With all the squalling from women's groups about the "rape" scenes, I think the sacrifice in episode 9 is far and beyond the most heart-rending scene. It fit into the story perfectly, the first time we met Stannis and the Red Witch in season 2, they were burning people alive. Westeros is a brutal place, without elements like this, the red wedding, and the brutal treatment of people, it would slip into Disney mode. GoT does not pull any punches.

That was offest by the glorious coliseum scene. That was a helluva show, it rivaled Hollywood for staging and effects. That Clark can emote more with one eyebrow than a lot of A-list actors. Very thrilling. Looking forward to next week's finale!

Yes, I must admit, this weeks episode twisted the dagger much more than the rape of Sansa. You knew it was coming but you still hoped that either Stannis would change his mind or the Onion Knight would ride in and save her. But no, and it's this brutality which sets GoT aside from other series of its kind. It's not afraid to throw heavy punches. Sure it gets a bit cliché in places, but when it lands one, it hits hard.
The coliseum scene was indeed glorious, although one does have to wonder now that the Queen of Dragons has flown off like the kid from Neverending Story on the Luck Dragon...errr, what about the poor sods she left in the coliseum with a couple of hundred Sons of the Harpy surrounding them.... :dead:
Still, I suspect that the dragons are going to get a feast, because if I were Dany I'd be sorely tempted to toast every single 'master' in that city. Or perhaps go full Targeryan and just toast the entire city... :haha:

Somehow even before the big scene, I found myself thinking of Iphigenia.

I don't think she'll get the chop, as Jim has alluded to, she will have to do her walk of shame which means that Jim gets to see naked Lena Headey. Or at least that's how it is in the book...whether they'll keep that in the TV show is another matter. There's been a lot of divergences from the book this season, which admittedly makes sense since they've now run out of books to adapt from and so in order to set up the cliff-hangers for next season they have to make the alterations in this one.

Kevan Lannister (Tywins brother) is going to arrive at Kings Landing and start trying to recover the cluster fornication that is the current Lannister state of affairs, this will lead to a more stable Lannister base to take on Stannis next season. Cersei is going to find herself having to work around Kevan in order to further her goals, just as she had to with her father.
Stannis will win the siege of Winterfell, but his victory won't be shown in next weeks episode, it will end on a cliffhanger. Ser Davos is going to face a major crisis of loyalty, but I'd wager that he'll stay loyal to Stannis but might try to kill Melisandre, he will fail, of course, and then he'll probably be banished or exiled, since Stannis will have gone pretty much over the edge.
Sansa will get Winterfell, but there won't be much of it left, and since winter is here there will be mass famines and trouble with the wildlings that Jon Snow has let through the wall. She will find herself having to deal with the wildling problems, rebuilding Winterfell and having to outwit Littlefinger who will be trying to claim the north for his own. Perhaps through trying to marry her to Robin Arryn in order to unite the North and the Vale into one power bloc.
With any luck Ramsay Bolton will die in a particularly horrible way during the Siege of Winterfell, perferably by Sansa and 'Reek's hands, I dare say that Brienne will play some part in the safe-guarding of Sansa in the final hours, but she will not be able to stay around when Stannis forces take Winterfell, she did serve Renly after all.
Ayra is going to kill Trant, most likely by posing as a prostitute and then poisoning him with the stuff meant for the thin man. Jaqen will punish her for disobeying orders, but will be grudgingly impressed by her methods and her resolve.

That's my take on it anyway, I'm not sure quite where they're going to take Danys storyline, only that I'm fairly sure that Daario is involved with the Harpys in some manner. I'm also not sure how the Tyrell situation is going to be resolved, likewise with the Militant Faith. But I can see the next seasons major conflicts being between Stannis of the North and the Lannister alliance of the South, while the Zombeh armies of the Far north prepare for their assault on the wall.

I could be wrong, in fact I'm sure that I will be wrong on quite a few of those, and in many instances I hope that I am wrong and that they'll throw some unexpected twists in the tale. They have done so far. But we'll see.