After a long and thorough fandom process, we’ve reached the end of the road in the voting for the Watchers on the Wall Awards, with today’s categories: the Funniest Scene and Best Visual/Special Effects Scene of Season 8.
Additionally, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be revealing the winners of the Watchers on the Wall Awards on Friday, January 10 at 8PM ET. Join us for a live ceremony, streaming from YouTube and embedded here at Watchers for your enjoyment. As we share the winners, we’ll be looking back on the final season of Game of Thrones, reminiscing over the good, the bad and the ugly, and throwing in a few giveaways just for fun!
Now onto the voting! In the category of Funniest Scene of Season 8, the finalists are:
Tormund tells a tale of a giant and her milk
Tormund and Beric run into the Night’s Watch at Last Hearth
Drogon stares at Jon and Dany making out
Tormund is reunited with Jon enthusiastically
Tormund cries to the Hound about Jaime taking Brienne from him
The voting poll is found at the bottom of this post.
And in the category of Best Visual/Special Effects, the finalists are:
Jon and Daenerys take on the Night King by moonlight, with their dragons
Drogon destroys the Iron Throne and carries away Dany’s body
Daenerys and Drogon lay waste to King’s Landing with dragonfire
Daenerys make a speech to her legions, and spreads her wings
The Dothraki charge the army of the dead
Final round rules: To choose the winners, cast your vote in the polls below. Please make sure you vote in both polls and click VOTE on each poll! At the end of one week (Saturday 1/04/20 at 5PM ET), the scenes with the most votes will be the winners! The results of the polls will be revealed during the live Watchers on the Wall Awards ceremony on January 10th.
Funniest Scene of Season 8 – Final Round!
You can view results from the first round of voting HERE!
Best Visual & Special Effects Scene of Season 8 – Final Round!
You can view results from the first round of voting HERE!
A massive thank you to everyone who makes the Watchers on the Wall Awards happen, from the initial suggestions for nominations, to every voter along the way!
Sandor! … Thank you.
They are all brilliant. It just reminds me how amazing season 8 was and especially the final episode. Thanks to Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss.
I voted for Tormunds Tale and Drogon destroying the iron throne.
The first one (funniest scene) was easy for me – Tormund and Beric run into the Night’s Watch at Last Hearth.
The second one (visual effects) is a close one. Saved the toughest choice for last it would appear 🙂 I haven’t decided yet, still thinking about it.
It’s down to either the moonlight dragon battle, Dany remodeling KL, or the Dothraki charge.
The choices for Best Visial/Special Effects is an embarrassment of riches. I had to go with the Dothraki charge – because my visceral reaction was one of frozen horror.
Those were all pretty funny…I went with the first one since it was a monologue and thus more of a “scene” than a line or quick moment.
The second poll was between the Dothraki and the moonlit dragons, and I chose the former due to the superior visibility. 8D
Giant’s milk and the moonlit dragon fight were my picks.
My choices would be
Funniest Scene – none of them
Best Visual Effects Scene – all of them
So I can’t vote this time.
Ditto. My thoughts exactly.
Agreed. Always good to see other beacons of light good sir. For funniest scene I went with with the AeJon/Tormund reunion. They were all hilarious and I get a good cackle still upon every rewatch, but I’m always down for a reunion between the true brothers of the north. For Visuals, they were all brilliant, but Dany torching KL is the greatest moment in cinema so I went with that. Every scene has left a lasting impression on me that I’ll cherish forever and I’ll always be grateful. Thank you to Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss. I will be their champion now and always.
“My little crow!”
[tender names from a huge man to one who carries Valyrian steel, was commander, king, etc, lol -even big guys can have a tender heart]
AND
Dragonfight in the moonlight/in the clouds.
(wow. just wow)
I had to go with “Milk” and Kings Landing.
Yes, the dragon flying sequence was cool, but when I watch it, I keep hearing myself scream, “Jon, get off the dragon and get on the ground already..” The Kings Landing sequence epitomizes the scale of what GOT accomplished. It changed the thinking of what you could do on a TV show. Building an entire Kings Landing city so they could destroy it was an incredible amount of work. It looks amazing and horrifying on screen when Drogon is added.
## So a dream came true last night and I received the Helen Sloan photo book and the season 8 DVD set. The season 8 DVD comes with a cool dragon glass arrow head magnet! I only saw a few minutes of episode 3, but it looks amazing. One cool bonus feature is that you can get a running commentary from Sapo through the entire episode. I assume you can do this with the directors of the other episodes as well. He gives some interesting insights, such as “That was supposed to be the moon in that shot but it ended up being a tree.”
The photo book is over 400 pages! It feels like it’s 20 pounds. There are many many many awesome shots. There are plenty Arya shots, and perhaps my favorite is a shot of Maisie being filmed doing her one handed cartwheel as she was waterdancing. There are a number of great shots of her waterdancing. Ten Bears there are some awesome Hound/Arya shots in there. There are also some huge multi page shots (not of just Arya). There are also some surprises with the red wedding where the page folds out to reveal the horror. There are a number of fold out inserts which are cool.
I hope others had some or all of their wishes come true this holiday season.
I’m sad that this is the last set of lists for WotW. It marks another ending of sorts.
Funniest scene: Tormund cries to the Hound about Jaime taking Brienne from him.
Best Visual scene: Jon and Daenerys take on the Night King by moonlight, with their dragons.
Last one is still my screensaver on my phone.
Jack Bauer 24,
I have finished mr Robot Jack, and the ending was brilliant. Perfect ending. You already finish it?
Tron79
”… The photo book is over 400 pages! It feels like it’s 20 pounds. There are many many many awesome shots. There are plenty Arya shots, and perhaps my favorite is a shot of Maisie being filmed doing her one handed cartwheel as she was waterdancing. There are a number of great shots of her waterdancing. Ten Bears there are some awesome Hound/Arya shots in there.”
🤖 Must…Buy…Photo Book…
__
“There are also some surprises with the red wedding where the page folds out to reveal the horror….“
I’ve got an X-Acto Knife. I’ve got a metal ruler. I’ll excise those pages. Call me squeamish. I never want to see the Red Wedding again. 🥵
—-
”I’m sad that this is the last set of lists for WotW. It marks another ending of sorts.”
