Game Of Thrones Season 6 Finale: 10 Ups And 2 Downs From 'The Winds Of Winter'

1. Margaery Dying

The burning of the Sept of Baelor was a moment of stunning devastation, and one that came with a high price: King Tommen Baratheon, Loras and Mace Tyrell, Kevan and Lancel Lannister, the High Sparrow, Grand Maester Pycelle, and countless, nameless others all perished, either in the fire or as a result of the planning. That's a high body count, but none of them are going to be missed (although the High Sparrow was an excellent villain).

Margaery Tyrell, on the other hand, will be a big miss.

Of all those who died, she's the only one I was genuinely surprised at. Surely she would find a way out of it. Even if all the others went, she'd manage to stay alive. And in fairness, Margaery came close. She knew something was wrong, and wanted to escape, but ultimately couldn't. And that's a real shame.

Margaery is one of the characters the show has taken from the books and really improved, giving her a much deeper and stronger arc, helped by a great performance from Natalie Dormer. She was a match for anyone in King's Landing, was fooling the High Sparrow (something we won't get to see play out), and would've continued to have been a match for Cersei. She could've outwitted her, but aligned with the Sparrow, who couldn't.

When the overall episode is this good (and this is, at the absolute very least top 10 Thrones) it's easier to forgive, but it's still hard to think that Margaery didn't have more to offer. And even if not, that she deserved a more personal death.

What did you think of The Winds of Winter? Let us know in the comments.