Well yes I know I said yesterday I was done with GOT summaries for a while- but I didn’t say it would be my last post! Because even if the last season’s not out yet, I have been thinking about how I’d rank the series so far and I thought I’d share it with you as a nice wrap up for my Game of Thrones posts. All of these will link to my review posts. Let’s start with my favourite:
Season 3
Ahh I can’t even think about season 3 without getting emotional. Two words: Red Wedding. That is all.
Season 4
After an absolutely sensational season 3, full of ups and lots of downs, the story didn’t let its foot off the accelerator, delivering some pretty epic TV from beginning to end. For me, this was the turning point where I finally started liking characters like Sansa and it cemented my affection for Jaime. Plus, Tyrion’s trial is showstopping.
Season 1
The original series is one of the best. At this point, I’ve watched it so many times and it’s quite simply excellent TV. It does a *fantastic* job of introducing the world, the intrigue and the characters… and then it lops off your head with a *hahaha you did not see that coming*. Yup, season 1 basically explains why I love this show so much.
Season 6
It will probably surprise people to find Season 6 higher up my list than 2- especially because I loved season 2 throughout and I did have some issues with season 6 (most notably episode 7, which I dubbed “man chops wood” and never reviewed because it was too dull). Nonetheless, the reason this gets higher on my list is because the last two episodes are possibly my favourite of Game of Thrones *ever*. And Arya becoming No One is pretty awesome too (gaping plotholes aside)
Season 2
Strangely enough, even after writing my review for season 2 and noting how much actually happens there, I’ve forgotten a lot of it by now. While I did really like it, the reason this comes further down my list is because it never feels as memorable as some of the other seasons.
Season 5
I know I’ll be getting some funny looks for not putting this last, especially considering my review. Quite honestly this season is a mess- however, in spite of all my griping about it, I did feel like this should be higher on my list given that it felt more like Game of Thrones than season 7. While there were hints of some of the flaws in the writing that came to overshadow season 7 for me, I did feel like there were some more gritty moments in season 5. Basically, Hardhome and the Night’s Watch storyline saved the season for me.
Season 7
I enjoyed a lot of this season- but *spoiler alert* the more I think about it, the more I realise that the plot holes are bigger than the hole in the wall. And a lot of my enjoyment came out of it falling into some generic fantasy tropes. While I liked a lot of the stories- Dany meeting Jon on Dragonstone, Arya and Sansa at Winterfell, Cersei in King’s Landing- I feel like I can pick out too many flaws, no matter how much fun I had watching them. Don’t get me wrong, I like generic fantasy tropes and I was grateful that all my favourite characters were protected with plot armour… yet I can’t help but have nostalgia for some of the earlier seasons and long for a bit more realism when I watch it.
So what is your ranking? Which season is your favourite and which one do you like the least? Let me know in the comments!
the orang-utan librarian 
Oh god I love this series to bits, never mind its flaws because dragons! Yep they completely won me over because I resisted to watching this at first. And of course the girl with no name still one of my favorite characters here so if I had to choose it had to be the season where she trains to be no one and then the season where she gets to display her skills the most (like duel with Brienne)
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe so agree with you there!! Oh yes I agree with you- she’s one of my favourite characters too 😀 And it was cool to see her display her skills!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Season 6 is the best. So many good episodes, including “Battle of the Bastards”, during which I stopped breathing a few times.
LikeLike
Ahh so agree with you!! I was the same!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a SUPER perfect post idea! Just reading this brought me so much joy! Also… this wait is killing me! Haha! ❤ xx
LikeLiked by 2 people
Aww thank you so much!!! I know right!!! I *need* season 8 already! ❤ xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
It has to be season 1 for me. I’d never seen anything like it, specially Tyrion’s journey to the Wall and back.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Totally fair- season 1’s awesome!
LikeLike
Hmmm. I think I’d go 2, 3, 1, 4, 7, and then 6 because of the epic cinematography just barely before 5. I really hope season 8 is a show stopper. I know the writers know the ending cause GRRM told them even though the book isn’t out yet with no horizon of that ever happening even though HBO gives him huge buffers to the dismay of us TV fans. Can’t wait to catch up again though for Season 8 and any other shows we happen to watch in common that you may end up reviewing. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fair picks! I really hope 8 is a showstopper too!! And yes it’s good that GRRM told them the ending (and oh gosh don’t even talk about the book- it’s utter torture waiting for it 😉 ) hehe yes! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with you about season 7. I get we’re in that final stretch, but I feel like they were so eager to get to the endpoint that they rushed a lot of the plotlines or didn’t develop them as fully. I was also super annoyed by how predictable it was. I’ve never been a big fan of the Dany/Jon pairing and it was so obvious that they were setting up for that moment that it just felt boring. I felt like they spent too much time trying to convince us why Dany is so great for Jon etc that the other plotlines like Littlefingers demise was underdeveloped and didn’t have that lingering effect that it should have had. Season 5 was just a total disappointment, I won’t even comment on it haha.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah I’m glad I’m not the only one with that. And yes for sure- I don’t know why they didn’t do a full season if they wanted to have some of the conversations (that they ended up cramming into a couple of longer episodes) and then they maybe could have had things that made more sense. Yeah for sure. And yes I agree with you- I wanted it to happen… and then I really didn’t (partly cos of what you said). And yes for sure- I really thought Sansa would get the better of LF in the end tbh, but in a more believable way! haha yes- I totally agree!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with your top three- though sometimes they change places depending on what kind of mood I’m in. I always feel like King’s Landing lost something that wasn’t ever quiet replaced after the Purple Wedding and my favorite King!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah I’m glad you agree there- totally get that. And yes that’s very true lol!!
