Game Of Thrones: 7 Things That "The Wars To Come" Did Right (And 3 It Didn't)

As phenomenally well as the Jon Snow arc at the Wall is unfolding, there is one aspect of the story that doesn't quite work. Gilly remaining with the Night's Watch and clearly in a relationship of sorts with Sam makes no sense. She adds far too domestic a tone to scenes of wildlings fleeing ice zombies and a claimant for the throne raising an army and a priestess burning people alive. 

Sam fretting about pleasing her in the middle of everything weakens a character that has fought long and hard for the right to be considered by the audience as strong, and Gilly complaining about Sam not bending over backwards to secure her safety takes from her any sense of proactivity in her life. The trivial troubles of a relationship that should not exist in the first place never fail to bring the action to a standstill; with things at the Wall finally getting interesting on a larger scale, the problem of Gilly's presence needs a speedy solution.