22 best moments from Game of Thrones season 8

Not everyone was a fan of the final season of Game of Thrones. Let’s pump the breaks a bit and celebrate what it did wonderfully!

By now, enough time has passed to watch each episode of the final season of Game of Thrones multiple times, to dissect every shot of its iconic closing sequences, to debate the significance of that coffee cup, and so on. This season saw resolutions to arcs a decade in the making, and laid many a fan theory to rest. We shall never see its like again.

Everything looks different from this side of the finish line. Now that the series has wrapped, the wars have ended, and a new order has been established in King’s Landing, it’s as good a time as any to look back at the best moments of the series’ capstone season. For while there might have been spots of contention, there were also some of the most fulfilling scenes of the entire show. Some were quiet bits of introspection. Others were some of the most spectacular set-pieces ever shown on television.

So grab some popcorn (or maybe a box of tissues) and let’s dive into this last season and pick out our favorite moments!

22. Jon rides Rhaegal

Ever since Daenerys’ dragons first hatched from their eggs all the way back in 2011, fans have been speculating about who might take the saddle beside her and ride one. When Viserion was killed off and added to the army of the dead in season 7, there was room for only other person.

Then came the season 8 premiere. For years the show had been setting up Jon’s Targaryen heritage — remember the lingering shot with Maester Aemon in season 5 (“A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing”) and the dragons’ attitude towards him in season 7. The show was hinting that it was okay to get our hopes up that Jon might one day take to the skies on the back of a dragon.

But, as it always does, Game of Thrones managed to take something we had been expecting and turn it on its ear. Jon does ride Rhaegal…but instead of riding him into battle, it’s a joy ride beside Daenerys that turns into a haunting call-back to Jon’s time with Ygritte. It’s a beautiful scene, touching and funny and bittersweet, because we already know that their relationship is all but doomed.

It’s also the first time we truly get a look at what having two Targaryens on dragonback would be like, and that alone makes it a huge payoff moment.

That, and Drogon’s stink eye. The dragons are watching you, Jon Snow. You’d better treat their mama right! (…cries inside)