IMDb Editors' Top 10 "Game of Thrones" Episodes
Night gathers, and now our watch begins. It shall not end until...sometime in June, probably. Before the fourth season of "Game of Thrones" premieres at 9pm Sunday, April 6, IMDb TV Editor Melanie McFarland and Box Office Mojo Editor Ray Subers compiled a list of their favorite episodes from the first three seasons... spoilers included. Share your favorite episodes in the comments below!
List activity
256K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
10 titles
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsPeter DinklageLena HeadeyCharles DanceStannis Baratheon's fleet and army arrive at King's Landing and the battle for the city begins. Cersei plans for her and her children's future.We think Blackwater is the finest hour of the show because it works both within the larger confines of the story and as a stand-alone episode. The entire hour is set at King’s Landing, which makes it the first and only episode that doesn’t jump between multiple locations.
As Stannis Baratheon’s ships descend on the capital, the tension builds nicely through the first half of the episode: it feels like there’s a legitimate chance that King’s Landing will be sacked, and that beloved characters will meet their ends (or worse). Around the midway point, the battle officially begins with Tyrion’s brilliant Wildfire ploy. The bright green explosion and the ensuing chaos was shocking to behold, and surely made this one of the more expensive episodes in TV history.
The episode is filled with other strong moments involving Cersei (drunken ramblings), Joffrey (chickening out) and The Hound (fire bad!). It climaxes with Tyrion’s rallying cry to a ragtag group of soldiers: “Those are brave men knocking at our door. Let's go kill them!” Masterfully directed by Neil Marshall, Blackwater is the high point so far in a series full of highs.
--Ray Subers - DirectorAlan TaylorStarsSean BeanMichelle FairleyNikolaj Coster-WaldauRobb goes to war against the Lannisters. Jon finds himself struggling on deciding if his place is with Robb or the Night's Watch. Drogo has fallen ill from a fresh battle wound. Daenerys is desperate to save him.From start to finish, the penultimate episode of the first season is a fantastic hour of television. Tyrion reveals his tragic past to Bronn and Shae, then bravely enters battle (only to be quickly knocked unconscious). Meanwhile, Robb Stark pulls off a masterful battlefield strategy, and winds up capturing Jamie Lannister in the process.
Most importantly, this was the episode in which "Game of Thrones" truly established that no character is safe. In an attempt to bring order to the realm (and save his hide), Ned Stark declares loyalty to King Joffrey. The boy king orders Ned’s execution anyway, and the episode ends with daughter Arya watching her father’s head get chopped off.
Those that weren’t familiar with the books were stunned by this move: to this point, Ned was essentially the lead character, and actor Sean Bean was easily the biggest star in the cast. Fortunately, the show has survived – and thrived – in the time since, with Ned’s death serving as a key turning point for the show and its viewers.
--Ray Subers - DirectorAlex GravesStarsPeter DinklageNikolaj Coster-WaldauLena HeadeyJaime mopes over his lost hand. Cersei is growing uncomfortable with the Tyrells. The Night's Watch is growing impatient with Craster. Daenerys buys the Unsullied.Power shifts, and the world changes -- sometimes in barely, scarcely perceptible breaths, sometimes in bursts of flame ignited by one word: Dracarys. In this hour, a Queen Regent uneasily watches the young flower of a rival house steal away with the affections of her son and her kingdom's people.
Meanwhile, Jaime realizes that without his sword hand, he is no longer a man to be feared. The Night's Watch loses its leader in a violent mutiny fertilized by low morale and starvation under the roof of a greedy, incest-perpetuating Wildling named Craster.
But the most unforgettable scene came at the end of the episode, as Daenerys Targaryen made good on her many threats to take what is hers with fire and blood: She sacked an entire city, freeing its slave population and walking away with an army composed of some of the most fearsome soldiers in the world.
