There is always a period of denial after a season of Game of Thrones ends. I go through the stages of grief simply because I know I’m going to have to wait almost an entire calendar year for it to return. It was similar to how I felt about Breaking Bad when it was on.

And here’s the thing – Game of Thrones is allegedly down the tail end of its run. If you listen to the show runners, we’re basically in the home stretch whereas we could potentially only get a meager seven episodes followed by the final six a year later. I hope it doesn’t break down that way but this season has led me to believe that will be the case because the storyline jumped light years forward this year.

The season finale Winds of Winter was one of the very best in the series. The biggest news of all? Winter has finally come! After five seasons of promises that Winter was coming, it finally came. And what did it bring with it? Lots and lots of women in positions of power. You remember the old expression about hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? This was very evident in this season finale and in case you ever doubted the fact that women are the central figures in the GoT universe, this particular episode and season, for that matter, was a prime example of this. Every protagonist in this episode was essentially a woman.

It all started with Cersei finally getting her ultimate revenge against, well, everyone who basically ever wronged her. The High Septon? Check. The Tyrell’s – including Margaery and her father? Check. Grand Maester Pycelle? Check. Lancel Lannister? Big time. The entire scene unfolded seemingly in slow motion with Cersei casually sipping on wine while the trial of Loras Tyrell took place and Loras confessed to all his crimes. You knew that she was happily awaiting it all to unfold, especially as Zombie Mountain went to prevent her son, King Tommen, from leaving his quarters to attend the trial.

Game of Thrones has single-handedly featured some of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever witnessed on television, mostly involving children. The little birds stabbing the Grand Maester repeatedly was one in a long-line of them, including Stannis burning his daughter alive and Jon Snow stabbed by his once trusted friend Olly and then eventually subsequently hanging him. We all know it’s a brutal, medieval-style world but there’s something about kids enacting such horrific violence that just sticks with you.

Regardless, we now know what all that wildfire was for…and damn if it didn’t take out quite a few innocent people in the blast area. Though for whatever reason I found myself kind of happy for Cersei. I’m not sure how that happened – maybe it was the walk of shame last year – maybe it was the horrid treatment she received at the hands of Unella, the torturous septa who kept telling Cersei to confess. Though as usual with any of Cersei’s best laid plans, this one went awry in the fact that her lone remaining child, King Tommen, decided that he’d had enough of his mother, enough of life, enough of seeing horrible things that he essentially threw himself out the window to his death, not unironically in a similar way to how Jaime Lannister attempted to permanently silence Bran Stark in the very first episode of the series. Tommen was much more effective though and the second of Cersei’s children who would-be-king was the last affirmation of a witch’s promise to Cersei in a much earlier episode.

The by-product of all of this is that Cersei winds up on the Iron Throne, setting up a Season 7 showdown between the two most powerful women throughout the series. Daenarys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister are headed for the final smackdown.

And here’s the thing. Even though people have speculated that Jon Snow could potentially wind up having a pivotal role in helping Dany take “what is rightfully hers,” the truth is that this particular episode left me feeling that Jon Targaryen, um, Snow, isn’t long for this world. Perhaps it’s post-traumatic stress from seeing Robb named “King of the North” in almost an identical scene seasons ago, but when the dramatic scene of all the Northern Houses declared Jon the new King of the North, largely thanks to Lady Mormont (something tells me she is destined to play a larger role before all is said and done), I thought, “Oh crap, Jon is heading down the same path Robb did, especially because Littlefinger is in the back of the room clearly unhappy with both Sansa’s rejection of him and the fact that Snow stands between all he’s ever wanted, that being the Iron Throne.

My guess is that Littlefinger will be the source of Snow’s inevitable downfall, probably with Sansa’s help because remember, this series is all about powerful women above all. Every time you think a dudebro is going to rise, they fall. Ned = dead. Robb = throat slit. Robert = boared. Tywin = crossbowed while crapping. Renly = dead in bed. Stannis = beheaded by Brienne. Ramsay = eaten by dogs. Even Jaime = hand taken and clearly backseat to his sister. Hell Jon Snow was killed before he wasn’t. The only one you could argue is Tyrion and he stands by Dany and is now her hand, but he’s essentially a glorified advisor. Dany jettisons Daario. She’s jettisoned Jorah Mormont. She ultimately doesn’t need anyone to claim her throne.

Who are the most powerful chess pieces left in the game? Dany. Cersei. Sansa. Arya. Yes, Jon too but he seems strikingly dumb and complacent now compared to everyone else. Littlefinger is it. Varys is left too but he doesn’t have his little bird network any more. Even Yara sits in a more powerful position than her brother Theon.

