The ending might have been memorable (ice dragon, Dany and Jon, etc.) but the journey to get there was some of the worst storytelling the show has ever done. At times I felt like I was watching a lesser show - or at the very least a different one. The plot to send a band of Avengers to kidnap a zombie from an army of zombies and white walkers, transport that zombie back to king's landing, convince Cersei Lannister of all people to partake in an armistice (when she could be wiped out quickly anyway), and then come back to the wall all before the white walkers and wights walk to the wall is straight up ludicrous. Nevermind that Jon who has his own army, wildlings, and nightswatchmen decides to go on this adventure himself instead of sending someone else...and then does so with six people plus extras, one of who is a freaking blacksmith, and five of whom he has never met and who have never been north of the wall. Nevermind that Jorah has spent multiple seasons doing everything from kidnapping Tyrion, voluntarily fighting in the pits, and finding a cure for an incurable disease just to be by Dany's side...only to then immediately volunteer to go on this mission. Nevermind that Tyrion, aka the most recognizable and wanted person in Westeros, would volunteer to go and set up a meeting with Jaime in King's Landing for the chance at setting up an armistice in the event that the Avengers crew successfully kidnaps a zombie that Tyrion doesn't even believe in...an armistice with Cersei Lannister of all people who Tyrion knows better than most is not going to give a shit.
And then let's talk about the Avengers mission itself. Jon kills a white walker and all of the surrounding wights die except for one that the Avengers squad can conveniently kidnap. Then when the squad is stuck in the ice, the white walkers don't throw anything at them despite the Night King apparently being an Olympic caliber javelin thrower who has a quarry of ice spears capable of killing dragons. The squad is also rescued by Westeros's first Uber ride courtesy of Dany's dragons in one of the most blatant deus ex machinas in television history. In the time that they are stuck on the ice, Gendry is able to run the distance it took the squad potentially days to march, a raven flies at the speed of light to Dragonstone, and then Daeneyrs arrives exactly as the wights finally start attacking. Speaking of which, why on Earth didn't they take ravens with them as the Nightswatch has done at other times when journeying north of the wall? But that was only the first deus ex machine, as Jon also requires Benjen to come out of nowhere to save him as well. It also strikes me that for such a horrendously stupid plan, only Thoros and a bunch of extras dying seems very un-Martin-like. The show and the books have always been about foolish plans getting punished, and I'm actually amazed that so many got away from that fight.
And somehow none of that is as bad as Arya versus Sansa. But this post is long enough and I'll save my gripes about that for now.
