I agree with your ranking of The Drowned Giant. Weirdly, if it had some moral tying it all together, I think it could've been a great episode, but without context it does just come off as pretentious
Close to top 5 for sure. Gorgeous episode that I wouldn't blame anyone if they had it as their number 1. It just didn't leave as much as an impression as my top 5, since the story is pretty simple and straight forward.
Just a few comments, I respect your opinions and agree with almost all of them. But I think you definitely failed to see the beauty in fish night. It’s definitely not a waste of time.