HBO - Game of Thrones SPOILERS INSIDE. you have been warned

[OrsunVZ]

She lies, she is making plans behind peoples backs, she very well could be usurping Jon, she is certainly way more hard.

I think she is a product of her environment. She lived with shit for so long that now she has become the same shit herself. Isn't that GRRM all the way?

Jon's suffers from the same honor flaws as Rob and Ned (as seen in his poor leaderhip) and Sansa's lies pretty much line up the flaws of both methods right next to each other.

B&W don't write as well as GRRM but I think this is there attempt to do so. The only difference between them and GRRM is he would kill Jon for such behavior.

No doubt she's hardened. That's plain to see, it's logical, and it feels right. It's the smirk that irks. That said, there was a scene in next week's preview of Jon confronting her on presumably the withholding of information, and the lack of trust. Just like Dany having Tyrion's council as he recounts the Mad King, and drawing the parallels between him and his daughter, this may be one of those moments where the fine line between tyrant, and just-ruler is being defined. There is an undercurrent speaking to this throughout the series. So depending on what they do next week, my issues with the episode could somewhat be dealt with.

I think you're on to something though. The juxtaposition of Sansa and Jon, exposes the two of them with their flaws and perhaps this becomes a transformative moment for both of them moving forward. EDIT: and perhaps this is the kind of thing that both of them need to come to grips with in order to deal with the army of the dead and have any hope of surviving.

In the end, all of this I'm good with. It's 'how' these themes were presented, much more than 'what' was presented. It just felt very ham-fisted in its delivery. It feels overly contrived. Still, I will rewatch it. And I absolutely think the success of the Hardhome episode is a double-edged sword... there may be something to that. And I should preface the whole statement by saying the series is still the best thing on TV perhaps ever, so my criticisms should be taken in that context.