6/10, which is the lowest ranking I'd give any episode in the series thus far. I've always been impressed with the cohesiveness of not just every season, but each episode's narrative. This episode just fell short of GoT's normal "flow." Mereen might as well have been ignored entirely. The Riverlands, while providing with some great dialogue with Brienne/Blackfish/Jaime, and especially Pod and Bronn, really detoured for the worst from the books. The Blackfish I thought I knew wouldnt standby and let his home be surrendered, and then die for no reason. He's smarter than that. Family, Duty, Honor, right? He put his personal honor before that of his family and duty.
The Brotherhood and Hound scenes were fantastic, though I half expected the Hound to look down as he was pissing off the shores of the Trident and see Catelyns face. Arya and Braavos scenes were excellent; however Im disappointed we didnt get to see her and the Waifs final fight. Kings Landing, much like Mereen, seemed absolutely irrelevant to the rest of the episode, and only served to interrupt and stop progress on other storylines. Now we have 2 episodes to squeeze in the battle for the North, Bran/Meera/Benjen, some greensight flashbacks, the White Walkers and their army, possibly The Wall, Sam/Gilly, Arya's journey home, Dorne(?), Kings Landing, the Iron Born fleet, Euron's pursuit, some more Riverlands stuff, The Vale, and Dany. 2 hours to find enough time to have some kind of resolution, but enough to bring the audience back for one more season, if that is still the goal? At this point the narrative is becoming very rushed and sloppy, and I'm a little worried about how they are going to set the stage for season 7.
All praises and complaints aside, the preview for next week looks like we will finally get the battle we've been waiting all season for. The fact that they can drag that out while rushing through all other aspects of the show is a little disappointing to me.
