If you haven't already seen episode seven, click away from this thread now.

But for those who have, any thoughts?

It wasn't quite the season I envisaged. My guess had been that the last two seasons would be split between a focus on King's Landing and Cersei getting her just deserts this year, and then everyone left would head north to take on the snow zombies for the climax next year. Of course, both storylines are actually still active as this season ends, so the "finale" this time was more about setting up the real one next year than anything else.

Still, it was about time Littlefinger got what was coming to him, as he was just too scheming and dangerous to be kept around. And surely Cersei has burned all her bridges now, too, in a mad desire to keep hold of power no matter what the cost. I'd wondered if the look on Jamie's face as she sat on the Iron Throne at the end of last season after blowing up the Great Sept - the "even for you, this is a new low" look - meant he would be the one to finish her off, out of pure disgust if nothing else. The story did not play out that way this season, but now she's pushed even him away there's surely still potential for a dramatic "Et tu, Jamie?" moment next season, as he sees the only way to get the southern armies north to help defeat the white walkers is to kill Cersei, the person who is keeping those armies out of the fight.

And what of those white walkers? Sad as it was to see one of the dragons killed the other week (I'm far more bothered about them than some of the humans!), it had to happen in plot terms as it enabled the dead to break through the Wall. That had to happen too - there's only so much danger even that army can pose if they're stuck the wrong side of a thousand foot wall - but even so, I can't have been the only one who sat there saying "Oh, s***...." at the awesome sight as they did break through at the end.

There won't be any more GoT episodes after next year, but it also means we'll get to see a resolution, which is what is meant to happen with stories. We'll see who wins, who loses, and what this was all leading towards. Contrast that with "The Walking Dead", which is starting to look interminable, with the showrunners saying things like "There are enough plots in the comic books so that we know what we'll be doing in Seasons 10, 11 and 12, if we get that far..." What a nightmarish prospect. It's not that it's jumped the shark, just that - jeez - is it EVER going to end? Will we ever find out what "finally" happens to Rick and his group?

Films have finite running times, books have last pages, and TV shows have final episodes. That's how it's supposed to work, and how we experience stories. And a year from now, we'll reach that point with GoT. Can't wait

We've loved this half a season.
I personally feel the last episode didn't need to happen though. The dragon opening his blue eye would of been a perfect ending.

I've heard it's a longer wait than next year though

Yes, I've had a look on the net and unfortunately it may not be as simple as the final series next summer after all, as apparently the scripts aren't even written yet. Darn.