Hornblowa

You apparently have not read 25th hour. He also wrote the screenplay for the Kite Runner, which was up for a BAFTA and other awards. Wolverine was pretty terrible though.

This was my assumption while watching as well, though who knows with LF.

I suspect the attempted rape had more to do with reminding the audience that the Night's Watch is largely populated by reprehensible men than providing a mechanism for Sam and Gilly to get into bed together, though I'm not a fan of the story decisions there. It seems to me that the High Sparrow's line to Cersei about the few and the many also hinted at future events at the Wall. Jon/Sam's circle of friends is shrinking, as Ser Alliser pointed out.

The torturer is Ramsay, yeah. I believe the ironborn fellow you're referring to is Dagmer Cleftjaw.

I thought it was a solid (at times very good) episode overall, but they really blew it with the ending (Jaime's return was also underwhelming). At least blow Balon off a bridge or something.

I'm sure it'll happen differently than it did in the books, but someone is going to take the revelation that Sam has stumbled upon a way to kill the WWs seriously. Jon, certainly, and likely Aemon as well even if it only meshes with something he read in a book once.

I understand why they made this change from a television perspective, but I was still looking forward to Tyrion's interactions with Garlan. Ah well, maybe some other character will be given a few of Garlan's bits.

I don't think he was actually hit by the morningstar, the way I saw it he jumped/fell off of his horse before he was struck.