22 best moments from Game of Thrones season 8

14. Lyanna Mormont slays the giant wight

I won’t lie to you, when the giant wight smashed in the gate of Winterfell and started stomping toward little Lyanna Mormont, it was all I could do to suppress a groan. Is Game of Thrones really going into giant-squishing-children territory? I thought. My fears proved founded when the wight swatted Lyanna out of the way with its club.

When we saw Lyanna again, it almost felt like too much. She bravely pushed herself to her feet and began staggering toward the wight — who, lo and behold, apparently had a taste for human flesh. It was so horrific a fate for this awesome character that it almost felt like Game of Thrones was striving too hard to shock.

Then Lyanna Mormont whipped out her dragonglass dagger and plunged it into the giant wight’s eye. Cue fistpumps, shouting, and general cheering.

In retrospect, my initial reaction is probably exactly what they were going for. Without even thinking about it, I immediately counted Lyanna Mormont out. This was the literal David and Goliath moment of the episode, and the fact that Lyanna stood basically no chance was almost a given.

Considering how fierce the Lady of Bear Island showed herself to be throughout the show, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that she would remain courageous right to the bitter end.

In fact, hers might have been the single most satisfying death of the season.