The 30 most iconic moments from Game of Thrones, ranked

16. Daenerys sacks Astapor

Daenerys’ path to the Iron Throne starts off a bit rocky, especially when her dragons are too small to pose much of a threat. After she loses most of Drogo’s Dothraki followers, she faces challenge after challenge, many of which she meets with threats and promises she isn’t quite ready to fulfill. There’s plenty of heart behind Daenerys’ words during the second season, but she’s still learning how to be a queen and a conquerer.

Things change when Dany sacks Astapor in season 3. It suddenly becomes clear that she must be taken seriously, and if you don’t, she may burn you alive. With three growing dragons and an army of Unsullied at her back, she is finally in a place where she can make good on her threats, and to learn what being a conqueror really means.

The scene is full of great moments, from Daenerys revealing to the slaver’s horror that she speaks his language to has understood all the horrible things he’s been saying about her to her commanding the Unsullied for the first time to her tossing the whip in the sand on her way out of the city, rejecting the notion of slavery and foreshadowing her takeover of Slaver’s Bay. When people root for Dany to conquer Westeros, scenes like this are a big part of the reason why.