If memory serves correctly, at some point in the not too distant future WotW is going to have “Best of” voting covering all eight seasons and 73 episodes.
Yeah I watched the finale. It was brilliant. The last handful of episodes were crazy and the season and series as a whole will go down as an all timer.
Agree, I love how you see that this was always meant to be since the beginning. And I love Darlene.
I only missed one thing, missed is a big word of course, but I want to know
.
I love the way at the end that eye was formed.
kevin1989,
“Mr. Robot”…
Is than the Bran 3ER spin-off show?
(J/K. I watched a few episodes of the first season of Mr. Robot. Lost interest. 💤)
Ten Bears,
Next seasons are much better, especially 3 and 4. The thing that makes mr robot great is against the end of season 1. The first couple of episodes can be a slow burner.
But in the end it’s not a show for everybody.
I tried to watch leftovers with my partner, and he couldn’t get into the first episode. Maybe it’s something for him if he watch further (I think it is what season 2 and 3 is), but he can’t get into the first episode. Which is a shame. But like mr robot, the beginning can feel slow, but if you get passed that it’s worth it.
Agreed! The Leftovers is one of my all time favorite shows. I need to do a rewatch, I haven’t watched since it ended.
Regarding the Mr. Robot finale
Tormund crying to the Hound about Jaime taking Brienne from him. Everything about this scene is great, the editing and direction are flawless, the slow planning reveal that he’s using Clegane’s shoulder to cry on of all people, and of course Clegane couldn’t give three wet shits.
The Dothraki charge. Still perhaps my favorite moment of the season. Someone did a whole article as to why it was so effectively, while also giving a lesson in past cinematic techniques for portraying similar charges, so I’ll share that here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/culture/2019/04/game-of-thrones-battle-of-winterfell-dothraki-eisenstein-jackson-nevsky.amp
Yeah, I know they were going to announce all the winners, but I think this was it for the actual voting. I think….
I feel really lucky to have a son and wife who got me those gifts. I do know that many can’t afford them, so I feel very blessed. My other son got me the cool GOT stickers and that was also awesome. This was less of a gift card year for us. Most gave actual gifts this year which was unusual for us. I guess it’s hard for me to hide my obsession from my family anymore! I don’t always have GOT right in front of everyone else. Today I have a winter is coming shirt on but it’s under a different shirt so no one knows it’s there but me… I do like the WotW shirts since most don’t realize it’s GOT except those in the know…
Ten Bears,
Oh, and you can’t slice out that Red Wedding insert. I just looked again and one of the shots in the insert is Arya resting her head on the Hound as they sit on top of his horse outside the red wedding…
I would have voted for the “blue eyes” scene, but I would say it’s one of the funniest lines. To me it’s less of scene and more of a one liner, but I did laugh quite hard when it happened.
best visual by miles: moonlight dragon fight. holy shit, we´ll have to wait some time until this is going to be reached – even with felt 900 new series being launched per year for 25 hour per day enjoyment.
funniest scene (in which it was not the fun part that made me vote for it): Tormund and The Hound. not very much because of their interaction. but very much because of the Little Bird / Hound scene following it. such a beautiful mirroring of the deleted scene with Sansa and Sandor in which he urges her to sing a song for him. he grabbed her by the wrist, and she told him he´d hurt her… and that she didn´t have anymore songs left. right when Sandor is touched by this Tyrion steps in, so we won´t know how he would have reacted to this statement of Sansa.
here, she grabs his hand after he rejected a drunk and sentimental comrade, and he looks hurt in a very special way.
the little bird who isn´t a little bird anymore finally sang a song for him, and it came from deep inside her heart.
Jack Bauer 24,
Of course I wouldn’t deface the photo book. I’ll probably leaf through it carefully with latex gloves on, before sealing it in an acid-free storage bag along with my EW Special Edition with Arya on the cover. 👸🏻
“Arya resting her head on the Hound as they sit on top of his horse outside the red wedding” is one of the images that makes the Red Wedding so sad! Arya is all woozy and shellshocked enough – only to have to watch as those sh*tf*ck Freys come parading Robb’s decapitated body (with Greywind’s head), chanting “The King in the North! The King in the North! Here comes the King in the North!”
They should make a companion photo book: 400 full color pages of
• Arya stabbing the sh*t out of the boastful Frey doofus’s neck with the knife she filched from Sandor;
• the rest of the Frey soldiers by the campfire being dispatched by the Hound;
• a still photo of that wonderful, brilliant [Hi Jack!] moment when Master Sandor instructs his young Grasshopper: “Next time you’re going to do something like that…Tell me first.”;
• a closeup of Arya holding the iron coin in her bloody hands as she whispers “Valar Morghulis” followed by a pullout centerfold of a zoomed-in image of Sandor in the background wolfing down the dead Freys’ lunch before their bodies are even cold!
(to be cont.)
Tron79,
I was going to add that it’s unfortunate that out of 73 “Beautiful Death” illustrations by Robert Ball, the only one that captures Arya in the image itself is this one – for S3e10 “Valar Morghulis” – Arya in silhouette holding the coin in her blood-red hands.
https://66.media.tumblr.com/773e6e5ade437d65618b77eb2c3f1cd5/tumblr_n3f2joeCoT1tuzdqso1_1280.jpg
… Now back to composition of “Avenging the Red Wedding” Photo Album…
Yeah, that poster is pretty cool.
OK. I’m all in on your 400 page Arya book!
death by chickenfire,
Sandor was quite the relationship counselor in that episode. Aside from Tormund turning to Dr. C for consolation, Gendry got some straight talk from the Hound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wJCZo1WTM4
S8e4, Gendry & Sandor
(Winterfell celebration: Gendry approaches Sandor, who’s busy stuffing his face.)
Gendry: “Have you seen Arya?”
Sandor: “You can still smell the burning bodies, and that’s where your head is at.”
Gendry: “I just want to thank her for–”
Sandor (sarcastically): “I’m sure you do.”
Gendry: “Look, it’s not about that.”
Sandor: “Of course it’s about that, you twat. Why shouldn’t it be? The dead are dead. You’re not.”
