There are indeed dragons on the show, and some other magical stuff. But I'd say maybe 80-90% of the show is about complex plot twists, emotional roller coasters, and character relationships in a medieval world.
Except for the one giant in this last episode, it felt a lot like some of the epic battles in Braveheart - just brutal medieval warfare.
In the past, their big shocker episodes were the next-to-last episodes of the season, and the 10th episode was where they set up the next season. They really haven't done that this year or last, so I'm guessing there will be a shocker/cliffhanger next week.
They seem to be in a rush to wrap it up, looking forward to seeing how it goes. The books have been great reads and the show has up till this year, done the books justice. I think some of that has been lost but then again it seems like the story line got lost for awhile.
The books far far out-do the tv show. That said, I've never missed one of the tv show episodes, I just hope that fat lazy commie George RR martin Finishes his series before he croaks :-D