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Post by greendemon on Apr 7, 2019 15:30:37 GMT 1
Helpfully, we're going straight from a low-CGI death scene to possibly the most effects-heavy one so far...
21. The Night King kills Viserion (S7E6 - Beyond the Wall)
This nearly ended up much lower than it did, because (for me at least) this is one of the weaker episodes in GoT’s history. Yes, it was spectacular, but I find it hard to look past some of the sillier moments - Gendry’s ultramarathon-running to deliver the message, Daenerys showing up ridiculously quickly, and don’t get me started on Uncle Benjen! Even this scene is a little silly - I still haven’t found a good explanation for why the Night King doesn’t just go for Drogon and wipe out Daenerys at the same time. I can’t deny, though, that the death of Viserion was both visually stunning and hugely affecting for me. I may not be fond of Dany but I have always loved the dragons: they have been a part of her story since Season 1; they freed her from the warlocks of Qarth, they won her the Unsullied, they burned the Masters’ armada. They are her children and her greatest strength. Seeing one of them die was horrifying; not only because, CGI or not, it’s impossible not to care about them, but because they were supposed to be the ultimate weapon against the army of the dead. Nothing up to this point has come close to killing them, and with one Olympic-medal-winning javelin throw, the Night King completely changes the game. It’s sad and it’s terrifying all at once.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 7, 2019 15:33:30 GMT 1
20. Tyrion’s first trial by combat (S1E6 - A Golden Crown)
This has been one of my very favourite scenes in the show ever since I first saw it, and it’s only gone up in my estimation since Tyrion’s second trial. His first one is a much less serious affair - I’m not sure that anyone, even Cat, really believes he was responsible for sending the assassin to Winterfell to kill Bran - and he makes the most of it by entertaining the fine lords and ladies of the Vale with his “confession”, which sounds like something straight out of a bawdy play. But what gets this moment into my top 20 is the trial by combat itself, in which Bronn volunteers to represent Tyrion in the absence of the Kingslayer and shocks everyone by defeating Lysa’s champion, the honourable and noble Ser Vardis Egen. At this point we know very little about Bronn other than he’s a slightly slippery character who seems fond of Tyrion, or at least trusts in a well-known saying about Lannisters and debts. Bronn wins through dodging Ser Vardis’ blows, knocking obstacles in his way and fighting in just about the dirtiest and most dishonourable way imaginable, before despatching his opponent before a horrified Lady Arryn. She accuses him of not fighting with honour, to which Bronn, watching Ser Vardis’ corpse tumble through the Moon Door, replies: “No. He did.” If there has been a more perfect “in-a-nutshell” summary of Game of Thrones at any point in the show’s seven seasons, I can’t recall it.
Astonishingly there is only one more moment to come from Season 1...
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Post by greendemon on Apr 7, 2019 15:57:15 GMT 1
Two for the price of one... 19. Arya and the Hound (S4E1 - Two Swords/S4E10 - The Children)The greatest double act in Game of Thrones’ history? I think so. I briefly considered having a “Jon and Ygritte”-style entry to encompass all their scenes together, but in the end I settled for these two, which are clearly the best of them. The Hound and Arya’s relationship is one of the greatest strengths of Season 4 (which is already a very strong season), with him slowly transforming from captor to teacher and protector, and Arya coming into her own and learning how to fend for herself. The first one, if it were an episode of Friends, would be called “The One With The Chickens”. When Arya spots Polliver with her sword, Needle, she persuades a very reluctant Hound to help her get it back. What follows is brutal, hugely satisfying and pretty much every word that comes out of the Hound’s (*expletive deleted*) mouth is hilarious. I included the full scene because I think my favourite bit is when the Hound says “I don’t care if he ate your friend” The other, of course, is the one where she leaves him for dead after he’s been defeated by Brienne. He knows his injuries are fatal and tries to goad her into killing him, but she just takes his silver and leaves. It just perfectly encapsulates the complexity of their relationship and her feelings towards him. Genuinely moving, in the twisted way GoT does best.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 8, 2019 12:52:01 GMT 1
18. Tyrion kills Shae and his father (S4E10 - The Children)
A number of the entries on this list are from the excellent Season 4 finale, “The Children”. This one is my favourite. There's a key diversion from the book that alters the scene somewhat*, but atmospherically it feels like a perfect recreation: the whole sequence is beautifully shot; the yellow candlelight adding a creepy, almost sickly glow to proceedings. Without a doubt, this is Tyrion’s darkest hour; even as a free man, he has lost his wealth, his status, his friends and his lover. That said, I don’t think his intention is to kill Tywin when he goes to the Tower of the Hand - after all, as he protests during his trial, he is not the monster everyone seems to think he is. But the gut-wrenching discovery of Shae in his father’s bed changes all that, and he strangles her with the same golden chain necklace he gave her. The famously whore-hating Tywin - now exposed as a liar and a hypocrite - is caught with his pants down both figuratively and literally. In his final moments, he tries to manipulate Tyrion by appealing to his desire for recognition as his son, promising (emptily, I think it’s clear) that he would never let the execution go ahead. But it’s his dismissal of Shae as a whore that enrages Tyrion; not only because of his hypocrisy, but also, I think, because it’s evident that Tywin’s only interest in her was as a tool with which to hurt the son he despises.
