Some late criticism (and praise) of Season 6

Hello!  I'm new to the board, and I thought I'd post some of my thoughts on season 6.  Overall I liked it a lot -- the performances were uniformly amazing.  But I thought there were some writing problems, and missed opportunities, particularly with the North storyline. 

I was disappointed that there was no Northern conspiracy, and that the Umbers were exactly what they appeared to be in the show -- betrayers of the Starks, and content to work with Ramsay.  I'm really disappointed that Ramsay lost because of bad luck and not bad strategy. No one would want to work with a psychotic mess like Ramsay for the long term, and they would jump at the chance to serve someone reasonable like Jon (except for maybe the Karstarks) or Rickon.

But that's only part of it -- I think there's a much larger theme for the show that this storyline missed: One of the great themes of both the show and the books is that bad leaders are brought down by their own flaws.  Even Tywin failed to honor and respect his family, and it ultimately bit him in the ass, fatally. If Tywin had been decent to Tyrion, he would have been the ultimate victor easily. Ramsay is far more flawed of a leader than Tywin -- few men would trust that they could be safe with him as a long-term ruler. Everyone would be plotting behind his back, and at least some of them would jump at the chance to serve someone else with a claim.  There really should have been consequences to the random cruelty and bloodlust he displayed -- betrayal would be much more likely, and his men would be much less loyal. Considering the theme of the show and the books, and how poor leaders have usually been brought down by their own mistakes, it was a disappointment that this didn't happen to Ramsay as well. 

And this could have been done with minor tweaks to the story.  The Umbers could have been plotting to turn in the middle of the battle, or save Rickon (who served no purpose in the story, sadly).  When Ramsay ordered the archers fire into his own men, the others waiting could have run off, leaving his flank undefended.  Or a million other permutations.  Instead, Ramsay just has some bad luck (and maybe a bit of bad strategy for not having scouts that would have seen the Vale coming).  It should have been his own flaws that brought him down -- that has been the downfall of every ruler defeated so far -- Stannis's stubborness and inflexibility; Ned's trusting nature; Robb's betrayal of his oath to the Freys; Robert's drunkenness and lack of discipline; and more.  Ramsay should have been brought down by being a psychotic monster, and men usually won't follow a psychotic monster for long. 

I still love the show, and the performances were all magnificent, and I eagerly await the next season (and the next book!).