The battle for Castle Black in Sunday's episode was by far the most promising episode this season, at least for not breaking your heart.

Jon Snow didn't die. Sam didn't die. At least the Night's Watch men were able to hold their fort and successfully defended Castle Black from Mance Rayder's Wildlings.

We won't hear people screaming, nor see them pulling their hair, cursing over social media and shouting on top of their lungs how they hate George R. R. Martin and this TV series (yet they still continue to watch it).

The episode prior last night was so depressing to a majority of the series' audiences you could hear all of them screaming from their living rooms to all four corners of King's Landing. The only hope of getting sweet (but imperfect) justice against the Lannisters - Prince Oberyn Martell - was quashed to death with his eyes gouged out and brain splattered over the floor in one of the most shocking scenes of the show yet. The Lannisters, who are guiltier than the word guilty, still remain unscathed.

Obviously, George R.R. Martin is a master of making people go crazy aside from the fact that he's the worst wedding planner in Westeros (and the entire universe).

Last night, The Battle of Castle Black, which is the first in the series where the entire episode was focused on defending Castle Black and nothing else, was such a breath of fresh air. Well, there's nothing fresh about decapitated heads and giants and mammoths. But the episode kept audiences (at least yours truly) hanging on to their seats guessing whether Jon or Sam would survive the Wildlings onslaught.

After last night, what's next? The season's finale, of course. Will there be more deaths? Will the bad guys triumph as they usually seem to do in this series? Who knows? Only the directors, writers and cast know.

Obviously, the pinnacle of this season's finale is the father and son showdown between Tyrion and Tywin. Tyrion's champion for the trial by combat forgot two things: (1) second spear thrust for good measure and (2) wear a combat helmet. The end result, as they say, is what it is. (Watch out: Spolier Alert)

If you've read the book, it wouldn't surprise you much to know that the Lannister Patriarch will die in the hands of the Imp.

Tyrion will now flee Westeros for having killed two family members, which is anathema to Lannister-lore.

Back to North of the Wall, an odd presence will arrive in the person of Stannis Baratheon and will help M. Snow and his Night Watch men crush the advancing army of Mance Rayder. Stannis will try to negotiate a settlement with Mance and his Wildlings, but his true intention is to get Jon Snow by his side. He wants Jon to support him when he claims the throne.

As for the other characters such as Daenerys, Bran, Sansa and Arya, we'll leave them to you to see in the final episode. The final episode for Season 4 will be aired on HBO on June 15, 2014 at 9 p.m. ET.