It's hard to overstate the significance of this moment. As well as Tyrion's escape, which eventually leads him into Daenerys' service, the loss of Tywin is devastating for House Lannister and is perhaps the biggest reason why their fortunes suffer so badly in season 5 and 6. Yet after all the misery we’ve seen Tywin put Tyrion through - particularly, though not exclusively, during this season - it’s hard not to be cheered by the sight of Daddy Lannister dead in the most inglorious of circumstances, even if Tyrion is never the same again.
There are another 3 entries from Season 4 to come, plus one more for Tywin…
* I won’t go into this, as it could still spoil something in Season 8, other than to say it takes place in the scene where Jaime frees Tyrion.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 8, 2019 13:18:50 GMT 1
17. Resurrection of Jon Snow (S6E2 - Home)
For us book-readers, this might rank among the most anticipated moments of Game of Thrones, since the most recent book (published way back in 2010) ends with Jon’s death. In the intervening years, there were all kinds of theories as to if or how he might be brought back, with the favourite being that he would do a Bran/Orell and warg into Ghost at the moment of death*. I’ve spoken before about GoT’s willingness to axe just about any character, but I think among most people there was a strong suspicion Jon would be resurrected, despite Kit Harington bravely protesting otherwise in every interview between seasons 5 and 6: it clearly wasn’t the end of his plotline. The signposting was there in the form of Melisandre, who we know has seen first-hand the Lord of Light’s ability to bring Beric Dondarrion back from the dead in Season 3, and who is in need of redemption as well as a new Lord’s Chosen. Despite the weight of inevitability, the sequence is masterfully done; we think Melisandre’s incantations (for which, notably, no subtitles are given) have failed, just about everyone abandons hope, Ghost wakes up (Ghost or Jon, I remember wondering!), there is that shot of Jon’s lifeless corpse for what seems like an age, and only then does he come back to life. By having this happen at the end of the second episode, they dragged it out for as long as they could, but in this case I really think it only served to build the anticipation for what we all knew was coming.
Three more from Season 6 to come.
* In the books, more of the Stark children (possibly all of them) have some level of warging ability with their direwolves. I was never a huge fan of the warging theory so I can’t complain that they decided not to go down that route, particularly since warging is very much Bran’s thing in the series.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 8, 2019 18:45:22 GMT 1
16. “Chaos is a ladder” (S3E6 - The Climb)
Ask a GoT fan to name a famous speech from the series and there’s a good chance they will choose this one. By this point, Littlefinger is well-established as one of the most dangerous and manipulative players in the game, but it’s only really during seasons 3 and 4 that we understand the extent of his goals and how far he is prepared to go to achieve them. This speech is a wonderfully chilling exposition of his game plan, revealing that, as Varys always suspected, he would happily see the world burn if he could be king of the ashes. To a character like Varys, who is motivated ultimately by “the good of the realm” and ensuring that order and sanity prevail, the idea of chaos is horrifying; to Littlefinger, a man of low birth with boundless ambition, replacing that order with orchestrated chaos is the only way he can achieve his aims, and the realm, the gods, even love are all meaningless distractions.
This is another scene which I've always adored. I love the internal references in the scene: the callback to their other conversations in the throne room (see #30), and of course Littlefinger’s almost word-for-word recollection of his threatening Ros in Season 2 with the same fate that befell another of his “bad investments”. The horrific images of her that backdrop this scene show that he was true to his word in that if little else. I also, for my sins, love the slightly cheesy cut from the words "the climb is all there is" to the sequence of Jon and Ygritte climbing the wall and admiring the view from the top, which might just be the most romantic scene in the whole show. I mean, if this doesn't move you even a little bit you might as well enlist in the Night King's army. And speaking of callbacks…
Two left from Season 3 in the top 15! One should be fairly obvious, the other, perhaps less so...
