All eight seasons of Game of Thrones, ranked worst to best

Season 5

Over the course of the first four seasons, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss got more and more comfortable straying from the template George R.R. Martn laid out for them in his Song of Ice and Fire novels. By season 5, they were finally going beyond the published material and in some cases making up their own plotlines, and it didn’t always work out. Season 5 was when the show’s plotting got a little looser and more traditionally…TV-ish, with coincidences and leaps of logic showing up more often. On the other hand, it featured some iconic moments, and none more potent than…

High point: Stannis burns Shireen alive

Okay, so calling this a “high point” is a bit misleading. I didn’t enjoy watching this scene. In fact, I’ve never been more upset by an episode of television in my life. As the sweet, trusting Shireen Baratheon (Kerry Ingram) was tied to the stake, I kept waiting for someone — her mother, her father, Davos Seaworth miraculously returned from his trip to Castle Black — to intercede and put a stop to this madness. But it didn’t happen, and I watched along with Stannis and Selyse as their daughter burned and died, sacrificed by the fanatic Melisandre in the hopes of giving Stannis a military victory over the Boltons.

This scene froze my blood cold. It’s not thrilling or fun or exciting, but it is bold and powerful. It’s the “best” moment of the season.

Low point: The fight at the Water Gardens

The Dornish plotline is often held up as an example of the worst Game of Thrones has to offer, and this scene is a great example of why. Just…the writers needed to think harder about this. So Jaime and Bronn’s plan is to walk around the Water Gardens, where they are not welcome, in broad daylight and just kind of…stumble upon the Princess Myrcella and walk out of there with no one noticing. And the Sand Snakes have basically the same plan. I don’t require the characters to be geniuses, but it’s hard to sympathize with any of them when they’re this dumb.

Their feeble fight scene is the perfunctory button to a storyline that needed more time to mature and settle. And this wasn’t the last time the Dornish story would ruin everyone’s good time. More on that later.

MVP: Stannis Baratheon

The show pulled a great trick with Stannis in season 5. In the early part of the season, it got viewers on his side by showing us a gentler side. His heart-to-heart with Shireen in Castle Black is a genuinely touching father-daughter bonding moment, and his quiet correction of a Night’s Watchmen grammar was the funniest moment of the year. He was actually on his way to becoming a fan favorite…

…until he burned his daughter alive at the damned stake. And the remarkable thing is that it’s all consistent. Stannis did love his daughter, but not so much that he would neglect his duty to claim the Iron Throne and protect mankind from the horrors beyond the Wall. Stannis’ story is a rich tragedy, and his final, terse lines to Brienne moments before she kills him the perfect capper: “Go on, do your duty.”

Runner-up: Jon Snow

Jon also had an eventful season 5, becoming Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, beheading the coward Janos Slynt and staring down the Night’s King in goosebump-inducing moment I’m looking forward to seeing come full circle in season 8. And also he dies.

So why is Stannis the MVP and not Jon? Well, I’m still not entirely satisfied with how the writers softened Jon’s murder at the hands of his fellow Night’s Watchmen — in the books, they have better reason to kill him, although it’s still not just — but mainly, it’s because Stannis’ tale ends here and Jon is just going through some very intense changes.

“Hardhome” sure is a great episode, though.