Sansa has evolved more greatly than any other character on the show. Her look to Littlefinger at the end of the “King of the North” chant for Jon is one that’s open to interpretation. You could read it as, “Oh crap, Petyr is going to be an issue now.” OR you could read it as, “I’m a little jealous that this bastard Jon Snow is now being anointed as the King of the North because I’m pureblood and Littlefinger is right that I could potentially be queen of the realm.” I lean towards that latter because remember, Sansa has seen the worst of the worst on the show. She’s been humiliated (Joffrey and Cersei), tortured (Ramsay), betrothed to multiple Lannisters, witnessed her father’s beheading and just be privy to almost every awful thing on the show. Yet this mousy, unassuming girl who was obsessed with all things girly and romantic notions at the beginning of the show, experienced all these things and finally came out stronger, plotting and hardened in the end. Plus she has Brienne sworn to protect her – and let’s face it, that fucking counts for something since Brienne is the most badass character on the show (she took down the Hound FFS).

I can’t let this GoT discussion continue without mentioning the disgustingly satisfying death of Walder Frey. Man, Arya Stark has no fucks to give. When she revealed herself to Walder and the fact that she baked all of his boys into the pie he was enjoying, it suddenly clicked why that woman was SO into Jaime Lannister. Arya was measuring up the Kingslayer as likely one of her final targets, and wasn’t sizing him up for some fun times like Bronn suggested. The scene in which Arya cut Walder’s throat was disturbing yet it also made me want to cheer because anyone who ever liked or loved Robb and Catelyn Stark finally achieved the ultimate closure. And it was the ruthless Arya who did it. She ACTUALLY COOKED HUMANS INTO A PIE AND FED IT TO THE GUY BEFORE SLICING HIS THROAT. I would officially say that Arya has entered Crazytown on a show that has been full of crazies. Yet she’s our crazy and someone who you’re inevitably looking forward to hopefully, maybe getting her ultimate vengeance on Cersei above all else. Two other notes: the Hound must cross paths with Arya again over the final season. It’s mandatory. Second, as much as the Sansa hugging Jon Snow moment this season moved me, I’m fully hoping that Arya can eventually get a similar reunion with Jon. If you recall, the two always had a deep connection and they also remain my two favorite characters on GoT (in spite of Jon appearing fated for Robb’s same destiny as King of the North).

Season six of Game of Thrones elevated the series into one of the best ever on TV. They killed both Ramsay Bolton AND Walder Frey in subsequent weeks. Both in rewarding, satisfying fashion that made me openly wonder if I have a little too much darkness in me because I drew such pleasure from it. I imagine there will be a few media outlets this week that will write stories about how the series has not stayed true to what made it special initially. You know, how the series was willing to eschew traditional expectations about heroes and villains – villains often won and the typical heroes you’d expect were brutally slain, beheaded or tortured. The talk will be about tropes becoming more familiar and good eventually triumphing over evil.

Yet the X factor in all of this is the White Walkers who have been a looming threat since the very opening. Maybe ultimately, the Game of Thrones will be shown to be pointless. Dany will ride into Westeros, take her place upon the Iron Throne after killing Cersei and Jaime, only to have the White Walkers destroy the North, kill all the Starks and Northerners and march on to take out Westeros as well.

The point being that the series is still largely open to having that evil winning in the end because we’ve all been so focused on these petty human squabbles and chess moves that the biggest threat of all is so much bigger than any of these insignificant interactions. If the series gives us moments to experience such delight – Ramsay being dog food and Walder Frey eating his children before having his throat slit – then don’t be the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons (“Game of Thrones was SOOO much better when they weren’t placating the masses.”) – let yourself revel in a bit of enjoyment for a few moments because I’m fairly sure that we haven’t seen the last of the twists. Not by a longshot.

[POSTSCRIPT EDIT: I realized that I meant to add in more about Cersei and her big moment of vengeance last night with Unella. The Queen had a rare moment of clarity and honesty during her “wine boarding” of the septa. She basically admitted that most of what she did was because it felt good. She was expressing the unquestioned id and purpose of her life. She bared her self fully naked and honest in a way well beyond the walk of shame that she did last year and did it in full and complete measured control. And it’s rather amazing that I felt happy for her given that Cersei used to one of my most loathed characters on the show. She truly kept to the family word about the Lannisters always paying their debts because she owed the Septa, BIG TIME.

All this being said, I still can’t wait for Arya to make her eat a pot of Jaime stew before slicing and dicing her. If not, then Dany enjoying a nice Kingslayer BBQ. So even though Cersei was originally reaping exactly what she sowed with the High Septon, it made me realize that my feelings can change about particularly dislikable characters. Though never Ramsay or Walder. Those d-bags got exactly what they deserved. Is it April 2017 yet?]