Ten Bears,
S3e10
https://youtu.be/gZy5pVx_Nm4
In the last few seconds, while Arya holds up the coin and whispers “Valar Morghulis,” check out Sandor in the background sitting down for lunch…
Tron79,
A selection of candid still photos Arya’s welfare check on Walder Frey in S6e10, and followup visit to House Frey in S7e1, would help complete the Companion Photo Album.
S6e10 Arya pulls Walder’s head back. 😀🗡👸🏻
https://images.app.goo.gl/A8j3E5W8L2QxDcBh7
video S6e10 + S7e1:
Arya annihilates House Frey
https://youtu.be/T1HUAWaxMX8
(Need a few still photos of Arya
at 5:30 – 5:45)
Did you get the 4K, Blu ray, or regular DVD?
Wow, seriously? the ‘funniest scenes’ deserved a smile and laugh, but were not anything I would have chosen. I don’t think I can vote for this one.
Ten Bears,
what is one more after a ditto? Anyway, totally agree with these two.
”Ditto” meant I was agreeing with Grandmaester Flash on both categories, i.e.:
“Funniest Scene – none of them
Best Visual Effects Scene – all of them”
My only nominees for Funniest Scene did not earn enough support in the Semifinal round to qualify for the Finals. 😡 I know that everybody’s sense of humor is different. I just didn’t even crack a smile watching any of the five finalists, and a few made me cringe (e.g., Drogon watching Jon making out).
Makes me wistful for the good old days when I could count on Tyrion for a bon mot or two to make me chuckle, like…
“I’m not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I’m denying its existence.”
It came with both the 4K and the Blu Ray (and a digital version too that you can use in Google Play, Itunes, Fandango, or something else…). I don’t have a 4K TV yet (or a 4K DVD player), so one of these days I will get to see the 4K version!! Just gives me a reason to upgrade one day! But the Blu Ray is very awesome in 1080p. It’s definitely clearer than the HBO version on HBO NOW or Amazon. The extra features are fun with the running commentaries from the directors. I didn’t get a chance today to watch/listen much. But I did get to go through the photo book finding many photos that I missed the first time through…
Tron79,
Do you have an Amazon link to that photobook? It’s something I really want myself!
I have the costume book! I was surprised by its size — it’s about the same as a good-sized art history book! Super beautiful pages, thick, satin-finish, full colour, and I expect the photobook is similar! A trip to IKEA is in my future for more shelves…
It’s so heavy, I’m considering using it as a plastic-wrapped weight to straighten out plywood… The same as my art history and programming books XD
Adrianacandle,
I can’t copy and embed the Amazon link. However, the Helen Sloan photo book is available from Amazon for
$41.99 & free shipping
I think that’s a good deal based on other sellers’ current prices.
Thanks, Ten Bears! I was now able to find it by doing a search for Sloan’s name and I plan on getting it next month!! 😀
Adrianacandle,
Amazon’s “other sellers” are already listing “Used” copies of the Sloan photo book for $43 – $58.
Ten Bears,
On the Canadian site, the used copies are already going for a “deal” at $105+ XD
Adrianacandle,
I just came back from ordering the (brand new) photo book from Amazon for $41.99 with free shipping. Seemed silly to wait to see if the prices dropped.
The big question: Will a 416-page hardcover book weighing 7.19 lbs. and measuring 9.8” x 1.5” x 13” suffice to straighten plywood?
Adrianacandle,
I looked at the Canadian Amazon site you linked. Saw the book listed at 68 or 69 Canadian Dollars. Not sure what the exchange rate is.
That’s a good point! I more meant it’d be one of multiple books covering the warped surface. I’m hoping that’ll be enough to help straighten 3mm (1/8″) plywood if dampened and left for a few days while waiting for it to dry. I need it to be fairly straight for laser cutting and engraving because with warp, the distance between the laser head and wood surface is varied, impacting the sharpness of the laser’s focus.
With Prime, the book isn’t a bad deal because shipping would be “free” (with the price of Prime) and it’d only take one-to-two days to come but $70CDN is a higher price than $42USD (which, as of now, is $55CDN) but I do really want that book enough for the extra $16…!
And that’s great that you just ordered it!! I’m really looking forward to ordering mine next month! I’m going in for surgery tomorrow (T___T!!!) and I’m trying to think of things to do while I wait to seal back up. Ugh.
Adrianacandle,
Off Topic: I’ve straightened warped wood with diluted ammonia or Windex, a sandwiched in wax paper and weighted down with hardcover books and large flooring tiles.
Adrianacandle,
Get better quickly!
Have you ever written your own stories? That could keep you busy.
Thanks for that idea! Do you remember the ratio of ammonia to water(?) you used? Did you use straight Windex?
Thank-you, Tron, and for the suggestion! I used to write stories for stop-motion animations I did while I was doing my BFA and MFA degrees so maybe trying another one… ooooo like a musical number with all of the various meds… 😉 I was also thinking of drawing more cut/etch files for the laser and CNC machine — or Sims 4! 😉 They came out with NEW extension packs! Reading those Reddit threads about the worst things people do in Sims to their Sims is super inspiring 🙂 🙂 🙂 Like this one:
Isn’t that beautiful.
Anyway, thank-you so much for the well wishes and the suggestion!
Adrianacandle,
I start with very diluted ammonia or very diluted Windex. It doesn’t take much. I actually use diluted ammonia or Windex more often to soak and soften sheets of wood to curve and shape them into cylinders.
And get better soon! Like Tron suggested: Write while you’re laid up…and thereafter.
Wow. I never played Simms but that sounds wild.
That just made me remember when I was little, my older brother ran an ad to sell plots for stories. He would send them a creative plot for a novel or short story for a fee. First, I can’t believe any real writer would pay someone for a plot but my brother sold them. I remember one customer complained that the plot my brother sent him was the same as a book he read. This was before the internet. My brother told the customer he searched his archives and couldn’t find it so it didn’t exist. His archives was our basement walk in storage closet that was filled with paperback books. If it wasn’t in our closet in the basement, it didn’t exist according to my brother. Anyway I think the customer sent him the book and my brother sent him another story. Well that business didn’t last long. My brother owned a paperback book store for awhile where people traded two for one. I think he got lots of books but not much money. Anyway he’s a lawyer now by day but he has written several teen fiction novels of his own stories that are published. I don’t think he paid anyone for the plot! I’m rambling now. I look forward to reading a new plot for a stop motion animation that you come up with.
