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

Ups...

10. Olenna Joining Dorne And Dany

Oh no, Dorne's back. That was my reaction when it appeared in the previously on (and again in the opening credits), given that the storyline was so dull and muddled it's effectively been cut out for all but the first episode of this season.

So, how do you fix the Dorne problem? That's the question Weiss and Benioff were faced with, and the answer was actually rather simple: add Varys and Olenna Tyrell.

The Queen of Thorns is one of the show's most watchable characters, frequently delivering the best dialogue while being a great player of the game at the same time, and both are evidenced here. She shuts up the Sand Snakes in typically cutting and hilarious fashion, and is making plans for revenge against Cersei, who has just wiped out her family.

Adding further intrigue into this is Varys, who delivers one key line - "fire and blood" - before teleporting back to Meereen to be on the ship for the episode's ending. Admittedly the Ellaria and the Sand Snakes still don't do much, but by truly bringing them into the wider conflict, and adding key players and great characters into the mix, Dorne just became a much more important part of the show, at least in the early stages of Season 7.