVU is the worst at this. Their little blue coffee cups are always obviously empty

You're right. Need a shock to his system if there's going to be change. Does he know about Lancel yet, though?

Hoping Benjen is alive somewhere to provide the R+L=J story, otherwise you are right and there is basically no apparent reason for him not to be Coldhands.

Maybe?

Maybe the Blackfish still holds Riverrun?

Davos is the one who convinced Stannis to go to the Wall to fight the true war - he knows about the White Walkers and sides with the people fighting them

Hoping if/when Jaime goes to the Riverlands this season that he gets on-track with his book plot and development

Well the mutineers are now in charge, they probably don't want to give Jon loyalists a chance to plot revenge. Edd wants to kill Thorne, even if he dies trying. Makes sense for Thorne and company to keep them in check,

Shiera Seastar was Bloodraven (Bran's old guy in the cave)'s lover like 100 years before the current setting. There has been speculation Melisandre is their child, because Shiera was allegedly a sorceress and, like Mel, is described as having a "heart-shaped face"

Last we saw of her was after that mission failed because Theon was too scared to leave with her.

It'd really make the whole Essos storyline seem silly if she leaves behind everything she gained to go to Westeros - the Unsullied are supposed to be some of the best soldiers in the world, you don't just leave them in Meereen.

Liam Cunningham addressed this, apparently. He said they just moved the corpse inside upon finding it as a way to give it some dignity. Then, before they knew what to do, they were locked in an armed stand-off. No time for a funeral pyre.

I don't think they burned the fleet because they're going to fly instead (can't get a whole army on dragonback). I think it sets up the importance of the Greyjoys