I think Matt's theory is that Bran has seen far into both the past and future and knows the day will come when an army of Wights is concentrated in King's Landing. On that day, the fact that the whole city was turned into an alchemical time bomb by Aerys a couple of decades ago could turn out to be very useful.

I think Brienne thinks she killed him. . .otherwise, we'd have to entertain the possibility that Brienne is a liar. That just seems unlikely. But maybe people who die Beyond the Wall without their souls become Others instead of mere zombies. I'd absolutely believe that Stannis is now an Other, because I suspect that's…

Genius!

In the books, the Night's King is described as a usurper. The Thirtenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, he is said to have fallen in love with a woman beyond the wall with pale skin and "eyes like blue stars… and when he gave her his seed, his soul passed into her as well." He ruled for thirteen years from the…

I get the impression that the Night's King (and perhaps the Children of the Forest) have an ancient connection with the Starks. It's not just that half the Stark children appear to be Greenseers or Wargs- they also feature prominently in Bran's remotest visions of the past. And it was a Stark who built the Wall.

I think Jaqen likes Arya because he senses (or has been shown) that she's a favorite of the Many-Faced God. . .which would make sense, because I'm beginning to get the impression that the "Many-Faced God" is actually Bran.

Or perhaps it could be Jaqen's. If Arya and the Waif were to stop and talk it out, they'd realize that they've both committed the same capital offense (letting their emotions take precedence over their orders) and that therefore neither of them is safe while Jaqen is alive. . . ergo, it's time for a change of…

One possibility (which might be revealed if the next episode plays out the way I suspect it will) is that Jaqen was dispached to Westeros specifically to recruit Arya, because Arya is favored by the Many-Faced God (perhaps because in this particular era, the Many-Faced God is actually Bran).

I think you can also kill the Others with obsidian, but you have to be pretty lucky. . . and that's just the regular Others, not the Night's King. You can't kill Others with fire -ordinary fires go out in their presence- but I'm guessing that dragonfire is a very different subject. . . although for an entity like the…

Well. . . it would certainly make her a prominent servant of the God of Death, but let's face it: she's been serving that cause for quite a while.

As a side note, I'm not sure that the net amount of Valyrian steel in the North is significantly increasing. Longclaw was always up there, and Oathkeeper is actually just 2/3rds or so of Ice, the greatsword that once belonged to House Stark. (The other third of Ice is now a small blade that was originally crafted for…

I haven't seen her other work, but I'd hate to judge Clarke's skills from this one character. Danaerys is essentially a comic book superhero, so it's hard to imagine any actress doing too much more with that role than Clarke has.

Watching Arya getting beaten up by the Waif didn't need to take this much screen time. . . but the "Play within the Play" is pure entertainment. I'd love to see Arya go on the road with them so we could see a few more installations. (Heck, maybe she could even play herself).

Ha! True- although if for some reason the Faceless Men did accept a commission to kill an utter nobody like Lady Crane, I can see them sending the "B" team to do the job. . .although they'd send the Waif along to make a beam fall on her head in case Arya messed up, not just watch and take note of her failures and then…

That scene alone would get the episode at least an A- from me. The other 55 minutes could be an insurance commercial.

Well, yes and no. . . it's possible that Jaqen's reaction to that turn of events would be to shrug and let the matter rest, since the Many-Faced God was owed a life and has now received one; but it's also possible that he'd react by coming for Arya himself.

Needle's not Valyrian- just a very, very good sword made of regular steel. It was forged by the blacksmith of Winterfell.

Another possibility is that "Ser Robert the Strong" is revealed as a necromantic abomination and is therefore ruled ineligible to participate in the sacred rite of trial by combat before the Seven. . . and, indeed, becomes yet another charge laid against the wicked Cersei Lannister.

I have a sneaking suspicion that somehow, as a result of one of the many weird technical Faceless Men bylaws that we've been introduced to over the past few years, Jaqen and the Waif will both wind up dead, and Arya will be the last surviving resident of the House of Black and White. . . which is to say, the de facto…

Yep. . . honestly, by Jaqen's standards, I'd say they both have it coming. If these two are any indication of the kind of assassins that Jaqen recruits, it's no wonder that the order is almost extinct.