The writing in general has fallen off since the start of season 5, when the show began to outpace the books. The show writers just aren't on Martin's level, obviously. There used to be a poetry about the way the storylines aligned with one another along thematic lines that gave each episode weight and unity, but now everyone is so far apart from one another that episodes often feel like a series of check ins. The season opener in particular was just a bunch of check ins strung together that served to catch viewers up with the general goings-on of the GoT universe without moving the plot forward.
It's still fun drama, certainly, and the direction of last night's episode was fantastic, but there are more plot holes than ever and so much fan service. No One was perhaps the first Game of Thrones episode where I've felt like I was watching just another television show. That fucking terminator chase through the streets with Arya.
I think the show is on the verge of permanently turning into something very soapy and silly, but ultimately more fun than what they've had on offer for the past two seasons. There's no need to buy time anymore. We're in for a wild and potentially very entertaining season 7, with next week likely serving as a good lead in for that.
And despite all of those criticisms, let it be said that I love seasons 1-4 of GoT and consider them to be a necessary step forward for television from a production standpoint.