1. Am I the only one who found the whole extract Theon scene pointless? I mean I get that it sets up his total transformation and loyalty to his tormentor BUT from his sister's point of view WTF was that? Epic speech, row row row your boat to get him back, fight a castle, kill people but oh no some dogs! Lets run! Forget Theon!
Maybe I was just pissed and sad that he is still stuck in that situation but it was just pointless and time consuming. We could have just had a scene of him showing his loyalty and cut out the whole sister rescuing angle. Truth be told I was looking forward to it since last season. Completely let down.
I was also underwhelmed after the long wait for Yara to finally arrive at Castle Bolton, but I think the point was to establish that the Greyjoy family was finally ready to cut all ties to him for good after seeing the soulless husk that he had become. The rescue party was his last (foreseeable) hope, and now they're out of the equation. Poor Reek, abandoned and alone. ;_;