I give it a 5. I've read the books, but I tried to think of this show from the perspective of someone who hasn't, namely my wife who only watches the shows. The Fist of the First Men, budget concerns aside, needed a bit more fleshing out. The Wight at the beginning could easily have been mistaken for a WW, and most viewers wouldn't know that White Walkers are not flammable as tinder as are Wights. Harrenhall was expected, viewers can't be expected to follow all the locales, plus nice intro of Qyburn... ...tl;dr the point being, I have a seed of concern planted in my mind about this season. I've thought that season 3 would be one of the best seasons of television, period. The source material is some of the best literature I've ever read, and ASoS deserves to be treated as such. However, ASoIaF is beginning to show it's size, and I wonder how much of the book will need to be cut, and rushed, to move the story along properly. I still have high hopes, but how will viewers take Season 4, if it is not merged with Dance with Dragons? And if it is, what could possibly be the big spectacle selling point of each season. Dany's beseigement? A long boat ride with Tyrion? Cersei's slow decline? I love this as literature, but I fear for the show that must try to piece this all together, whilst keeping pace with the books, whilst not cutting too many characters and causing a butterfly effect on books/season 6 &7.
