30. Oathbreaker (Season 6, Episode 3)
The third frame of season 6 was blessed with being the episode that followed the resurrection of Jon Snow. This fact alone provided the breathing room (as in, we all let out an exhale a year in the making) to answer some of the season’s most interesting questions. How will people react to Jon coming back? (Slackjawed.) How will Jon deal with his killers? (Hanging.) And what will he do next? (Quit his job.) “Oathbreaker” gets credit for answering all of these questions quickly. And giving us the Ned Stark vs. Ser Arthur Dayne sword fight that book readers had long awaited. So many things ended in this episode, including the myth that Ned Stark slayed the greatest swordsman in Westeros in a fair fight.
29. Second Sons (Season 3, Episode 8)
If the bottom of this list is where episode 2s and 3s go to languish, this middle section is hefty on episode 7s and 8s. They are setup episodes, but also usually accomplish quite a bit. Sam the Slayer earns his name by downing a White Walker; Stannis burns some leeches; Tyrion and Sansa get married, and then we got to wait two weeks until “The Rains of Castemere.” It was absolute torture for those of us who knew what darkness was ahead at The Twins.
28. The Laws of Gods and Men (Season 4, Episode 6)
“The Laws of Gods and Men” includes the scene in which Yara Greyjoy attempts, then inexplicably fails to rescue her brother Theon from the Boltons. That wasn’t its finest moment. What comes later — the trial of Tyrion Lannister — is some of the best character work in a season that is full of exceptional character work. Tyrion’s screed about wishing he had killed Joffrey, followed by his demand for a trial by combat, is a rousing display of payoff. Longtime writer and producer Bryan Cogman, who penned this episode, is the sneaky co-MVP of Tyrion’s most powerful moments, something we’ll explore further down this list.
27. Two Swords (Season 4, Episode 1)
“Two Swords” is the follow-up episode that The Red Wedding deserved, but not the one it got. The show couldn’t exactly end season three with the introduction of Oberyn Martell or take Dany all the way to Meereen, so they stalled their way through “Mysha.” When season four opens, it does so with a long, beautiful scene in which Tywin Lannister has Ned Stark’s sword Ice melted down into two new Lannister family swords. It’s a heartbreaking sequence that kicks off an episode filled with much larger dragons, crucified children, and Arya crossing off another name on her list. What a way to fire up a new season.
26. The North Remembers (Season 2, Episode 1)
Season two did stumble out of the gate, but you have to applaud the bold move of opening the show’s second season with a bunch of baby murder. At that point, the show’s creators still weren’t on completely solid ground — they didn’t know if they’d get to season three, let alone further — but they doubled down on the grisly violence. Dead babies, an intro to Craster, and Stannis setting a bunch of people on fire at Dragonstone. That’s one way to prove that killing Ned Stark wasn’t an isolated incident.
25. The Climb (Season 3, Episode 6)
“The Climb” gets points for pairing Tywin and Lady Olenna together for a discussion about politics. It’s also the episode that allows Littlefinger and Varys to have their “chaos is” conversation set against the beautiful Iron Throne backdrop. We learn about Beric Dondarrion and how he’s been resurrected six times by the Lord of Light. And it all ends with that amazingly romantic shot of Jon Snow and Ygritte kissing atop The Wall. Theirs was not a fire that was meant to burn forever, but it did burn brightly while it lasted.
24. The Wolf and the Lion (Season 1, Episode 5)
The showdown between Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister in “The Wolf and the Lion” might be one of the best single combat moments of the entire series. And the time when The Mountain cuts his horse’s head off at the Tourney of The Hand might be one of the show’s most gruesome. It’s the closest we’ve ever come to seeing Clegane-on-Clegane violence, something many fans would have enjoyed. The episode also includes one of the best Robert and Ned moments, where Ned is forced to resign instead of ordering Daenerys and her unborn child murdered. It’s powerful stuff that foretells, in a small way, that Ned might be too good to survive this story.
23. And Now His Watch is Ended (Season 3, Episode 4)
The mutiny at Craster’s Keep is fantastically choreographed and executed. Director Alex Graves delivers the end of Lord Commander Mormont with such grizzled perfection. But that’s not all he accomplishes with “And Now His Watch is Ended.” It’s an excellent example of an episode achieving balance. The big action is paired with all kinds of political maneuvering, including great scenes with Cersei and Olenna, then Varys and Olenna. Its culmination is Daenerys making her big trade in Astapor, handing over her dragon then wiping out the city and its slavers.
22. The Watchers on The Wall (Season 4, Episode 9)
The penultimate episode of the show’s best season, “The Watchers on The Wall” is one of only a few completely contained stories. It’s also one of the show’s most beautiful hours, an episode that was worth seeing again on an IMAX screen months later. But while it accomplishes so much — including some massive, inspired action directed by Neil Marshall — it is wounded by an abrupt ending, the story needing to be finished in the next episode. That doesn’t take away from its success in both wowing the audience and building huge moments for Jon Snow, but it does make the whole thing feel a little incomplete. If this episode were 20 minutes longer, ending with Stannis’ arrival, it might be the best of the big battle episodes.
21. Beyond the Wall (Season 7, Episode 6)
The final two episodes of season 7 go together in a way that’s uncomfortable distributed, at least for me. Together, they feel like three very good episodes of Thrones smashed together, then cut awkwardly into two episodes, instead. If season 7 committed any single crime, it would be that it felt rushed. It’s hard to explain why that is, other than to say that it was a creative choice. Still, “Beyond the Wall” has plenty to offer as an episode. There’s a lot of walking and talking, but this yields plenty of great moments between characters who had previously not interacted — Jon and Jorah, Tormund and The Hound, even Beric and Jon. And the final action sequence is wildly entertaining, sad, and aggressively overcomplicated, as any great Thrones episode should be.
Related Topics: Game of Thrones
