The Battle of Winterfell managed to surprise just about everybody, but more shocking than Arya's final blow or Lyanna Mormont's valiant exit was the fact that it wasn't, actually, the climax of the show. This upset many viewers, which may very well have been what the staff of the show were hoping for; but regardless of intent, it threw a fatal wrench in the series' themes.

For eight seasons, we were treated to warnings that winter was coming, that the petty squabblings of the nobility amounted to nothing compared to the threat of death itself. And then ... it turned out that stabbing the right guy was all it took, and, well, bloody-knuckled brawling for lands and titles was just fine, actually. If all Martin did was switch up the order of the final two battles, that'd go a long way towards bringing the books to a more graceful end than the TV series. Let readers watch as characters like Cersei perish in the arms of those who could not protect her, let Daenerys make her awful choices, let Jaime's terrible history sweep him away from all that might have brought him peace. Then, bedraggled, stand the survivors up against the enemy that truly matters and bring the story back to its thematic roots: when it comes to life and death, a king is the same as a commoner.