Lontra

I think that while the major outlines of the ending will be the same the books will have the space and time to get you there within the characters. So that, when Danerys burns King's Landing, we will have seen her descent into madness so it won't be so incongruous. Similarly, there will be time for Arya to contemplate the meaning of revenge so her change of heart can be seen as a process.

I agree with those who have said the many of the problems boil down to the fact that the story has been too rushed. I really began to notice it last season. I think that D&D knew where they needed to end up and to a great extent have had to move the characters around like game pieces to get them where they're going. That's why, I think, everyone is complaining that the characters' actions are out of character. They just didn't have the time to properly build the motivation.

I think I saw Jaime, Brienne, and Pod standing and watching the dead fall down after the Night King's death. I think they lived. Also, it's interesting that Lyanna Mormont's heroic fight with the zombie giant was so similar to Arya's fight with the Night King. Except of course Arya lived.

Did anyone notice if Gendry made it?