I am also imagining more Greyjoys next season.

Is that a good thing?

Yeah, I adore Charles Dance, and I think he's played Tywin perfectly, but I can't say I'm sorry the character is dead.

I actually shouted "No!" when the Hound took Brienne down at first, because as much as I like the Hound (like being a relative term there), I LOVE Brienne.

I love how dirty she fought. Two non-knights, no holds barred.

Brienne vs Hound on the Cliffs of Insanity the Vale! BRIENNE AND ARYA TALKING ABOUT BEING WOMEN WITH SWORDS!!! FUCK YEAH!

I have incredibly conflicted feelings about the Tyrion stuff in here, but it's all wrapped up in Book being different than Show. Show!Tyrion is 100% fan-grade woobie, and in that capacity his scenes here were great. Book!Tyrion handled those situations...differently.

I guess that thing some of us were expecting to see in this ep will come next season. (Spoiler-averse, beware, I've seen several headlines about this finale much less vague than that.)

You know nothing, Jon Snow. Mance Rayder is a deserter and your father would have cut off his head. And I guarantee Melissandre knows that even if Stannis doesn't.

BRIENNE AND ARYA TALKING ABOUT BEING WOMEN WITH SWORDS!!!

That was the awesomest thing in awesome-town and I would like to watch much more of that, please and thank you.

I have incredibly conflicted feelings about the Tyrion stuff in here, but it's all wrapped up in Book being different than Show.

THIS! THIS ABOUT ALL THE THINGS!

Ah, yes, The Thing We Assumed Would Happen. Yeah. And, then, the slightly-longer-than-necessary black screen.

Bastards.

I did like that Arya and Brienne got to have a scene. I expect they shan't ever in the books.

You know nothing, Jon Snow. Mance Rayder is a deserter and your father would have cut off his head.

I felt that Jon did know--he just didn't want Mance Rayder to be executed because he respects Mance.

Yes - what tommyrot said.

Watching this season really points out how difficult it is to know when things happen in relation to others in the books. So many stories were so much farther along in the books than they are on the show.

So, EW has decided to just flat out spoil a major plot point that didn't happen, so be warned about clicking around to other articles, but they have a great interview with Gwendolyn Christie about the fight. [link]

Apparently, when they shot her fight with Jaime, Nikolai Coster Waldau kept asking her to take 10% off her swings, because she was kind of beating the crap out of him.

But Rory McCann was having none of that, and she and Rory beat the ever loving fuck out of each other for three days in Iceland, in the heat.

I think I'm in love.

She's my hero.