The first 3 books were awesome. The size allowed them to provide depth, and lore. Couldn't wait until the next chapter. Books 4 and 5, yuck. The show made the wise choice to speed through that material. Still it made for the shows weakest season, even with the editing. Howeva... Hardhome was the best episode I've seen. I would put that up against Lord of the Rings, or any fantasy show/movie you can muster. And it also officially shifted the focus (or reiterated) what the real threat was. Other episodes like Baelor and Rains of Castamere got by on shock, and as a book reader I wasn't shocked. Hardhome was just freaking awesome.
One more vote for Hardhome. That, to me, was the best scene in the entire series -- Snow sailing off while locking eyes with the Knights King. Gave me goosebumps!
Hardhome for me. The guy who directed Hardhome is also the one who is directing Battle of the Bastards so I'm really excited.
I voted the Red Wedding. That changed the whole direction and landscape of the GOT universe. Nothing had bigger ramifications than that. Hardhome was cool to watch a big budget battle, but it's your classic man vs zombies trope. Cool action, but very shallow. The show is interesting more for its depth of characters and politics. Everyone's alliances, motivations, and morals are so ambiguous that it makes the show interesting. That's where this season has fallen off. There's not as much depth. It's much more shallow as to good vs bad. The show needs to spend more time on the characters than the plots.
I went with the Watchers on the Wall, because it was the most impressive/grand/riveting thing I'd ever seen on TV to that point. Hardhome may have even been better, but it came after, so didn't have the same impact.
I think Watchers on the Wall is probably my favorite episode Although the Door had the single most emotional moment in the series imo and is pretty close to the top as well
Ive watched the Hold the Door scene probably a dozen times and could watch it a dozen more and still not get sick of it. Having a scene built up like that and hit you in a way you'd never, ever expect was amazing. Me after the Mountain and Viper was probably similar to me after Harden fell into that Klay/Steph trap last year. Disbelief and anger.
I voted Rains of Castamere, simply because the Red Wedding was what GoT me to start watching GoT in the first place, but there are no wrong answers on that list.
That's awesome In fact, crash5179 should add to his Rains of Castamer description that it is also the episode where the Hound eats all the pigs feet... like this Rains of Castamer -- "GRRM kills off Rob Stark, his pregnant wife, Grey Wind, Caitland Stark and most of the Northern Army in one Red Wed Wedding scene, but luckily Arya was late arriving because the Hound stops to eat all the pigs feet meant for the guests."
[Premium Post] After careful thought, I change my vote to Baelor, which I watched again yesterday. So many reasons why this was the best episode: 1. As noted earlier, it was a groundbreaking episode where the main series protagonist is killed off. It separated GOT from virtually every other series in that no one is safe and that evil can have long stretches of victories. 2. Shock value. Yes, the shock value of the Red Wedding was high, but I would make the case that far more viewers were watching the Red Wedding than were watching Episode 8 of Season 1 of GOT. When Ned abandoned his honor and lied about committing treason, everyone expected a pardon, but then Ned got the worst of both worlds in that he disgraced his House AND Joffrey sentenced him to death -- a gruesome death in front of his two young daughters. That was a pronouncement that this show is for the truly twisted among us (why we love it). 3. Other, non-Ned major series developments that occurred during Baelor: 3A: Khal Drogo's death and Dany's decision to reject Jorah Mormont's advice to flee. The decision to stay with the Dothraki was the right decision, as fleeing would have meant starting over in terms of Dany building her team. The episode also started the ball rolling on Rhaego's death, which of course is significant. 3B: Tyrion's introduction to Shae and the beginning of Tyrion's leadership (albeit an embarrassing start) on the battlefield against the Stark forces. 3C: Rob Stark's forces capturing Jamie Lannister. Obviously this sets off a chain of events that keeps the story going for many seasons. 3D: In exchange for allowing a peaceful crossing, Walder Frey drives a hard bargain and asks for Arya Stark to marry one of his sons and for Rob Stark to marry one of his daughters. This sets the stage for the Red Wedding. GOOD DAY
