And the best action scene from Game of Thrones Season 6 is…

…the fight at the Tower of Joy, now with lightsabers!

On one level, this isn’t surprising. The fight at the Tower of Joy was wonderfully choreographed. The Battle of the Bastards and the Night King’s siege of the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave were flashier, but there’s something fun about a good old fashioned sword fight, man on man. (Or man on a bunch of guys, in this case). The fact that the production was able to have Ser Arthur Dayne duel-wield swords and have it not look ridiculous was an accomplishment. And according to at least one expert swordsman, the fight holds up well under scrutiny.

But on another level, the results are surprising, since the Battle of the Bastards was so universally beloved. Here’s how commenter _White_Wolf_ put it:

"Battle of the bastards was not only one of my favorite fight sequences of the show, but one of my favorites of any show or movie. Even though I had a pretty good idea how it would end up, it didn’t lessen tension."

But back on the first level, it’s not surprising at all, because the Battle of the Bastards was so huge in scale that we broke it up into several discrete sequences before making the poll. If there had just been a ‘Battle of the Bastards’ option, it doubtlessly would have won. As it stands, the polling broke down like this:

Commenter A girl (I get it) stumped for Arya’s showdown with the Waif…

"The Waif chases Arya through Braavos and then dies by her hard, it was the perfect mix of epic and intimate in a long awaited confrontation between two rivals. You know there would be only one once it was over and the urgency of it made it memorable."

…while Jessie had a hard time choosing, for Season 6’s cup of action goodness ran over so:

"My first thought was the showdown between the Night King and the Children/Three Eyed Raven–but I do remember actually cheering out loud while Jon was punching Ramsay in the face!!"

Looking back, it was a very good year for action scenes on Game of Thrones. Let’s hope Season 7 brings as many gifts.

Next week’s poll is going to be a big one: the best line/exchange of Season 6. What lines of dialogue stood out to you this year? Let us know!