In order to acquire control of the legendary kingdom of Westeros, nine noble houses fight the war against one another.
Meanwhile, after millennia, a force emerges that threatens the survival of living mankind. We compiled a list of the best Game of Thrones episodes, so enjoy!
“Sons of the Harpy” (Season 5, Episode 4)
The eponymous Meereenese rebellion is introduced in “Sons of the Harpy,” a thematic turning point for the series, and its savagery in the name of its cause is matched by that of the revived Faith Militant back in King’s Landing. Meanwhile, Melisandre and Stannis discuss their theological differences with Jon Snow and impoverished Princess Shireen at the Wall.
For the remainder of the series, fundamentalism and fanaticism were the key issues.
“Valar Morghulis” (Season 2, Episode 10)
An interesting battle sequence happens here. Dany’s magical reunion with Drogo and the baby she lost, Sansa’s happiness at being freed from her engagement to Joffrey, and Theon being knocked unconscious by his own soldiers are three of season two’s biggest feel-good moments, even if they are all sad.
Nothing was made to last, but we’ll take what we can get while we can. Valar dohaeris which translates to “all men must die”
“You Either Win or Die” (Season 1, Episode 7)
An early episode but a good one. “In the game of thrones, you either win or die. “There is no such thing as a middle ground.” So says Cersei Lannister, who also provides the title words for both the episode and the series.
Following the death of her despised husband, King Robert, whom Lord Stark had discovered she had cheated on with her own brother, she proves her point by outwitting Ned. One of the most dramatic scenes in the series is Ned’s lengthy stroll towards the throne chamber.
“God’s and Man’s Laws” (Season 4, Episode 6)
Or, in other words, The People vs. Tyrion Lannister. The imp’s trial is the centerpiece of the film, with actor Peter Dinklage finally able to express his character’s wrath against a society that humiliated him and a family that, despite all he’s done for them all, framed him. Also we can see a little bit of Wildling Ygritte.
“The North Remembers” (Season 2, Episode 1)
The second season premieres with a bang. Following the success of its first season, Game of Thrones began its second season with one of its most uncompromising episodes and the introduction of one of its most uncompromising characters.
As Tyrion settles into his new role as the King’s Hand, his evil royal nephew Joffrey orders the death of all of his “father” King Robert’s scum, even real babies in arms. Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch meet Craster, the wildlings’ incestuous informant.
We also encounter Stannis Baratheon, Westeros’ rightful king, on the island of Dragonstone… At the instigation of Melisandre, his sorcerous consigliere, he burns men to death.
“Kill the Boy” (Season 5, Episode 5)
According to most people the later seasons are better. As the TV program caught up to Martin’s books, it began to stray more from the script. Jorah Mormont joins Tyrion Lannister on a journey through the ruins of Valyria, where they are pursued by disease-ridden Stone Men, and Sansa Stark has a cathartically angry reunion with Theon Greyjoy, the man who betrayed her older brother Robb and, as far as she knew, killed her younger brothers Bran and Rickon.
Some readers were offended by the revisions, while non-purists found it fascinating.
“Blood of My Blood”(Season 6, Episode 6)
Arya refuses to kill a beautiful actress. Sam and Gilly pay a visit to his evil father before stealing his sword and splitting up. On the stairs of the Great Sept., Jaime commands a confrontation with the High Sparrow.
Lord Walder Frey, Dany’s primary dragon Drogon, and the fabulously mean-spirited Lord Walder Frey return after a lengthy absence. But it’s Benjen Stark, who fled beyond the Wall in season one and reappears as an undead guardian for his psychic nephew Bran, who makes the greatest comeback. This episode is essentially a piata loaded with amazing situations. Also we can see lyanna Stark in the next episode which was pretty interesting.
“The Climb” (Season 3, Episode 6)
The title of this episode has two meanings. “Chaos is a ladder… the climb is all there is,” Littlefinger said in one of his notable speeches. (Bran “the Three-Eyed Raven” Stark felt that was a clever remark.) It also alludes to Jon Snow’s nerve-wracking journey up the face of the Wall with the wildlings, among whom he’s gone underground.
The series’ most romantic scene is the kiss he has with Ygritte when they reach the summit, with the sunny vision of the North as their background. You’ll say, “Yeah, I understand it,” when you watch it with the on-set romance and real-life marriage of actresses Rose Leslie and Kit Harington in mind.