LikeLike
I’m glad you enjoy GOT 🙂 I’ve been tempted to watch it but I’m not sure how I’d take the violence. I can read violence but find it much harder to watch it.
Great post!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! That’s really fair enough. I actually originally tried to watch it with my sister, but she’s very squeamish and quit after episode 1- she’s been reading the books instead (although she kinda tailed off because she didn’t want to wait ages for the latest book)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I might try the books at some point. Although maybe I’ll wait until more are released 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah fair enough and good idea! I totally regret reading dance with dragons when it was released!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t yet finished watching the series but I will..sooooon. LOL. I’m done with Seasons 1-4 and I couldn’t exactly start Season 5 because if I did, I couldn’t get anything done. And so far, my favorite Seasons are 1 and 3.:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fair enough! Ahh those are still a couple of my favourites, so I get that 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d put Season 7 at the bottom too. That’s why I’m even more eager to see no. 8; they have some explaining to doooo.
LikeLiked by 3 people
hehe I totally get that!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post, and I was definitely surprised to not find season five at the very bottom of this list. It would probably be my worst season out of them all, and I think at the moment season six is my favourite (the Red Wedding couldn’t beat the Battle of the Bastards for me), but I have a feeling season eight will be the best of the lot. So we may have a new favourite once it’s released right? 😀
Great post. 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! Yeah I totally get that- I think it really wasn’t very good tbh. Oh yes, I agree with you about the red wedding being better, but season 6 ended up being fantastic. I seriously hope so!! hehe hopefully!!
Thank you!! 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Counting down the days until it airs right? 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe absolutely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I completely agree with you about season 7. I have such a love/hate relationship with it. It’s really like a season of fanfiction that finally gives viewers the satisfaction you know they’ll never get from GRRM, provided he ever finishes the book series. But that also means it distinctly doesn’t feel like GOT anymore. The fangirl in me goes – who cares?? I want this stuff to happen! The other side of me feels a little betrayed. Not sure who will out in the end. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah I’m glad you agree!! I really know what you mean about it feeling like fanfiction. I really agree that it’s not the direction GRRM is ever likely to actually go in (and yeah, it doesn’t feel like GOT to me anymore) And a part of me is like that- especially since if it was any other fantasy show I’d be squealing for everything in season 7 to happen (well mostly)- but since it’s not and I’ve come to want something slightly different from GOT, I also feel a bit letdown by it tbh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agree with your order 100%! I thought about it and I would have made the same order.
Season 6 – absolutely agree that the last 2 episodes outweighed the whole season 2, those two are my favorites too! That moment in episode 10 when the piano starts? I felt the hair-raising omen of death. Battle of bastards = epic. “Man chops wood” – almost peed my pants 😅 I had to google that episode and even though the Davos and Lyanna Mormont conversation is precious, it was really boring overall.
Season 5 over 7 – exactly! 5 feels more like thrones, while 7 is generic fantasy crap (though I still did enjoy much of it), and other than what you already said, the main reasons 7 is at the bottom of my list are: They just gave us too much. I mean Red Wedding revenge, Littlefinger, R+J, Ice dragon, etc. etc., couldn’t they’ve spread it out a bit and spare us some overly tedious conversations at the same time? Also – they gave us just what we hoped for, and that’s not quite in the vein of thrones, you know? I would’ve been devastated, but at least one major favorite character had to die this season, because if they all die in season 8, it will be comical, if they don’t then what’s the point? I’m praying to the old gods and new that D&D give us a decent closure for this amazing show.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you agree with my order!
And yes season 6 was absolutely *made* by those last two episodes- I so agree about the music in episode 10- it was a stroke of brilliance! hahaha yes- i’m glad you agree 😉 And yeah, it had a couple of moments, but mostly it was completely static and the whole point of the episode was *hey we’re bringing back the hound*- which I was meh about tbh anyway.
