King Rickon and his Dawg

All of the Yunkai scenes from last episode should've been in this one. They were out of place last episode and would've given this one a little more excitement. Varys/Shae was a complete waste of screen time. Jon's "I have to go home" was really cheesy. Bran's scenes were well done. Twyin, Roose, and Walder were excellent. The Ramsay reveal and "Reek" naming were both done pretty well. I enjoyed the Dragonstone scenes but I don't love how Stannis is portrayed. Balon Greyjoy probably should've died, as that would've made the Gendry sacrifice business seem much more important and also hint at Joffrey's death. Dany's last scene was rather ridiculous and quite a weak way to end the season, but it would have had much more of an impact had the Yunkai battle scenes been in this episode and perhaps fleshed out a bit more. Overall, it was basically teaser trailer for S4, but had good amount of positives in spite of the lack of action and plot development. I give it a 7/10. Solid episode, but one of the weakest of the season.

Wait...did you guys actually think Bran and Rickon were dead when you read the book? Personally I don't believe a character is dead unless I see it with my own eyes, and something definitely felt off about that Theon/Reek scene on the hunt.