“First of His Name” (Season 4, Episode 5)
In this season four mid-season highlight, decency reigns supreme, although for a short while. Cersei, the gentle young King Tommen’s mother, makes peace with numerous foes, from Margaery Tyrell to Oberyn Martell, when he is crowned.
Beyond the Wall, Jon’s raiding party overcomes the cruel Night’s Watch mutineers in Craster’s Keep, which his daughter-wives swiftly burn down, permanently erasing the keep’s misery from the world. A lot of references in this episode can be found in the winds of winter.
“No One” (Season 6, Episode 8)
“No One” reunites Brienne and Jaime for another heartbreaking goodbye, bringing to a close the seasons-long plot thread about how they bring out the best in one another.
Meanwhile, Tommen increases Cersei’s prospects of acquittal by prohibiting combat trials – a startlingly tragic divide between mother and child that paved the way for furious retaliation in King’s Landing. The episode concludes with a fantastic showdown between the Kingslayer and his prisoner Edmure Tully, as well as Daenerys’ surprising return to Meereen.
“Winterfell” (Season 8, Episode 1)
Man, they’re putting the band back together! The long-awaited return of television’s most popular program by all measures reunites a slew of characters, some of whom have been separated since the first or second episodes. Arya and the Hound, Arya and Gendry, Jon and Sam, Dany and… pretty much everyone: It’s an event when fan favorites meet together in person.
Fan service gets a much-needed dose of high-fantasy spectacle and down-and-dirty agony, with key wish-fulfillment moments like Jon and Dany embarking on a dragon ride together and Bran finally seeing Jaime Lannister, the man who crippled him.
“The Harrenhal Ghost” (Season 2, Episode 5)
Arya Stark meets ace assassin Jaqen H’ghar in between heated, cutting confrontations with Tywin Lannister and puppy-lust ogling of Gendry’s sculpted body, as the title implies.
The “shadow baby” who kills Renly Baratheon on Stannis’s behalf, and the warlock Pyat Pree, who creepily presents himself (himself?) to Dany over in Qarth, are both notable characters from the episode. The season’s aesthetic highlights include the stunningly alien frozen vistas north of the Wall.
“The Wolf and the Lion”(Season 1, Episode 5)
The Eyrie, a mountainside fortress, is one of the show’s most beautiful locales. Lady Lysa Arryn, the insane mother, is one of the show’s most bizarre characters.
A street-level brawl between Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister is one of the film’s most widely anticipated battle sequences. And one of the show’s most remarkable non-book additions: a heartfelt chat between Robert and Cersei about how their bad marriage keeps the Seven Kingdoms together. There’s a little bit for everyone in this episode.
“Punishment Walk” (Season 3, Episode 3)
One of the series’ funniest episodes. Granted, that’s not saying much – things around here are really friggin bad! However, Tyrion and Cersei’s musical chairs game during the Small Council meeting, as well as youthful squire Podrick Payne’s surprise talent in the sack, provide laugh-out-loud moments that are both petty and bawdy in turn.
The sudden amputation of Jaime’s hand as a punishment for supporting Brienne (and basically being an arrogant nobleman) is the “holy shit!” moment of this episode.
“Second Sons” (Season 3, Episode 8)
There’s no need for this one to be as amazing as it is, given the famed wedding in the next episode.
However, the arranged marriage of Sansa and Tyrion, Melisandre’s skin-crawling sex ritual against King Robert’s handsome bastard Gendry, Dany’s bare-it-all encounter with her future ally and lover Daario Naharis, and Samwell Tarly’s unlikely defeat of a White Walker make for an incredible cocktail hour before the red reception.
“Stormborn” (Season 7, Episode 2)
This is one of those sampler-plate episodes, like “The Wolf and the Lion” and “Second Sons,” featuring a little bit of everything Game of Thrones does well. Arya, her old companion Hot Pie, and her long-lost direwolf Nymeria all have unexpected and heartwarming reunions.
The first (and, as it turns out, last) meeting of Daenerys’ war council, an all-star lineup comprising some of the show’s most interesting characters, takes place. Sam performs a particularly revolting surgical treatment on greyscale sufferer Jorah Mormont.