Ah I’m glad you agree about season 5 vs 7- and yeah- I really agree with you (me too, but then I enjoy a lot of generic fantasy crap, especially on tv 😉 ) And yes for sure- they really didn’t need to give us everything on a silver platter *and* have no real consequences for anyone (because obviously they’re saving major deaths for season 8) And yeah, you know it’s not GOT when everything happens the way you’d want 😉 hehe yes!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly! I love generic fantasy too, but this show used to have some different standards, you know? Like the whole season 3 and various other seasons had scenes that were pure masterpiece! In case of Shireen, Hodor, the red wedding, *that* season 6 finale I was going through a range of emotions and madness no other show made me feel, I want that back! Well I guess there will be a global case of frenzy once the last season airs, if they do it right. Martin did promise a bittersweet ending which D&D promised to stick to, so let’s hope 🙂 I’m going mad waiting for it! 😀
LikeLike
The Red Wedding is by far the most memorable episode. I will never forget it. I want to cry every time I think of it. Also, I think the reason for so many plot holes in Season 7 is because the seasons are now beyond the novels so they have to make it up. While I think George R. R. Martin does have input on the writing for the show, it has to be done quickly. From what I understand, each book takes Martin years to write.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh I know right- I really agree!! It’s absolutely devastating! And yeah for sure! It’s a shame that it ended up diverging from the books (and of course having to go on without them) But yeah, I know all too well about GRRM taking years to write a book- I’ve been waiting 6 years for the next one and still no sign *sigh* 😉
LikeLike
Season 1 is my personal fave (it feels the most contained and reigned in), though I agree with season 7; I realized in retrospect that there was a lot of fan-service-y things going on, and while I’m not complaining, it doesn’t make sense for it to get so convenient so late in the series.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can understand that- the first season is awesome. I do think that season 7 is entertaining, don’t get me wrong, it just winds me up the more I think about it (it’d be better if I didn’t try to think about it too much 😉 )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hehe, right! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post! Now I want to watch all seven seasons again 😀
My memories are somewhat mixed up but I really liked season 1 – it was just perfect. And I loved, loved, loved the khalessi story back then with its great moments: her wedding, her brother’s cruel death and khal drogo’s agonising final days.
Other than season 1, I liked Tyrion’s trial, even though it was SO sad! And that episode when the great septon is blown and Tommen jumps out of the window (I don’t remember which season it was).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! 😀 hehehe! I understand 😉
I get that! I did love season 1- and Dany’s story there is amazing. And yes about Tyrion’s trial!! And gosh- yes- those are from season 6 (and one of the reasons it comes higher up in the rankings than people might expect 😉 )
LikeLike
No way would I have S5 anywhere other than the last place. I hated that season. I was ready to quit the show watching that season, so I just cannot put it anywhere else hahaha but I get what you mean about S7. On the day of watching the episodes, a lot of it seemed quite cool, but looking back, it has some serious flaws. I remember disecting some of the weird stuff that happened and not finding an explanation at all. Still … S5 was worse, because at least I enjoyed S7 while I watched it hahaha
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe fair enough- I think a lot of people will disagree about me not putting season 5 last 😉 I didn’t come close to quitting the show after that season though, so I guess I didn’t feel nearly as strongly as you did (that said, I’m developing stronger feelings about the implausibility of season 7, but *still* have no desire to quit- so… I guess they’ve got me for life with this one 😉 ) But yeah, season 7 has *so many* holes. hehe I can understand that- for me it’s the opposite- even though I enjoyed 7 more, I can forgive 5 for not being as stupid 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha okay, now I am the one saying fair enough. Season 5 may have been less stupid, but definitely more boring. It’s a tough one …
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehehe yes, it is, isn’t it? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really great ranking! I totally understand how Season 7 got last place in this. They really clogged it up, even if it was really great television. I mean, that season alone destroys a lot of TV shows eaaaasy. But the decision to rush it all and create those “stealthy” time jumps sort of takes away a lot of the story’s potential. Hopefully the final season will do a better job on all fronts and deliver the ending that fans want (the very last episode will probably get sooooo much scrutany; I can feel it already)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! And yeah- it was really enjoyable… but so flawed. The time jumps and teleporting alone were all over the place. And just, that episode where they come up with the dumbest idea ever to go beyond the wall- yeahhh I can’t see the logic behind it I’m afraid. Hopefully!! Ah so true!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A really good ranking! And I can understand why you put season 7 last, even though you had so many problems with season 5 – for all its flaws, season 5 still did feel more Game of Thrones-ish and realistic than season 7. I confess, I still really enjoyed a lot of scenes in season 7 (esp. the dragons!!), and I also enjoyed seeing my favourite characters stay alive and not have a horrible time for a change, so I didn’t hate it… but it definitely had a different flavour to the rest that made it feel less typically and uniquely Game-of-Thrones-ish. I’m curious if that will continue in the last season or not.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I totally get what you mean- I enjoyed lots of season 7 (love the dragons!) and it was a lot of fun- if it had been another programme, I might have enjoyed it more. Basically, it didn’t have a flavour of GOT like you said. I’m really curious how the last one will turn out too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess my favorite season was the sixth one. There was so much going on in the story during that time. It was intriguing, it was exciting and most of all, it was fun. I love this article. Also, two words. Red Wedding. *Sobs*
Also, I recently wrote about the things Game of Thrones has taught me. I would love to know your opinion on the same.
https://themephobicwriter.blog/2018/07/21/things-i-learnt-from-game-of-thrones/
LikeLike