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The Sopranosin Middle-earth, remember?
All of which makes ranking the shows episodes a proposition as tricky as taming a dragon.
Does a mid-season placeholder episode fare better than a fast-moving one that includes a real clunker of a scene?
Are episode-long battles better than intimate character portraits, and if so, which episode-long battle is best?
Is Shocking Death A more of a mindblower than Shocking Death B?
(Or C, or D, or E?)
can cost an episode dearly.
Early season Where are they now?
In the end, the big pictures clear enough.
Everyone else is shit out of luck.
Theres little more to it than setup.
The Prince of Winterfell (Season 2, Episode 8)
Will Theon Greyjoy keep control of Winterfell?
Will Jon Snow and his boring-ass commander Qhorin Halfhand escape the clutches of the wildlings?
It surelooked like rape, thoughcast and crew alike deny that was their intent.
get overthrown as leaders of Qarth (where?
The Broken Man (Season 6, Episode 7)
Hooray!
Sandor the Hound Clegane is back, and hes broughtDeadwoods Ian McShanealong for the ride!
Over time, the Hound displays a hard-bitten humanism that proves you might teach an old dog new tricks.
For the moment, though, wasted opportunitiesandreligious communities abound.
(Why didnt this episode includethe magnificent antiwar monologuethat anchored the section of the books that inspired it?)
Nothing terrible, but nothing all that thrilling after season fours big finish.
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken (Season 5, Episode 6)
60.
It also features Stannis and Melisandre having sex on a table, which is admittedly pretty great.
The Bear and the Maiden Fair (Season 3, Episode 7)
Good-bye, Ser Jaime.
The rest is mostly calm-before-the-storm setup for future developments for Robb, Jon, and Dany.
But but back when the show stuck closely to author George R.R.
Martins novels, people spent a whole lot of time just getting from place to place.
But if you thought any of this would save Lord Stark Maybe Robb will rescue him!
Maybe Dany and the horselords will invade!
Maybe the Watch will have him join the fight against the dead!
think again: None of these forces will be able to stop whats coming for Ned.
Fundamentalism and fanaticism remained primary concerns for the rest of the series.
None of it was built to last, but well take it while we can.
There is no middle ground.
So says Cersei Lannister, providing both the episode and the series itself with their respective title phrases.
Neds long walk into the throne room remains one of the seriess tensest moments.
Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow and the Nights Watch encounter Craster, their incestuous informant among the wildlings.
Some readers blanched at the changes, but it made for exciting viewing for non-purists.
Blood of My Blood (Season 6, Episode 6)
Arya refuses to assassinate a talented actress.
Sam and Gilly visit his awful father, then steal his sword and split.
Jaime leads a standoff with the High Sparrow on the steps of the Great Sept.
The marvelously mean-spirited Lord Walder Frey makes a long-awaited return, as does Danys main dragon Drogon.
Basically, this episode is like a pinata stuffed with cool scenes.
The Climb (Season 3, Episode 6)
This episodes title has a double meaning.
(Bran the Three-Eyed Raven Stark certainly thought it was a good line.)
Winterfell (Season 8, Episode 1)
Theyre gettin the band back together, man!
to Dany over in Qarth.
The gorgeously alien icy landscapes north of the Wall are also among the seasons visual high points.
One of its most eccentric characters: the mad mother Lady Lysa Arryn.
One of its most eagerly anticipated fight scenes: a street-level throwdown between Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister.
This episode has a little something for everyone.
Walk of Punishment (Season 3, Episode 3)
One of the funniest episodes in the series.
Granted, thats not saying a lot things are pretty goddamn grim around here!
Theres unexpected, touching reunions between Arya, her old friend Hot Pie, and her long-lost direwolf Nymeria.
Theres a truly disgusting surgical procedure performed by Sam on greyscale victim Jorah Mormont.
Theres an all-out naval battle between Euron Greyjoy and his rival relatives, Yara and Theon.
It opens with a moving funeral for those who fell during the Battle of Winterfell.
Heres the thing though: All of those characters, places, mythology, and jargon aregreat.
just before the sword falls.
The Lion and the Rose (Season 4, Episode 2)
Purple reign, purple reign.
Fire and blood, as the saying goes.
Look, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
In fantasy art like this, the spectacle speaks for itself, if youre willing to listen.
The Children (Season 4, Episode 10)
A huge episode for reasons both large-scale and personal.
At the Wall, Stannis Baratheon pulls off his finest moment: a surprise rescue of the Nights Watch.
In the East, Daenerys chains her dragons.
In the South, Tyrion murders his father, Tywin,andhis ex-girlfriend, Shae.
In the Riverlands, Brienne defeats the Hound, and Arya leaves him for dead.
Almost every story line in the season ends with an exclamation point.
But if anything, the duel is even more than its cracked up to be.
They really crushed it here.
But lets be clear: Its still goddamned amazing.
Director Neil Marshall pulls out all the CGI stops giants and mammoths and ice scythes, oh my!
and choreographs the thing to perfection.
(That big swirling shot around Castle Black as, like, two dozen individual fights raged!)
TheRomeo and Julietstyle death of Ygritte in Jon Snows arms gives it the emotional gravitas to match the spectacle.
When Tyrion slaps Joffrey for triggering the unrest, his hand does the talking for all of us.
Jon and Daenerys finally hook up, even as we learn for certain that theyre related.
(He gets over it eventually.)
The Stark siblings put an end to Littlefingers reign of error.
Winter comes to Kings Landing as snow falls on the capital.
(Just a sprinkle, as it turns out.)
The end is nigh, folks.
Martins books have been anticipatingfor over two decades) and Arya Stark returning to Winterfell at last.
It brings the war home.
Sansa and Theon jumping to freedom from the walls of Winterfell.
Varys reuniting with Tyrion as the shows premiere platonic power couple.
And Jon Snow murdered as a traitor to the Nights Watch by his own men.
His sisters Arya and Sansa set sail for undiscovered country and take power as Queen of the North respectively.
His broken brother Bran is nominated Lord of the Six (!)
Rulers rise, rulers fall, and winter is officially here.
at the top of its lungs about.
The pros dont just outweigh the cons here.
Theyre enough to lodge this thing in theThronesHall of Fame.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Season 8, Episode 2)
Remember Winterfell, the season-eight premiere?
Remember how it served upa dragon-size helping of crowd-pleasing reunionsbut lacked the emotional edgeGame of Throneshas at its best?
Now, remember Blackwater, the season-two climax?
Dont worry, well get to that in depth just a few spots ahead.
Both Jon Snow and the audience leave the scene behind in stunned silence.
Its your idea of what this show is even about.
War: What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing but an absolutely riveting episode.
This is no antiseptic fireworks-display destruction.
From top to bottom, Blackwater has far more than scale and savagery in its favor.
With heroic and villainous figures on both sides, it splits our sympathies right down the middle.
Would Stannis have made a more merciful monarch than Cersei?
Could you really root for Davos if his victory meant Tyrions defeat, and vice versa?
Blackwater works just as hard to show the human cost of war as it does to convey its spectacle.
This isnt just the shows best battle episode.
Its the greatestGame of Thronesepisode… or so I thought.
Oh, not at all.
And before the episode is over, theres barely a city left to sack.
This war crime was a long time coming, and the seeds had been planted since the start.
Im talking about Bran falling from the tower.
Viserys Targaryen and Robert Baratheon and Khal Drogo failing to survive a single season.
Ned Stark losing his head.
Jaime Lannister losing his hand.
The death of the dragons.
This is the show, and it always has been.Game of Thronesforces you to look.
Long may it burn.
