13 reasons why season 4 is Game of Thrones at its best

Game of Thrones fans have a lot of debates: who was the best character, what's the most shocking death, the wildest battle, and of course the never-ending discussion of the finale. Another big question: is what was the best season?

It’s tempting to go for the first year just for shocking so many with its daring storyline and shocking turns. Season 2 deserves consideration for the Battle of the Blackwater while season 3 had the Red Wedding. However, looking at the overall series, season 4 may well stand as the best year of the show.

True, not everything worked, like the controversial reunion between Jamie and Cersei, and some subplots were meandering. But overall, this season balanced great writing, direction, production and acting while giving us wild moments and some much-needed conclusions to story arcs while setting up bigger stuff ahead. Here are over a dozen reasons why season 4 was Game of Thrones at its finest and still a delight to watch:

1. Daenerys Targaryen on the rise

This season sees Daenerys rising in the world, and not just because her dragons are growing. The siege of Meereen is excellent, with Daeny getting revenge for the murdered slaves and showing her growing resolve. It’s a well-done sequence that the FX crew pull off brilliantly.

We also see developments in Dany’s personal life. She starts up a relationship with Daario and is quick to show who's really in control in a wonderful flip of the usual gender power dynamics. We also see a grim sides to Daenerys when she banishes Jorah and locks up her own dragons, hinting at her future fall. She may not dominate as much as in earlier seasons but this year was a turning point for the character.

2. Arya and the Hound

Pairing up the youngest Stark girl with this monstrous swordsman could have been bad. Instead, it was an inspired move as we get a strange road trip coupled with a coming-of-age tale by way of Kill Bill. It’s not just seeing the pair handling themselves against bandits that's fun, but also the way the Hound is educating Arya in how to fight dirty and accept that the world can be a harsh place.

The bizarre bond between the pair is compelling to watch, not quite friendship but not fully enemies. It comes to a heartrending conclusion with the Hound's pleas of “Kill me!” still echoing in the ears of fans, and works very nicely to push Arya’s storyline along.

3. Sansa’s education

Sans Stark got her own education in season 4 as she faces death in King’s Landing before being whisked off to the Vale by Littlefinger. That brings her to the Eyrie, where she learns that Littlefinger and her own Aunt Lysa were behind the poisoning of Jon Arryn that set this whole mess into motion. And then Littlefinger kills Lysa by shoving her through the Moon Door in a memorable moment.

That led to Sansa finally letting go of her childhood dreams of princesses and honor and embracing playing the game of thrones. The shot of her striding down the stairs in a stunning dress showed that a new player had entered, setting her on a path that would end with her as Queen in the North.

4. King Joffrey’s Death

No death on Game of Thrones has met with as much widespread joy as this. After watching him be a twisted, sociopathic monster for years, watching Joffrey dying was a great moment for the fans. Even better was how it’s not quick and easy, but agonizing as he chokes on poison at his own wedding. Watching him coughing up blood and withering should have been nightmarish but instead was delightful.

Cersei’s screams added to it, along with the revelation that it was Olenna Tyrell who had pulled the trigger. That it happened in only the second episode of the season was another nice twist to show no one on this show was safe. It kicked off a fantastic run of episodes.

5. Tyrion’s trial

Now we get to the meat of things as Tyrio Lannister is blamed for killing his nephew Joffrey and put on trial. All his past exploits are used against him with even allies like Shae turning on him and Bronn having to end their bromance, which Tyrion sadly understands. He knows this is a kangaroo court but he’s not going down without fighting.

Thus, we get arguably the finest performance of Peter Dinklage’s career. He gets to deliver a stunning, amazing speech where he rails about how “I have been on trial my entire life” and explodes with the rage he’s long held back. It’s a brilliant piece of work that earned Dinklage another Emmy and showed how Tyrion always stood tall among the other characters.

6. The Viper versus The Mountain

After demanding a trial by combat, Tyrion faces a problem: who in their right mind is going to take on the monster that is the Gregor "the Mountain" Clegane? Oberyn Martell, that’s who. Before he was the Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal had his breakout role as the charming Dornish lord with a personal beef with Gregor Clegane, who killed Oberyn's sister Elia years before.