Euron Greyjoy and his competing relatives, Yara and Theon, are engaged in a full-fledged naval combat. There’s also a love moment between Missandei and Grey Worm, which is the show’s sweetest, sexiest, and psychologically complicated sex scene all at once.
“The Last of the Starks” (Season 8, Episode 4)
In the early seasons of Game of Thrones, there were typically numerous transitional episodes every season. But, given its length and the brief six-episode season that preceded it, this one seems like the show’s most dramatic transition from point A to point B. It begins with a touching memorial service for those who died in the Battle of Winterfell.
The remainder of the first half is dominated by a wild party, complete with a romantic encounter between Jaime and Brienne that takes their years-long friendship to new heights, only to tumble back down to earth. Dany loses another dragon, this time to Euron Greyjoy’s scorpion bolts; Tyrion and Varys debate if their queen is losing her mind; and eventually, a terrible face-off with Cersei that culminates in the death of Missandei, the show’s conscience along with Davos and Sam.
It is, however, incomplete without the events it transitioned into – and what events they turned out to be, as with all transition episodes.
“Home” (Season 6, Episode 2)
This episode is most known for a single shot, or more accurately, a few seconds: After being assassinated by his own troops the previous season, Jon Snow comes back to life. It’s chock-full of amazing stuff: Theon’s surprisingly touching farewell to Sansa; Tyrion Lannister’s encounter with Dany’s dragons; Ramsay Bolton’s murder of his father and family; Bran Stark’s psychic journey to his father’s childhood in Winterfell; Wun-Wun the giant’s near-single-handed defeat of Jon’s killers; and Euron Greyjoy’s confrontation with his brother Balon on a storm-tossed bridge.
If you were just concerned with whether or not Jon should have returned, you would have missed the forest for the Weirwood trees.
“Winter Is Coming” (Season 1, Episode 1)
Okay, this isn’t one of the most structurally sound episodes on the program. It suffers from the necessity to establish, say, 30 people, 20 location names, and a whole universe of mythology and language, since it was created after a prior pilot was drastically recast and reshot. But here’s the thing: Characters, locations, mythology, and vocabulary are all fantastic.
The season opener set the devastating stakes, both supernatural and personal, that would drive it for the duration by opening with a White Walker onslaught and concluding with Jaime Lannister shoving Bran Stark – the future ruler of Westeros — out the window.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” (Season 4, Episode 7)
Hot-blooded fans may recall Daenerys’ domme-ish demand that her boyfriend Daario strip nude for her viewing pleasure, or Melisandre walking about naked in front of Queen Selyse Baratheon in this episode. Littlefinger’s neurotic wife Lysa Arryn was dumped through the “Moon Door” for attacking Sansa, as anyone with a vindictive streak will remember.
But it’s Arya Stark’s old pal Hot Pie, who, in my opinion, dominates the episode when he advises Brienne and Pod, “You cannot give up on the gravy.” In an all-too-depressing world, he intends it as a culinary suggestion, but it also works as a life philosophy.
“High Sparrow” (Season 5, Episode 3)
This powerful offering in season five is dominated by young passion, ancient grudges, and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Jon Snow murders his insubordinate lieutenant Lord Janos Slynt, the Ned-betraying, baby-killing goon who says, “I’ve always been frightened!” shortly as the sword falls, while Tommen and Margaery consummate their marriage with significant steam (on Tommen’s part, at least).
Of fact, the episode’s title comes from the religious leader, Jonathan Pryce, who plays ISIS with a grandfather’s face.
“The Lion and the Rose” (Season 4, Episode 2)
Purple reigns supreme, purple reigns supreme. The marriage of smirking juvenile psychopath King Joffrey to his not-so-blushing bride Margaery Tyrell comes to an end during the reception, when the crazy monarch is poisoned to death, his face becoming the purple tint that gives the “Purple Wedding” its name.
This is an emotionally charged episode from top to bottom, with Tyrion’s humiliation by his nephew, Sansa’s terror at witnessing her brother Robb’s death publicly ridiculed, and even Cersei’s genuine sadness over her son’s murder.
“And Now His Watch Is Over” (Season 3, Episode 4)
This mid-season climax (a pacing method used regularly on the program) keeps the hits coming like one after another. As the Bastard of Bolton drags him back to his torture chamber, Theon’s odd narrative of escaping imprisonment with the assistance of an anonymous “friend” is exposed for the sick hoax it really is. Due to a Night’s Watch rebellion, both the charming Lord Commander Mormont and his odious friend of convenience Craster meet untimely deaths.
