History YMMV / GameOfThronesS6E10TheWindsOfWinter

** Jon Snow and Davos cite Melisandre's burning of Shireen as grounds to dismiss her, but Melisandre argues that her actions secured victory at Winterfell. Shireen's sacrifice apparently thawed out the blizzard, and while Stannis failed for other reasons, that sacrifice ensured (at least in Melisandre's view) that Jon's march as well as the Vale cavalry had a clear way to Winterfell without losing any men or supplies as compared to Stannis. When Davos calls the Lord of Light evil for being willing to burn a child, Melisandre reminds him and possibly herself after a pause that it was the same Lord that resurrected Jon Snow, which might mean the Lord of Light is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality different]]. Despite her pleas, she's banished for Shireen's murder.

** Jon Snow and Davos cite Melisandre's burning of Shireen as grounds to dismiss her, but Melisandre argues that her actions secured victory at Winterfell. Shireen's sacrifice apparently thawed out the blizzard, and while Stannis failed for other reasons, that sacrifice ensured (at least in Melisandre's view) that Jon's march as well as the Vale cavalry had a clear way to Winterfell without losing any men or supplies as compared to Stannis. When Davos calls the Lord of Light evil for being willing to burn a child, Melisandre reminds him and possibly herself after a pause that it was the same Lord that resurrected Jon Snow, which might mean the Lord of Light is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality different]]. Despite her pleas, she's banished for Shireen's murder. Jon once again gets to profit off of the sacrifices of others without dirtying his own hands, and never acknowledges the fact that thousands more would have died at Bolton's hands (as he never would have been overthrown) had Melisandre and Stannis ''not'' killed Shireen. It may possibly have saved her from being killed on the spot like Davos wants to do, Jon doesn't explain his full reasoning.

** Catelyn Stark, retroactively. Her distrust and paranoia of Jon Snow was framed as a bad thing by the narrative, to the point that the show even added exclusive scenes where she labels it as her worst trait and the cause of her family's suffering. But this episode proves she was 100% right to worry, as Jon backed by the Northern lords blatantly usurps the North while Catelyn's trueborn daughter (and thus Ned's legitimate heir, with Robb and Rickon dead and Bran MIA) is ''sitting right there.''

** EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont and [[FairWeatherFriend the Northern lords]] can come across this way to some by crediting Jon with the entire victory and proclaiming him king while ignoring Sansa's battle-saving role in the Bolton defeat, even though Sansa is a trueborn daughter. Grieved by Rickon's murder, Jon makes an [[LeeroyJenkins egregious move]] by charging Ramsay's forces alone, after which Davos orders the Stark forces to follow their commander (Jon), while Sansa brings the Vale forces that save the day and Jon's life -- albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret. Objectively, the Valemen did pretty much all of the work while Jon led an already ragtag and weak force into a terrible defeat.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Jon Snow and Davos cite Melisandre's burning of Shireen as grounds to dismiss her, but Melisandre argues that her actions secured victory at Winterfell. Shireen's sacrifice apparently thawed out the blizzard, and while Stannis failed for other reasons, that sacrifice ensured (at least in Melisandre's view) that Jon's march as well as the Vale cavalry had a clear way to Winterfell without losing any men or supplies as compared to Stannis. When Davos calls the Lord of Light evil for being willing to burn a child, Melisandre reminds him and possibly herself after a pause that it was the same Lord that resurrected Jon Snow, which might mean the Lord of Light is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality different]]. Despite her pleas, she's banished for Shireen's murder. Jon once again gets to profit off of the sacrifices of others without dirtying his own hands, and never acknowledges the fact that thousands more would have died at Bolton's hands (as he never would have been overthrown) had Melisandre and Stannis ''not'' killed Shireen. It may possibly have saved her from being killed on the spot like Davos wants to do, Jon doesn't explain his full reasoning.

** EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont and [[FairWeatherFriend the Northern lords]] can come across this way to some by crediting Jon with the entire victory and proclaiming him king while ignoring Sansa's battle-saving role in the Bolton defeat, even though Sansa is a trueborn daughter. Grieved by Rickon's murder, Jon makes an [[LeeroyJenkins egregious move]] by charging Ramsay's forces alone, after which Davos orders the Stark forces to follow their commander (Jon), while Sansa brings the Vale forces that save the day and Jon's life -- albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Jon Snow and Davos cite Melisandre's burning of Shireen as grounds to dismiss her, but Melisandre argues that her actions secured victory at Winterfell. Shireen's sacrifice apparently thawed out the blizzard, and while Stannis failed for other reasons, that sacrifice ensured (at least in Melisandre's view) that Jon's march as well as the Vale cavalry had a clear way to Winterfell without losing any men or supplies as compared to Stannis. When Davos calls the Lord of Light evil for being willing to burn a child, Melisandre reminds him and possibly herself after a pause that it was the same Lord that resurrected Jon Snow, which might mean the Lord of Light is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality different]]. Despite her pleas, she's banished for Shireen's murder. It may possibly have saved her from being killed on the spot like Davos wants to do, Jon doesn't explain his full reasoning.

** The TV show is officially playing it more loose with the shapeshifter rules of the Faceless Men -- which are, after all, magic. In the TV show, we've already seen Jaqen disguise himself as the Waif, etc., so it's just that in the TV show, yes, the masks can magically change their appearance quite drastically.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Davos calling the Lord of Light "evil" struck some viewers of this, as the show has kept repeatedly harping on ReligionIsWrong sentiments time and time again ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment as that claim is wrong in and of itself since nearly every religion is right about at least a few things and some are right about more than others]], it's not something the books promote and came at the expense of some details and scenes from the story). This was combined with giving Melisandre excessive AdaptationalVillainy on top of the AdaptationalVillainy the Faith of the Seven have been saddled with. Many also point out that Davos didn't bring up Stannis and Shireen's fate in any of the preceding episodes earlier this season and only latched on because Shireen's wooden stag miraculously survived the funeral pyre leading to his belated EurekaMoment. Some book viewers also note that calling any side "evil" is missing the point [[MoralityKitchenSink of the entire series]], especially Melisandre, who Creator/GeorgeRRMartin considered to be his "most misunderstood character".

* {{Anvilicious}}: Davos calling the Lord of Light "evil" struck some viewers of this, as the show has kept repeatedly harping on ReligionIsWrong sentiments time and time again ([[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement as that claim is wrong in and of itself since nearly every religion is right about at least a few things and some are right about more than others]], it's not something the books promote and came at the expense of some details and scenes from the story). This was combined with giving Melisandre excessive AdaptationalVillainy on top of the AdaptationalVillainy the Faith of the Seven have been saddled with. Many also point out that Davos didn't bring up Stannis and Shireen's fate in any of the preceding episodes earlier this season and only latched on because Shireen's wooden stag miraculously survived the funeral pyre leading to his belated EurekaMoment. Some book viewers also note that calling any side "evil" is missing the point [[MoralityKitchenSink of the entire series]], especially Melisandre, who Creator/GeorgeRRMartin considered to be his "most misunderstood character".

* FanNickname: After blowing up the Sept of Baelor and taking the throne, some fans have started calling Cersei "The Mad Queen" [[note]]Due to her tyrannical regime and use of wildfire being similar to Aerys. The wildfire was even planted there by Aerys, he was killed before he could use it[[/note]]. Another one is "[[Music/{{Metallica}} Queen Nothing]]" given that aside from the Crownlands and Casterly Rock, everywhere else's ruler is basically in open revolt against her.
** The destruction of the Sept of Baelor itself is being referred to by fans as "the Green Trial" in the exact same terms as the Red Wedding.

* AlasPoorScrappy:
** Tommen's death. He was becoming a spineless PuppetKing but it was still immensely sad to see him commit suicide after witnessing the destructive results of his mother's machinations. This was a boy of no more than fourteen, who was HappilyMarried, wanted to be a good king to his people, and he drops out the window with no more effort than one might take to go on a stroll. He crossed the DespairEventHorizon, and he crossed it ''hard''.

