For those who, like me, tuned in with fervor to see the
season premiere Sunday night, know that while I did see “Two Swords,” it
wouldn’t have made the cut here.
I started watching Game
of Thrones at the very beginning of its second season, and was instantly
hooked in a way I hadn’t felt since Lost. I remember streaming the first season
and realizing that it was 2 AM and I had to work in the morning…and yet I still
hit to watch just one more episode.
It’s a wildly addictive show, and I will kindly request that the
comments section is to be a spoiler-free zone if you’ve read the books and know
what’s ahead on the television show (and since this is a current program, I’m
issuing the Spoiler Alert if you’re not up-to-date on the actual series).
I’ll also say that, of all of the shows on this list that
are currently on the air, this is the one I’m most certain will move up the
list in the near future. Currently
my favorite program on television, it may well crack the Top 5 when I finally
finish, but twelfth for a show that has just barely started the halfway season
of its expected seven-season run seems about right. And with all of those preambles, let’s jump right into the
list.
10. “The Wolf and the
Lion” (#1.5)
The visual effects and art direction of the series, while
never quite at the level of a Hollywood blockbuster, come so close at times
that you almost don’t notice. This
is one of those episodes-the Eyrie, one of the creepiest and most terrifying
places we’ve ventured, introduces us to Catelyn’s psychotic sister Lysa, and
her very Hamlet’s mother relationship with her son. Meanwhile, we get some genuine movement on the Ned Stark
storyline in King’s Landing. This
episode makes the cut, though, if only for the petrifying sky cells of the
Eyrie-prisons with an open wall and slanted floors that fall down to an
incredible plunge.
9. “Garden of Bones,”
(#2.4)
Game of Thrones,
more than any other show on television (except, perhaps, Mad Men) is about the long story rather than the short payoff. This is the sort of show that would
make Ryan Murphy gouge his ADD-writing eyes out. After all, it’s rare that we have a major event, and so much
of this episode is fairly standard-fare approach, though I love that it
introduced the Tywin/Arya story (I really started to get into Charles Dance’s
character in this episode, even if he, like almost everyone else, is
evil). However, the ending, with
Melisandre giving birth to a shadowy demon, yikes, that was frightening, and
how could we have predicted what would happen next with Renly? We couldn’t, but I think this episode
gave a strong sense of foreboding.
8. “Valar Morghulis”
(#2.10)
In a series as epic as Game
of Thrones, season finales are giant and lasting adventures. Even when this one cannot quite compare
with the ends of the first or third seasons, it’s still a thrill ride. You get a look at the brutality that
Daenerys is capable of (locking Xaro and Doreah in the vault knowing the long
death they are about to experience-particularly vicious), and we finally get to
see the White Walkers in their truly horrifying upright state, marching across
the North, bringing that much promised winter with them.
7. “Fire and Blood”
(#1.10)
Coming off the death from the previous episode (the stunning
demise of one Ned Stark), we get Robb entering his soon-to-be-failed bid to
become the King of the North, and we get to see the fall-out from Joffrey’s
hasty death of the head of the Stark house. Arya starts her campaign to find some member of her family
(though of course that continues to be a fruitless endeavor), and Tyrion
becomes the Hand of the King. Of
course, the only thing anyone remembers from this episode is Emilia Clarke and
her walk through fire. Daenerys
gets all of the truly cool moments on the show, it seems, but few would argue
that those dragons crawling across her shoulder, after surviving a night awash in flames, is
one of her crowning achievements.
And talk about a way to bring you back without the traditional
cliffhanger tropes.
6. “Winter is Coming”
(#1.1)
A series premiere is supposed to not only establish the
characters, but also the mood of the series, and that is what is so successful
about this introduction to the world of Westeros. We are given beautiful, grand castles and a series of random
characters that we will learn add up to much more of the story than they
initially appeared (it’s stunning to see how many of the principle performers
of this particular episode ended up dead in the show’s first three seasons, and
how ancillary characters suddenly became far more important). And we are given the “expect anything”
ending, with the incestuous relationship between Jaime and Cersei giving way to
an attempted murder on the young Bran Stark.
