Do we know for sure whether Ghost died?

He shows up in next week's preview, at 0:18

Maybe if I had an HD TV?

NOPE. I have a 50" 8k TV and had to turn the contrast settings to "video game" in order to see literally ANYTHING. And squinting and hoping for the best wasn't an option because DH had to write about it.

(And because that setting also includes motion smoothing and I was too annoyed to dig into the advanced menus to turn it off, the first, oh, HOUR, of this ep just looked like someone losing badly at a GoT first person shooter.)

Don't get me wrong, that last two minutes were amazeballs, but DUDES THAT IS NOT HOW YOU LIGHT THE MOST EXPENSIVE HOUR OF TELEVISION EVER FILMED.

Is Jon's dragon dead?

Did not appreciate Bran telling Theon "You're a good man" and then neglecting entirely to say "But if you wait five minutes you won't have to die, just hang tight until my sister gets here."

So that's it, right? Only three major characters dead? Theon, Jorah, and Lyanna?

Melisandre was definitely a surprise, although I knew she had promised to come back. Without her, they would have been toast, too. I wonder how much of everything can be traced back to her? She definitely put Davos in position at Winterfell last night.

I still feel like we could have seen a little less cloudy dragon flight and a little more of Arya after she left Melisandre, because that Arya ex machina was hella convenient. Not that I won't take it, of course, or that she doesn't deserve it (because she totally does).

Favorite scenes, on reflection: all of them between Sansa and Tyrion; the Hound provoked into action at the sight of Arya; JOn screaming at Viserion simply because it was so funny and felt so believably human.

Oh! I'm also choosing to believe that "stick 'em with the pointy end" was a Buffy shoutout.

Also Dolorous Edd got offed. I liked him.

I'm also choosing to believe that "stick 'em with the pointy end" was a Buffy shoutout.

Well, and a callback to S1.

Well, yeah. ::sheepish::

2 additional thoughts this morning:

I don't think I've seen a more successful build-up of pre-battle anxiety. The first, what, 10 minutes? were seriously nerve-wracking, just in anticipation, not even from imminent danger.

So, Dany's claim has been built on

• Bloodline
• Dothraki army
• Unsullied
• Dragons

After this ep, she's down to

• a dragon

And Missandei! And Grey Worm! And Tyrion!

Plus Jon "Aemon-T" Snow still wants to incestuously jump her bones.

Am I the only one who feels let down that the biggest big bad was dispatched in one episode? Cersei should have been the lesser of 2 evils.

Also, I read something that said both dragons survived. I'm surprised but ok.