And the best special effect of Game of Thrones Season 6 is…

…Daenerys’ dragons attacking Meereen. Was there ever any doubt?

Actually, there was a bit of doubt. After all, there were a lot of great special effects on Game of Thrones Season 6. As commenter Lynn Smith pointed out, a lot of the smaller moments—e.g. Sam seeing the library, or the Three-Eyed Raven’s death—may have been very well-done, but didn’t stand much a chance next to a showstopper like the dragons lighting up the Slavers’ fleet. Still, moments like the explosion at the Sept of Baelor and Jon getting caught in the thick of the Battle of the Bastards put up excellent fights.

Why did the dragons win out? Bandit77 weighs in:

"The Sept exploding was amazing, but my vote was for the Dragons because they appear closer to reality every episode! Thanks for letting iOS devices vote this time!"

Tim Stark echoed that sentiment:

"I would have to say the entire Battle of the Bastards episode is the best special effects episode. This reminded me of a high end movie. I loved it from the dragons and on."

It is remarkable to think how far the dragons have come. Even in Season 5, Drogon didn’t look 100% believable rescuing Dany from the Sons of the Harpy in Daznak’s Pit. But the special effects team must have learned their lesson, because the illusion was all but complete in Season 6. Honestly, I’m not sure there’s much room for improvement, but we’ll see in Season 7. Odds are the dragons will play a bigger role going forward, and it’s a good thing the show has found a way to depict the act of dragon-riding convincingly.

And then there’s Storm of S-Words pic:

"The best visual effect? Making Melisandre look young all these seasons."

That was impressive, yes.