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Post by greendemon on Apr 8, 2019 18:54:40 GMT 1
Hoping to post one or two more later this evening, but for now, here are some stats for the top 15: 1 from Season 1 2 from Season 2 2 from Season 3 3 from Season 4 2 from Season 5 3 from Season 6 2 from Season 7 If you've got this far, feel free to speculate, although, of course, I will neither confirm nor deny anything at this stage
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Post by greendemon on Apr 9, 2019 0:54:25 GMT 1
15. Mother of Dragons (S1E10 - Fire and Blood)When I started compiling this list, I had no idea that this was going to come out as my favourite moment from Season 1: it’s one of the strongest seasons, certainly in terms of writing, and there are some wonderful scenes throughout. But it’s also perhaps the best season of all for Daenerys’ character development and story - she even has a proper arc and everything! Her transformation from terrified little girl to fearless khaleesi is really well-written and provides some fantastic scenes, one or two of which I’ve featured already. The main value this scene has for me, then, is as the culmination of all that - the moment when Daenerys finally becomes the Mother of Dragons. At this point, having lost her brother, her husband, her child and the future she had imagined, she has nothing left but a few loyal retainers and her three dragon eggs. She has no real reason to believe they will hatch - Illyrio tells her they have turned to stone - but it’s clear the thought has crossed her mind before, when we saw her placing one of the eggs on a brazier a few episodes earlier. Taking them with her, she walks into the fire and emerges, phoenix-like, reborn as the mother of three dragons. It’s a pretty amazing end to the season and really hypes you up for what comes next, which is a pity, because Daenerys in Season 2 mostly consists of her shouting “where are my dragons?!” in Qarth while Xaro Xhoan Daxos tells her about how he came from nothing for the hundredth time. Ah well. It was fun while it lasted. (OK, I lied. The main reason I love this scene is because friggin’ baby dragons. And no, I’m not even sorry. I mean, just look at them.)
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Post by greendemon on Apr 10, 2019 1:15:02 GMT 1
14. The Purple Wedding (S4E2 - The Lion and the Rose)And so we come to this, the second most notorious of all Game of Thrones weddings, and one of the highlights of Season 4. This is one of the longer single scenes in the list (and actually the video above doesn’t quite contain all of it) but the whole thing is just marvellous. Lest you feel sorry for him, Joffrey spends his final moments in the best way he knows how: being utterly despicable. First he forces his guests to watch a farcical depiction of the War of the Five Kings acted out by dwarfs, humiliating just about everyone at the high table (except Cersei and Tywin, who are clearly loving it); then he relentlessly torments his uncle, pouring wine on his head and ordering him to serve as his cupbearer. You spend the entire scene hating him, while at the same time admiring Tyrion’s composure and his attempts to undermine Joffrey with platitudes, all the while failing to notice (if you haven’t seen the scene before, anyway) Olenna slyly slipping poison into her grandson-by-law’s wine. Then suddenly, Joffrey dies clawing at his throat and Tyrion goes from victim to accused. One of the most visually horrifying deaths in Game of Thrones to date, but also one of the most satisfying - I could watch the smug smile being wiped off Cersei’s face all day. There hasn’t been much Joffrey in this list, which makes sense; oddly enough, he was absent from most of my favourite moments. But I do regret that I haven’t had much opportunity to talk about Jack Gleeson and what a fantastic actor I think he is. He absolutely nails his portrayal of Joffrey as a malevolent little dirtbag with the wit and temperament of a spoilt toddler. Even in a series that has seen some incredible acting from many of its cast members, his performance stands out. The Purple Wedding sequence also boasts my very favourite of all the show’s “musical cameos”. I might be a little biased as a Sigur Rós fan, but I really like their creepy, dirge-like rendition of “The Rains of Castamere”, which fails to impress the king but reappears as an appropriately funereal accompaniment to the closing credits. You may be surprised to hear that there will be one more wedding featured in this countdown...