5. “Mhysa” (#3.10)
The finale once again follows a major turn-of-events in the
series (it’s worth noting that the biggest moments of each season seem to occur
in the penultimate episode), the moments and fall-out from the red
wedding. We see a distraught Sansa
(poor, poor Sansa) mourning her mother and brother, and Tyrion continuing to
prove that he takes his new allegiance to her quite seriously. We get Daenerys, once again getting the
final scene of the season, being proclaimed mother by her people in a moment
that once again shows the rise of the young Targaryen (it helps when no one is
nearby that sees you as a threat).
But the best moment of this episode, possibly my favorite moment of the
series so far is Jon and Ygritte, seeing each other after Jon has abandoned Ygritte,
they get one moment where he finally confesses that he loves her and states she loves him, and she gets
to say, “you know nothing Jon Snow.”
I’ve watched this scene at least a dozen times and cried every single viewing. Just wonderfully acted by both Kit
Harington and Rose Leslie.
4. “And Now His Watch
is Ended” (#3.4)
There are two major moments in this episode, or so I’m
guessing. One is obvious-Emilia
Clarke earns her Emmy nomination with a spectacular show of panache-anyone who
has seen the close of this episode, where she unleashes her dragons upon Kraznys,
knows that this was an incredible ending to the episode, and one that we all
likely watched thinking, “wait…I have seven more days before I find out what
happens next?!?” But there is also
the rise of Lady Margaery, soon to be Joffrey’s queen, who not only has managed
to be one of the shrewdest and hardest to read poker players in this Game of
Thrones (it wasn’t until the Season 4 premiere that we even got a hint of some
of her true feelings), but also a true rival worthy of Cersei, even if she is
angered by the prospects.
3. “Baelor (#1.9)
In the light of some of the later moments of the series, it
seems impossible to think that we once thought Ned Stark invincible, and yet
there he was. I had heard this
spoiler ahead-of-time, so it didn’t quite have the same impact, but had I not,
it would have seemed impossible.
Kill off Sean Bean, the headliner?
The main character? Absurd,
and with Cersei seemingly pulling the strings, I almost believed it couldn’t
happen. And then Joffrey dropped
the hammer, stunning his mother and devastating his bride-to-be beyond
compare. The show would never be
the same, and it would take us two seasons to trust again.
2. “Blackwater”
(#2.9)
Since everyone is aware of what Number one is, I’m sure
you’re realizing that the penultimate episodes of each season are my
favorite. This is the only episode
that doesn’t alternate with the North or Daenerys’ trek through the wilderness. Instead, we get Stannis, in a
relatively strong position, utterly and completely defeated at the battle by
Tyrion and his men. The effects
and action in this episode are spellbinding. We’re still soon from the Ned Stark death, and so we are
aware enough to expect anything, but what we get is almost every major
character left alive. Yet somehow
that’s more exciting; this also makes you cheer for the Lannisters (a near
impossible task), and gives you the rise of a new power, Tywin Lannister, who
would become one of the dominant figures of the third season.
1. “The Rains of Castamere”
(#3.9)
I’ll admit it-I was one of the viewers who overreacted while
watching it. I think this may have
been the first time my dad has ever heard me actually swear. How could it be possible? Enough time had left us since Ned Stark
that we believed certain characters were impenetrable. Surely Robb Stark, strong, handsome
(ridiculously so), and the only hero that you weren’t conflicted about cheering
for, couldn’t die? Nor could his
mother, strong-willed and a bit unfair (why was she so cruel to Jon Snow?) but ultimately a badass worthy of our admiration. When Robb’s bride was stabbed, I
figured that was it-that was the shock that would stun the rest of the
season-the queen and the heir inside her were dead.
And yet that wasn’t the end.
In the scene that would always be known as the red wedding, we saw the
entire series do a head-flip, as Robb and his mother were murdered and we no
longer felt anyone was safe.
Those are my thoughts on this gargantuan series-what were
yours? Do you have a favorite
episode? Please share in the
comments (and for those literate types, please relegate your comments to stuff
that’s already happened on the show).
For more of my favorites: Girls, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother
For more of my favorites: Girls, Pushing Daisies, How I Met Your Mother
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