The fight is brilliantly choreographed, and a thrilling clash of styles. The Mountain is all strength and power moves while Oberyn strikes quick and fast, earning his nickname the Red Viper of Dorne. It looks like Oberyn has won only to make the mistake of gloating and demanding the Mountain confess his crimes. That allows the Mountain to grab him, slam him down and crush his head like a grapefruit in a scene gruesome even by this show’s standards. This one-on-one fight puts any of the show’s grand battles to shame.

7. Ramsay Bolton’s cruelty

It takes only a few scenes for fans to realize Ramsay Bolton makes the Lannisters look like the Waltons. His cruelty in this season is horrific yet compelling to watch; he goes on twisted “hunts,” cruelly treats Theon to the point of calling him “Reek,” and slaughters the Iron Guard (supposedly some of the best fighters around) with ease, and he does it all with a sadistic smile. It shows the growing power of the Boltons and gives the show another top-tier villain, important now that Joffrey is dead.

8. Cersei’s revenge

Cersei had a rough go of it this season, from losing her son to her controversial reunion with Jamie. Yet she gets a brilliant moment in the season finale when she finally has enough of Tywin’s treatment of her and hits back with the one weapon she almost never uses: the truth.

She point-blank tells her father that the rumors he’s long dismissed are true: she and Jamie have been lovers for years, and “Robert’s” children are theirs. For once, Tywin is shocked into speechlessness, unable to accept that his children could do this, with Cersei pouring salt on the wound by saying that one look at her kids should have let him know. It’s the beginning of the end for Tywin and shows how his obsession with the family name blinded him to what was happening with his actual family.

9. The death of Tywin Lannister

It all builds to this. After Jamie and Varys break him out of jail, Tyrion decides to settle things before he flees King’s Landing. He first takes on Shae, who tries to kill him, giving Tyrion the excuse to strangle his former lover. Then, crossbow in hand, Tyrion confronts his father…on the privy.

They exchange barbs. Tywin knows his son wants to kill him but is still defiant. He makes the classic mistake of goading him with “you won’t do it” and gets a couple of crossbow shafts in response. The idea of the most powerful man in Westeros dying on the toilet is a genius irony and allows Tyrion to have the final word over his dad.

10. The Battle at the Wall

Every season has that one epic set piece, and this season it's the Battle at the Wall. The direction is on par with any big-screen epic, including 360-degree shots, aerial panoramas, hand-held scrums, and more. The war between Mance Rayder’s men and the Night’s Watch is packed with so many great moments it’s hard to count.

Grenn and others Night's Watchmen chanting their oaths as the raiders come at them; Jon killing Styr with a hammer; the giant archer; Sam becoming a man fighting for not only his life but Gilly's; Ser Alliser firing up the troops; Stannis and his calvary charging in; and, of course, the tragic death of Ygritte, who gets off one last “you know nothing, Jon Snow” before dying in his arms. It’s bloody, brutal and brilliant.

11. Brienne vs the Hound

It’s the fight we never knew we wanted to see so badly. After finally catching up to Arya, Brienne wants to get her away from the Hound, who has no intention of letting that happen. Thus, two of the toughest fighters on the show go at it in a sword fight, with Brienne easily winning…until Sandor grabs her sword out of her grasp.

Cue a brutal knock-down, drag-out brawl in the dirt with the Hound not holding back and hammering Brienne. Both are fighting as dirty as they can and cutting loose, complete with a bitten-off ear. Brienne barely survives but the fans are the real winners for another sensational one-on-one clash.

12. Bran Stark becomes the Three-Eyed Raven

Throughout the season, Bran’s trip to find the Three-Eyed Raven slowly unlocked more of his powers. He has a creepy dream where we see a dragon's shadow over King's Landing, a chilling portent of things to come long down the line.

Bran also forces his way into Hodor's mind to kill an attacker. At the end of the season, Bran and his crew are (mostly) rescued by the Children of the Forest and he finally meets the Three-Eyed Raven himself.

13. The Night King’s Terror

We’d seen the White Walkers before, but this season gave us our first good look look at just how terrifying they were. They take the spotlight at the end of the fourth episode, “Oathkeeper” as once more we see an infant being offered up as a “tribute” to the White Walkers. This time, we see the child brought to the hideous figure we’ll come to know as the Night’s King who, with a touch, transforms the child into a Walker.

In short, the Walkers have a leader who can transform humans into Walkers and who has been building an army of the undead. What had been some sort of far-off threat is now front and center, just another thing that makes this season epic.

Game of Thrones is streaming on Max.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.