Wow what an episode. I'm now happy that they slashed the Dorne fight scene budget and got everything they could out of the Hardhome scene. Still not sure: a. Why the Others have waited until now to do this, when they could have done it for at least a year (I suppose it has to do with the onset and deepening of winter), b. Why they didn't just run out into the water and attack Jon & Co. (I've never heard of a wight/Other aversion to water). But I certainly won't let that detract from my enjoyment. I loved everything about this episode. And it's a different type of effectiveness than the book, which was also great due to the lack of 100% clarity of what actually happened at Hardhome. Similar to the lack of concrete information available from Loras storming Dragonstone (did he even really attack? Did he get injured? Is he fine and hiding out somewhere?) a lot of the effectiveness of the 5th book is showing various characters (Cersei/Jon/Dany) operating with less than optimal intelligence. I love both versions.
