It felt like this was the episode that had all the ending material Martin gave to the show runners way back when, and it was better for it. The pacing was solid (unlike the light speed pace of the previous 5), the plot points and character developments were generally well structured, and — thank god — they finally brought in some humor. It felt like a return to the aspects that made the first couple seasons so fun.

I also think this episode shows how different the material in the books will be from what we saw in the show. Assuming Martin basically gave them this ending, clearly they didn't know how to get from A to B. Bran will almost certainly have more presence in the books leading up to becoming King, Dany will get more time to show her descent into madness, etc, etc.

I would like to say that I called the “melted throne” ending a few weeks back.