The 30 most iconic moments from Game of Thrones, ranked

14. The Night King raises the army of the dead at Hardhome

Prior to the fifth season of Game of Thrones, the White Walkers are a menacing but seemingly far-off threat. Only the wildlings truly acknowledge and fear them, plus a few members of the Night’s Watch. The rest of the realm doesn’t concern itself with them, and it’s easy for even the viewer to forget about them during their long absences.

In “Hardhome,” it becomes evident to both the Night’s Watch and the audience that the White Walkers are a far more pressing problem than anyone thought. The final moments of the episode are incredibly potent. Jon has escaped from the jaws of death, and is rowing back to a ship that can spirit him and the people he’s saved away to the right side of the Wall. But the Night King, undaunted, walks to the edge of the pier, lifts his arms, and raises thousands of undead followers from among those who fell in the preceding battle. Jon wanted to save wildlings and technically his mission was a success, but in the long run, it was a failure, and he both he and the Night King know it.

When the Night King marches his army of the dead on Westeros, many will die, and those fallen soldiers will swell the Night King’s forces all the more. This is the moment we understand that.