And Daenerys has one of her most remarkable moments up to that time, when she uses a single word to bring down the ruling class of a slave city: “Dracarys.” As the adage goes, “fire and blood.” At the time, it seemed like a decent idea.
“The Dance of the Dragons” (Season 5, Episode 9)
The penultimate episode of a Game of Thrones season is usually the show’s conclusion, although in season five, both the previous episode (“Hardhome”) and the season finale (“The Children”) have a stronger claim on key events.
Still, Daenerys’ last-minute rescue from the Sons of the Harpy by her dragon, which she subsequently mounts for the first time, is one of the most epic images this fiction has ever generated, while Stannis’ human sacrifice of his precious daughter, Shireen, to the Red God is one of the most painful to bear.
“Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things” (Season 1, Episode 4)
In which Game of Thrones discovers its true voice by allowing its characters to converse with one another. The show proves that conversations and storytelling can be among the most riveting parts of the story, as when newly minted Night’s Watch member Samwell Tarly tells Jon Snow the sad story of how his father abused and disowned him, or when Littlefinger reveals to his future protégé how Sandor Clegane got those scars at the hands of his psychotic older brother.
The series returns to this topic in a large manner in the finale, thanks to Tyrion’s pivotal speech on the power of a good narrative to influence history.
“Dragonstone”(Season 7, Episode 1)
The first episode of Game of Thrones’ seventh season is one of the most polished and intriguing debuts in the series’ history. It’s a compelling collage of emotion and sensation, beginning with a cold (as in, revenge is a dish best served) opening scene in which Arya Stark slaughters House Frey, perhaps best illustrated by a later scene in which Arya sits down for a meal with friendly young Lannister soldiers, accepting their fellowship rather than giving in to bloodlust.
There’s a gross-out comedy montage with Sam Tarly emptying bedpans, a dark reminder of the Hound’s criminal background, a Euron Greyjoy act worthy of a pro-wrestling heel, and, most importantly, a long wordless episode in which Daenerys eventually arrives in Westeros before it’s over. “Should we get started?” Yes, absolutely.
“Beyond the Wall” (Season 7, Episode 6)
If you must, rant about the manufactured Arya-Sansa feud, the cleverness of Jon’s “kidnap a zombie and display it to Cersei” scheme, the unpredictability of time, and the ravens’ airspeed velocity.
All we know is that we’ve been waiting seven years for a full-fledged battle between the White Walkers and the dragons — between ice and fire — and this episode does not disappoint. If you’re ready to listen, the spectacle in fantasy art like this speaks for itself.
“The Children” (Season 4, Episode 10)
For both large-scale and personal causes, this was a momentous event. Stannis Baratheon pulls accomplished his greatest feat at the Wall: a surprise rescue of the Night’s Watch. Far to the north, Bran Stark and his comrades make a last-ditch attempt to catch up with the sorcerous Three-Eyed Raven and his superhuman friends, the Children of the Forest, by racing past an army of skeletons (!).
Daenerys binds her dragons in the East. Tyrion kills his father, Tywin, and his ex-girlfriend, Shae, in the South. Brienne beats the Hound in the Riverlands, and Arya leaves him for dead. Almost every plot arc in the season comes to a conclusion with an exclamation point.
“The Mountain and the Viper” (Season 4, Episode 8)
The trial-by-combat grudge match that pitted spear-wielding sensation Oberyn “The Red Viper” Martell against massive killing machine Oberyn “The Red Viper” Martell against massive killing machine Oberyn “The Red Viper” Martell against massive killing machine Oberyn “The Red Viper” Martell against massive killing machine Oberyn “The Red Viper” Martell against massive killing machine Oberyn ” The fate of Tyrion Lannister — and the truth about Lannister’s complicity in war crimes during Robert’s Rebellion — hangs in the balance for Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane.
But, if anything, the duel is even better than it seems. A heart-pounding mix of radically disparate fighting methods and personality types, entwined in many relationships and rivalries, centered by breakthrough guest actor Pedro Pascal, and culminating in the show’s most heinous act of violence? They smashed it in this one.
