More than likely that was Euron Greyjoy but with them not naming him and their name changing/changing around the whole Iron Islands story we can't be sure.

Stick Girl (the Waif, as she's known in the books) and Jaqen are the same person. Neither are the person Arya rescued from a prison wagon, or who helped Arya escape Harrenhal.

@2 - maybe in last night's episode, but haven't we seen the Waif and the Kindly Man (in Jaquen form) at the same time?

@3 sure - any number of faceless men can assume - and shed - any identity at basically any time; so while one person may be assuming the Waif identity and another Jaqen; there is no reason one individual couldn't later assume each identity in succession, or that they haven't been "swapping" the entire time [although, as they are truly no-ones, it's unnecessary, except as a mental test or to confuse victims]

Maybe it will be explained in the books, but I kept wondering why they could leave Jon's body out in the snow, then bring inside to lay on a table for more than a day, without him turning into a wight. The reason Jon has that burn scar on the inside of his hand (and spent several episodes absently flexing his fingers) is because of the fight he had with one of the reanimated black brothers, with whom they'd done the very same thing. Or maybe the answer is as simple as, "Because plot. Shut up."

@5 they brought his body in pretty quickly, and he was inside the grounds of Castle Black. As I recall (though it's been a while) didn't the wight-brother die outside? Also, did they even show that in the show? They might have just conveniently glossed over that by not showing the brother-wights.

Anyway, my thoughts:

There's a lot of Greyjoy stuff that has been left out up to this point -- my guess is that they left that to season six to add padding so they don't get too far ahead of mister Martin.

When they showed Trystane seemingly engulfed in books in the last episode, I was kind of hoping that they had consolidated his character with that of his now seemingly non-existant brother. Though, the end of that arc was... Rough. I was worried they were going to do that to Tyrion for a second. Actually, that whole Tyrion scene seemed to just be the writers mooning people who read the books.

My guess is that by suddenly showing Leanna in the flesh for the first time in six seasons (in the same episode Jon comes back to life, no less) we might actually get to find out if the theorized Leanna-Jon connection is true.

Also I'm pretty sure that random young blonde guy we saw at the end of the preview for episode three was Young Griff.

That mysterious guy who killed Balon is definitely Euron (aka The Crow's Eye). Balon mentioned the story of him cutting out the tongues of his crew. In the books it was left unclear if Balon was murdered.

The Faceless Men/House of B&W is not in Arya's head. Other characters mention Faceless Men, and they have done concrete things outside of Arya's head. Also, the House of B&W is a well known landmark in Braavos.

There is no way of knowing who the Waif/Jaqen are, or if the exist or are the same person. They are literally no one, that is the point.

@5: You have to be slain by a White Walker or revived by their magic to come back as a wight, according to everything we have seen so far and what the characters seem the believe. The brothers who came back to attack Mormont were killed on the other side of the wall.

Regarding Euron... That confused me a bit simply because I had thought that role would be played by Ian McShane, who is supposed to be joining the cast this season. In fact, the only justifiable reason I could see to deepen the Iron Islands story line on the show was to accommodate his casting. Granted, it's a plot arch that has a lot more momentum in the books, but it seemed to be a part of the story the show was choosing to pare down.

people in the north should try wearing a hat. it's warmer!

other than that: giants, dire wolves, blood magic, dragons, and was that a tree sprite?

could still do with less ramsay bolton. like, no ramsay bolton would be best.

@10: Don't worry, he just fucked over the Freys, the Manderleys already want the Bolton's dead, and the entire North hates him for what they know he has done to Sansa. The Karstarks are only with him because he opposed Robb.

Without the steady hand of his father, he is doomed. It is just a ticking clock now, and deep down the probably knows it, judging by his facial expressions.

I got the subjective impression -- an impression I am not nearly a serious enough geek to spend time trying to confirm -- that the first two episodes of this season were broken up into a bigger number of shorter, unconnected vignettes than previous episodes were. I'm guessing this was done to placate viewers who complain that they forget who everyone is during the long wait between seasons. Fair enough on that account, but I found that I didn't get as emotionally invested in the characters as before, and I have a hunch it's because of the shorter segments. The difference was palpable, even when something momentous.

Apart from that, I'm not going to do too much nitpicking. Benioff and Weiss have dramatically more stringent time, budget, and logistical constraints than Martin does, and I'm guessing that the near-complete rewrite (or prospectively radical abridgment?) of the whole Dornish subplot was a result of that. (I'm being magnanimous, here. I quite enjoyed the Dornish stuff in the books. It was a lot more nuanced than the series is, and it was kind of like taking a vacation in Moorish Spain, away from the Normans and the Vikings and those smug Swiss assholes up in the Vale.) Yeah, it's "unclear" in the books whether Euron Crow's Eye killed Balon Greyjoy, but the fact that he publicly showed up in the Iron Islands the day after Balon's unwitnessed death after an absence of years, intent on claiming the Seastone Chair, was awfully suspicious. And yes, the House of B&W is real. I understand that the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, owners of the A&W Root Beer brand outside of Canada, is contemplating a trademark-dilution action against it. In the books, Arya trains with the Kindly Man and the Waif, not with anyone who seems like he might be whoever Jaqen H'ghar actually is. But it's nice for Arya and viewers alike to see a familiar face. (I think viewers kind of needed some sort of father/big-brother-substitute continuity in Arya's life, especially since Syrio Forel seems not to have magically escaped his off-camera death at the hands of Meryn Trant. Book readers get to spend a lot more time in Arya's skin than viewers do and as a result may not need her to have that external trapping of emotional support in order to sense that she's okay.) I'm not happy to see Jaime Lannister possibly backsliding into his allegiance to Cersei when he had been evolving into an increasingly decent human being. Finally, I enjoyed seeing Theon Greyjoy begin his recovery from reekdom, and I'm thinking Yara Greyjoy has a better head on her shoulders (and a better heart in her chest) than any of the other Ironborn we've seen so far.

Anyway, although I really hope Benioff and Weiss don't continue with the short-vignette approach and give us more time to actually connect with the characters, I'm reasonably happy with the way things are going. It's still fun and it's still entertaining. And they didn't make us watch when the hounds fed on Myranda's corpse or savaged Walda Frey and her newborn son. Bonus points for taste.

Edit to above: "when something momentous happened." Bugger all.