Thank-you, Ten Bears!
I’ll try what you suggested! I’ve done steam bending before to curve hardwood thins around forms — but I’m curious about using your method to do the same 🙂
Wow! That was really interesting to read! Your brother must read a ton and being able to publish just one novel is such a big accomplishment! I have to admit that I’m really really curious about those books too…! 🙂
I have two of my shorts on YouTube — in a very unlisted location — but if you or anyone else is curious, shoot me an email at throawayawoo1067 (at) gmail (my virtual mud room to keep away phishers!) and I’ll mail the link from my regular address! 🙂 They’re… well… I was pretty unhappy that my parents had additional kids post-me and so I decided to make cautionary tales about that like any other reasonable well-adjusted grad student (wtf me??). In art school, they want you to dig down deep for your personal pain and make art from that but no no no, NOT ME. I skim the surface and present that!! One took me two years to complete and the other was done digitally and took me 7 months!
Tron79,
If you are a gamer: wait till end of 2020. When the playstation 5 comes out, it has a 4k player. If not a gamer, I would still urge to wait to buy a new 4k player, why? Because they are expensive now, but when the ps5 comes out, they get cheaper and better of quality. If you have a big bank-account just buy it now, else wait.
As for a TV, 4K tv’s are already amazing. I don’t know how big your room is where you watch it, there is this rule that the distance to your tv needs to be 2,4/2,5 times the diagonal (right word? that’s when they say it’s that many inches). I bought a big tv but still too short that my room needs, so it’s annoying when watching tv sometimes, and especially when I want to game, it’s bad for the eyes.
4K tv’s are enough, only buy 8k tv if you want to buy a tv that’s if I’m right above 80 inches or something like that. only 1% of the people can buy that. Else you won’t even see it. And the downside is that the tv needs to be 2 times bigger than a 4k tv. (Especially with subtitles etc)
Don’t bother with 8k, 4k is enough, even in the next 20 years or more. Yes it’s amazing for cinema, but not at home.
And another question, is 4k better at home than 2k (1080p)? Yes, yes and yes. It’s not only the resolution that has been upgraded, it’s also the colors and more. Even if I watch 720p (early 00s) it’s much better on 4k than my old 1080p tv.
Only thing is, lot’s of annoying options are turned on automatically, which you always need to turn off: Motion plus kind of options, it fuck up your viewing. But better look that online.
Ten Bears:
“i´m not a fucking ser! i´m a doctor!” (Dr. Sandor Clegane, expert on many things)
the guy is fully inspiring, isn´t he? german newsmag SPIEGEL brings a story about christianity and all that in the light of science every end of a year. this year one about archeologic evidence for the existence or non-existence of famous characters. guess who is inspiration for the front page´s Goliath?
the special charme of this choice is that Arya tried to kill her Goliath with a stone one morning. in brave one on one assault, with a real stone. not little marbles from the distance like this other guy GoT forgets to mention rightfully…
https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/index-2019-52.html
Well done you Ariana Candle; I think the closest I ever came to anything like that was playing with one of those home made puppet theatres out of a cardboard box.
Now off topic (a bit) – somebody told me about the Catalan tradition of having a caganer (figurine excavating his/her bowels) in the Catalan nativity scene. Apparently it goes back to pagan times – fertilising the ground. I went online (I was actually looking for one of Bo-Jo*, not that I’d actually buy one; I think such do exist but in this link I found a few modern ones including the Mother of Dragons. Now I know there was a section of the fandom that didn’t like the end of season 8…..https://www.caganer.com/en/
Dame of Mercia,
Unfortunately the link defaults back to the generic front page of the site so here is a link to the Mother of Dragons figure specifically http://www.caganer.com/en/caganer-daenerys-targaryen-867
kevin1989,
Wow. It sounds like I need to upgrade my math skills if I upgrade to 4K 🙂
I did watch Winterfell yesterday with my blu Ray. I think it’s an underrated episode. It’s a really good start to the season. Cersei really wanted those elephants, Arya gets to see Jon, Jon finds out he’s king of the fricken 7 Kingdoms, Sam finds out Dany fried his family, Arya flirts with Gendry, Jon is extremely annoyed with Sansa, and I even liked watching the magic dragon carpet ride this time. I wonder if WotW could have a Most Underrated Episode poll.
Tron79,
With my rerun I loved Winterfell and A Knight of the seven Kingdoms more than the other 4 episodes of the season. I love quiet episodes like that.
Funniest scene: Tormund and Beric at Last Hearth. That simple line broke the absolutely gut-wrenching tension for me. Plus, I was thrilled to see Dolorous Edd.
Best visual: of the ones listed, I have to go with the moonlit dragons. Such beauty and terror combined.
Count me in as a buyer for an Arya photo book! Love my ASNWP 👩🏻👑⚔️
Funniest Scene: Tormund tells a tale of a giant and her milk
Runner-Up; Tormund and Beric run into the Night’s Watch at the Last Hearth
Best Visual Effects Scene: Jon and Daenerys take on the Night King by moonlight, with their dragons
Runner-Up: Daenerys and Drogon lay waste to King’s Landing with dragonfire
Tron79,
”… I wonder if WotW could have a Most Underrated Episode Poll.”
_________
I had started making a list of my “most underrated” episodes as I was skimming through the rankings of all 73 episodes on “The Ringer” site.
Two of its staffers, Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion, are in my view among the best
GoT analysts (after the watchersonthewall crew, of course.) Although a bunch of other Ringer writers in addition to Rubin and Concepcion contributed to the rankings and episode synopses, I used the Ringer list to designate what I considered the most underrated episodes. (I’ll try to supply the link to the Ringer rankings later.)
Note: I could not edit and abridge my annotations. I had to cut and paste as is. (Sorry. New “upgraded” IOS that I knew I shouldn’t have downloaded.)
Below are four lists: The Ringer’s top 30; The Ringer’s bottom 10; my list of Underrated Episodes; and a list of episodes directed by Mark Mylod (hint: I’m not his biggest fan.)