“The Watchers on the Wall” (Season 4, Episode 9)
Compared to Game of Thrones’ previous major combat episodes, the final confrontation between the Night’s Watch and Mance Rayder’s wildling army suffers somewhat. It lacks “Blackwater’s” originality and evenhanded rooting interest, “Hardhome’s” out-of-nowhere mayhem, “Battle of the Bastards’ tremendously gloomy intensity,” “The Long Night’s” phantasmagoria, and the fire and blood of “The Spoils of War” and, notably, “The Bells.”
But, to be clear, it’s still absolutely incredible. Director Neil Marshall pulls out all the stops in terms of CGI — giants, mammoths, and ice scythes, to name a few — and choreographs the whole thing to perfection. (That enormous whirling shot of Castle Black while two dozen separate combat raged!) The death of Ygritte in Jon Snow’s arms, a la Romeo and Juliet, adds emotional weight to the spectacle.
“Old Gods and New Gods” (Season 2, Episode 6)
Theon Greyjoy’s capture of Winterfell, ending in his botched killing of the man who taught him to fight directly in front of the wailing Stark brothers, and the riot in King’s Landing that almost loses Sansa her life, are two of the show’s most emotionally intense moments up to that time. Tyrion’s hand speaks for all of us when he smacks Joffrey for inciting the uprising.
“A Golden Crown” (Season 1, Episode 6)
The premiere of trial by fight way back in season one, when the street-smart sellsword and future fan favorite Bronn beat Lady Lysa Arryn’s oh-so-honorable armored champion by playing dirty, wouldn’t have been the same.
The death of first-season antagonist Viserys Targaryen is even more impressive — not only because the method, an improvised “crown” of red-hot molten gold, was so memorable, but also because the show allows the profound loneliness and unhappiness that made him such an asshole to shine through until the very end.
“What Is Dead May Never Die” (Season 2, Episode 3)
This second-season standout introduces two of the show’s most fascinating characters: the fearsomely talented, deeply unhappy warrior Brienne of Tarth and the smart, sexy natural-born politician Margaery Tyrell.
It’s a case study in how Game of Thrones depicts its characters’ fights against the limited roles allowed to women in a deeply sexist society.
It also introduces Arya Stark to the concept of a “kill list,” which she adopts after Yoren, a Night’s Watch member who was slain soon after imparting his questionable wisdom to her, was killed. In another scene, Theon Greyjoy takes up his treacherous father’s cause, burning a letter of caution to the Young Wolf in a shot that seems like it came straight out of a Rembrandt painting.
“The Wolf and the Dragon” (Season 7, Episode 7)
The colossal climax of what was both the series’ shortest and most spectacular season at the time reads like a Game of Thrones superfan’s winning bingo card. Even when we discover for certain that Jon and Daenerys are related, they eventually hook up.
Jaime and Cersei have finally broken up, with the Kingslayer realizing that his sister is beyond his moral boundaries. (Eventually, he gets over it.) Littlefinger’s reign of error was put to an end by the Stark siblings. As the capital is blanketed in snow, winter arrives in King’s Landing.
(It turned out to be only a smidgeon.) And the Night King uses the blue fire of his zombie dragon to rip the Wall down, enabling his undead army to slip through. Folks, the end is near.
“Fire and Blood” (Season 1, Episode 10)
The stunning, iconic vision of Daenerys Targaryen rising unburned from the ashes of her husband Drogo’s funeral pyre, dressed only in three young dragons, is the most memorable picture from the first season finale. The apprehensive anxiety of Northern troops when their lords declare Robb Stark the King in the North, as well as Emilia Clarke’s portrayal of Dany’s combination of confidence and insanity as she marches to what seems to be certain death, stand out.
“Two Swords” (Season 4, Episode 1)
The season four premiere was just the second episode to start with a cold open rather of the usual clockwork credits, with the pilot being the first. With the Starks wiped off the board at the conclusion of the previous season and the Lannisters taking their place as the major protagonists, it’s essentially a new show.
The Red Viper, who makes his appearance here, joins Tywin and company at King’s Landing (at least for the time being). The moment in which the fleeing Hound and his hostage-slash-partner Arya take out an inn full of Lannister thugs, however, quickly establishes them as one of the most riveting and nuanced duos in television history.