^ FridgeLogic: Even if the Faith Militant had allowed everyone inside the Sept of Baelor to leave, it's ''highly'' unlikely anyone present would have been able to get far enough from the sept to avoid the explosion by that point.

** Tommen's death. He was becoming a spineless puppet but it was still immensely sad to see him commit suicide after witnessing the destructive results of his mother's machinations. This was a boy of no more than fourteen, who was HappilyMarried, wanted to be a good king to his people, and he drops out the window with no more effort than one might take to go on a stroll. He crossed the DespairEventHorizon, and he crossed it ''hard''.

** Last episode's {{Retcon}} that Tyrion knew about the wildfire makes him, along with Jaime, culpable for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. All of that could have been avoided had Tyrion or Jaime taken steps to neutralize a threat they knew lay beneath the city all these years. Instead the wildfire was left there, waiting for someone just crazy enough to use it.
** Jaime Lannister guilt-slinging Catelyn into freeing him in Season 2 by reminding her that Ned was unfaithful to her and didn't keep his vows becomes this once it becomes clear that Ned ''did'' remain faithful to Cat all along and only said he wasn't to save and protect Jon, his nephew and the only son of his deceased little sister.

** This episode sets the stage for one hell of a grand battle, and the White Walkers are still yet to come. Cersei has taken over the Iron Throne by killing literally everyone else in King's Landing with remotely any claim to it (Tommen killed himself upon witnessing what she had done). Jon Snow unexpectedly has sovereignty over the North plopped in his lap by the assembled Northern Lords. Lady Olenna, as the last known member of House Tyrell, throws in her lot with Dorne for revenge, and both turn to Daenerys to get it thanks to Varys. The closing shot is of Daenerys -- at long last -- setting sail for Westeros... with a massive fleet behind her, staffed with Dothraki and Ironborn and Unsullied, with Tyrion and Varys and Theon and Yara at her side, and her three dragons flying above. Winter is coming? '''Daenerys is coming''', and the fight is coming with her...

** Once again, Lady Lyanna Mormont proves that she is the most badass ten-year old girl ever by handily shutting down the Northern Lords that are criticizing Jon Snow despite having not fought alongside him at the Battle of the Bastards. Note that most of these men are ''decades'' older and more experienced than she and can only respond with looks of embarrassment.

* TakeThatScrappy: The wildly unpopular Sand Snakes reappear for a single scene, in which fan favorite Olenna Tyrell shuts them down with her typical barbed snark before any of them can deliver a b-movie liner. Specifically, she tells Tyene -- considered the worst of all three by critics for her poorly written dialogue, particularly the infamous "bad pussy" line -- that no one wants to hear what she has to say. In fact, Olenna interrupts Tyene to ''prevent'' her from speaking -- ultimately Tyene didn't even have a ''single'' speaking line in Season 6. Apparently this was the writers belatedly admitting how much they screwed up Dorne in Season 5.

** EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont and [[FairWeatherFriend the Northern lords]] can come across this way to some by crediting Jon with the entire victory and proclaiming him king while ignoring Sansa's battle-saving role in the Bolton defeat, even though Sansa is a trueborn daughter. Grieved by Rickon's murder, Jon makes an [[LeeroyJenkins egregious move]] by charging Ramsay's forces alone, after which Davos orders the Stark forces to follow Jon, while Sansa brings the Vale forces that save the day and Jon's life -- albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret.