—-
The Ringer 73 Episodes Ranked
TB’s Excerpts and Annotations of: Ringer’s Top 30; Ringer’s Bottom 10; TB’s List of Underrated Episodes; and Ringer’s Rankings of Mylod Episodes
TB’s Annotations – Legend:
¥ = Directed by Miguel Sapochnik
€ = Directed by Alex Graves
£ = Directed by Alik Sakharov
😡 = Directed by Mark Mylod
—————-
from:
“The Ringer’s Definitive ‘Game of Thrones’ Episode Rankings”
The Ringer’s Top 30 (out of 73
1. 6×10 The Winds of Winter ¥
2. 5×9 Hardhome ¥
3. 3×9 The Rains of Castamere
4. 2×9 Blackwater
5. 1×9 Baelor
6. 6×5 The Door
7. 8×2 A Knight of the 7 Kingdoms
8. 6×2 Home
9. 4×8 The Mountain & The Viper €
10. 4×2 The Lion & The Rose €
11. 1×7 You Win or You Die
12. 3×5 Kissed By Fire €
13. 4×9 Watchers on the Wall
14. 1×1 Winter is Coming
15. 4×10 The Children €
16. 5×10 Mother’s Mercy
17. 6×9 Battle of the Bastards ¥
18. 8×3 The Long Night ¥
19. 3×4 ..Now His Watch.. Ended €
20. 7×4 The Spoils of War
21. 1×10 Fire and Blood
22. 1×4 Cripples…Broken Things
23. 4×6 Laws of Gods & Men £
24. 4×1 Two Chickens
25. 1×8 The Pointy End
26. 6×3 Oathbreaker
27. 3×6 The Climb £
28. 2×10 Valar Morghuli
29. 6×8 No One 😡
30. 5×9 Dance of Dragons
——
Ringer’s Bottom 10 (Inverse Order, starting with the worst: #73)
73. 5×6 Unbowed Unbent Unbroken
72. 8×4 Last of the Starks
71. 7×5 Eastwatch
70. 5×4 Sons of the Harpy😡
69. 5×7 The Gift
68. 5×3 High Sparrow 😡
67. 7×6 Beyond the Wall
66. 4×3 Breaker of Chains
65. 2×2 The Night Lands
64. 8×6 The Iron Throne
——
? Why So Underrated???
34. 4×7 Mockingbird £ (WTF? TB’s #1 !!!)
24. 4×1 Two Swords (aka Two Chickens; in TB’s Top 10)
37. 1×3 Lord Snow (Hello Syrio!!!)
49. 3×7 Bear & Maiden Fair
(Jaime saves Brienne; Ygritte “Oh! A spider!…)
25. 1×8 The Pointy End [“Not today”]
15. 4×10 The Children
35. 2×5 Ghost of Harrenhall
(Tyrion vs Lancel? Arya-Tywin?)
43. 1×6 A Golden Crown
45. 2×4 Garden of Bones (Tywin meets Arya ?)
46. 2×6 The Old Gods…The New
(Jon meets Ygritte)
54. 1×2 The Kingsroad (Jon/Arya Needle)
_____
Directed by M.Mylod 😡
28. 6×8 No One 😡 [? Why so high?]
51. 7×3 The Queen’s Justice 😡
55. 6×7 The Broken Man😡
57. 7×2 Stormborn 😡
68. 5×3 High Sparrow 😡
70. 5×4 Sons of the Harpy 😡
Tron79,
Not sure why I’m unable to embed a link. The Ringer’s Rankings web page should be at:
thrones.theringer.com
”The Ringer’s Definitive ‘Game of Thrones’ Episode Rankings”
• She will always be my queen. 👸🏻🗡
• I bought Royal Mail GoT stamps, mainly to have the Arya stamp for my memorabilia collection.
https://images.app.goo.gl/kP3tZWu3uTfv3ATm8
I was perplexed and a little peeved that the U.S. Postal Service didn’t jointly issue GoT stamps with the U.K.; it seemed like a no-brainer and potential big money maker, considering the interest from philatelists and GoT fans.
Anyway, I’ve been making my own GoT “stamps”, cards, and stickers using Avery clear and white address labels in various sizes, and a halfway decent color printer.
It’s been kind of a fun downtime play project…
kevin1989,
It’s a pity that Winterfell lacks depth, unlike A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Ten Bears,
I think “unbowed unbent unbroken” is the best episode of the show. Everything about it was just perfect.
I love the Mylod emoji!! Cracked me up but good over here…
I’m going to have to study these lists. They look great. I love Mallory and Jason over there at theringer. I’m shocked that the 2 Swords wasn’t rated higher. I see it in your “why so underrated” category. That has to be one of the top 10 episodes. There are alot of good ones in your “why so underrated”. I don’t agree that Last of the Starks is 72!! The funeral scene alone was amazing, and Gendry gets rejected and lots more. It’s definitely not on my worst episode of the entire series. It’s hard to argue with some of their favorites, but I might have them in a different order… I will study for awhile and compile……….. Thanks for this!!
Tron79,
• Well, I think you know my feelings about that director designated by 😡. I hear he’s a real swell guy, and I’m certainly not qualified to assess the work of a professional director. I just remember reading an interview in which he explained why he tweaked the scripts and made certain directorial decisions for “dramatic effect” that made Arya act like a clueless tourist strolling around Braavos when she got gut stabbed. (I’m pretty sure I’ve posted that interview before.)
I also don’t like his signature “blurry background” filming technique. It’s distracting. (E.g., Waif running in the background when chasing ASNAWP; and Sandor coming out of the background to attack the rogue BwoB with his axe.)
• “Last of the Starks” (S8e4) at #72?
– Well, I did enjoy Sandor riding off from WF only to turn around and see Arya riding up to join him. That scene was too short though. It was less than a minute and a half I think. * Link to clip below.🎬
(I had nominated it for Funniest Scene because of its ending. It did not make the finals though.🤢.)
– If that was the episode in which the camera cut away and the scene abruptly ended before we could see the sisters’ reaction to the reveal of Jon’s parentage, then I can see why it got demerits from reviewers. I found that deflating.
