Game of Thrones begins....

[Admiral Yi]

I thought that was the Blackfish? Which still ignores the Freys.

No, Littlefinger said kampfgruppe Vale was at Moat Caitlin.  Which doesn't make much sense either, given that the Boltons hold it now and it has previously been described as impregnable, at least from the south.

[The Larch]

I wonder what happens to the Knights of the Vale now that Sansa told Littlefinger to fuck off. He did not even mention them on his and Sansa's brief helicopter meeting in Moletown.

Didn't he mention that they were in or around Moat Cailin?

I thought that was the Blackfish? Which still ignores the Freys.

No, apparently the Blackfish with a reformed Tully army retook Riverun. According to Littlefinger, anyway, who knows how much of what he says is truth and how much is hooks for others to bite.

[The Larch]

The Red Priestess in Meeren did not come out of nowhere. There was at least one scene before in Meeren with a different Red Priest preaching to the masses.

And this same Red Priestess appeared back in Volantis last season, I think.

[Admiral Yi]

No, apparently the Blackfish with a reformed Tully army retook Riverun. According to Littlefinger, anyway, who knows how much of what he says is truth and how much is hooks for others to bite.

We did have that previous scene in which the wussy prince agrees to send his army to Sansa's rescue.  So unless the writers are playing a Usual Suspects style con job on the audience I thiink we can assume they're at Moat Caitlin.

[The Minsky Moment]

We did have that previous scene in which the wussy prince agrees to send his army to Sansa's rescue.  So unless the writers are playing a Usual Suspects style con job on the audience I thiink we can assume they're at Moat Caitlin.

Would again raise the question of the apparent passivity of the Freys.

[Admiral Yi]

Would again raise the question of the apparent passivity of the Freys.

To play devil's advocate, we know the Twins block passage to the River Lands, but do we know they block passage to the Vale?

[Josquius]

The Red Priestess in Meeren did not come out of nowhere. There was at least one scene before in Meeren with a different Red Priest preaching to the masses.

The guy behind her was there before.
But that woman did. She had come from tyrosh.

[Josephus]

Jon won't kill Ramsay, it will be Theon.

It will be Sansa

My money's on Sansa too.

[Josephus]

Yes, Theon, who will take a quick pit-stop to the North en route to Essos.  He will take Littlefinger's teleporter.

That teleporter's been quite busy. REd Princess got to Mereen pretty quickly.

[Berkut]

The scene with the Night King and his zombie army entering the crypt didn't make much sense. What took the four white walkers so long? The crypt isn't that big. They should have arrived as a group and before the zombies...

The show writers can be pretty sloppy when it comes to making their plots actually make much sense.

The old dude tells Bran he is marked, they can now get in, and hence they must leave now. OK.

Next thing we know...Bran and old dude are having a little mental vacation hanging with Ned, and didn't bother to consider that the walkers, who he had just said could now enter and they MUST LEAVE might actually show up.

And of course, they do show up at just that exact time, and make it  a point to array themselves impressively first. Everyone in the North is apparently a pretty fucking serious drama queen, and the White Walkers (or maybe they should be called scamperers) are no exception.

I really do love this show, but the writing at times is incredibly lazy.

[Habbaku]

Would again raise the question of the apparent passivity of the Freys.

To play devil's advocate, we know the Twins block passage to the River Lands, but do we know they block passage to the Vale?

They do not.  The Vale has its own road to the North/Moat Cailin--the King's Road.

[Martinus]

We did have that previous scene in which the wussy prince agrees to send his army to Sansa's rescue.  So unless the writers are playing a Usual Suspects style con job on the audience I thiink we can assume they're at Moat Caitlin.

Would again raise the question of the apparent passivity of the Freys.

I know it would be somewhat against the narrative tradition that we weren't shown that - but it would not be inconceivable of them letting Littlefinger pass, especially after they found out a Frey woman and her kid (a heir to Winterfell) died in a freak hound feeding accident.

Plus, from trailers we know that Walder Frey is making a come back this season.

[Martinus]

The scene with the Night King and his zombie army entering the crypt didn't make much sense. What took the four white walkers so long? The crypt isn't that big. They should have arrived as a group and before the zombies...

The show writers can be pretty sloppy when it comes to making their plots actually make much sense.

The old dude tells Bran he is marked, they can now get in, and hence they must leave now. OK.

Next thing we know...Bran and old dude are having a little mental vacation hanging with Ned, and didn't bother to consider that the walkers, who he had just said could now enter and they MUST LEAVE might actually show up.

And of course, they do show up at just that exact time, and make it  a point to array themselves impressively first. Everyone in the North is apparently a pretty fucking serious drama queen, and the White Walkers (or maybe they should be called scamperers) are no exception.

I really do love this show, but the writing at times is incredibly lazy.

Only that, if they didn't do that, Hodor does not get Hodored by Bran, which means he has never stopped being Willis, which means he never helps Bran get to the Three Eyed Raven, which means nothing in the cave ever happens. It is fair to assume the Three Eyed Raven knows that (and knows he is going to die) so he takes Bran on a "mental vacation" deliberately.

[Martinus]

More or less crazy fan theories from review shows:

- Bran the Builder is Bran Stark reinserting himself in the past to build the Wall
- Littlefinger is behind Umbers' "betrayal" and he is setting up Northerners and the Riverlanders to kill each other so he can swoop down and take everything with his Knights of the Vale
- Littlefinger may even be behind sending the pink letter to Jon

[Josquius]

Would again raise the question of the apparent passivity of the Freys.

To play devil's advocate, we know the Twins block passage to the River Lands, but do we know they block passage to the Vale?

They do not.  The Vale has its own road to the North/Moat Cailin--the King's Road.

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/The_Twins?_ga=1.167414462.120784922.1443953560

They don't totally cut off access but they are much too close for comfort.