SeanC

I think the romantic elements are more likely gone than anything else, given the extent of the changes. The romantic aspects in Sansa's story have seemingly, thus far, focused on the Hound.

Episode 4.06 was the first (and so far only) episode without any Starks or Jon Snow. The summary above is accurate (it's based on the Facebook post), but it's believed to be incomplete. Notably, it doesn't mention the Boltons, who are believed to be in episode 5.01, and Arya. You don't give 25+ chapters and a large story arc to someone who is just a speed bump.

Arya doesn't just randomly kill people, and she would know what Sansa looks like -- the idea that Arya is somehow going to kill Sansa is one of the fan theories that requires overlooking huge amounts of the text regarding the setup (as well as rendering Sansa's character nothing more than a speedbump in Arya's story). GRRM has said that Arya will meet Nymeria again, and Arya's connection to Nymeria continuing is a regular theme in the novels, even though Arya doesn't realize what's happening. GRRM has already said it will be a "bittersweet" ending, and has angrily denied that he is nihilistic, which is the sort of ending you seem to think he has in mind.

People seriously overstate the degree to which GRRM goes against convention. Arya is one of the protagonists, the people set up to play a key role in the Battle for the Dawn. She'll return to Westeros to, among other things, recover her missing wolf. Sansa is Littlefinger's blind spot. That's been quite well established at this point.

I wouldn't, because it's a ludicrous plot idea, and goes against the whole logic of her situation. And she's been foreshadowed to be Littlefinger's downfall, so moving her away from him doesn't make much sense either.

No, Tywin communicated with Walder by letter, as far as we know. Raven-mail.

I believe you mean Quinn. Dianna wasn't available.

Cooper is clearly much younger than Matt Bomer, given the ages he and Blaine were shown to be in flashback.

I thought the Brittany and Santana stuff was cute, and this was a nice sendoff for the characters. The Klaine stuff was ludicrously forced, but then, that's been the case pretty much all the way through. As I only watch the episodes with Santana in them, clear sailing now. Free! Free!

This article about an indie movie called Blue Angel is mainly about the casting of Stanley Tucci, but the word is that there's an offer out to Sophie Turner to be in it. The show has evidently put her in serious dangerous of being typecast as the object of the affections of much older men.

You have to read the fine print: those are just the default rules. You can still petition to be put into other categories, which I expect a show like Jane would be allowed to do. Though I don't think it's likely to be nominated either way. The Emmys have never gone for anything on the WB/UPN/CW.

If you listen to Michelle MacLaren's commmentary on episode 4.04, she evidently considers his performance to be subtle.

Given the way Naya, Heather and Harry all tweeted/Instagrammed about episode 8, etc., it seems like they had no idea they would be in the finale, meaning Murphy et al. must have hit upon the seemingly obvious idea of a big closing number with everyone at the last minute. Yeesh.

RIP Chief Dooley.

So, my theory regarding Aaron: As others have said, Zaz killed his brother Aaron and is now posing as Aaron to re-infiltrate the hotel. My guess is that he's doing this as part of Rose's plan, what with Rose, last episode, declaring that they need to move up their timetable. It's clear from the letter, etc., that Rose was planning to fly the coop for a while, and she may have known that the cops were onto Zaz, so they faked his death to allow him to start fresh and carry out the next phase of their plan, whatever that is.

She can't be said to have wronged them, seeing as Ned was lying to her.

March 9th? Son of a bitch. Anyway, for those who think Jane's character needs more flaws, this episode gave us a prime one: not liking Bon Jovi. "Livin' on a Prayer" is sublime. A lot of shows would have drawn out Rose's secret identity, the disappearance of Emilio, etc., for ages. Not this one.

They parted on fine terms in the show (even in the books, he doesn't think of Bronn all that negatively).

Since Myrcella is heading back to King's Landing in the books, there's no way the show is going to skip having her die when Cersei is actually present, which seems the likely outcome in the source material. As to the latter, the relationship with Grey Worm gives the two of them screentime and some character development. It really doesn't require any other explanation -- the writers try to give all the minor castmembers a scene or two every year.

Bronn's seeming being set up to continue his rise through the ranks (GRRM commented as much), and the showrunners clearly love the character. I see no reason to think they'd kill him off just to satisfy some notion of a mandatory body count.

Walder isn't in this season. I'd be pretty sure he's just talking about minor characters like Trant. No way the show would kill off somebody like Bronn.

I doubt it. She explains why she put Dany on the list in the interview itself -- because the dragons are powerful and they're not on Sansa's team. Doesn't really require advance knowledge of the storyline to know that (unless you're one of the people who prefers to imagine all the "good" characters are on the same team, which is often the case with casual viewers, I find). Though assuming she remains involved in the political storylines in the south, Dany's (eventual) arrival will presumably have some impact on Sansa's story at some point.

Most contrived moment: Paige voluntarily going in to pick up her brother's laundry. No sibling has ever done that without being ordered to do so.

As far as changing Blaine's age, I agree that by that point in the character's "development" it didn't really change anything. Making him younger than Kurt was absurdly silly considering where he'd started, but the damage to the original character was already done when they completely undercut his being an older mentor-type figure.

Being sad at the end of a long-time job where you work with the same people regularly would be considered a pretty common human emotion. Actors cry at the end of shows all the time.