7.5. This is my first time watching having read all the books and it makes a big difference to my position as a viewer. I definitely agree the exposition could've been a lot more subtle for its purposes, though it did a great recap job. Some character moments were quite stiff like Sansa/Dontos + Tywin/Jaime. Wall stuff was good but the way they presented the Thenns was soo heavy-handed. It kinda takes away from Jon's tolerant relations with the wildings, would've been more precise to scrap the 'evil' aspect for a menacing feeling to the in-group tensions. However really nice highlights with callbacks to Arthur Dayne, Rhaegar&Elia, Dunk and even a blue rose appearance. Oberyn, Arya and the Hound had awesome dynamics as well!