I was half expecting the big man to wipe them all out with the gate. The more I think about it, it was a really anti-GoT episode. They even gave Jon Snow a nice couple seconds to mourn his deceased beloved, mid battle. I was squirming with anticipation of someone sticking a dagger in his tearful eye at any minute. But no, he loses the girl (who was pretty much relegated this season), and all the main good guys survive (Unless the slightly more developed Brothers of the Watch were meant to carry more emotional weight... possibly a failure on my part to give a fuck about Pyp and Co.). There's nothing there going forward that really changes much. The audience is fully aware that the wall is a shite defence and that something else was going to have to happen to save the day.