“The Door” (Season 6, Episode 5)
Game of Thrones, despite its reputation for ruthless cruelty, has a knack for ripping your heart out. Sansa confronts her erstwhile “guardian” Littlefinger over surrendering her to the Boltons’ hands, revealing the horror of rape and cruelty with crystalline clarity. When Jorah Mormont, a flawed man but as honest a supporter as she’ll ever have, announces his (apparently) deadly greyscale illness, Daenerys says her goodbyes.
And it happens just as Bran Stark discovers he’s broken the brain of his gigantic companion Hodor, whose one-word vocabulary is the consequence of being told to “Hold the door” against the White Walkers and their zombie army during Bran’s telepathic trek across time. It’s enough to make you cover your ears as you listen to the young guy repeatedly repeat the sentence until it merges into his usual speech, but good luck ever getting the sound out again.
“The War’s Loot” (Season 7, Episode 4)
This mid-season climax has Jon and Daenerys kissing for the first time (something fans of George R.R. Martin’s novels have been waiting for nearly two decades) and Arya Stark finally returning to Winterfell. Character beats ultimately give way to hoofbeats as the Dothraki horde and Dany’s dragon completely destroy the Lannister army.
When we watch both Jaime and Bronn take on the Khaleesi and her biggest “kid” in one-on-one confrontations when it’s hard to cheer for one side or the other, the horror on their faces is second only to our own. It brings the war closer to home.
“Mother’s Mercy” (Season 5, Episode 10)
Stannis Baratheon’s troops and Red Woman left him, the Boltons overcame him, and Brienne of Tarth beheaded him. Sansa and Theon leaping from Winterfell’s walls to safety. Myrcella Baratheon, poisoned, in the arms of Jaime Lannister, the father she had only just recognized seconds before.
Ser Meryn Trant, possibly the worst knight in the Seven Kingdoms who isn’t named after an animal or a geographical mass, and who is blinded for his sins, is the target of Arya Stark’s violent vengeance.
Varys and Tyrion reunited as the show’s first platonic power couple. Cersei Lannister is forced to walk in humiliation by religious extremists, forcing viewers to sympathize with one of the show’s most challenging characters. And Jon Snow was assassinated by his own troops as a Night’s Watch traitor. A fantastic conclusion.
“The Iron Throne” (Season 8, Episode 6)
It begins with death by fire and concludes with life in the midst of ice. In the meanwhile, the series finale of the century’s most popular program is a surprisingly deliberate and introspective affair, determined to offer each of its key characters an ending that fits them — none of them happily ever after, but none of them a perverted Red Wedding either.
Daenerys Targaryen, consumed by visions of a perfect world that only she has the power — and the right — to create, is killed in the same way that Robb Stark was killed by Roose Bolton at that bloody celebration, and Roose was killed by Ramsay in turn: a blade in the heart, delivered by someone she trusted. Jon Snow, who defies his fate as the Last Dragon and strives to restore human life to the lands beyond the Wall, is that someone.
His sisters, Arya and Sansa, leave sail for uncharted territory and ascend to the throne as Queen of the North and Queen of the South, respectively. Tyrion, whose penalty for his misdeeds and misjudgments is to assist the young psychic reign as his Hand, nominates his “broken” brother Bran as Lord of the Six (!) Kingdoms.
Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Isaac Hempstead Wright, and Peter Dinklage provide stunning, screen-commanding performances, ensuring that, although the Iron Throne itself may have vanished, the program it anchored will endure for years to come.
“Winter Winds” (Season 6, Episode 10)
In which the ultimate shape of “the great game’s” playing board is formed. Cersei Lannister, the uncontested queen of the Seven Kingdoms, destroys all of her political foes in one fell swoop at King’s Landing, but loses her son Tommen to suicide in the process.
Walder Frey toasts his triumph over his foes in the Riverlands, only to be assassinated by Arya Stark when she feeds him his own sons for supper. Jon Snow is anointed king of the North by his grateful lords at Winterfell, and although Sansa Stark has a more direct claim, they may well be correct, given that he is secretly the Dragon’s blood.
In the East, Daenerys leads a huge coalition of the Dothraki, the Unsullied, the Ironborn, the Dornish, and the Tyrells — and, of course, her dragons — to the Seven Kingdoms. The kings rise and fall, and winter has arrived.
