I can't stand fantasy crap either, but this show/books are a bit different. I watch it religiously.
.... At least it ain't another zombie show. Or some lame assed vampire show where they have issues with their sexual orientation.
After all that I heard from my book reading friends I was really expecting the Royal Wedding to close out the season, but I guess they're leaving it to the beginning of next season so we have a healthy 9 episodes to deal with it.
I really like how the creator of the books put it when it was asked why and how he feels about killing some of the characters. His answer was "if you are going to write a story about war, death and intrigue and all that you have to establish to your readers that you are playing for real. That these people are in actual danger". I probably butchered that quote a bit but I still think it is one of the greatest things about GoT. It is just like he said. In almost all other series there is no sense of danger, risk or loss.