In a way I liked conclusion though she deserved so much worse...
Television Best season of Game Of Thrones?
- Thread starter El-Manos
- Start date
Season 5 because the Powerpuff girls were amazing!
Really though season 1.
Edit: Just realized I already posted in here. my bad.
Really though season 1.
Edit: Just realized I already posted in here. my bad.
Season 8 easily, burn them all!
4 > 1 > 3 > 6 > 5 > 2 > 8 > 7
Season 4. Peak of the show. Closes out the first act of the story by wiping the slate clean in some devastating ways. Takes three seasons of character dynamics and delivers on every single conclusion it offers up. The King's Landing storyline is probably the best storyline in the whole show. It even starts showing signs of having an increased budget, which means we can see every step of the battle at Castle Black instead of jumping over it like we would have done in the first 2/3 seasons. There's one weaker episode ('Breaker of Chains') but it's packed full of everything you'd want from the show at that point in its run.
Season 1. Works brilliantly as an isolated story. It could have been cancelled after Daenerys' dragons were born and your imagination could have filled in the rest. Introduces you to an amazing, immersive world - the likes of which TV had never seen before and arguably hasn't seen since - with some instantly memorable characters who have murky, sinister ethics. It's intriguing, frightening, dangerous TV. 'Baelor' changed TV for the foreseeable future and I'll still never, ever get over how I felt when Daenerys emerged from the ashes of Drogo's funeral pyre. I watched the episode just a few weeks ago, before Christmas, and I still cried - even after all this time.
Season 3. Without the Red Wedding this would probably be level with, or below, season 6, but it does have the Red Wedding. One of the most devastating and numbing episodes of TV I've ever seen (up there with 'Bastogne' in Band of Brothers or the Chernobyl premiere for how utterly battered I felt after it cut to black), and the build-up to it is quite something. Takes a little while to grind through the gears at the start but 'And Now His Watch is Ended' & 'Kissed By Fire' are a tremendous one-two hit. I've also always been a big fan of 'Second Sons', the episode with Tyrion and Sansa's wedding, which is basically a powder keg for 50 minutes that ends with Sam slaying the White Walker.
Season 6. This is "peak Thrones" too, just for different reasons than season 4. This was when it garnered feverish worldwide attention for the first time - when it made its jump from being a popular HBO show to being the biggest show on TV - but still had the fans excited. 'Battle of the Bastards' & 'The Winds of Winter' is probably the best back-to-back the show ever had ('The Winds of Winter' is the show's best episode). And even before then it has Jon's resurrection and "Hold the door!". Has a couple of weak moments ('The Red Woman' is pretty meh; 'No One' sucks imo) but the scale the show was operating on by this point was unlike anything we'd seen on TV before. Not the best season but definitely the most exciting.
Season 5. Unfairly maligned. Has a couple of clunky moments, and it seems they do now regret doing the Dorne plot the way they did (which I think is fine), but this does a really good job of narrowing the focus onto the main characters, instead of adding in loads of directionless subplots (ahem, George). Opens up the second act of the story by declaring its confidence to set its eyes on the endgame. The run of 'Hardhome', 'The Dance of Dragons' & 'Mother's Mercy' is probably the show's most gruesome and bleak three-episode run. It's the fall before the rise. Also crucial for Jon & Daenerys' stories and how things eventually turn out for them both.
Season 2. Great season, just doesn't have that many high-points, which is strange considering every other season is stacked full of them. This does a lot of admin to prepare for life after Ned Stark, and it does a really great job of keeping things ticking over and introducing new characters in this amazing universe. The introduction of magic to the show is something that it struggles with initially but it eventually gets there, and 'Blackwater' remains my second-favourite episode of the whole series. Just a very consistent mini-story overall that rarely reaches unbelievable highs but never drops below a very solid threshold. Also love everything that happens with Theon during this season.
Season 8. Obviously everything happens a bit too quickly, but the ideas on display, and the conclusions it reaches, were too close to what I took out of the show (in terms of its themes & messages) for me to not think it was really brave and bold to do what they did. 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms', 'The Long Night' & 'The Bells' have become three of my favourite episodes of TV of all time and I think they more than make up for the exposition-heavy 'Winterfell', the breakneck confusion of 'The Last of the Starks' and the relatively drama-free, box-ticking series finale. Still can't wrap my head around the ambition and scale of 'The Long Night' & 'The Bells'. At its best, GOT changed what television could do, and those two episodes are part of their greatest hits.
