Jinjonator

Also: I don't find the argument of Stannis's moment being buried terribly persuasive, especially since you could apply that argument to literally any scene. "Arya leaving the Hound won't be as effective because there's so many epic scenes", "Dany chaining her dragons won't be as effective because there's so many epic scenes", etc etc etc. Yes, it's true that Stannis arriving will end up being one epic scene out of many; this description also applies to every other epic scene in the finale. And obviously you can't give each epic scene its own episode. The way I look at it is this: it means the finale will be that much better, because it's one more great scene added to the list of great scenes. Not sure if that kind of optimism is legal here, but that's my 2 cents.

So I was definitely confused and a bit disappointed at first over Stannis not arriving, but... the more I think on it, the less I'm bothered. There wasn't any chance of Jon meeting up with Mance happening this episode unless they cut the battle disappointingly short, and with it happening in the next episode, that just means more time for it (both the Mance scene and Stannis's arrival). Everyone saying how it's ruined and how they don't even care anymore are still going to watch the finale and they're still going to be excited and glad when Stannis gets his moment in the sun.

Sansa's entire arc since Ned died has been about learning to lie, adapt, and survive. Why are people suddenly pretending this came out of nowhere?

Specifically, Balerion was this big. Also, it makes perfect sense that Dany would want to hone her skills as a ruler, and use Meereen and Slaver's Bay as a sort of trial period to learn from, before she goes for the real deal. Sure, it's not the sexiest motive for a character to have, but it's absolutely the logical thing to do.

In episode 2, Roose mentioned sending him there to deal with Jon.

Well... I wasn't talking about Earth. I was talking about Westeros, so Elizabeth I isn't really relevant. And as far as I've gathered from the books and the show, consummation is very critical. At any rate, Marg confirms in the promo that Joff's death inhibits her being queen, sooooo...

The marriage wasn't consummated.

Also, I haven't seen anyone mention this anywhere (but then, 37 pages is a lot), but I noticed how they included the bit about Tywin shitting gold. Perhaps we'll get that line in some form after all?

Based on the promo, it looks like we'll see more of her reaction at the beginning of episode 3, when it picks right back up. And she seems to freak out sufficiently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XMvUQQNhnU

As someone who's read the books, I'm always perplexed by other book readers who were insisting before the episode aired and are insisting now that no one will care about Robb and Cat dying, and that they would have no reason to care, when in reality, every single Unsullied reaction I've seen throughout the entire internet has been of shock and dispair. The only people saying non-book-readers won't care are book readers. It's almost as if they're completely biased or something. Personally, despite reading the book and knowing what was coming, I was still devestated. Probably moreso than when I read it.