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Post by greendemon on Apr 10, 2019 1:23:27 GMT 1
13. Arya as Tywin’s cupbearer (S2E5 - The Ghost of Harrenhal/S2E7 - A Man Without Honor)
As an adaptation, Game of Thrones was never going to be able to fully recreate the complexity or scope of A Song of Ice and Fire in its ten-episode seasons, and so it’s inevitable that the writers have deviated from the novels; as Ramsay would say, peeling a few bits and removing a few more. It’s entirely fair to say that they haven’t always got it right. But to anyone who insists that they have always got it wrong, I have only to point to the decision to make Arya cupbearer to Tywin Lannister at Harrenhal in Season 2. This was an inspired innovation, throwing two characters together despite their never meeting in the novels, resulting in some of the most engaging dialogue scenes that GoT has ever produced. Arya manages to humanise Tywin in a way his own children never do (as a review I saw points out, she is the only character in the show to make him laugh), while she - in an early experimentation with the idea of becoming a Faceless Man - gets some schooling in the art of concealing one's true identity. Absolutely wonderful scenes, both well-acted and brilliantly written, and I always look forward to them with every rewatch.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 10, 2019 13:55:45 GMT 1
12. Field of Fire (S7E4 - The Spoils of War)Anyone following this list might have noticed the absence of pretty much all the big battle sequences so far. There’s a reason for that. As someone with a long-standing interest in medieval military history and epic literature, I love a good battle scene if it’s done well, and Game of Thrones boasts some of the most brilliantly realised battles in screen history. This one is truly spectacular, finally bringing about two events that have been anticipated since Season 1. It’s the first time we (or indeed any of the characters) get to see any of the dragons in action on the battlefield, and Drogon torching the Lannister army and wagons is every bit as awesome and terrible as was promised. Despite the obvious problems inherent in trying to portray a giant flying lizard breathing fire over a battlefield in a realistic manner, somehow, they pull it off, and the futility of Bronn’s attempts to use Qyburn’s much-vaunted scorpion to bring the dragon down reinforces just how devastating they are. The other long-awaited showcase is, of course, Dany’s khalasar, also shown at full force for the first time in the series. King Robert may have been a bad ruler, but he was a brilliant general, and the idea of meeting a horde of Dothraki screamers in the field was something that terrified him - with good reason. That initial charge of the Dothraki over the brow of the hill - part Mongol horde, part American Indian wagon-raiding party in a western - is one of my favourite moments from any Game of Thrones battle scene. More than any other battle in GoT (with the possible exception of the Battle of the Barstewards), the Field of Fire sequence focuses squarely on the horrors of war. The Dothraki are fearsome enough, but Drogon is nothing short of a weapon of mass destruction in action; no matter which side you are on, it’s hard not to be horrified by the sight of men incinerated alive. This ties in to what really makes this sequence so gripping to watch: the fact that the battle involves so many key characters, on both sides, so unlike BotB, we’re witnessing these horrors from both sides, and - like Tyrion - it’s difficult to know who to root for. An inevitable consequence of this is that the battle, while clearly won by Daenerys, doesn’t actually have much narrative weight to it - sure, the Lannisters lose a load of men (and eventually the Tarlys) and supplies from the Reach, but the overall picture is relatively unaltered. Because of this, it’s difficult to rank it quite in the same league as some of the other battles still to come - but #12 is still pretty good going. (A note on the name of the battle: I’ve called it the Field of Fire as I see this name used a lot in the fandom; strictly speaking, though, the Field of Fire actually refers to a very similar battle that took place during Aegon’s Conquest. It sounds a lot more poetic than “the Wagon Train Battle”, though! )
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Post by Jordan on Apr 10, 2019 18:59:44 GMT 1
Totally agree about the Tywin/Arya scenes - they were so brilliantly done, and in my opinion the absolute best non-book moment.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 10, 2019 20:39:05 GMT 1
11. Daenerys frees the Unsullied and sacks Astapor (S3E4 - And Now His Watch Is Ended)In the light of recent entries, I may have protested too loudly that I’m not actually a Daenerys fan. I’m really not! But it’s only fair to include this moment this high up as it is, hands down, the most badass thing she has ever done. In the scenes that lay the groundwork for this one, we see the vile Master of the Unsullied, Kraznys mo Nakloz, insulting Daenerys and trying to cheat her in High Valyrian, with no idea that she can understand every word and is merely playing the part of the clueless foreigner. Her apparent decision to hand over one of her dragons - each one of them many times more valuable than any army - only seems to reinforce that impression; even Jorah and Barristan are horrified. Turns out this is all part of a tactical masterstroke that wrongfoots everyone: her enemies, her most trusted advisors, even the audience. The moment when she takes the whip and addresses the Unsullied in perfect High Valyrian, revealing the deception, is utterly priceless. This really is Daenerys at her best - outsmarting the Masters, breaking some chains and showing herself to be a queen worthy of all of her many titles. The original Dracarys Bass Drop: often imitated, never outmatched.
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Post by greendemon on Apr 12, 2019 9:36:32 GMT 1
Finally onto the top 10, kicking off with the very last thing we have seen on the show...