Season 7. Still enjoy this season overall. It's driven mostly by us finally getting first-meetings and reunions that we'd waited years for and it mostly delivers on them. Just think you can see the writers really straining to set the board up for the final season. The scale and ambition of the show is still incredible, but Westeros suddenly shrinks in size because things have to happen, characters start acting out of desperation because "there's no time" (as Jon keeps saying), and so you end up with real pacing problems - and whatever happens at Winterfell with Sansa & Littlefinger is the worst thing the show ever did. Still, those first 3/4 episodes (culminating in the battle with Dany & the Lannisters) are great quality and the season finale's subdued tone and slower pace make for great TV.
Season 1. Works brilliantly as an isolated story. It could have been cancelled after Daenerys' dragons were born and your imagination could have filled in the rest. Introduces you to an amazing, immersive world - the likes of which TV had never seen before and arguably hasn't seen since - with some instantly memorable characters who have murky, sinister ethics. It's intriguing, frightening, dangerous TV. 'Baelor' changed TV for the foreseeable future and I'll still never, ever get over how I felt when Daenerys emerged from the ashes of Drogo's funeral pyre. I watched the episode just a few weeks ago, before Christmas, and I still cried - even after all this time.
Season 3. Without the Red Wedding this would probably be level with, or below, season 6, but it does have the Red Wedding. One of the most devastating and numbing episodes of TV I've ever seen (up there with 'Bastogne' in Band of Brothers or the Chernobyl premiere for how utterly battered I felt after it cut to black), and the build-up to it is quite something. Takes a little while to grind through the gears at the start but 'And Now His Watch is Ended' & 'Kissed By Fire' are a tremendous one-two hit. I've also always been a big fan of 'Second Sons', the episode with Tyrion and Sansa's wedding, which is basically a powder keg for 50 minutes that ends with Sam slaying the White Walker.
Season 6. This is "peak Thrones" too, just for different reasons than season 4. This was when it garnered feverish worldwide attention for the first time - when it made its jump from being a popular HBO show to being the biggest show on TV - but still had the fans excited. 'Battle of the Bastards' & 'The Winds of Winter' is probably the best back-to-back the show ever had ('The Winds of Winter' is the show's best episode). And even before then it has Jon's resurrection and "Hold the door!". Has a couple of weak moments ('The Red Woman' is pretty meh; 'No One' sucks imo) but the scale the show was operating on by this point was unlike anything we'd seen on TV before. Not the best season but definitely the most exciting.
Season 5. Unfairly maligned. Has a couple of clunky moments, and it seems they do now regret doing the Dorne plot the way they did (which I think is fine), but this does a really good job of narrowing the focus onto the main characters, instead of adding in loads of directionless subplots (ahem, George). Opens up the second act of the story by declaring its confidence to set its eyes on the endgame. The run of 'Hardhome', 'The Dance of Dragons' & 'Mother's Mercy' is probably the show's most gruesome and bleak three-episode run. It's the fall before the rise. Also crucial for Jon & Daenerys' stories and how things eventually turn out for them both.
Season 2. Great season, just doesn't have that many high-points, which is strange considering every other season is stacked full of them. This does a lot of admin to prepare for life after Ned Stark, and it does a really great job of keeping things ticking over and introducing new characters in this amazing universe. The introduction of magic to the show is something that it struggles with initially but it eventually gets there, and 'Blackwater' remains my second-favourite episode of the whole series. Just a very consistent mini-story overall that rarely reaches unbelievable highs but never drops below a very solid threshold. Also love everything that happens with Theon during this season.
Season 8. Obviously everything happens a bit too quickly, but the ideas on display, and the conclusions it reaches, were too close to what I took out of the show (in terms of its themes & messages) for me to not think it was really brave and bold to do what they did. 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms', 'The Long Night' & 'The Bells' have become three of my favourite episodes of TV of all time and I think they more than make up for the exposition-heavy 'Winterfell', the breakneck confusion of 'The Last of the Starks' and the relatively drama-free, box-ticking series finale. Still can't wrap my head around the ambition and scale of 'The Long Night' & 'The Bells'. At its best, GOT changed what television could do, and those two episodes are part of their greatest hits.
Season 7. Still enjoy this season overall. It's driven mostly by us finally getting first-meetings and reunions that we'd waited years for and it mostly delivers on them. Just think you can see the writers really straining to set the board up for the final season. The scale and ambition of the show is still incredible, but Westeros suddenly shrinks in size because things have to happen, characters start acting out of desperation because "there's no time" (as Jon keeps saying), and so you end up with real pacing problems - and whatever happens at Winterfell with Sansa & Littlefinger is the worst thing the show ever did. Still, those first 3/4 episodes (culminating in the battle with Dany & the Lannisters) are great quality and the season finale's subdued tone and slower pace make for great TV.
