10 Greatest Moments of Game of Thrones

Ever since I have watched the last episode of Game of Thrones, I have been struggling with this urge of giving my two cents on the finale of the show. However, a lot has already been said, regarding the finale, and the disappointment of the fans, including myself, is quite obvious as more than a million fans have signed this petition (not going to have an impact though) to show their anger and discontent. So, in this piece I am not considering the finale rather this piece is more of a recognition of the efforts of all the people, associated with show, and the idea is to list the 10 greatest moments of Game of Thrones as a token of appreciation for this revolutionary show.

Irrespective of the poor ending of the show, there is no denying that Game of Thrones has changed the TV as it has not only revolutionized it but has set the tone for the future TV show to explore new horizons, especially in terms of cinematography and sound design. Starting with Ramin Djawadi, the man deserves all the awards and accolades for the music and sound design of the show because such quality of sound designing had not been experienced on TV before Game of Thrones. Secondly, the cinematography was beyond perfection as the show has now set the bar for what a TV series can achieve when it comes to Visual effects and Cinematography! Also, we should not be so forgetful about the writing of the show as in the first five seasons, the pace of the show was almost perfect, the character development was top-notch and the evolution of show was nothing less than extraordinary. However, the disappointing part is that the last two seasons couldn't do justice to the characters arc especially with the very likes of Jaime and Daenerys. All the foreshadowing was ignored as the story was rushed and the season has ended with several questions, still unanswered. But as I mentioned above, the article is not about the finale rather it focuses on the 10 greatest moments of the show, given below.
1. Pushing Bran out the Window: Well, the way season's finale has unfolded, Jaime pushing Bran out the window has now become even more important than ever as the latter ended up sitting on the throne. Also, to be quite honest, that very moment set the ruthless tone of the show because it was after this incident that things started collapsing for the Starks. Moreover, the incident crippled Bran, who ended up going through a lot before finally becoming the Three-Eyed Raven. So, this moment certainly deserves a mention in this list.

2. Death of Ned Stark: One of the first surprises of the show! Who thought that they would kill such an important character in the very first season! (Not talking about those who had read the books) Ned Stark, Lord Commander of the North, was made the Hand of the King by his friend and long-term ally King Robert Baratheon but once the King died, Ned had to face several atrocities and was finally executed in front of both of his girls, Sansa and Arya. This moment was all about the elements of surprise and drama, which remained part and parcel of Game of Thrones for the next five seasons.  

3. Chaos is a Ladder: In was in season 3 when Littlefinger aka Lord Baelish gave his “Chaos isn’t a pit; chaos is a ladder” line and the dialogue became so iconic that it was reiterated on several occasions in the later seasons. Given the character of the Littlefinger, the line perfectly summed up his motives and later in the show, Littlefinger orchestrated a number of conspiracies to create chaos so that he could finally climb the ladder. However, he was killed in season 7, which was quite disappointed, atleast for me! 

4. King Joffery’s Death: scene was undoubtedly one of the most satisfying death scenes of the show. Joffery was poisoned at his own wedding and ended up choking on his own snot. The scene was perhaps the best possible depiction of Joffery’s true self, a spoiled and a coward child, and it was cheered by most fans. Also, that moment later led to several important events including the trial of Tyrion, the death of Tywin and the escape of Tyrion and Varys from King's Landing. So, it was certainly a significant point in the storyline of the show.  

5. Birth of the Dragon: This very moment was the beginning of the character of Mother of Dragons in a true sense. Daenerys' character was transformed after this moment as she emerged from the ashes with her three new born dragons, Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal, hatched from the flames of her husband’s funeral pyre. The Dragons gave her the confident to believe in her as the rightful heir to the throne and it led her to eventually get the throne in show's finale. (Alas! In the end they massacred her character though!)

6. Night King Raising the Dead: In the very end of season 5, Hardhome, the Night King emerged in quite gloomy and dingy settings while Snow and Tormund were trying to convince the Wildings to join them against the Night King and the White Walkers. As Jon Snow and Wildlings struggled against the zombies minions of White Walkers, the Night King raised his arms and resurrected every corpse on the battlefield while staring down Jon Snow. That moment was the first time, a meaningful encounter happened between Jon Snow and the Night King.

7. The Mountain vs. The Viper: When Tyrion demanded trial by combat, it was quite surprising to see Prince Oberyn steeping up and agreeing to fight for the Tyrion. But as it later appeared, Prince Oberyn Martell had his personal reasons for taking up the task of fighting for Tyrion. The showdown between Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain and Prince Oberyn aka The Viber was intense and surprising, to say the least. Also, when everyone expected the Viper to emerge triumphant, the Mountain flipped the script, gouged Viper’s eyes out and burst his head wide open in an utterly horrifying spectacle. Undoubtedly the most goriest moment of the show! (The Mountain did the same thing with the Hound in the finale but it ended quite differently!)

8. Hold the Door: There is no denying that the most touching death of the show was that of Hodor. It really brought tears as the heroic act of self-sacrifice committed by Hodor left us all in shock. Hodor pressed a door closed to hold off a horde of wights, allowing the escape of Bran but the wights finally broke through and tore him apart, letting us know about the origin of his strange name Hodor, which came from this tragic event of “Hold the door!” 

8. Blowing the Sept of Baelor: This scene was all about the beautiful ten-minute piece of music from Ramin Djawadi and perfectly summed up the cunning nature of Cersei. The sound in the background made things even more interesting as people were gathered in the Sept of Baelor for the trial of Queen Cersie but she had other plans! Margaery pleaded to the High Sparrow, "The trial can wait, we all need to leave" but it went unheeded and moments later, the Great Sept of Baelor was destroyed with Wildfire. The best thing about this moment was the way Cersei looked it from the Red Keep, with wine in her hand and a smile of vengeance on her face!

9. Battle of Bastards: The moment when Jon Snow pulled his sword out against the background of thundering hooves of the Bolton cavalry was a treat, both emotionally and visually. Ramsay impaled Rickon Stark with an arrow as he ran across the battlefield towards his brother, Jon Snow. Watching his brother died in front his eyes, Jon Snow charged the enemy lines alone, while standing on the ground with sword in his hands. Indeed, it was one hell of a scene!

10. Red Wedding: For me, Red wedding takes the cake as the greatest moment of the show. Starks were invited to the wedding by the treacherous Walder Frey and later they were brutally killed by the members of the House Frey. The event was so grim and unbearable that GRRM once, in an interview, said that he skipped the Red Wedding part while writing A Storm of Swords and only wrote that part after he had finished the book. Robb Stark and his pregnant wife both were killed in front his mother Catelyn Stark in such a forbidding fashion that there are still bits of that scene in my mind, as I am writing this piece. So for me, no list of great moments of GOT is complete without Red Wedding in it.      

To be honest, I couldn’t list all the great moments in this article as they are so many but in my humble opinion, the above-mentioned 10 moments/events are quite significant in terms of defining the show. In the end, I still believe that the credit must be given to the show runners for creating such a masterpiece and, irrespective of the poor finale, GOT stands above the rest along with the very likes of Breaking Bad and The Wire!


Adios!