JMJ

I stand corrected. I recall seeing somewhere that HBO meant that Lord Royce to be Nestor, not Bronze Yohn. If that's the case, the portrayal is completely off. The actor on the show seems whiny, pompous, rather than hard, unyielding like Bronze Yohn. Plus that dude seriously needed a breastplate stretcher.

Actually the Lord Royce this season is Nestor Royce. Waymar Royce, the NW Ranger killed by Others, is the son of Bronze Yohn Royce.

Yes, I would tend to agree. Other than creating an army of the undead (yes, that's overall not a positive), what do we know about the Others that make us sure they are evil? We found out this season that they apparently were created as weapons against humans by the COTF, but is their nature evil? Given GRRM's philosophy, it's probably not black and white, but to use the overused trope, they are some shade of grey.

Another way to put it is that in their world (Planetos), their "laws of nature" are such that certain natural phenomenon allow for the ability to see the future, see the past, etc. Various religions have developed to explain these otherwise difficult to explain phenomenon, but in the end, they can be explained by their laws of nature. It's certainly possible the followers of R'hllor tend towards being baddies, but that may or may not be inherent to their "fire network".

Another possibility would be Kinvara standing in for Moqorro? But without Victorian in the show, who would that be? Yara/Asha?

Another lingering, random question. We are probably all hoping the show never sets foot in Meereen or Slavers' Dragon Bay. If so, what was the point of introducing Kinvara? Just to rattle Varys for 2 minutes? For that matter, how do they plan to tie up the Essos stories in the show? Are we going to get scenes of Daario ruling Meereen? Or do we just get a few random throwaway lines from someone about the goings-on there?

For 1) - yes, I suspect the show intended to evoke the entire finale of The Godfather. The way they lingered on everyone getting ready for the day of an important event (the Cersei/Margaery/Loaras trials vs. the baptism of baby Corleone), the way they had Cersei use a religious event to grab power and eliminate her enemies, and yes, that final look between Cersei and Jaime was exactly like Michael and Kay, even with the ritual of seating Cersei on the IT vs. having Michael sit in the Don's chair and have his hand kissed. For 2), there were indeed Dornish (and Tyrell) ships. I think we can't really conclude from that scene whether Dany's fleet met them halfway, or whether they are already ashore from Dorne, perhaps near the mouth of the Mander, who knows. In fact, this may be a way they meld the TV storyline with the IronBorn reaving along the Mander story from the books. Having Sam in Oldtown (finally) gives the show a POV from the shore.

I believe the point of Arya being finally No One is that somehow being able to kill the Waif was a final test in the eyes of the FM that Arya passed. As others have wondered, perhaps Jaqen meant for this to happen. I know, it doesn't quite make sense in that it's not like Arya was very stealth or efficient about it. RE: the Waif, as others have suggested, it's possible Jaqen and the FM were also testing her, in that it was clear the Waif was not able to let go of her emotions and identity either, as she for whatever reason clearly had a grudge against Arya. By not efficiently killing Arya when she had the chance, the Waif failed her task, and in the end she paid for it with her life, and the Many Faced God got his death.

That might be true for the show, but in the books, there are many assumed FM milling about the temple at most times.

Seems like this is not a sustainable business model for the FM.

I believe that's show only, but yes, that would be a good one.

With Meryn Trant dead on the show, the only people left on her list are Cersei and Ilyn Payne (if you agree Arya has taken Sandor off her list). I wonder what the implications are. Is she headed straight for Cersei? Given Lady Crane's moving performance as Cersei, did that change Arya's plans about Cersei?

100% yes. Through 5 books, she has had so many alter egos: Arya Horseface, Arya Underfoot, Arry, Lumpyhead, Weasel, Nymeria, Nan,Squab, Salty, Cat of the Canals, Beth, The Blind Girl, The Ugly Little Girl, Mercy etc. This is the first time as far as I know Arya calls herself "Arya Stark of Winterfell".

Ha. Instead, Dany just has Drogon drop her off at the Pyramid. "Be a dear and come pick me up in an hour or so, Drogon".

Good question. One possibility is that she want's as many ships saved for her fleet, so burning them wouldn't do anything. The second possibility is that the writers didn't think of that possibility.