** Jon Snow banished Melisandre to the south instead of execution, perhaps in a secret belief that she may still play a part in the wars to come. Though he does make it clear that if she returns to the North, she will be hanged for murder.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Davos calling the Lord of Light "evil" struck some viewers of this, as the show has kept repeatedly harping on ReligionIsWrong sentiments time and time again ([[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement as that claim is wrong in and of itself since nearly every religion is right about at least a few things and some are right about more than others]], it's not something the books promote and came at the expense of some details and scenes from the story). This was combined with giving Melisandre excessive AdaptationalVillainy on top of the AdaptationalVillainy the Faith of the Seven have been saddled with. Many also point out that Davos didn't bring up Stannis and Shireen's fate in any of the preceding episodes earlier this season and only latched on because Shireen's wooden stag miraculously survived the funeral pyre leading to his belated EurekaMoment. Book viewers also note that calling any side "evil" is missing the point [[MoralityKitchenSink of the entire series]], especially Melisandre, who Creator/GeorgeRRMartin considered to be his "most misunderstood character".
* AuthorsSavingThrow: We get several versions of scenes the fans had been complaining for a while about possibly never getting: the Freys in pies scheme is given to Arya, Varys's murder of Kevan is replaced with Qyburn murdering Pycelle (with Kevan dying shortly thereafter), Jaime is finally starting to turn against Cersei despite the show dropping his and Tyrion's final conversation, and we got to hear the iconic quote "Vengeance. Justice. ''Fire and blood"'' (albeit split between Ellaria and Varys, rather than the late Doran).

** Jokes about Varys and Arya having/being teleporters thanks to their blatant TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot. [[note]]Varys is on Dorne in one scene then two scenes later he's back at Essos with Dany and company, while Arya is now on the Twins despite being on Braavos just two episodes ago. People have calculated that the sailing time between Dorne and Mereen is approximately two weeks, meaning the last scene is probably around a month after the the Sept blew up, though Arya's journey is a lot shorter.[[/note]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Cersei has committed some horrible atrocities throughout her life, but ''large scale mass murder'' wasn't one of them. Blowing up the Sept of Baelor and the surrounding houses with all their inhabitants could make Emperor Nero blush, since undoubtedly hundreds if not thousands died in that attack. She then continues her streak of wickedness by leaving Septa Unella alone in a room with Gregor Clegane, implying that the undead Mountain has her leave to rape Unella to death. As if to hammer the point home, after [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes her love for her children was presented as one of her few redeeming traits]], she seems unconcerned -- and possibly even '''relieved''' -- that her last son is dead.

** Tommen brings a whole new meaning to ''[[{{Pun}} King's Landing]]''. The fact that he pulled a [[Series/TheITCrowd Denholm]] had many viewers chuckling at his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbTO8-tWc4U exit]].
*** Not to mention his comparisons Bran surviving his accident...Winter''fell'' but Kings''landing''.

** "The books [at the Citadel] gave Sam more orgasm than Gilly."

** Once again, Lady Lyanna Mormont proves that she is the most badass little girl ever by handily shutting down the Northern Lords that are criticizing Jon Snow despite having not fought alongside him at the Battle of the Bastards. Note that most of these men are ''decades'' older and more experienced than she and can only respond with looks of embarrassment.

** EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont and [[FairWeatherFriend the Northern lords]] can come across this way to some by crediting Jon with the entire victory and proclaiming him king while ignoring Sansa's battle-saving role in the Bolton defeat, even though Sansa is a trueborn daughter. Grieved by Rickon's murder, Jon makes an [[LeeroyJenkins egregious move]] by charging Ramsay's forces alone, after which Davos orders his forces to follow Jon, while Sansa brings the Vale forces that save the day and Jon's life -- albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF1BKd4fMU4 The Tower]], the piece that plays when finally Young Ned reaches Lyanna in the Tower and finds out she's dying of childbirth. The awesome climactic moment plays when the camera focuses on Lyanna's son, and follows a WhamShot with Jon sitting in Winterfell's hall.

** Jaime Lannister guilt-slinging Catelyn into freeing him in Season 2 by reminding her that Ned was unfaithful to her and didn't keep his vows becomes this once it becomes clear that Ned in fact remained faithful to Cat all along and that Jon Snow is not his biological son.

** Jon Snow, officially a bastard, who once swore to own no lands and hold no titles, is now King of the North, and has a more effective rule (and claim) over more of Westeros than the actual monarch does.

** EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont and [[FairWeaterFriend the Northern lords]] can come across this way to some by crediting Jon with the entire victory and proclaiming him king while ignoring Sansa's battle-saving role in the Bolton defeat, even though Sansa is a trueborn daughter. Grieved by Rickon's murder, Jon makes an [[LeeroyJenkins egregious move]] by charging Ramsay's forces alone, after which Davos orders his forces to follow Jon, while Sansa brings the Vale forces that save the day and Jon's life -- albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret.

