Game Of Thrones Season 6: 10 Ups And 2 Downs From 'The Broken Man'

1. Return Of Sandor Clegane

Book readers have theorised for years about the return of Sandor Clegane, thanks to a lack of confirmation about his death and some clues about a gravedigger Brienne sees when travelling around the Riverlands. The expectation for the Hound's return was ramped up when, ahead of Season 6, Ian McShane said he was responsible for bringing back a character everyone thought was dead.

Clegane was the most likely candidate for that, and whether his return was a surprise or not, it was a great moment and the highlight of this episode. It was also well handled, taking place before the credits had even started, and meant it wasn't played for the shock factor at the end.

Instead, we got to spend time with the character, and received a thoughtful examination of just who he is now. He may say hate kept him alive, but he's more at peace than anytime we saw him previously. Rory McCann was a beloved figure on the show before, and he doesn't miss a beat here; still recognisably Sandor Clegane, but with some subtle changes inside him.

Now he's going to have to go against the quiet life he's been leading and track down the people who killed Ray and the rest of the group, which is a tragedy of his character, and how he can't change even if he wants to, and can't escape fighting. Whether it leads to CleganeBowl remains to be seen, but we're a lot closer to it now than we were previously, and having Sandor back can only be a good thing.