All 8 Game of Thrones seasons, ranked by Rotten Tomatoes score

1. Game of Thrones season 4

• Audience Score: 97%
• Critics Score: 97%

Game of Thrones season 4 is the top season of the series, according to Rotten Tomatoes. The season focuses much more on the Lannisters and their grip on power in King’s Landing and Westeros. Of course, we still get a hefty dose of Jon and Dany in their respective locations.

In the fourth season, Joffrey is killed, Tyrion stands trial, and an epic fight to the death goes down between Oberyn Martell and the Mountain. Up North, Jon continues to try to walk the line between member of the Night’s Watch and a wildling. He’s faced with huge questions about his loyalty when Mance Rayder and the Wildlings attack the Wall. In Meereen, Daenerys settles down and tries being a ruler instead of a conqueror, but it doesn’t go as well as she imagined. We also get to see Bran’s journey beyond the Wall.

Overall, the fourth season is one of the best. But I disagree that it’s the best. I prefer the second and third seasons, honestly, but it’s definitely in the top tier of Game of Thrones seasons. I can’t speak to the size of the budget, but visually, season 4 is much more stunning than the first three seasons, and things only get bigger and more effects-focused as the series goes on.

Unfortunately, season 4 also marks a bit of a quality shift for Game of Thrones. At this point, the creative team was closing in on what George R.R. Martin had written before the series premiered. I’m not saying that season 4 was the last good season of the series, but it might be the last great season of the series. After season 4, the quality of the story starts to diminish as the creative team gets closer to the end.

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