I had never watched this before. Heard the hype but never bit. Then I heard and saw all the raving over episode 9 of season 3 and decided to watch it from scratch and yes, it is worthy of the hype.
As for E9S3, I knew there would be a big ending and I had an idea that it would be a pretty important or tragic death. I never for the life of me expected to see the House of Stark and the entire northern army be shattered in one foul swoop though.
The Stark's are too noble for this messy business. Can't see anyone dealing with what may arrive from across the Narrow Sea though. A sizeable army and 3 potentially adult dragons? Forget about it.