In honor of the first concept art images for the upcoming series House of the Dragon being released, here is a ranking of each season from the show this new series is serving as a prequel to, Game of Thrones. Full spoilers ahead:
8. Season 8: This should not really surprise anyone. It is a shame that the final season of the popular show turned out to be so underwhelming. After seven seasons of building up the storylines of who will win the Iron Throne and how the invasion of the White Walkers will turn out, fans were given extremely unsatisfying conclusions to both story arcs. The White Walkers were all killed in the third episode of the season, which was also the first episode in which they were in the spotlight. The answer to who won the Iron Throne is also disappointing as we see the character development of people like Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster Waldau) undone within one episode. The winner turns out to be Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), who many agree was the least interesting character and a horrible choice to be king. It is understandable that there was little book material to work with at this point, but HBO offered David Benioff and D.B. Weiss more episodes to work with and they were the ones who refused to go further than six episodes for the season. There could have been more time given to the season for these plot lines to be fleshed out and have better pacing. Not to mention that someone was careless enough to leave a coffee cup and water bottle on camera in two different episodes. Despite all of this season’s flaws, it isn’t awful. There are many things to like about it, including the cinematography, acting, action scenes and score from Ramin Djwadi. The show deserved a much better ending, but Season 8 is still worth checking out for its good aspects.
7. Season 5: Despite Season 5 being low on this list, it is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. There are several incredible performances from the likes of Kit Harrington as Jon Snow and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. It also showcases a ton of great moments such as the invasion of the Wildling village Hardhome by the White Walkers and the fight between the Unsullied and the Sons of the Harpy in the fighting pits of Meereen. However, season 5 is much more bleak and depressing compared to the previous installments, and in a show like Game of Thrones that is saying something. We are shown many uncomfortable scenes such as Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) being forced to stalk through a crowd of people naked by religious zealots, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) sacrificing his own daughter Shireen (Kerry Ingram) by burning her alive at the stake and most infamously Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) raping Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) on their wedding night while he forces Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) to watch. There is showcasing dark moments and then there is just being gruesome for the sake of it. We don’t need to be reminded that Game of Thrones is a dark show. That was perfectly made clear during the first four seasons. Also, the less said about the Dorne storyline, the better. Season 5 was not bad. It just wasn’t as remarkable as the other seasons
6. Season 7: The penultimate season of Game of Thrones often gets criticized for its rushed pacing and shortened amount of episodes. However, despite the pacing being unusually fast and some episodes needing more time to flesh things out, season 7 is still a winner. We see the first ever meeting between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, something that fans have been waiting to see for years. In addition to this, we witness the long awaited reunion of the Stark siblings who had been separated since the very first season. The battle scenes are also just as outstanding the ones that came before it. The first full fight between Daenerys and the Lannister army is breathtaking and it proves just how powerful the mother of dragons can be. The quest to capture a soldier from the army of the dead was also amazing, as we saw so many interactions between characters who had not been on screen together before such as Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and The Hound (Rory McCann). Season 7 is not a perfect season, but it still keeps up the quality of the show and never manages to seem bad despite the shortened amount of episodes.
5. Season 1: The season that started it all. It’s weird to look back at this season when you realize that only a tiny handful of starring cast members made it to the end. We follow Ned Stark (Sean Bean) as he is asked to serve as Hand of the King to his best friend King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy). While he is in this position, Ned discovers a huge secret in which Robert’s children do not belong to him, but to Jaime Lannister. This sets forth the main story of the show in which many characters want to claim the Iron Throne for themselves. Sean Bean gives a fantastic performance as usual, as do Mark Addy and the other cast members. However, the clear standout for this season and the following installments is Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, the black sheep of the Lannister family and one of the smartest characters in the series. Dinklage was incredible in the role and won an Emmy and Golden Globe for his performance.
