I actually thought this season was a bit weaker. The last episode was pretty good but over all, there weren't really a lot of surprises from a show known for actual surprises. Part of the problem is most of the surviving cast has plot armor, meaning most of them are going to survive at least until the last few episodes to finish their arcs. Hey, I don't need characters to die for no reason and there's much more to this show than shock value but much of the seasons arc feels a bit perfunctory. Hopefully they can pull off the last season well, now that they have their pieces in place.
My one hope is that the
battle with the army of the dead
is taken care of early in the next season. It's a pretty boring "good vs. evil" battle, which to me is almost antithetical to Game of Thrones' ethos that most of the cast is a lot more complicated than good or evil (you know, except certain dudes like Joffrey and Ramsey and Euron, who feels like the closest this show has ever gotten to having a straight up WWF villain in the series. Good vs. evil is great for Lord of the Rings, but Game of Thrones best moments come from trying to navigate politics, strategy and the character's own values. Its a world where good guys don't get rewarded for being good, or at least it was for much of the series. I'd much rather see the characters try to deal with each other than the big bad. It will be interesting to see what happens the day after the end of the world.