“The Long Night” (Season 8, Episode 3)
What are your thoughts on the Night King’s and his undead minions’ years-long assault on Winterfell, and by extension all life on the planet? On the one hand, there’s the abrupt end to the show’s fundamental conflict and metaphor, namely, the necessity for everyone to band together in the face of an existential danger.
You also have the unanticipated non-deaths of the great majority of the important characters, which is the type of thing this show has taught its audience to shout “PLOT ARMOR!” at the top of their lungs about. On the other side, you’ve got an incredible, unholy marriage of Lord of the Rings-style fighting and scale to magnificent terror that outperforms any contemporary zombie show or slasher film.
From dragons dancing above the sky to an old sorceress marching toward the morning to meet her fate in the snow, there are moments of beautiful beauty and overpowering passion. The advantages do not simply outnumber the disadvantages in this case. They’re good enough to get this into the Game of Thrones Hall of Fame.
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season 8, Episode 2)
Remember the season-eight opener, “Winterfell”? Remember how it had a dragon’s worth of fan-favorite reunions but lacked the emotional heft that Game of Thrones has at its peak? Okay, that’s OK. Remember the season two finale, “Blackwater”? Don’t worry, we’ll go over it in more detail a few paragraphs ahead. But, for the time being, remember how that epic war episode began with a long, solemn, sometimes wine-soaked segment in which all of the combatants gathered and simply… talked?
What do they know about themselves, what they’re fighting for, what they’re frightened to face, and who they’re terrified to lose?
This episode blends the two to stunning effect, written and directed by Bryan Cogman and David Nutter, respectively, both of whom are series MVPs. This moving, outstanding hour is the best of both worlds, from Arya and Gendry’s love scene to Sansa and Theon’s heart-wrenching survivors’ reunion to Davos and Gilly caring for a child who’s been separated from her family (imagine that! ), to Jon and Dany realizing what his parentage really means for them both, to Jaime dubbing Brienne “a knight of the Seven Kingdoms” in a conclusion of both their character arcs.
“Baelor” (Season 1, Episode 9)
This is the most important one. Game of Thrones is known for its I-can’t-believe-they-just-did-that moments, and Ned Stark’s untimely death is the granddaddy of them all. The unmistakable sign that Game of Thrones would play for keeps was the death of the series’ undisputed main character, played by Sean Bean, the show’s best-known, top-billed actor, who was seen on every promotional poster HBO produced.
It’s worth noting that the exquisite handling of the killing, with the sound fading and the camera moving to Arya’s weeping face just as the sword falls, is just as essential in showing the method to GOT’s madness.
“Hardhome” (Season 5, Episode 8)
As impressive as the siege of King’s Landing, the assault on the Wall, and the Battle of the Bastards were, they were all telegraphed for weeks. What happened at Hardhome, a remote wildling settlement to which Jon Snow and his newfound ally Tormund Giantsbane led a humanitarian mission to assist its people in sailing south, was completely unexpected.
The dead were suddenly upon the living, and the White Walkers followed, with only the barking of dogs, the roar of thunder, and a cloud of mist as a warning.
The mayhem of “Hardhome” successfully blends cinematic fighting with primal dread, ending in the demonic Night’s King’s resurrection of countless fallen humanity in a gesture that seems obscene in its transgressive hubris. Both Jon Snow and the audience are stunned as they leave the scene.
“Kissed by Fire” (Season 3, Episode 5)
In this season’s highlight, two couples expose both their bodies and their souls for very different reasons. In a red-hot moment set in a hidden underground grotto, Jon and Ygritte consummate their bond beyond the Wall.
Jaime and Brienne bathe together after their long captivity at the Bolton-controlled fortress of Harrenhal, and the exhausted Kingslayer explains the true story behind his nickname — he murdered the Mad King to save the people of King’s Landing, which he’d planned to level with wildfire — before collapsing in her arms.
Add in the Hound’s unexpected trial by battle against the Brotherhood’s magically revived commander Beric Dondarrion, as well as the entrance of Stannis’s unhappy daughter Shireen, and you’ve got yourself a near-perfect episode with no internet-breaking mega-event insight.
“The Castamere Rains” (Season 3, Episode 9)
Robb Stark, his pregnant queen Talisa, their unborn child, and House Stark matriarch Catelyn aren’t the most stunning deaths in the most shocking episode – until season eight, at least. It’s your interpretation of the show’s purpose. This nearly horrific carnage, orchestrated by ambitious Northern Roose Bolton and resentful old shitbird Lord Walder Frey, cut out the show’s core plot arc.
