I am amused by the thought of dozens of red priest(esse)s stumbling all over two continents finding dozens and dozens of Azor Ahais constantly.
“I thought it was him … No wait! It must be you! Hail you!”
This was a fantastic episode. So many interesting revelations, and nearly every scene was riveting. The origin of the White Walkers, the origin of the Faceless Men and the Free City of Braavos, the origin of Hodor, Varys’ tense face off with the Red Priestess. Definitely a high point for the series.
Agreed. I’m expecting Arya to wash out of Faceless Man training by failing this next test, or by succeeding but then choosing to leave anyway. Everything lines up too well for it to go any other way. The play simultaneously reminded her of her identity as Arya Stark, took her back to one of the worst days in her life, and likely renewed her desire to avenge Ned. If she passed and became a Faceless Man, then she is effectively removed from the plot. Based on what we’ve seen of how they operate, there’s nothing that she would do that wouldn’t just be done by some other Faceless Man. She’s going to flunk out, grab Needle, and head back into the world with a bunch of new skills and a renewed purpose.
This was my take as well. Everything had to happen like this to close the loop. Though I’m still in the dark as to what Three-Eyed Raven meant when he said Bran would become him. I originally thought that final, fateful warging was in service of that goal, and perhaps it still is, but I don’t see it yet. Is it significant that Bran is still warging into the past despite having lost his physical link to the tree?
I noticed that as well. I guess the Lord of Light’s servants don’t communicate with each other very well. That, or the Lord of Light is sending conflicting messages to different people, playing towards some unknown goal.
She was basically told that she either passes the next test or dies, with her mentor saying something like “either way a face will go up on the wall.” And if she failed and ran, it’s not like she could just hide from the Faceless Men. I’m guessing that she will pass, but decide to go back to her old life.
The Lord of the Light works in mysterious ways.
Ah, good point, I forgot about that part. Still, I don’t see them just allowing her to change her mind and leave. They’ve given her a lot of training, and while I doubt she could use the faces if she leaves the order, she’s still dangerous. But even that doesn’t make sense to me, as I can’t see her surviving very long if the Faceless Men want her dead.
I wouldn’t mind seeing all six seasons of Game of Thrones performed by Lady Crane and the Braavosi Players.
There is also the small matter that the last Stark who trusted Littlefinger got his head chopped off. I don’t know how much Sansa knows of his involvement, but she obviously has his own reasons not to trust Littlefinger.
Not sure about incidental. I think each wolf is a metaphor for the owner’s hopes / dreams. It seems one of them has always died right before or after something tragic (not necessarily the character’s death, but at least the death of their aspirations).
Not to mention that Bran’s direwolf is named “Summer.” His death means that Winter is officially here.
Hodor.
:: sob ::
And the actor who played him: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/entertainment/game-of-thrones-hodor/index.html
Will Bran have the equivalent of a locator beacon on his arm for the Night’s King to always be able to find him, unless and until he has it magically removed, or (yikes) chops his arm off?
I’m wondering if we’re going to see Hodor and Summer as white walkers.
And faux Joffrey has to be the most gratuitous frontal nudity the show has ever done.
Another good episode. It’s funny, even if I didn’t know that the show had caught up with the books, I would know because the writing feels different this season. Not better or worse but it has a different vibe that feels more like TV.
Some other thoughts:
Now we are down to two Dire wolves and one is MIA 
Unintended consequences seems to be one of the over arching themes of this show. Exhibit Q: the creation of the White Walkers.
Was the play Arya learning what happened to Sansa for the first time? Did Brienne have a chance to tell her when they crossed paths? That would be the only other way I could see her knowing.
Speaking of the play, it was an amazing sequence. (I would love a spin off with that acting troupe now and I’m only half kidding). Interesting to see how the general public saw how that story played out.
ETA: I don’t think the mark on Bran is a homing beacon but rather it tainted whatever Magic was protecting them under the tree. I suspect he will go south and set up shop in the Tree near Winterfell.
Maybe. We, and Arya, were definitely supposed to infer that she would either succeed or die. But Jaqen didn’t actually say that it would be her face if she failed, and what he did say is exactly the sort of statement I’d expect to be literally true but in an unexpected way. It could, for instance, be Jaqen’s face that winds up on the wall if Arya doesn’t do as she’s supposed to.
Aside from all the drama and tragedy in this episode, I found Tormund’s attempts to flirt with Brienne utterly hilarious. Even funnier than last week.
That was my thought as well.
My vote is still pin-cushion Roz.
One of the best episodes they’ve had, though they have gone in a lot of different directions from what I expected.
The only thing I didn’t like was the new Red Woman getting the upper hand on Varys.
(Speaking of Varys, I forgot to rant about Qyburn getting his “little birds”. Sigh. Too late now.)
So much stuff happened this episode that so much gets left by the wayside. Like the Iron born electing their president by round of applause, and then drowning them. That had to have gone wrong plenty of times before. Also, i love how the people of game of thrones watch game of thrones. Right up until the incredibly gratuitous warty dick close up i would have sworn the mummer that played Joffrey was a woman.
I was just about to comment on this. I literally laughed aloud when he gave her ‘the look’ as they were getting ready to ride out. 
That, or the face of the client, rather than that of the target. That would be a vaguely clever lateral thinking problem, though it seems to clash with what we know about how the Faceless Men operate. Then again, their rules seem pretty unclear right now. Arya gets three free assassinations for saving three lives, and anyone will do. But Arya is punished for killing Meryn Trant when he wasn’t meant to die. Season 2 Jaqen begs Arya to unname him as the final assassination, but Season 5 Jaqen casually drinks poison so Arya doesn’t have to. I know that they probably aren’t the same Jaqen, but I thought the whole point of the Faceless Men was that they were interchangeable. Why is one of them concerned with self-preservation while the other isn’t? Why is saving Arya so important that it’s worth throwing away a fully trained Faceless Man? If that Jaqen didn’t actually die, then what was the point of all that?
I’m starting to think that the Faceless Men’s rules are “whatever the plot needs them to be.” Or that they’re bending rules to train Arya because they have special plans for her that go beyond her becoming just another cog in their order.
Finally saw the previews. Had to search for them. No wonder I missed them, blink and they were done. Anyways, what I think one scene may mean: Cersei tells- I think- Jaime “Our enemies have taken every thing from us. We will make them pay!” or something close. Does this mean her plan backfires as usual and Tommen pays with his life?
Oh, and it was touching to see Dany tear up over Jorah. He can be a tool sometimes but it was nice to see that she cares. Also, isn’t his best first shot at finding a cure to talk with Tyrion?
When they first arrived in the tree, Bran asked the Three-eyed Raven if he would walk again. The Raven said, “No, but you will fly.”
Now this could be figurative. It probably doesn’t mean he can warg into a bird, since he already knew he could do that. But it might be literal. If he can, can he also carry Meera?
It’s never made any sense for Arya to continue to try to be a Faceless Man once she found out she wasn’t able to pick her targets. She presumably joined them in the first place so she would be better able to carry out her revenge. Why would she ever want to be a professional assassin murdering people at random (from her viewpoint)?
Yeah, I laughed too, especially when Brienne caught his look and rolled her eyes while looking disgusted. She’s no doubt been avoiding him for weeks.