re: Maester Aemon has passed. His watch has ended

I read the books after Season 3, and saw that season 1 was very true to the first book. It goes into much greater detail about Aemon and the unlikely succession that led to him being offered the throne, but it was no less dramatic, even when I knew who he was ahead of time.

That scene is a real tour de force acting performance, though. He's a blind, frail old man but you can tell there is definitely some Targaryen still left in him. I could watch it over and over again.