The Stark-Lannister conflict constituted the series’ core, with the White Walkers and Dany’s dragons remaining on the periphery of the action. It is severed here, in the most dramatic and ultimate way possible, and the fight between the Wolf and the Lion will never be fought again in this manner.
“Battle of the Bastards” (Season 6, Episode 9)
This stunningly brutal war episode has only gained in reputation over time, as impressive as it was when it first aired: “I still believe ‘Fight of the Bastards’ is the best battle ever presented on television history,” says Alan Taylor, who also directed “Baelor” and “Beyond the Wall.”
The eponymous battle pits Jon Snow against Ramsay Bolton for the destiny of Winterfell, the North, and maybe all of mankind, and is rife with terrible judgments made in the fog of war. Rickon Stark, the monstrous Wun-Wun, and Ramsay himself are only a few of the innumerable victims who are steadily accumulating into veritable mountains of bodies.
Daenerys’ deployment of her dragons to decimate an entire fleet in Meereen foreshadowed the cruelty earlier in the episode. What is the purpose of war? Nothing except an incredibly enthralling episode.
“Blackwater” (Season 2, Episode 9)
Everything that makes Game of Thrones great explodes in a geyser of green flame during the show’s second season finale. Tyrion Lannister’s secret weapon against Stannis Baratheon’s invading forces, a boat full of “wildfire,” detonates with mind-boggling ferocity, dwarfing even what readers of the books might have imagined. The noises that follow are just as crucial as the sight: the shouts and cries of men who are burning, drowning and dying.
This isn’t some sterile fireworks-display devastation. This is the end. This is a battle. From top to bottom, “Blackwater” has a lot more going for it than just size and brutality. It divides our affections down the middle, with heroic and malevolent individuals on both sides. Is it possible that Stannis would have been a more forgiving king than Cersei?
Could you honestly cheer for Davos if his win meant Tyrion’s defeat? Would the despotic Tywin Lannister’s victory be worth it if it meant sparing the lives of Sansa Stark and Tommen Baratheon? “Blackwater” tries as hard as it can to illustrate the human cost of conflict as well as its spectacle. This isn’t only the finest combat episode on the program. It’s the best Game of Thrones episode… at least, that’s what I thought.
“The Bells” (Season 8, Episode 5)
Sansa Stark: How much longer must I look? Joffrey Baratheon: As long as it is in my best interests. Miguel Sapochnik, the creator of “Hardhome,” “Battle of the Bastards,” and “The Long Night,” took over as the show’s master of war from Neil Marshall. Returning to the director’s chair for the last episode of the series, he switches off the darkness that perplexed many viewers during the Battle of Winterfell. But, as a result, does he reduce the carnage that happens whenever a huge group of people decides to kill one another for a cause?
“The Bells” adds to the nauseating fear of the previous war episode set in King’s Landing, and the kingsroad. “Blackwater,” by making the nightmare that was almost avoided come reality. Instead of halting at the city walls this time, the attackers get it inside, thanks to Daenerys Targaryen and her final dragon. And towards the end of the episode, there’s just one city left to sack. The Breaker of Chains finally goes bad, wreaking havoc on tens of thousands of innocent victims and razing King’s Landing to the ground.
This war crime had been planned for a long time, devenuring the dark wings, and the seeds had been sown from the beginning. No, I’m not referring to the many individuals who were executed by Dany despite the fact that they were ostensibly “bad men.” We are referring to Bran’s fall from the tower. Viserys Targaryen, Robert Baratheon, and Khal Drogo all died in the first season of Game of Thrones.
Ned Stark is about to lose his head. Jaime Lannister is losing his grip on the game because of which he will become a broken man. The Red Wedding is a story about a wedding that takes place in The Purple Wedding is a film about a wedding that takes place in The Red Viper is a snake.
The dragons and the dragon fire have died. Every swerve that appeared to turn the plot on its head was leading up to this point: As both an in-story act of violence and an on-screen work of filmmaking, a self-styled liberator commits a massacre on a previously unimaginable scale. This is, and always has been, the show. Game of Thrones makes you glance around. May it burn for a long time. Long live the prince of winterfell.
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