** The TV show is officially playing it more loose with the shapeshifter rules of the Faceless Men - which are, after all, magic. In the TV show we've already seen Jaqen disguise himself as the Waif, etc., so it's just that in the TV show, yes, the masks can magically change their appearance quite drastically.

** Littlefinger does not like Jon because his beloved Catelyn resented the boy (as far as he knows, as Cat had a change of heart a few months/weeks/days before her death) and does not have her blood in him.

* CaptainObviousReveal: The books and, to a lesser extent the show, have been dropping gazillions of hints about Jon's true parentage for years, turning the actual reveal into a sheer formality.

** Ned's entire relationship with Jon is made all the more heartwarming now that it turns out Jon was actually Ned's nephew and that he let his honor and name be smirched and even strained his own marriage to fulfill his sister's dying wish and protect Jon's life from Robert's potential wrath, raising Jon as his very own.

** This episode sets the stage for one hell of a grand battle, and the White Walkers are still yet to come. Cersei has taken over the Iron Throne by killing literally everyone else in King's Landing with remotely any claim to it (Tommen killed himself upon witnessing what she had done). Jon Snow unexpectedly has sovereignty over the North plopped in his lap by the assembled Northern Lords. Lady Olenna, as the last known member of House Tyrell, throws in her lot with Dorne for revenge, and both turn to Daenerys to get it thanks to Varys. The closing shot is of Daenerys -- at long last -- setting sail for Westeros... with a massive fleet behind her, staffed with Dothraki and Ironborn and Unsullied, with Tyrion and Varys and Theon and Yara at her side, and her three dragons flying above. Winter is coming? '''Daenerys is coming''', and the storm is coming with her...

* TakeThatScrappy: The wildly unpopular Sand Snakes reappear for a single scene, in which fan favorite Olenna Tyrell shuts them down with her typical barbed snark before any of them can deliver a b-movie liner. Specifically she tells Tyene - considered the worst of all three by critics for her poorly written dialogue, particularly the infamous "bad pussy" line - that no one wants to hear what she has to say. In fact, Olenna interrupts Tyene to ''prevent'' her from speaking - ultimately Tyene didn't even have a ''single'' speaking line in Season 6. Apparently this was the writers belatedly admitting how much they screwed up Dorne in Season 5.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: Jon Snow and Davos cite Melisandre's burning of Shireen as grounds to dismiss her, but Melisandre argues that her actions secured victory at Winterfell. Shireen's sacrifice apparently thawed out the blizzard, and while Stannis failed for other reasons, that sacrifice ensured (at least in Melisandre's view) that Jon's march as well as the Vale cavalry had a clear way to Winterfell without losing any men or supplies as compared to Stannis. When Davos calls the Lord of Light evil for being willing to burn a child, Melisandre reminds him and possibly herself after a pause that it was the same Lord that resurrected Jon Snow, which implies that the Lord of Light is merely [[BlueAndOrangeMorality different]]. Despite her pleas, she's banished regardless. It may possibly have saved her from being killed on the spot like Davos wants to do, Jon doesn't explain his full reasoning.

** By refusing to lift a finger against Ramsay, the Northern lords can come across as {{Fair Weather Friend}}s throwing in their lot with Jon simply because MightMakesRight. Moreover, even EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont looks more than a little foolish crediting Jon with the victory and ignoring fellow trueborn female Sansa to acclaim Jon as king despite Jon's only role in the battle being [[LeeroyJenkins disasterous]] and Sansa being the one who actually saved the day, albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Davos calling the Lord of Light "evil" struck some viewers of this, as the show has kept repeatedly harping on ReligionIsWrong sentiments time and time again ([[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement as that claim is wrong in and of itself since nearly every religion is right about at least a few things and some are right about more than others]], it's not something the books promote and came at the expense of some details and scenes from the story). This was combined with giving Melisandre excessive AdaptationalVillainy on top of the AdaptationalVillainy the Faith of the Seven have been saddled with. Many also point out that Davos didn't bring up Stannis and Shireen's fate in any of the preceding episodes earlier this season and only latched on because Shireen's wooden stag miraculously survived the funeral pyre leading to his belated EurekaMoment. Book viewers also note that calling any side "evil" is ComicallyMissingThePoint [[MoralityKitchenSink of the entire series]], especially Melisandre, who GRRM considered to be his "most misunderstood character".

