All 73 episodes of Game of Thrones, ranked worst to best
20. “The Lion and the Rose,” Season 4, Episode 2
This episode contains the moment everyone had been waiting for since the first episode: Joffrey Baratheon’s brutal and painful death. Joffrey literally got away with murder for three entire seasons, and it was starting to look like he might outlast everyone despite the crimes he’d committed both before and after he sat the Iron Throne. (I say before, because in the books Tyrion deduces that it was Joffrey who hired the assassin that tired to kill Bran with the Valyrian steel dagger, a point dropped from the show.)
So the royal wedding has finally arrived, and anyone who is anyone is in town for the occasion. Well, anyone that isn’t a rebel, a traitor, or someone who hasn’t paid their royal taxes. The event takes up the back half of the episode and is full of great exchanges (Oberyn has a stare-down with Tywin, Jaime and Loras square off, Brienne and Cersei share a moment), but Joffrey is the star.
As if we needed any more reason to hate the kid, Joffrey spends most of the episode being insufferable, slicing up Tyrion’s thoughtful wedding gift with a Valyrian steel sword and humiliating his uncle during the wedding feast. And then he uses a troupe of dwarves to reenact the War of the Five Kings, which is offensive to half the guests present, including his new wife, as it mocks Renly Baratheon’s homosexuality.
But no sooner does Joffrey cut his wedding cake and eat the first slice, than he drops to his knees choking. Efforts to save him are in vain, and Cersei can only hold Joffrey as he dies, gasping for air. So long, sweet prince, we knew you more than we wanted to, and you will not be missed.
By the way, wear your gold star proud if you caught Olenna Tyrell dropping the poison into Joffrey’s cup on your first viewing.
19. “Home,” Season 6, Episode 2
Our boy is back! “Home” saw the return of Jon Snow, after he was brutally murdered by his brothers in black at the conclusion of Season 5. Throughout the long off-season, fans had wondered about the ultimate fate of our favorite Night’s Watchman (sorry, Edd), and we only had to wait until the second episode of Season 6 to get an answer.
After Ser Davos gives her one of his famous pep talks, Melisandre attempts to bring Jon back with the weirdest haircut in history, and at first, it appears like she’s failed. But then, right when the audience thinks Jon might stay dead another episode, the former Lord Commander bursts back to life in the final moments. We knew Jon wasn’t going to stay dead, but “Home” almost convinced us we were wrong. That’s great TV.
To offset the rebirth of one character, we had others being knocked off in record numbers. First Ramsay murders his entire family, starting with stabbing his father Roose Bolton, and ending with feeding his stepmother and newly born half-brother to his hounds. That’ll come back to bite him, we think. Meanwhile, on the Iron Islands, we get introduced to the awesomely insane Euron Greyjoy, who promptly tosses his brother off a bridge. Such quality family time in Westeros!
Finally, “Home” sports a wonderfully moody scene where Tyrion unchains Rhaegal and Viserion in the dungeons beneath Meereen. It’s just a great episode all around.
18. “Mockingbird,” Season 4, Episode 7
Season 4 features one amazing hour after another, and this episode is no different. We could fill up the whole space just talking about Tyrion’s search for a champion in his upcoming trial by combat, but let’s hit a couple of the other highlights first.
In our foreshadowing moment of the week, Selyse pleads with Melisandre to leave Shireen behind at Dragonstone when Stannis sails north to the Wall, but Melisandre insists the Lord of Light will have need of the young princess. Knowing what comes later, this moment is chilling on rewatch.
Arya is wondering around the Riverlands with the Hound, still murdering anyone she happens to run into and doesn’t like. Daenerys finally falls for Daario, making for an awkward morning when Jorah Mormont shows up.
And last but not least, Littlefinger pushes crazy aunt Lysa out the Moon Door, after Lysa goes, well, crazy, and almost does the same to Sansa. Although Littlefinger’s breakup line is especially brutal “I have only ever loved one woman. Your sister,” special mention goes to Sophie Turner for portraying Sansa’s terror, and her sadness when she realizes she is not safe even with her own family.
Speaking of people who are terrorized by their family, Tyrion rots in his cell, looking for a champion to defend him after his epic rant in the previous episode. Cersei has named Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane as her champion, who gladly accepts since it appears his favorite thing to do is chop people in half. With an opponent like the Mountain, champions aren’t exactly lining up around the block. The two most likeliest candidates, Jamie and Bronn, both turn Tyrion down.
Even though Jamie is initially furious with Tyrion for not taking the deal Tywin offered, he comes around when Tyrion explains how good it felt to ruin one of Tywin’s plans. Jamie still refuses to face the Mountain, however, as he has yet to recover his fighting skills after losing his hand.
Bronn seems a likely candidate, as he defended Tyrion once before. Bronn explains that he’s already been bought out by Cersei (for a castle and a dim-witted wife), and Tyrion isn’t able to offer him enough to change his mind. Bronn is clearly pained by having to decline, having grown found of the littlest Lannister, despite their business-only relationship. Tyrion and Bronn part as friends, as Tyrion can’t argue with Bronn’s logic in accepting Cersei’s offer.
The best of the three conversations, with Oberyn Martell, is saved for last. Before even acknowledging the reason for his visit, Oberyn relays a story to Tyrion about Tyrion’s infancy. Oberyn and Elia visited Casterly Rock days after Tyrion’s birth, in which Tyrion’s mother died. Cersei, who already hated her younger brother, took the Martells to Tyrion’s crib, and pinched the infant Tyrion hard until Jamie stopped her.
It’s a painful story for Tyrion to hear, and Peter Dinklage kills it. It’s no wonder why he remains the only actor on Game of Thrones to win an Emmy. Tyrion’s pain turns to elation after Oberyn agrees to be his champion, and we have our title fight. Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne versus Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane. Ding ding.
17. “The Dragon and the Wolf,” Season 7 Episode 7
The longest episode in Game of Thrones history by a wide margin, “The Dragon and the Wolf” was the finale of season 7. Subtracting the final moments at the Wall, the episode lacked any major action beats, but still had plentiful twists and turns.
The centerpiece of the episode is the meeting at the Dragonpit in King’s Landing. It was great fun to see so many of our favorite characters on screen together, and even in this crowed field, director Jeremy Podeswa gave all of them at least one moment to shine. Watching Cersei and Dany come face to face was particularly enjoyable, as was the reunion between the Hound and Brienne.
Cersei’s interactions with her brothers are also noteworthy, particularly Jaime’s long-in-coming decision to walk out on her — his realization that Cersei is willing to go back on her word and let the people of Westeros fight the dead alone was note-perfect, as was the dusting of snow falling over King’s Landing. And at Dragonstone, Theon and Jon’s conversation about Theon’s many sins was the type of character-driven moment that made us fall in love with Game of Thrones in the first place.
The episode was not without its flaws. For example, while Littlefinger’s execution was wonderfully done, it didn’t have the impact it could have, coming as it did after the manufactured tension between Arya and Sansa.
The revelation about Jon’s true heritage and his new bond with Dany set the stage for things to come in the final season. Coupled with the Night King’s decimation of the Wall, “The Dragon and the Wolf” moved the pieces forward and left us eager to find out what happens next.
