Game of Thrones Holds One Door, Opens Big Ones

Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones—the season's fifth—was appropriately titled "The Door." And while one door was held tight for a good long while, others were opened. Here's the best of the analysis and speculation to follow (if you're looking for a straight forward episode recap, try this):

• The White Walkers' origins were finally explained. Time rounds up "everything" we know about the White Walkers. In this case, "everything" is 10 facts.
• At Vanity Fair, Joanna Robinson writes that "though the show hasn’t necessarily done a great job of explaining this, the Wall is also chock full of magic." In Robinson's view, the White Walker-related events of the episode also "explained how the White Walkers could take Westeros." Read her "Bran the Destroyer" theory here.

• In the wake of the episode, Zack Beauchamp at Vox analyzes Bran's powers related to his ability to affect the past, and then takes a leap from there: Based on the new developments, some "crazy fan theories could be true." Beauchamp outlines two now-potentially-plausible ones.
• The New York Times observes a fascinating and "uncanny" similarity between actions taken by Meera and Jon Snow. (Bonus: It has a "fun fact" about the episode's director.)
• The AV Club observes two substantial historical revelations beyond the White Walkers' origins: the origins of the first Faceless Men, and a more detailed look at the Ironborn's "Drowned God thing."
• Mashable looks at how the Internet reacted to the episode's huge RIP moment.

(More Game of Thrones stories.)