Good summary. I have tried to avoid the downpour of posts and discussions on the series. People can go really crazy about theories, speculations and criticism on whether or not a certain outcome was good or not.
I think that from the very beginning the author of the story showed us that the story, despite its fantastic framework, is very realistic in as much as it shows us how cruel life can be and how the characters we like so much and who we consider more worthy of admiration can die just as easily as any of us. Evil sometimes prevail (in some form or another and characters are not purely good or purely evil).
I try not to fuss too much about the development of the series. I would not be schock at any outcome the writers end up giving us.
It has been so far a wild ride. One of the best, if not the best production in movie making history, better than the Lord of the Rings (my humble opinion).