The biggest difference thus far is HotD being very excited with throwing a lot of characters at us. Rhaenyra, Allicent, Daemon, Viserys, Aemond, Criston, Rhaenys, Otto, Corlys, Aegon, Heleana, Jace, Luke, Baela, Rhaena, Larys, Laenor, Laena, Harwin, Lyonel, Westerling, Eryck and Aryck, Mysaria… They’re all quite well characterised, but I could do with some more character scenes that don’t necessarily advance the plot.

There doesn’t seem to be room for that, because they decided to end season 1 with the beginning of the Dance. Understandable! Hope the pace slows down a bit, but the actual plot progression, character consistency and arcs since episode 1 have been phenomenal. I’d rate this season as only weaker than S4 of GoT, and on par with season 1 and 3. Defo stronger than 2, 5 and 6 and obviously leagues above 7 and 8.

There’s a lot of respect for character drama, shown both in little moments and during the set pieces. Which is something that defines GoT and ASoIaF in general, for me.