"Game of Thrones" viewers might only remember remnants of this hour, and Dany's total screen time over the course of the season may have been short on comparison to the rest of the characters. But that single scene was one worth savoring over and over again.
-- Melanie McFarland - DirectorDavid NutterStarsEmilia ClarkeKit HaringtonRichard MaddenRobb and Catelyn arrive at the Twins for the wedding. Jon is put to the test to see where his loyalties truly lie. Bran's group decides to split up. Daenerys plans an invasion of Yunkai.Anyone who read George R.R. Martin's books knew the bloody, brutal event commonly known as the Red Wedding was coming. Even if you didn't read the books, earlier in season three Cersei Lannister explained to one of her foes what the song "The Rains of Castamere" was about: The Rains were a highborn family with delusions of overtaking the Lannisters, which Tywin Lannister promptly put down by wiping out its entire bloodline. This, my friends, is what we call foreshadowing.
Knowing what was to come did not steal any of the shock and power from the television version of the scene itself, in which the setting transformed from a joyful wedding celebration into a chaotic killing floor in the space it took for the band to strike up the song from which this episode gets its title.
Give credit to David Nutter's superior directing, which gently sprinkled tension into the atmosphere as the Starks' doom closed in on them. From the moment Catelyn watched the doors to the great hall close as the tone of the music grew somber, it was clear the game was about to change again.
-- Melanie McFarland - DirectorAlan TaylorStarsSean BeanMichelle FairleyNikolaj Coster-WaldauRobb vows to get revenge on the Lannisters. Jon must officially decide if his place is with Robb or the Night's Watch. Daenerys says her final goodbye to Drogo.Game of Thrones hasn’t been great with conclusions: the final episodes tend to mostly tie up loose ends after a consequential penultimate outing. The very first finale is also the strongest, as it nicely sets up a world without Ned Stark and does away with another beloved character (Khal Drogo).
It also features one of the most iconic scenes in this (or really, any) series so far. Driven to despair, Daenerys climbs in to Drogo’s funeral pyre with her dragon eggs. After the pyre has been extinguished, Daenerys is found alive, naked, with three newborn dragons clinging to her. It was a stunning way to end the season, and left many wondering what was next for the “Mother of Dragons.”
--Ray Subers - DirectorAlik SakharovStarsPeter DinklageNikolaj Coster-WaldauLena HeadeyJon and the wildlings scale the Wall. The Brotherhood sells Gendry to Melisandre. Robb does what he can to win back the Freys. Tyrion tells Sansa about their engagement.There’s a lot going on in this mid-season episode: most of it is table-setting, though as always it’s thrilling to behold. There is one standout section, though, that gets this episode on to our list.
In the previous episode, Jon Snow and Ygritte consummated their relationship. It’s in "The Climb," though, where they truly let their guards down. During an early interaction, Ygritte reveals that she knows Jon is still a Crow, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “It’s you and me that matters to me and you,” she says. “Don’t ever betray me.” After a very treacherous climb up the Wall, the episode ends with Jon and Ygritte looking out at a gorgeous view of Westeros that feels plucked from the painted vistas of Gone with the Wind.
For all its special effects and action, it’s the relationships that matter the most on this show. And Jon/Ygritte is one relationship that feels true, and real, and that makes what comes later truly heartbreaking.
--Ray Subers - DirectorDaniel MinahanStarsSean BeanMark AddyMichelle FairleyWhile recovering from his battle with Jaime, Eddard is forced to run the kingdom while Robert goes hunting. Tyrion demands a trial by combat for his freedom. Viserys is losing his patience with Drogo.Wondering how power is wielded in this world? This episode definitively answers that question, as Ned Stark realizes he'll get no recourse for the murder of his men at Jaime Lannister's hands, and Tyrion wiggles out of an execution at The Eyrie by creating an alliance with a sellsword named Bronn.