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Randomly Battle of the Bastards was on the tele. Despite season 6 sometimes being lumped into the "this is where game of thrones started going down hill" talk, season 6 had arguably 2 of the greatest episodes in battle of the bastards and winds of winter. Overall I'd say its one of the best got seasons and one of the best seasons on tele ever.
Looking back at season 8, I reckon if they had focused on the fall of the whitewalkers for the whole of season 8, then the fall of cersei/corruption of Dany for season 9 and then the fall of Dany in season 10 they may have been able to stick the landing.
Looking back at season 8, I reckon if they had focused on the fall of the whitewalkers for the whole of season 8, then the fall of cersei/corruption of Dany for season 9 and then the fall of Dany in season 10 they may have been able to stick the landing.
Season 6 definitely had the spectacle, but for me it will always be season 4. In large part due to Pedro, but everything else around his storyline was so good. That was essentially the last season before it transitioned into mega-budget territory.
1 > 4 = 6 > 3 > 2 >> 5 >>>>>>> 7 >>>>>>>>>>>>> 8
Winds of Winter would be my favorite episode followed by Rains of Castamere.
Winds of Winter would be my favorite episode followed by Rains of Castamere.
4 for me. Nights watch vs wildlings. Dany’s quest, Court scene, mountain vs viper, Brianne vs hound, tywins death, Arya finally setting sail, and that bastard Joffrey finally dying.
4-6-1-7-2-3-5-8.
4-6-1-7-2-3-5-8.
Hard to look beyond Hardhome for best episode. Genuinely took the entire show up a notch for me. I don't think any other film or show I've ever watched has brought out the goosebumps to that extent, and I can't see another one doing it again. I live in hope, mind you.
Three. The Door is outstanding as well. That said, the overall quality was not as consistently high in that season as in season 3 and 4, which is the show's peak in my opinion. Season 3 is often overlooked because it was just before what is widely regarded as the best season. It had the most shocking moment in the show's history, The Red Wedding, and the brilliant Brienne/Jaime arc, culminating in Kissed by Fire, an all-time great episode. The consistency of writing during that stretch is not matched by many shows.
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All a load of shite.
Dragons and other nonsense.
Dragons and other nonsense.
Red Wedding.
Hardhome had good fighting scenes, and as a book reader got me by surprise cause it didn’t happen in the book. Great episode.
However, Winds of Winter I think is genuinely brilliant. The destruction of Tyrells and the Faith with Ramin Djawaldi’s best piece of music, then my favorite part ‘Promise me Ned’ by Lyana followed by Jon becoming King of the North (which is the best overall ark in the entire show), to only conclude with Daenerys invasion. Awesomeness!
The true final episode of GoT
Shame it got cancelled after that
Season 4 was great though.
Season 4, the Battle of Castle Black was by far the best for me.
3 episodes into my first rewatch (I have watched the whole series once and read the 5 main books once, in the middle of the show's run). Quite enjoyable so far, although some things are slightly ropier than I remembered them. Some characters (Sean Bean is fantastic as Ned) and scenes (the drunken war "banter" between Barristan Selmy, Jamie and Robert (another brilliant casting choice)) are quite good though. It's amazing how they managed to completely and utterly ruin everything, there was so much potential... and it's not only D&D's fault though, it's obvious GRRRRRRRM doesn't know what to do with his own world either.
Season 3 for me.
Theons transformation to Reek, Jaime getting his hand lopped off and of course, the best moment in TV history; The Red Wedding.
Theons transformation to Reek, Jaime getting his hand lopped off and of course, the best moment in TV history; The Red Wedding.
Seasons 3 and 4 were the best, followed by 5 and 6. Basically, the middle of the show was incredible.
1 and 2 were good, 7 and 8 the worst.
1 and 2 were good, 7 and 8 the worst.
Found 5 to be shit except for Hardhome. D&D clearly didnt know what to do with the Dorne plotline.
Anything in the first half was good, maybe 4 was the best.
Basically after they got ahead of the books it turned to shit
Basically after they got ahead of the books it turned to shit
Season 1 was by far the best for me.
1, then 2, then 3, then 4
Basically the further away it went from the original story, the worse it got.
Basically the further away it went from the original story, the worse it got.
Just finished the red wedding episode (first rewatch) and feck me, season 3 is so fecking grim: Theon's torture, Jamie's maiming, the red wedding itself... and the general tone too, so fecking dark. A truly tough watch. It's such a shame what the clowns running the show turned it into. From all this to the "kind of forgot". It would be awful if that's the only ending we get to this story.
The torture of Reek was poetic justice. Deserved everything that came his way.
Sky Atlantic had the final three eps of s8 on yesterday (might have been more). I watched them and I 'kind of forgot' how much bad stuff happens during these episodes that just dont make sense. Not even compared to previous seasons, but compared to whats happened in the previous episode or current episode. Its like each scene was directed or written by somebody new with no knowledge of any other scenes.