4. Season 2: After the first season, Game of Thrones came back even stronger with this outstanding second installment in the series. The show brings more action and fighting to the table with the War of the Five Kings in which House Stark, Greyjoy and three different factions of Baratheon are all at war with each other on either who should claim the Iron Throne or if they should get independence away from the Seven Kingdoms. Following Ned Stark’s death, Peter Dinklage takes over for Sean Bean as the lead character moving forward. In contrast to Ned Stark who was far too trusting of the manipulative people in King’s Landing, Tyrion Lannister knows how to play the game of thrones very well as he easily outwits his sister Cersei and her lackeys. Things come to a head during the ninth episode “Blackwater” where Tyrion defends King’s Landing from Stannis Baratheon’s army in the show’s first massive battle onscreen. Similar to the first season, Season 2 sets the show up for great things to come and does not disappoint with its story and action scenes.
3. Season 6: After Season 5, many people were questioning if the show could continue to be as good as it was during the first four seasons. There was even more doubt since there was barely any book material left to adapt. Thankfully, the series came back strong with a much more epic and less depressing season. After three seasons of House Stark on the losing side, the honorable family are finally thrown a bone. After coming back to life, Jon Snow leaves the Night’s Watch and finally takes back his ancestral home from the psychotic Ramsay Bolton. In addition to this, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is able get vengeance for her family’s death by killing Walder Frey (David Bradley), one of the people responsible for House Stark’s suffering. However, the character that really shines this season is Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) who is finally able to be a leader and no longer be manipulated by the people who tormented her such as Ramsay Bolton and Peter “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aiden Gillen). This season begins to move forward what was originally set up at the beginning of the series. Daenerys Targaryen finally sets sail for Westeros with her massive army and Tyrion Lannister as her Hand of the Queen, finally giving him the respect that he truly deserved.
2. Season 3: This might just be the season where Game of Thrones did not just become popular, but absolutely iconic. After Stannis is defeated at the Battle of Blackwater, much of the season revolves around Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) solidifying his family’s hold on the seven kingdoms by manipulating the pathetic and cruel king Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) into giving him control as Hand of the King, forcing his son Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark and most infamously destroy House Stark by orchestrating the Red Wedding. This event is arguably what defined Game of Thrones as one of the most unique and heartbreaking shows in television history. Almost no one is spared at the Red Wedding as Robb Stark, his wife (Oona Chaplin), bannermen and mother (Michelle Fairley) are all brutally murdered by the members of House Bolton and Frey. This is arguably still the most shocking moment in the entire series. Season 3 brought the series to new heights unlike ever before and a huge part of that is thanks to the Red Wedding, one of the most shocking and horrifying tv show scenes ever.
1. Season 4: It was hard to imagine that the show could ever top season 3 after the Red Wedding. However, Game of Thrones somehow managed to accomplish that with this masterpiece of a season. The Starks are now officially out of power, with only the last surviving children remaining. The Lannisters have almost complete control of the seven kingdoms thanks to Tywin Lannister. However, the ruthless family is hit with a massive curveball when Joffrey is poisoned at his wedding and Tyrion is blamed for the murder. The youngest son of Tywin Lannister reaches his breaking point in regards to his relationship with his family. We watch in heartbreak as Tyrion loses everything from his titles to his lover Shae (Sibel Kekilli). Jon Snow also goes through a tragic story this season as he is forced into a final confrontation with Ygritte (Rose Leslie), a wildling and the woman he loved. There are four huge standout characters this season. The first being Jaime Lannister, who starts to redeem himself as a person by fulfilling the vow he made to Catelyn Stark and asking Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) to find Sansa and Arya Stark and keep them safe. The second and third standout characters are Arya and The Hound, who are forced to travel with each other in order to bring the former to the last possible family members that she has left. The two start out as fierce enemies who resent each other. As their journey goes on however, the two start to somewhat respect one another to the point where they even end up caring for each-other, even though they are still far from friends. The fourth and final standout character is the newly introduced Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), who wishes to avenge his sister after she and her children were murdered by The Mountain (Hafpór Júliús Björnsson). Pascal brings a massive amount of charisma and charm to the role, and the character still has one of, if not the most gruesome deaths in the entire series. Due to these incredible storylines, characters and action scenes, Season 4 is not just a great season from the show, it is the best.
