Hmmm, despite being well-trailed and also resolving the issue of where Robb's story was going the actual scenes of the Red Wedding were genuinely shocking.
There was something sadistic in the ordering of who was killed in front of who. Caitlin's pleading for Robb's life was poignant and a great final scene.
But having Arya witness the death of her remaining family on the brink of their reunion tipped over in melodrama of a particularly grotesque kind.
So Briana seems to have defeated the best swordsmen in Westeros in a show that seems to want to pitch the main characters against sword fodder rather than one another.
Tyrion and Sansa make an interesting opportunity for character exploration.
What are the chances that Araya will be reunited with her family?
The ultimate moral of this season seems to lie with weird torture boy. None of this feels like it is going to end well.
Theon's torture is violence without purpose and with the addition of the weird porn seduction scene makes the entire storyline feel like participating in someone else's sordid fantasy.
I thought Jamie's long monologue on his assassination of the king would be a prelude to his dying (as per his cousin's recollections of being a squire). Apparently some characters are allowed backstory and reinterpretation without it having to mean poignancy.
The cuts in episode 7 are lovely with the best being the pan out with the wrecks in Blackwater Bay
Ygritte seems to undergo a bit of amnesia when she says she believes in the invasion. Wasn't she saying that leaders don't care for their people and it was just her and Snow.
The only person who can make sense of the Theon situation is that he's being tortured by Bolton's bastard son. Bolton seems to be playing both sides and if his son is a psychopath then it would explain why Winterfell was burned and sacked and why the man he the rescue posse recognised Theon's rescuer.
Of course it doesn't explain why he rescued Theon before he was raped since everything else he's done shows some extreme degree of sadism.
The whole homage to Robin Hood is bizarre but then you realise what a great story it is and just start enjoying it.
Best line to Bran: You're both very good at skinning rabbits
Theon's dungeon experience is like some mad mashup of Hostel and Lost. I'm not sure there is anything that can possibly payoff the mentalness of the experience.
To be honest this feels like entertainment to be blasted through a few episodes at a time so that you don't get bored of the switching between the different storylines.