Emilia does a fantastic job though with what shes given. The rest all look like they are phoning it in (or are just done and want it over with)
Season 1 is probably the best in terms of story, almost nothing is wasted. On the other hand, the visuals are nowhere near as good as they'd get after Season 5. Some of it looks real bad.
First 2. 3 and 4 were good, after that it was a downhill to the point of watching it just for the sake of it and to see it till the end. By the end of it all it was a torture.
It must have been hugely demotivating for the cast to go through the second half/final third of the series. Coming from the heights they were coming from, and then having to go through the relatively slow but painful decline, to the utter shitshow of seasons 7 and 8.
Do any of you think a remake of the whole thing will be made at some point?
I don't really agree with this. The lower budget in Season 1 mostly shows up in skipping battle scenes entirely, using dogs instead of CGI wolves and stuff like that. I don't remember there being any jarring visual shortcomings. In some ways, I actually think the first season is best in terms of visuals, because they didn't pivot to the overly dark/drab color scheme that plagues the later seasons.
The writing was always what made Game of Thrones popular to begin with, and the writing is the best in Season 1, in my opinion.
Season 4, the wedding the trial etc, but also the mountain and the viper, the watchers on the wall and the children is quite simply the best stretch of episodes in the show. My headcanon ending tbh, shits the bed after this point.
Season 1 looks like it was filmed in 1970.
How so?
It's season 3 or 4 for me, but I have a soft spot for season 1 too. Ned Stark and King Robert were such great characters. Every scene with King Robert is gold. "Bow, you shits!"
The low budget was telling, the cinematography wasn't great. Didn't in any visual way resemble a modern tv show. Maybe they deliberately wanted to give it a medieval look but then they would've stayed true to it throughout. Instead they rapidly modernized the visuals as the budget kept increasing. The final few seasons were like blockbuster movies in terms of cinematography.
GOT S1 budgeted about $4-5m per episode. HOTD S1 is around $20m per episode. I know it's a decade later and crazy improvements have happened during that time but visuals wise GOT S1 was a bit meh relative to other shows in that period. Compare that to the visuals in HOTD which are spectacular relative to other shows today.
Martin was pissed off that GOT didn't portray the royal hunt in the fashion it deserved. That was down to the budget alone. Just look at the difference in HOTD where they don't have same budget constraints:
The low budget was telling, the cinematography wasn't great. Didn't in any visual way resemble a modern tv show. Maybe they deliberately wanted to give it a medieval look but then they would've stayed true to it throughout. Instead they rapidly modernized the visuals as the budget kept increasing. The final few seasons were like blockbuster movies in terms of cinematography.
GOT S1 budgeted about $4-5m per episode. HOTD S1 is around $20m per episode. I know it's a decade later and crazy improvements have happened during that time but visuals wise GOT S1 was a bit meh relative to other shows in that period. Compare that to the visuals in HOTD which are spectacular relative to other shows today.
Martin was pissed off that GOT didn't portray the royal hunt in the fashion it deserved. That was down to the budget alone. Just look at the difference in HOTD where they don't have same budget constraints:
It might just be a preference thing. I haven't watched HOTD, but that second image just screams CGI to me. Give me a show filmed on location with actual extras in actual costumes (like the picture from season 1) every day of the week. It's basically like looking at images from the LOTR trilogy vs. The Hobbit trilogy.
I also prefer the times in season 1 where they don't show the battles but just the aftermath to some of the nonsensical battle scenes from later scenes. Even the assault on King's Landing from the second season, while having good visuals, was poor in terms of storytelling.
Game of Thrones is a show that went from world building, intrigue and character arks to "look what we can computer-generate with our $100m budget".
Same, top image looks better for me too because it actually looks realistic.
For seasons, if I had to pick it'd be 1 mainly for not knowing anything about it going in and the utter shock value of the final episode left us knowing this show was something different.
1-4 all top tier in terms of quality though, not much in it. Went clearly downhill in 5 with that daft expedition to Dorne, notably it was the first big divergence from the books and they made a complete mess of it, clear sign of things to come.
I thought everything after season 4 was pretty poor.
Season 1 was bloody great the Cersei and Robert chemistry was off the charts and was the highlight of the whole show in terms of acting for me.
I think season 4 ending had some of the strongest episodes "The Watchers on the wall" was incredible TV, i also saw this episode on an IMAX screen at the opening of the new IMAX where i live and it was unbelievably good scaled up also.
I think season 4 ending had some of the strongest episodes "The Watchers on the wall" was incredible TV, i also saw this episode on an IMAX screen at the opening of the new IMAX where i live and it was unbelievably good scaled up also.