Sansa, Lyanna Mormont, and Game of Thrones Season 6 appear on more Best-of-2016 lists

We’ve already had two posts highlighting where critics have placed Game of Thrones Season 6 on their lists of the best TV from 2016. On the last day of year, here are the most recent accolades from the press.

Vulture drew up a pair of lists. First, it place Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont) on its list of The 17 Breakthrough TV Performances of 2016, saying that although Ramsey is young, “she infuses Lyanna with an astonishing amount of bravado, not to mention a commendable ability to shame grown men into doing the right thing.” Here’s looking forward to seeing more of her in the new year.

The folks at Salon were also huge fans of Lyanna Mormont, putting her displays of righteous indignation as #2 on their list of the Best TV moments of 2016. “It’s easy to strike the fear of seven hells into people while sitting atop a dragon, or after immolating all of your enemies in a sky-high green bonfire,” Salon’s Melanie McFarland wrote. “Lyanna Mormont, the 10-year-old Lady of Bear Island, wielded only her confident scowl and the honor of her house to set those who faced her back on their heels. That was enough.”

Back to Vulture, the magazine also lauded the The 10 Best Musical TV Moments of 2016, praising composer Ramin Djawadi’s work on the Season 6 finale.

"Jettisoning the lush orchestration and ever-so-slightly goth ominousness that characterizes the show’s score, Djawadi unleashed “Light of the Seven,” a delicate piano ballad that played while Kings Landing prepared for the religious sham trial that would end in death, explosion, and a new ruling order. The instrument had never been prominently featured in Djawadi’s score before, let alone given a solo spotlight of this magnitude. The implication was clear: Something unprecedented was about to go down."

And go down it did.

Collider also honored “Light of the Seven” on its list of The 28 Best Songs on TV in 2016. If I ever hear this piece of music in a public place, I’m leaving.

Collider also compiled a list of the Best TV Episodes of 2016, and “Battle of the Bastards” made the cut. Allison Keene writes, “It was a thrilling hour of television that contained some well-earned and genuine triumph, and acted as a true song of ice and fire.”

"It was exciting, uplifting (even in its horror), and just in terms of choreography and payoff, probably the most outstanding hour of TV this year."

Going with an outside pick, the New York Post chose “Home” as the best episode of Game of Thrones Season 6, crediting Jon Snow’s resurrection at the end of the hour with getting “the season was off to a running start.”

Plenty of critics put the show onto more traditional Best-Shows-of-2016 lists, too. Among them are:

• The BBC dubbed Game of Thrones Season 6 as the eighth best TV show of 2016, with
• Keith Uhlich writing that the most recent year of the show felt “like a cresting and then initial crashing of the wave, satisfyingly tying up certain plot threads (such as the paternity of Kit Harrington’s bastard warrior Jon Snow) while offering up the kind of vividly violent spectacle at which the show excels.”
• Travelers Today gave the show the #2 spot on its list of the Best TV Shows in 2016, reserving particular praise for “Battle of the Bastards.”
• MTV put Season 6 on its list of the The Top 20 TV Shows of the Year at #10, while the one-two punch of “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter” placed fourth on its list of The Top 10 Episodes of 2016. Those two episodes, wrote Inkoo Kang, represented the show “at its most ruthless, grand, maybe even inspirational — no other show comes close to being so epic.”
• The Times Record News placed Game of Thrones on its list of the best TV from 2016, calling it “the most can’t-miss and epic “Battle Royale” program on TV.”
• Critic David Bianculli outlined The Best TV Of 2016 for NPR, and Game of Thrones was among his pics. Listen to the Fresh Air podcast to hear his thoughts.

Of note, Bustle has an interesting article claiming that 2016 Was The Year Of Sansa Stark On ‘Game Of Thrones.’

"Cersei’s and Dany’s triumphant stories are still important to tell, but the character whose story feels the most timely — and the most important — is undoubtedly Sansa. She’s a young woman who has had to grow up learning how to survive in a world dominated by men. A young woman who, for every her victory and sign of progress, has had to face yet another obstacle or relapse back into a subservient position. After the election, and Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in the race for president, Sansa’s journey feels more relatable than ever."

Vox echoed some of that sentiment in an article about the prevalence of “hypercompetent teen girl antiheroes” in the movies and television of 2016:

"Sansa’s quiet joy at Ramsay’s death completed her transformation on Game of Thrones from superficial child into serious, determined, and strategic leader, ready to take her place at the head of the Stark family. The season saw her challenge her half-brother Jon’s de facto leadership, and the fact that Sansa was able to force Ramsay to experience the horror he inflicted upon others made her arc especially satisfying."

Finally, GeekExchange made a macabrely funny list of 10 People We’re GLAD Bit It in 2016 (Game of Thrones edition), featuring folks like Alliser Thorne, the Waif, and of course Ramsey Bolton. But at the top of the list? Walder Frey.

"The reason Walder Frey tops this list over Ramsay Bolton who’s considerably more bloodthirsty, is that Ramsay, at the very least, was legitimately crackers. That kid was balls to the wall, stone cold, NUTS, and, one could argue, driven there by his father. Walder Frey, on the other hand, murdered a bunch of people to increase his family’s social standing. And he was a crotchety jerk to boot."

Happy new year, Game of Thrones! May 2017 be as eventful as 2016. And happy new year to all of you—thanks for obsessing over the show with us.