Game Of Thrones: 12 Ups And 4 Downs From Season 6
One of the best seasons yet.
And lo, Game of Thrones is over for another year. The ship has sailed. The ash has settled. The watch has ended. The door has closed.
*Sob*
The Long Night is about to begin: the painful nine months we have to spend waiting for the next season, which gets more excruciating with each passing year. Thankfully, Season 6 left us with plenty to discuss in the meantime.
Heading into its sixth year, Thrones looked vulnerable for the first time. Although Season 5 won the show a record number of Emmys, it was generally considered a weaker season, and this year saw it almost completely moving beyond George R.R. Martin's books.
While a continuation of that slight dip would've been understandable, instead showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff turned the tables: the women came to the fore, the good guys started winning, the were huge moments spread throughout the entire season, and the whole thing was incredibly fan-pleasing.
In moving away from the books, they cast off the shackles and started hurtling towards the endgame. It was exciting, emotional, and epic. As ever, it wasn't a perfect season, with a few storylines that didn't quite hit their mark, but for their most part it all worked, turning Season 6 into one of the best seasons of the show to date.