-It'd be nice to get Pod's point of view once in a while. Like, "Wow, I really didn't think this squire-internship would lead me from King's Landing to the Wall. This kind of blows, actually."

-Ramsay's certainly painted himself into a corner as a 'rabid dog' to be put down, but I don't know about next episode. We need to see Sansa embrace the North to overcome the Boltons and all that, so Ramsay's death is probably a few episodes away.

-I agree that the "May I sit?" exchange was frustrating, but I think it's because no one really wants to watch Tommen be mild and vulnerable in a negotiation. The conflict between Lannisters and the High Sparrow has already been established, and we're really just waiting for Jaime and Robert Strong to start kicking…

Here's my issue with Olly's logic: Olly volunteered to become a member of the Night's Watch. I understand why he'd resent The Gift, his previous home, being opened to Wildling habitation, but he swore to take no part in ongoing politics. Jon had to sit on his hands when Robb went off to war, and again after he was…

1. They probably kept the Smalljon because The North Remembers plotline revolves around characters and events we haven't seen since season 3. Smalljon and Karstark are pretty similar in enmity, so it's easier to represent the Northern conspiracy as a bunch of risible lords who hold grudges, rather than the…

I assume Ned lied about the nature of the fight to maintain the narrative that Jon Snow is his bastard. It's not an outright contradiction, but it does paint Howland Reed in a negative light, and Howland is the one man Ned trusts with the secret of Jon's parentage.

I agree, the tone of the discussion in Qyburn's lair was odd. Cersei wasn't framed very ornately, she just stood in the corner, which is unlike her. Jaime's condescension to Zombie Gregor seemed like season one Jaime behavior, although the exchange was clearly intended to establish the vague degree of comprehension…

1. Book readers assume Sam's going to interact with Euron's plotline just because it would be a motivating event to get Sam out of Oldtown before the series ends. Hard to say Sam or Tyrion's word would be worth much to the people of Westeros, though.

-Alliser Thorne: "I'll be dead and at peace, but you'll still be here, doing the random bidding of gods!"
Jon Snow: "Yeeeesh."

-I agree, the show definitely interacts with the supertext (the show's zeitgeist and the books' fanbase) from time to time. For instance, the decision to make Stannis' death a cutaway seemed designed to instill just enough doubt. They knew the Jon Snow resurrection theories of ASOIAF fans would bleed over to GoT fans…

-The Hand does, indeed, suck. Introducing lethal ninjas into a show with unusually tactile, gritty violence? Better make sure they're the generic, Halloween costume ninjas who attack one at a time and never use underhanded assassin techniques that Daredevil is specifically good at countering.

The Three Eyed Crow is Brynden Rivers, or Bloodraven, a historically significant person with a comically long list of conflicting allegiances. He was a legitimized bastard Targaryen, the Hand/spymaster to several kings, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and probably a sorcerer of some kind. He was intensely…

Sure, but Ramsay is, himself, a fool. He sees malice and a lack of human empathy as a wellspring of power. The droll way he said 'feed her to the dogs' was clearly Ramsay propping up his own self-esteem by doubling back into cruelty when his enemies threatened to actually damage him emotionally.

-I don't think Missandei and Grey Worm have done anything since awkwardly accepting stewardship at the end of last season. Tyrion's arrogance almost makes sense when you see how uninspiring his fellow administrators behave.

The show definitely cut its losses in Dorne. But you're right, Doran's long game was legitimized in the books when he revealed his close partnership with Oberyn. Without that acknowledgment, or Quentyn's existence, there's no particular reason to care about Dorne's inner conflicts.

-The issue with Ramsay, to me, is that his sadism comes off too modern, too genre-savvy. He's like Mark Wahlberg in the movie Fear, his reaction to malice is giddy and enervating. It's not terrible characterization, and it's actually quite well acted, but the cognitive dissonance remains, like he's one step away from…

I haven't lived on an endless plain, myself, but yeah, it strains credulity to assume the Dothraki haven't spotted an enormous dragon that operates within a nearby square mileage of the Khalassar.

I think that's why she's not warning them. For one thing, they wouldn't believe her; and for another, I think she's relishing the thought of Drogon appearing in the night to incinerate and devour this entire asinine Khalassar, and she doesn't want to spoil the surprise.

-Areo's death was particularly egregious when you consider how careful and intense he gets around the Sand Snakes in the books.

Keith Moon keeps a busy schedule sitting in on hypothetical heaven supergroups.