* ShipSinking: The Sansa[=/=]Margaery ship has gone down in a blaze of wildfire since Margaery has gone up in smoke.

* ShipSinking: [[spoiler:The Sansa[=/=]Margaery ship has gone down in a blaze of wildfire since Margaery has gone up in smoke.]]

* BrokenBase:
** [[TheScrappy Ellaria and the Sand Snakes]] siding with Daenerys has been a fairly divisive issue. In one hand, its seen as one last attempt to [[AuthorsSavingThrow salvage]] their storyline after it has been so negatively received last season. On the other hand, some believe its too late to redeem them and their presence is so toxic that it would ruin Daenerys' storyline. There are book fans certainly livid that Doran was unnecessarily murdered in the show, while in the books he was pretty much planning the same thing while feigning loyalty to the Iron Throne, and his lines were given to Ellaria instead.
*** Let's also hope that Season 7 somehow addresses the fact that Tyrion, also part of Team Daenerys, should ''hate'' Ellaria for killing his beloved niece Myrcella.
** In a literal case of History being WrittenByTheWinners, there were fans upset that Sansa's role in the War of Winterfell ended up getting downplayed during Jon's Coronation as King of the North. Jon, being the FrontlineGeneral who fought in the thick of the battle, gets the entire credit for the victory even though he acted rashly, being baited into forgoing his battle strategies when he tries to [[RelativeButton rescue his brother]] and charging alone, while Sansa played a huge role in the victory by bringing in the Vale army at the last moment, who defeated the Bolton forces and saved Jon and his army. This led to debates over whether Sansa getting slighted was another step back for her character and who should be the rightful successor to Robb.

** Septa Unella wasn't exactly a pleasant person, but it's hard not to be horrified by hearing her scream in horror as she was left to a slow, agonizing death by the hands of undead Gregor Clegane.

** By refusing to lift a finger against Ramsay, the Northern lords can come across as {{Fair Weather Friend}}s throwing in their lot with Jon simply because MightMakesRight. Moreover, even EnsembleDarkhorse Lyanna Mormont looks more than a little foolish crediting Jon with the victory and ignoring fellow trueborn female Sansa to acclaim Jon as king despite Jon's only role in the battle being [[LeeroyJenkins disasterous]] and Sansa being the one who actually saved the day, albeit after letting thousands die needlessly by keeping TheCavalry a secret. May simply be ValuesDissonance mixed with the fact that Sansa [[DoubleStandard is a woman]]. After all, Lady Mormont herself only got her seat because she was the only heir.

* FanNickname: After blowing up the Sept of Baelor and taking the throne, some fans have started calling Cersei "The Mad Queen" [[note]]Due to her tyrannical regime and use of wildfire being similar to Aerys. The wildfire was even planted there by Aerys, he was killed before he could use it[[/note]]. Another one is "[[Music/Metallica Queen Nothing]]" given that aside from the Crownlands and Casterly Rock, everywhere else's ruler is basically in open revolt against her.

* FanNickname: After blowing up the Sept of Baelor and taking the throne, some fans have started calling Cersei "The Mad Queen" [[note]]Due to her tyrannical regime and use of wildfire being similar to Aerys. The wildfire was even planted there by Aerys, he was killed before he could use it[[/note]].

** Let's also hope that Season 7 somehow addresses the fact that Tyrion, also part of Team Daenerys, should ''hate'' Ellaria for killing his beloved niece Myrcella. Does Myrcella even die in the next book? Possibly, as some of the Sand Snakes are last seen infiltrating King's Landing with the intention of carrying out assassinations to stir up trouble. We'll have to wait and see.