– Also, if that was the episode in which Arya (entirely out of character) bashed Dany because “she’s not one of us” and rejected Jon’s advice about the importance of alliances by insisting she “didn’t need allies,” then that’s another reason I could see that episode downgraded.
– I for one did not like Sansa’s scene with Sandor. At all. His comment about her being “broken in” was nasty and out of place with the tenor of his expression of regret that she wouldn’t have suffered from LF and Ramsey had she left KL with him. Her response that she’d still be a little bird if she hadn’t endured LF and Ramsey was (in my view) terribly written, i.e., even if not intended it could be interpreted as “being brutalized and exploited made me a better person.”
I felt the two of them deserved a richer – and earlier – reunion scene. After all, he was the one who, like a true, chivalrous knight, came back to save her from getting gang raped and murdered during the riot in KL; and she had evoked some affection from him and started getting through his gruff “Hound” facade, before his travels with Arya. I just thought their backstory in KL warranted something better than that perfunctory, awkward scene during the post-Long Night party. (I’m not a “SanSan shipper.” Just a generic fan wanting a proper, overdue payoff.)
– Although it didn’t irk me so much, after the S7e7 battlements talk about keeping “the pack” together, and the S8 chatter about defending their “family,” many fans found it weird that Arya would suddenly and surreptitiously leave WF with no intention of returning.
– I’m ambivalent about Arya rejecting Gendry’s proposal. On one hand he should’ve known better than to propose that she become “Lady of Storm’s End.” (What part of “Do NOT call me ‘My Lady’” did he not comprehend?)
– On the other hand, I would imagine that his brain was probably still teeming with post-coital endorphins, and he was all giddy that he’d just been legitimized and named a Lord.
– I kind of wish they hadn’t included that Arya – Gendry scene at all though: Let the fandom indulge its head canon that King Robert’s announcement to Ned in S1e1 that they’d unite their houses via his faux son Joffrey “Baratheon” and Sansa Stark (“I have a son; you have a daughter”), come to fruition via Robert’s actual son Gendry nka Gendry Baratheon, and Ned’s daughter Arya Stark.
Such a conclusion would not have been “fan service.” It would have been a well-set up, properly foreshadowed twist.
– Instead of that rejection, sprinkling in hints about a potential future union, or at least leaving that door open, would not have been so terrible. – We all knew Arya was not cut out to be a traditional stay-at-home “Lady” who’d marry a Lord and rule his castle: That was clear from the outset in her chat with her father in S1, and reinforced in her earlier interactions with Gendry.
That rejected marriage proposal scene in S8e4 wasn’t really necessary, was it?
————
* S8e4, Sandor and Arya leave WF together and head to KL
🎬 at 1:07 – 1:19:
Sandor: “Going to leave me to die again if I get hurt?
Arya: “Probably.”
(They both chuckle)
This is it boys and girls!
Another year has come to an end.
I wish a happy new year to all of you. May it bring you whatever you wish (mostly health, happiness, creativity). 😊
You’re kidding, right? U, U, U as the #1 episode out of all 73? I’m not questioning your opinion. Everyone’s tastes and perceptions are different.
After all, my #1 episode, S4e7, came in a middling #34 in The Ringer rankings I cited. [Frankly I don’t get it. S4e7, “Mockingbird,” was chock full of classic interpersonal character moments, including Oberyn’s “I will be your champion” speech to Tyrion.)
P.S Thank you for not saying the episode was “brilliant.” I’m kind of hoping we can all resolve for the New Year to observe a temporary moratorium on the two “B” words: “bittersweet” and “brilliant.”
Ten Bears,
What about the L word?
Only 10 hours and 10 minutes here until 2020 finally arrives. I want to wish everybody already a wonderful 2020.
Ten Bears,
Can we also try to avoid “awesome” and “lazy writing” and calling people who hold different opinions “shill” or ”troll” unnecessarily. TB I’m not accusing you of calling me a shill or a troll.
kevin1989,
I echo your wish for a happy new year.
Ten Bears,
I knew we were going to have some trouble with Mylod when he said he loved the oranges rolling down the steps because they added color to the shot.
There are several sticky points to Last of the Starks as you outline. It didn’t make any sense to me that Arya decided she wasn’t returning North after Jon’s reveal. She still obviously felt very close to him, but they made it sound like his reveal was the last straw for her. Yes, she was a lone wolf by nature, but her character also grew to realize the Starks were stronger as a pack than apart. The cut away after the reveal was very disappointing to say the least. I thought originally they must have come up with some plan that we weren’t allowed to hear about yet. Jon still had Stark blood, and he was being honest with her. He wasn’t keeping it a secret. Sansa on the other hand decided to put the end game in motion by revealing the secret to Tyrion. It reminds me a bit of Jerry Maguire when Cush’s dad says, “What you do have is my word. And it’s stronger than oak”. Sansa’s word was like a twig. I have a friend that will confide in me because she calls me a “vault”. And that’s true, I take confidences very seriously, and if I give my word, it’s really hard to break me. Tell something to Sansa and it ends up in the New York Times that afternoon!
It’s actually pretty difficult trying to rank the episodes in total. It’s hard for me to compare all 73 at the same time. I also don’t always blame the episode for stupid ideas. Even though Beyond the Wall was the dumbest plan, the plan was Tyrion’s fault. Creating the lake was spectacular. Yes, the plot was dumb and Gendry won some sort of an award for snow sprinting, and they had some nuclear enhanced ravens, or perhaps teleporting ravens… Yes, there were some very dumb things in that one, but I was blown away by the production of the lake and the relationship between the characters on the island rock.
Good idea. “Lazy writing” is itself lazy writing.
Ten Bears,
It was brilliant in many ways. But seriously, it isn’t bad. It is one of GoT’s “okey” episodes.
Happy New Year, fellow Watchers!
Not that anyone asked, but my 2020 resolution is to keep the memory of Ser Barristan Selmy alive. Remember kids, he’s still alive in the books. d(－ｏ⌒)b
I read this and my first thought was “The L Word? Yeah! Loved Katherine Moennig on that show!”
Yes, of course, avoiding misuse of the word “literally” should be included in our collective New Year’s resolution, along with a moratorium on “bittersweet” and “brilliant.”
