Geez Bran really ****ed that up didn't he. Bran and Meera should really be dead as disco, they could barely get Bran to the tree wizard when they had Hodor and Jojen, and winter would have worsened since then - but I assume at least Bran makes it through to the end game so will be interesting to see how they get saved.
Hodor..

. Amazing by GRRM to have that laid out ahead of time.
Sansa was boss that ep, used to be my most hated character now one of my faves.
People with unique powers, dragons, green people, etc are natural features in this show's world. Timeloops are a whole different 'science' and bring the entire show's universe into question. Bran actually changing something about the past would've made more sense than the circular Hodor and Bran were always destined to do this/chicken or egg? version they went with.
GRRM is that you?? If so hurry the **** up
But seriously who are you to say what is a 'natural feature' of the show's world? No-one knows what the plan is except the author, and seeing as it looks like he had this planned out for 20 odd years it most definitely is part of the show's lore. Also strongly disagree that Bran changing something in the past would've made more sense - every time a story goes that route and introduces alternate timelines etc, it gets messy. Every time. The only way time travel stuff kinda works at all (for me anyway) is the 'whatever happened, happened' approach.
To offer the fleet themselves.
What would the Ironborn get out of it though? Can't see Theon marrying Dany lol. Maybe offer the ships in exchange for a choice slice of Westeros once she conquers it? Yeah guess I could see that.
Those other things have an evolutionary grounding in the mythos. Willis turning into Hodor before Bran travels back is a logical fallacy. It means time is circular and my biggest issue with it is its as crappy a plot device as it was all a dream.
Disagree, doesn't mean that at all. And Willas didn't turn into Hodor before Bran travels back, he turns into Hodor precisely because Bran travels back. All it means is that early in Willas' linear life, he got a glimpse/sense/whatever of the future and his own death, and it kinda broke him. You could argue fate vs free will but I don't see the circular nature of it.
Linear would be Willis lives his normal life, Bran travels back in time and changes the past and then Willis turns into Hodor in the present or it splits off a different timeline. Bran needs Hodor to get to the tree > creates Hodor because he's at the tree. If Bran executed it like it appeared we either aren't witnessing the original timeline like the Matrix or a circular Paradox.
Maybe its just me, but that sounds a hell of a lot messier than what they went with. If the general thought is time loops don't belong in this show then I'd say alternate time lines etc. really, really don't belong in this show.
Boy isn't that an understatement. Reckon they would have changed their minds if someone sneezed.