Man. 14 is kind of young to be training dragons.

Or lead an army to reconquer your family's kingdom.

From Time's recap:

At the same time in Winterfell, Theon is facing a parallel choice, between danger and exile, also complicated by unshakeable loyalty to a thankless family. (A strong parallel, by the way, that I never really picked up on in the books, which points up one advantage of the series format.) It’s a particularly strong episode for Alfie Allen, who gets the chance to play Theon for agony, fury and even comedy. (“And whoever kills that fucking hornblower will stand in bronze above the shores of Pyke!”) There’s a lot to despise about what Theon has done, but his basic situation–feeling not so much torn between two families as rejected by both–is pitiable.

This is too adorable not to share - the actors who play Bran, Arya, and Sansa, singing along with the opening credits on one of the Blu-Ray commentary tracks:

[link]

That was cute.

Check out a younger Michelle Fairly in comparison to Maisie Williams.

If I recall the S1 commentary correctly, 'Maester Lewin' was supposed to die relatively early this season, but the actor was so damn good they decided to keep him around as long as possible.

That let them bring that amazing scene between him and Theon, and his farewell to the kids, too.

But The Big Thing That Didn't Happen is evidently going to happen next season. I'm kind of surprised, because it would have been incredible HSQ... on the other hand, we'll have [redacted] and [redacted] around that much longer. But then, The Big Thing That's Supposed To Happen Next Season... will that happen? And then what about That Other Big Thing That's supposed to happen?

The lot of the GoT fan is not a happy one, or at least a fairly confused one.

Was this ep the finale?

GoT? Yes.

Rewatching Valar Morghulis now, and I have to take a moment to actually say out loud how fan-freakin-tastic Conleth hill has been as Varys these last two seasons. He's amazing.

I retract my earlier white font confirmation on rewatch. I think that was just an Other at the end (not specifically Cold Hands ). As the camera pulled back, there was another one behind him in the processional, also on zombie-horseback. Both of them carried the trademark crystalline swords. Again, not quite how I pictured the Others. I always thought they were described more as shimmery and hard-to-see, like Predator camouflage or something. Not draugr. Although draugr works for me.

Has it been at all clear to non-book readers that there's two different kinds of monsters in the "northern threat"? That the "walking dead" problem is actually subordinate to and caused by the actual monster threat of "The Others"? (Have they even said the words "The Others" on the show? Maybe once way back in first season as part of a casual expletive or curse, maybe? Are the producers just relying on all of us book readers to clear up any lingering mysteries they don't bother to dwell on?)

Also, I hope we get to see giants next season.