The article argues that Season 6 was arguably Game of Thrones’ strongest season, despite being the first largely made without direct guidance from George R.R. Martin’s completed novels. It suggests the season benefited from focusing on the established main cast and maintaining a tighter narrative, whereas later seasons struggled after moving further beyond the available source material.

Season 6 continued choices made in Season 5, including reducing or omitting storylines and characters from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. The article says simplifying plots involving Dorne and the Iron Islands, and excluding Young Griff, gave greater momentum to central characters and allowed several supporting stories to reach conclusions, although these adaptations remained controversial among book fans.