Had to do some serious catching up, but I marathoned both s5 & 6 to be ready for the new season. Overall I'd say s5 was the weakest of them all and 6 is a vast improvement. Some things that stood out
- Barristan gets a very anticlimactic exit
- Everything Dorne was a joke, with the Sand Snakes being the worst offenders. The fight scene in the garden, the bad pussy, Areo Hotah... It was such a cathartic moment when Olenna told all the Sand Snakes to shut up in the final episode. It's a shame to see this region condensed to a few characters. Executing Doran and Areo was them just slaughtering and giving up on anything Dorne. I get streamlining, but they gave us some terrible tv instead. D&D did Dorne dirty.
- No Aegon then? So I'd guess his entire storyline goes nowhere in the books too. I always expected him to have some kind of impact. Maybe GRRM still does...
- The impact of Ramsay's cruelty diminished as time went on. Early on I felt dread when he was on screen, but it was high time for him to go.
- The final two episodes of s6 were pretty amazing back to back. Battle of the Bastards was great from a visual standpoint, but the finale was the more rounded and fully realized ep. One of the best in the series. Same for Hardhome.
- Always felt like Jaime's turning against Cersei was a great development of the character. Final shot makes me think that's finally going to happen now? She literally did what Aerys would've done, no way he condones this.
- Not a big fan of Arya's plot. It meandered around until she finally realized she couldn't escape who she was. And as she's wielding Needle, Jaqen says she finally became 'no one'... Eh not really? Unless I'm missing something from that scene.
- I was pretty sure 'Frey pie' wouldn't be a thing, until it was. I also didn't like how it was lazily inserted. In the book it wasn't even outright stated, but here you get hammered over the head with it. Arya's Frey kill also seemed so sudden. She spends ages in Braavos, then in her next appearance she's already next to Frey. I guess they just wanted the surprise factor.
Would've loved to read all this first and I'm curious how George's version differs, but it's pretty exciting to see this either way. It's been 6 years since DwD, I just want to see the story move on at this point and at least the show is providing that.
Just watched the s7 trailer... glad I'm caught up