In the Seven Kingdoms, might and gold win the day -- not honor, the currency of the Starks and Tullys, and not a name, as Viserys Targaryen soon finds out across the Narrow Sea. Calling himself a dragon and actually being one turn out to be different things. His meek sister Daenerys figures that out quickly, winning the love and loyalty of the Dothraki and her husband Khal Drogo...and their muscle. When Viserys demands Drogo give him the kingdom he wants, Drogo responds by "crowning" the second to last Targaryen. It was the last and only formal honor he ever received.
-- Melanie McFarland - DirectorMichelle MacLarenStarsPeter DinklageNikolaj Coster-WaldauEmilia ClarkeJon and the wildlings travel south of the Wall. Talisa tells Robb that she's pregnant. Arya runs away from the Brotherhood. Daenerys arrives at Yunkai. Jaime leaves Brienne behind at Harrenhal.Just as the fortunes of great Houses, families, and the land itself change quickly in Westeros, so can the moral compasses of its people. Jon can't decide whether he can remain loyal to his mission without betraying Ygritte, the Wildling woman he loves. Robb Stark shows he has his father's sense of honor but where Ned may have chosen diplomacy to smooth over differences with his bannermen, Robb opts for an iron will, nooses and blades to keep the men in line.
Arya discovers the supposedly heroic Brotherhood Without Banners are less effective at aiding her in her mission than The Hound, a man with no allegiances and lots of past sins to atone for.
In that sense, he has much in common with Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, whose time with Brienne of Tarth deeply changed the way he sees the world and wants the world to see him. Left with the opportunity to return home and leave Brienne to die horribly at the hands of her captors, Jaime turns back to save her, salvaging his damaged soul in the process.
-- Melanie McFarland - DirectorDaniel MinahanStarsSean BeanMark AddyNikolaj Coster-WaldauRobert has been injured while hunting and is dying. Jon and the others finally take their vows to the Night's Watch. A man, sent by Robert, is captured for trying to poison Daenerys. Furious, Drogo vows to attack the Seven Kingdoms.Early episodes spend considerable time introducing characters, establishing relationships, and exploring the unfamiliar world of Westeros. The seventh episode, titled "You Win or You Die," is when the high stakes story finally begins to clearly take shape.
With King Robert on his deathbed following an unexpected wound – don’t drink and boar hunt, kids – Ned Stark contemplates revealing the secret of Prince Joffrey’s lineage. While Ned is a good and noble man, he isn’t exactly good at playing the game, and makes two crucial mistakes during this episode. First, he reveals to Cersei that he knows her secret; second, he trusts Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger, to help him prevent Joffrey from becoming king.
In the episode’s shocking conclusion, all of this comes to a head in the throne room, where Ned Stark is betrayed by Baelish. With Joffrey on the throne and Ned in captivity, all-out war is right around the corner.
--Ray Subers - DirectorAlan TaylorStarsPeter DinklageLena HeadeyNikolaj Coster-WaldauJoffrey puts Sansa aside for Margaery Tyrell. Robb marries Talisa Maegyr. Jon prepares to meet Mance Rayder. Arya says farewell to Jaqen H'ghar. Daenerys tries to rescue her dragons.Avid viewers probably know by now that this drama's finales aren't usually the episodes that leave people talking weeks and months after a season has ended. Rather, they do what the final pages of a chapter are supposed to do: set up the next part of the story.
This particular chapter-closer showed us an assortment of lessons learned: Tyrion Lannister's and Theon Greyjoy's best efforts to win their family's respect -- Tyrion saved King's Landing, Theon claimed Winterfell -- amount to nothing. Jon finds out that the best way to serve the Night's Watch is to betray them in the worst way possible. Jaime learns that Brienne of Tarth is not just an empty suit of armor, but a skilled warrior who, unlike him, has the heart of a true knight. Sansa discovers that being released from her engagement to a monster doesn't necessarily mean she's free.
Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen learned three important lessons: Never rely on the kindness of strangers. Always trust your dragons. And when you see something you want, take it.
-- Melanie McFarland