Watching that compilation of Barristan scenes reminded me what a great character he was on the show. (I guess they killed him off prematurely on the show to “make room” for Tyrion Lannister to become Dany’s primary advisor?) And it’s too bad the legendary fighter Barristan Selmy had such an ignominious death: taken out in a back alley by a bunch of clowns in harpy masks. He should’ve been able to cut them all down “like carving a cake.”
Tron79,
”It’s actually pretty difficult trying to rank the episodes in total. It’s hard for me to compare all 73 at the same time…”
Oh, don’t get me wrong. “Ranking” episodes is such a subjective – and in many ways useless -exercise. I first started playing around with The Ringer’s rankings because I was curious to see where the six episodes directed. by 😡 landed.
Tron79,
”I knew we were going to have some trouble with Mylod when he said he loved the oranges rolling down the steps because they added color to the shot.”
Ugh.
That reminds me: As I recall, there were reports that even Maisie Williams had questioned some of the ways Mr. 😡 intended to film that Braavos foot chase scene, e.g., I think he was going to have Arya do an acrobatic leap and somersault over a table. Maisie Williams figured that Arya (especially if she were still recovering from stab wounds) would slide under the table rather than trying to vault over it. Based on the as-filmed version I assume her viewpoint prevailed.
I will say that many of the Braavos scenes looked gorgeous, e.g., bustling street life, views of the canals from the waterline, etc. The Braavos theater troupe’s play with Lady Crane (and Arya in the audience and backstage) were colorful, and crisply filmed. While much of the credit should probably go to the cinematographer – and Essie Davis – I wouldn’t want to bash a director for filming scenes that I thought came out weird without giving him credit for scenes that came out looking beautiful.
Tron79,
Tron:
This story about your brother selling plots for stories to writers…should itself be a short story or novella. I’d buy it. The way you wrote it really drew me in.
(Or, I could easily envision the tale about a disgruntled plot purchaser as the set-up for a Stephen King-type story.)
Some tough choices here but I am not suprised Tormund features heavily in the comedic section.
Ten Bears,
I found it to be pretty realistic that a guy in his 70s got taken out by trained fighting pit fighters in their prime. He also cut down like a dozen of them. I like his death a lot in the show.
Stew,
Fair enough. I guess Barristan had to die one way or another, and happening upon a gang of Harpies ambushing an Unsullied patrol was a convenient way of doing it.
As I speculated before – I could be wrong though – the show’s adaptation decision to bring Tyrion to Mereen sooner than in the books (in which, as I understand it, he’s still traveling around watching turtles or something) required the show to clear the decks of Dany’s inner circle so that Tyrion could ascend to the role of advisor. That necessitated getting rid of Barristan. (I think in the books he’s still alive and about to lead a counterattack in the defense of Mereen?)
I recall that Ian McElhinney was ticked off when he learned his character Barristan was going to be killed off prematurely, and tried to lobby the showrunners to change their minds because Barristan was still alive in the books.
I guess Barristan would have to die sooner rather than later anyway since the show’s endgame required Dany to be deprived of steadfastly loyal and unconflicted advisors who could’ve reined in her worst impulses when it mattered the most.
I had thought Barristan, who personally knew and admired Rhaegar Targaryean, would be a good character to have around to react to the reveal of Jon’s paternity. Since the show kind of downplayed its ultimate significance anyway, scenes with Barristan would have been as extraneous as the omitted scene of Sansa and Arya reacting to the reveal, and any further mention of Jon Snow as Aegon T, presumptive “heir to the Iron Throne,” was limited to its use as a factoid for Sansa to exploit to undermine Dany and hasten her descent into madness.
Show! Barristan was a memorable character, and McElhinney did a great job portraying him. I was sorry to see him go (and characters like Ramsay and Euron overstay their welcome.)
Do book readers think Barristan will survive, and accompany Dany on her voyage home?
Ten Bears,
I think he will survive past the battle for Meereen and travel back to westeros. After that I’m 50/50 on him living or dieing. But I guess I lean towards living through out the series.
⚠️ 👸🏻🗡 Caution: Brazen Arya Thread Derailment Ahead!
It looks like we will finally see Maisie Williams (Wolfgirl Arya Stark on GoT) as Wolfsbane in “X-Men: The New Mutants” after all. A new trailer is coming out in five days: January 6, 2020. The movie will be in theaters April 3, 2020.
The movie had been filmed back in mid-2017. Its first trailer came out in October, 2017 in advance of an April 13, 2018 release that kept getting postponed by the studio (Fox and then Disney) until it looked like the movie was dead in the water.
For what it is worth, the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (KN7KN)was rated as one of the best episodes of TV for 2019 by the NYTimes.
GOT was not included among the best TV series for 2019 by the NYTimes nor BBC. NYT give it an honorable mention due to excellence in many aspects. Despite this KN7KN was recognized and I appreciated that for Cogman, the actors and the rest of the GOT team.
Ten Bears,
P.S.
Wolf Girl/Wolfsbane, Game of Thrones/New Mutants synergy…
• From S2e7
https://youtu.be/mVxZQXoORCw
0:19 – 0:30
Tywin: “Wolfsbane. A rare substance. This is no common assassin.”
• Maisie Williams’s X-Men: New Mutants character Wolfsbane is described as a mutant “who possesses the ability to transform into a wolf.”
I’m reminded of Arya’s reply when Tywin asked about Robb Stark: that people say he can turn into a wolf.
✅ 🚂 – End Derailment – 🚂✅
Tyrion is in Meereen in the last book he’s just with another dwarf named Penny in the fighting pits rather than Jorah.
As for Barristan there was a fairly common prediction that he will die in the battle of Meereen which starts at the end of the last book. If I had to guess this is how Tyrion will rise up and become part of Danys inner circle so no I do not expect him to survive Winds. You are absolutely right about the actor being unhappy that he died in season 5 though, he went on a twitter rant flamed by the two Swedish super fans if I recalll correctly.
Ten Bears,
The worst part is that the harpy probably doesn’t exist in the books. The killings are just random killings that happen when you have peace in your city. Person A killing Person B in a bar because Person B insulted person A. Person C had sex with the wife of Person D so person D kills person C. In the books only one person (Who I don’t trust) talks about the Harpy, which is a ex-slave. Which is something that I see martin do, to show contrast.
