Sir Ackbar of the Night's Watch watches Season 7

That's right. This is one of the many reasons I think the author has remained an immature prankster. Jon's death happens near the end of the last book of the series to date and he could have just been seriously wounded instead.

A lot of praise has been given to this writing style for the sense of real stakes it gives and this is justified. Anyone can fail at any time and there is little time spent with characters considering their actions. The authors do not force their own message onto their audience, which in turn enhances the quality of the work by leaving interpretation where it belongs. The best works or art or literature are those which the audience can spend time thinking about rather than having to accept a pre-digested explanation.

Still, we'd be fools not to see that this is just an excuse to shock. What I have learned, or rather seen confirmed when analysing this story is that its true worth is in my own ability to draw conclusions out of it. It is very much like observing history, which is not the work of an author with an intent, and drawing lessons from it. 

This episode was a terrible waste of time. No news on my queen at all, after the terrible trick her own son pulled on her.
I've never been so worried in my life…

Twitted this a few days before the finale:

If you pay attention to the scenes in the throne room in Ep. 6 and 8, you'll notice that Kevan and Pycelle are always near Tommen. There was another scene in which Cersei found him talking to Pycelle alone and Cersei herself asked Kevan if he had given up on his son, Lancel. Whatever the king is thinking, it seems he is not thinking it alone.

Up to Ep. 6, it was actually well played. Margaery was free, the High Sparrow happy, the people of the city were cheering him instead of calling him a bastard and he even took the whole thing as an excuse to free Jaime from his oath as a Kingsguard and put him in command of the Lannister army. At this point, he had much better cards than ever before. 
Banning trial by combat, on the other hand, completely changes Cersei's situation. He'd better have a good plan because there is no certainty that any agreements he might have with the High Sparrow can be trusted.

All this has been left unsaid so far, implied only. This is not new. Remember Cersei's looks at others in the throne room in S1E08, which told you she was directing a rehearsed piece. No one ever showed or told that Joffrey and Sansa were acting from her script but the directing of the scene made it visible. Here, keep watching Cersei:




There was no connection between Margaery and the others, so she is acting on her own. We saw her talk in circles around Tommen. They are not "working" together and she likely makes her own arrangements. Her other scenes were with the High Sparrow, with the exception of that one in which she tells her grandmother to go to safety under that septa's watch and one in which she speaks to her brother in his cell.

So there is a team Tommen, Kevan, Pycelle on one side and a Margaery plot on the other.
How much Tommen is playing the High Sparrow or falling under his spell is left open.

Do they want Cersei gone? I'm not sure. Margaery wants to free her brother and herself. Kevan wants his son back from the fanatics, I suppose. Pycelle advises duplicity in order to avoid more trouble and it seems Cersei isn't anyone's first priority in this game but no one appears to value her very much at this point. Does Tommen have a plan to save his mother? The High Sparrow made no promises. He wanted to see her for some unexplained purpose and she had Ser Gregor kill one of his men. The lioness is trapped in her cage. 

Tommen's motivation will forever remain unexplained. There were no hints to anything else than what he publicly said.
We have to believe he was sincere after all and suspect the High Sparrow promised him an outcome he could judge acceptable.
Like Joffrey, he always lacked a father and found one in the High Sparrow. He also had a predisposition to piety. Asked by Tywin what made a good king in S4E03, his first answer had been "holiness". Avoidance of conflict appears to have been a key character trait of his, likely in reaction to his mother's and brother's personality.

Cersei is growing desensitised to the madness around her. She's been beaten down from the start of the series, you would expect that to happen. She's been expecting the worst all along too. That "prophecy" she told Jaime about after he brought back Myrcella has been on her mind since the beginning of S5: "No, I knew this would happen. The witch told me years ago. She promised me three children and she promised me they'd die. And gold their shrouds. Everything she said came true. You couldn't have stopped it."

Yes, Jon Snow is some more stupid dragon spawn. No wonder he's even worse than the other Starks…

NOTHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5