10. The Wall falls (S7E7 - The Dragon and the Wolf)
How do you deliver on one of the most eagerly anticipated events in a story? With lots of CGI and an undead dragon, that’s how. The Wall’s inevitable fall has been clear almost since the very beginning of Game of Thrones: the number of time we were told how important it was, how long it’s been there, the horrors on the other side just waiting for an opportunity to break through. For all that Season 7 felt rushed, with all the characters frantically rushing around between a few key plot points, the slow development of the Night King and the White Walkers as a threat, building from the opening moments of Season 1 all the way through until now, has been brilliantly paced and written throughout the series.
I’ve said elsewhere that I found Season 7 one of the weakest, so there’s no need to go on about that here. But the finale definitely made up for it, even before we get to this moment. There’s the showdown at the Dragon Pit, some wonderful scenes between Cersei and both her brothers (including Jaime finally seeing sense and leaving!), the conclusion of the ridiculous Winterfell subplot, the revelation that Ned Stark’s illegitimate son is neither Ned’s son nor illegitimate. And then you have this, the literal beginning of the end - and it is nothing short of spectacular and terrifying. Having just finished my final Season 1-7 rewatch before the new season starts in 3 days(!), my hype levels are pretty much through the roof at this point and I’m even thinking of watching this episode again on Sunday night.
It may have been a patchy season, but this dramatic, apocalyptic conclusion is exactly what was needed - even if it helps to forget how we got there. Though I do think it would have been more effective if we hadn’t seen Viserion being reanimated at the end of episode 6 - the shock value would definitely have been greater!
(Incidentally, I am also certain that both Tormund and Beric are still alive as of now. It’s a little plot-armoury of the writers, but I firmly believe Beric needs to live long enough to give his life to resurrect someone, and Tormund has unfinished, um, business with Brienne...)
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Post by greendemon on Apr 12, 2019 9:36:54 GMT 1
So that’s it for Seasons 1 and 7. Still to come… 1 from Season 2 1 from Season 3 2 from Season 4 2 from Season 5 3 from Season 6
More later!
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Post by o on Apr 12, 2019 10:14:36 GMT 1
I've been cherry picking which eps to watch to catch up on, and that scene with Dany was one of them, love it, emphasised to my daughter how good it was to see her deceiving everyone cleverly. That battle scene as well is awesome, but that is what we expect from GofT, but it is still jaw droppingly brilliant!
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Post by greendemon on Apr 12, 2019 11:31:50 GMT 1
I've been cherry picking which eps to watch to catch up on, and that scene with Dany was one of them, love it, emphasised to my daughter how good it was to see her deceiving everyone cleverly. That battle scene as well is awesome, but that is what we expect from GofT, but it is still jaw droppingly brilliant! I hope you haven't given her ideas...
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Post by o on Apr 12, 2019 13:12:04 GMT 1
Nah, she's already streets ahead of Dany...
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Post by greendemon on Apr 12, 2019 21:29:03 GMT 1
9. Cersei’s walk of atonement (S5E10 - Mother’s Mercy)
Amid all the epic deaths and battles that must surely rank among Game of Thrones’ finest moments, I had to find a place for this. It’s so unlike almost anything else we see in GoT - a scene built entirely around ritualised humiliation - that it almost defies description. I’ve discussed my feelings towards Cersei elsewhere - I would say that I love her as a character but hate her as a person - but however much I may have delighted in her son’s death (#14) and her arrest (#56), this scene deeply moved me. Her slow progress through the city towards the Red Keep - representing at once freedom, her son and vengeance - becomes more and more difficult to watch the closer she gets to the end, as the resolutely brave face she wears at the start gradually collapses into despair. Lena Headey is, as ever, utterly amazing in this scene, and you can’t help but feel pity and even admiration for the way Cersei faces her atonement.
Every scene in the top 10 is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. This one genuinely is astounding on so many levels: Headey’s wonderful acting, the cinematography, the effect created by essentially shutting down half of Dubrovnik and lining the streets with extras; even the brilliant editing seamlessly blending Lena and her body double.
And who can forget Septa Unella and her bell...
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Post by Jordan on Apr 13, 2019 9:35:11 GMT 1
So happy to see the walk of atonement in your top 10 - I'd actually read up on this a bit before reading the books and before Season 5 was released, purple because Cersei has always been by far my favourite character in the show. This whole sequence was truly epic, but in an entirely different way to all the other epic battles and betrayals and weddings. Lena not winning the Emmy for this performance was an outright travesty!
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