As for Barristan, depends how Dany reacts when she returns to Meereen after the battle has happened (she won’t be the winning cause like the show), will she blame Barristan for releasing of the dragons, killing Hizdahr (Which I think he will do), the ruins that Meereen is in. Do Tyrion maybe persuade Dany to kill Barristan?
But I think something else will happen, Barristan was in love with Ashara Dayne, what if we would found out she is alive and maybe she wants somebody else on the throne than Dany, will he betray her?
Jon Snowed,
I think he will survive the battle, if he dies, it’s because Tyrion persuade Dany to kill him for the failure of what happen to her city.
Ten Bears,
“Do book readers think Barristan will survive, and accompany Dany on her voyage home?”
I think he has a role to play. It’s convenient that he is so old that he knows things and people from a long way back, including events during Robert’s rebellion (i.e. the chronology of the events of the rebellion is quite messed up)
In Meereen he could vouch for Tyrion’s displeasure against Cersei/Joffrey. That would be interesting to see btw, meaning how do other people see Tyrion’s antagonism with his family -remember Barristan is a PoV.
In KL if Aegon is not who they say he is, he might recognize Lemore as Ashara Dayne (if that theory plays out in the books), so he will help Dany unmask the “mummer’s dragon”.
He is one of those who knew Rhaegar. They’re not many; Barristan, Connington, Jamie. One of them will have to be alive to talk to Jon about his real father, which means that, by the time this happens, Jon will know who he is. So we’re talking about the end of WoW and the beginning of ADoS (if it ever gets published…). But I think that this is reserved for Jamie in the books because theirs arcs so far are exact parallels.
I saw a video where the actor said he had made points for his character not to be killed off so early but he also said (I’m paraphrasing – going from memory so don’t take this as verbatim) that actors’ jobs are temporary by their nature. If I can find the video I will link it but there are so many videos about GoT – people putting out their pet theories for the books, people who liked how the show ended, people who hated how the show ended – that I don’t know if I’ll be able to locate it.
Yes. Going with the Stephen King theme that old walk in storage closet in my parent’s basement could be a good creepy element. However that was a pretty cool room filled with paperbacks and some other cool things to discover on those old shelves. It was big enough to have a couple of aisles of shelves in there and lots of cool things to discover or in Stephen King’s case there are things in there that should NOT be disturbed.
Speaking of Stephen King its Interesting about Maisie’s horror Xman movie finally coming out. I know they had major issues with it. I will watch because of Maisie but I don’t have high hopes for the movie itself.
Tron79,
”… about Maisie’s horror Xman movie finally coming out. I know they had major issues with it. I will watch because of Maisie but I don’t have high hopes for the movie itself.“
_____
I read a bunch of articles about ”X-Men: The New Mutants” yesterday in connection with the surprise announcement of a second trailer and the confirmed(?) release date of the oft-delayed movie. I too was concerned that there had been “major issues” holding up its release for so long.
The impression I got was the delays were caused by meddling by the studios (first Fox and then Disney) and producer, insisting on changes to shoehorn the movie onto the “X-Men universe” canon, or conform it to the Marvel superhero template. The less-than exuberant receptionist. of “Dark Phoenix” also reportedly gave the studio cold feet. Also, some suits wanted to add scenes to introduce a supervillain for a future movie. Others apparently wanted it to have a “Breakfast Club” vibe, or something geared to the Young Adult audience for Josh Boone’s prior film, “A Fault in Our Stars.”
Yet, after all was said and done, the director Josh Boone was able to stick with his original vision and make the movie he wanted: more of a horror movie than a typical popcorn superhero flick.
I could be wrong. It is probably better that we “not have high hopes” to avoid disappointment.
Still, the new trailer is supposed to be great. Supposedly the creator of the New Mutants comic book saw it and was thrilled.
We’ll know soon enough. The new trailer is going to be available online this coming Monday, January 6, 2020.
#Wolfsbane 👸🏻🗡
Ten Bears,
That sounds promising. I will definitely check it out Monday!
Btw, I used up my Barnes & Noble gift card today finally and I ordered the HDM books, but I also ordered a new Funko POP Arya with her double sided spear!!! Now I’m not sure what to do with two Arya figures.. I have an older version just with her holding needle. It will be a bit odd with them standing next to each other… I don’t get commission for recommending these things really!! So if you buy it, i don’t get credit! I hope you like the Helen Sloan book. I will talk about the Arya photos, but I have to give it to Brienne. There is a full size photo of Brienne on the opposite page of the table of contents that is just an incredible shot of Gwendoline Christie. And there’s a very nice full page “a girl wants a pony shot” on page 200 you will enjoy!!
I did get a craving for the GOT oreos that you bought. Do you think anyone still sells those? I saw Paul Newman’s own brand of those and I was thinking I really wanted the GOT ones…
Anyway, it will be cool to see Maisie in X-men when it finally comes out. I feel really bad for Sophie that her movie bombed so horribly.
Not the video I mentioned above but the Barristan actor was in a comedy called “Derry Girls” playing the grandfather of one of the girls of the title. I don’t know if the humour will cross the Atlantic but he appears at about 0:57 in this clip (which I’ll also mention in the ‘Spot the Random GoT actor” forum thread. https://youtu.be/o7g1Kf6g3AM
Tron79,
”…. Btw, I used up my Barnes & Noble gift card… I also ordered a new Funko POP Arya with her double sided spear!!! Now I’m not sure what to do with two Arya figures.. I have an older version just with her holding needle.”
——-
Funko Pop Arya?
Maisie Williams Thronecast 2013
at 6:18 – 7:03 – Arya Funko Pop – eyebrows
Love That. She should auction off a Maisie version with drawing in the eyebrows! She could raise a ton for charity. I would bid!
I would lose, but I would bid!
“I’d pay good money for that.” – S.C.
“I would too.” – Me
Tron79,
… and at around 5:00 – 6:20 of that Thronecast interview (that preceded S3 I think), Maisie protests: “I’ve got some pretty nice eyebrows too.”
Yes you do, Maisie, yes you do.
“You have very expressive eyes, Mercy; wonderful eyebrows.” – Lady Crane, S6e6