I'm betting the lead would be a relative unknown, or someone out of Disney's television side of things. Whoever it is needs to be able to sing as well as act (unless they go with a separate singer for the singing, in which case they could cast Sophia Turner or the like).

The books will probably have something like that, considering Bran's vision of "looking into the heart of winter" and being frightened at what he saw. It would make the Others a parallel to the dragons, where it's hinted in the World of Ice and Fire book that they might have been created from wyverns in the ancient…

I suppose it does give a hint as to how Bran might stop them, though. If they were created through the Children of the Forest's magic, then maybe they can be stopped that way - and Bran will stop them somehow at Winterfell using its weirdwood tree while fixing the seasons.

That was a great episode ending, but what was bizarre was that the "Hodor" revelation got such a dramatic and tragic reveal - while the much more massive reveal about where the Others/White Walkers came from was handed out almost casually.

The A-plot and lectures definitely felt flat. The amorality critique of the spy business had a lot more punch back in "Once Bitten" in season 4, for example, when we see Lana and Cyril both react to a morally questionable mission. And it felt like the A-plot led to nowhere, with the "big twist" being that Slater was…

Impressive. Atwell is very good at dropping her accent.

The scenes in King's Landing and Vaes Dothrak were the best, although I guess I was expecting Drogon to make a dramatic entrance at some point. Still, great scene.

My mistake.

How close is Agents of SHIELD to syndication? That's when they'll probably cancel that, assuming the ratings don't completely nose-dive.

That was great. Reminds me of "Vision Quest" from Season 6: a good full-cast story that may not move any serialized plot or character development forward, but is great for rewatch value just for pure entertainment.

It's more about how the character felt than any sort of agenda. Elsa just totally seems like someone who is solitary by nature - she has good friends and family companionship, but she's not going to form any deep romantic ties with others Queen Elizabeth I style.

I think it's pretty likely that Daenerys relieves Winterfell from a siege by the White Walkers and their undead army with an army of her own plus dragons. Jon's probably going to be the third dragon-rider, and I don't think he's going any further south than Winterfell in either the future books or show.

I've read around, and apparently they've filmed a massive battle involving Jon and Ramsay that was informally nicknamed the "battle of the bastards" by the extras. So if the Umbers are going to betray the Boltons, it's going to happen later in the season. Which probably means several scenes of Ramsay torturing Rickon…

I think he's going to get to Winterfell just after it's retaken from the Boltons (possibly by an Umber treachery, possibly other means), with the survivors from the Wall falling to the Others being just behind him.

Betray him, I think, especially since the Umbers switching sides was a plot point in the books. Plus I can't think of a more fitting death for Ramsay that to be betrayed from within followed by Shaggydog (who will turn out to be alive - the wolf's head being simply the head of a wolf they killed for a decoy) ripping…

I'm hoping it's a ruse by the Umbers, and that wasn't actually Shaggydog's head. Maybe they're just trying to get inside the walls so they can murder the Boltons from within - I can't think of a more fitting death for Ramsay that to be stabbed by Osha, then ripped apart by Shaggydog (well, short of Sansa killing him…

I think the show's going to surprise us on that (or at least I hope so). I think the Umbers showing up with them as captives is a ruse to retake Winterfell and destroy the Bolton forces from within, especially since the "Umbers switching sides" is a plot point in the books.

I'm starting to think that "Ramsay in Winterfell" is the show's equivalent of the Mereenese Knot, with it dragging ever onwards because they have to line up everything for the Stark children to be on their way back to Winterfell, the Wall fallen, and Winterfell under siege waiting for rescue from Daenerys. I just…

Just building towards the day when we find out that the Call of Duty-verse is a prequel to Halo! ;D

It's off-screen canon in the books as well, although he doesn't kill Balon himself - it's implied heavily to be a Faceless Man.