After a lot of hard work and thought from everyone, and weeks of voting from fans of Game of Thrones, we’ve reached the end of the Watchers on the Wall Awards preliminary round. We have our last two categories to address now, and then we’re going to dive right into the finals starting tomorrow. Our final round will be fast-paced with categories going up every day, so be sure to stop by regularly, make your voice heard, and keep your eyes peeled for the soon-to-be-posted date of the Watchers on the Wall Awards ceremony!
For today’s last categories: as we explained in the initial nomination suggestions post, this year we’re splitting the Best Action category into two: a bigger-scale action sequence category, and a second category for the smaller-scale fight scenes.
When it comes to the Big Action Sequence, there’s a limited number of contenders: six, in fact, so we’re going to skip the polling, and just go ahead and send the lot of them to the finals. They are:
Best Big Action Sequence Nominees
Battle of Meereen: Daenerys & her dragons destroy the slaver ships, while the Dothraki slaughter the Sons of the Harpy.
Battle for Winterfell: Jon Snow and the Stark army face overwhelming numbers and Ramsay Bolton’s strategies in a brutal battle, and are saved by the Vale.
The Door: Compromised by Bran’s actions, the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave is fatally breached by the army of the dead.
Castle Black: The wildlings launch an attack on the mutineers of Castle Black, as the murderers besiege Davos and a few loyal men.
The Temple: Daenerys torches the khals in the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen and emerges unburnt.
Baelor’s Sept: Lancel chases a little bird underground only to find death and wildfire waiting; the explosion, killing many King’s Landing notables, quickly follows.
For Best Fight, the standard rules will apply:
Select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. Choose fewer if you like, but you cannot choose more than 5.
At the end of 72 hours (Saturday 9/10/16 at 6PM EDT), the five fights with the most votes will continue on to the finals. The results of the poll will be revealed when it’s time to choose the winner of Best Fight in a week or so.
Thank you to everyone who has voted faithfully all these weeks! Thanks again to Greatjon of Slumber for his dedication to the WotW Awards!
Arthur Dayne was the best!
Young Ned and friends take on the Kingsguard at The Tower of Joy.
The Waif chases Arya through the streets of Braavos.
Euron challenges his brother Balon and throws him from a rope bridge.
Jon faces multiple opponents in the chaos of battle in one long uncut shot.
Jon is crushed beneath his own men in battle, and fights his way to the surface.
SBFG,
I disagree. He should have fought with only one sword, Dawn. Two swords made absolutely no sense.
This one was easy!! 🙂
Luka Nieto,
Literally the exact same thing I chose! Yessss!
I voted for the three Jon ones the tower of joy and Tormund vs SmallJon
I only went with the three fights I submitted in my initial nominations:
Young Ned and friends take on the Kingsguard at the Tower of Joy – After seeing the trailers pre-season six, this sequence was one of the things I was most looking forward to viewing during the season. The fight between Ned, his allies and two legendary Kingsguard members was stunning. Ultimately we knew that Ned would prevail, as he lived years after the fight, but it was choreographed in such a way that you were left wondering to the last minute. And it had Arthur Dayne in it!
Jon deflects Ramsay’s arrows and pummels him after the battle – This was the culmination of the battle itself for me. I know that Sansa effectively went on to be the one to kill Ramsay, but for Jon, who had battled through Ramsay’s forces and almost been crushed to death, this was what the battle was leading to. From the moment he reaches the top of the pile of bodies to the moment he stops punching Ramsay after seeing Sansa, there is something very feral about Jon. The inner wolf has woken, and for once Jon acts the way he wants to rather than the way he thinks he should. I think you understand where Jon is coming from in this – Ramsay raped and tortured Jon’s sister, and has just killed his brother Rickon in front of him.
The Hound takes an axe to rogue members of the Brotherhood without Banners – Less of a two-way fight than the other two, but I love Sandor Clegane, and find it hard not to nominate him! Although there are changes to the Sandor Clegane of old, I think we still see the Hound in him, and this fight sequence was a reminder that the Hound is back.
I chose:
Young Ned vs. the Kingsguard
Tormund vs. the Smalljon
Brienne and Pod vs. the Boltons
Jon vs. everyone else in one long shot
Arya vs. the Waif in the HoB&W
Jon x 3, Tormund, and Benjen. I loved Euron’s scene, but it wasn’t much of a fight.
– Benjen Stark takes out several wights to save Bran and Meera.
– Young Ned and friends take on the Kingsguard at The Tower of Joy.
– Euron challenges his brother Balon and throws him from a rope bridge.
– Jon faces multiple opponents in the chaos of battle in one long uncut shot.
– The Hound takes an axe to rogue members of the Brotherhood without Banners
1. ToJ
2. Jon vs Ramsay’s arrows
3. Balon vs Euron
4. Jon and his multiple fights in the BoB
5. Arya vs the Waif in the HoB&W
That suffocation scene made me gasp for breath, like I was right there with Jon! It was horrifying! I liked the ToJ too, but mostly ’cause I really like the actor who played Arthur Dayne (and was in Black Sails too).
I did the three with Jon + Benjen & Blind Arya/Waif sparring.
Arya’s chase scene would have made it for me if I wasn’t so bothered by her extreme athleticism post-stabbing and other injuries. I’m always rooting for Arya, but that played as spectacle more than anything to me.
Usually there’s more than five options I’d vote for. This one’s weird in that I only picked two:
Jon faces opponents in long uncut shot, Battle of the Bastards
Jon is crushed beneath his own men, Battle of the Bastards
-Young Ned and friends take on the Kingsguard at The Tower of Joy.
-Jon faces multiple opponents in the chaos of battle in one long uncut shot.
-Jon deflects Ramsay’s arrows and pummels him after the battle.
-Tormund takes on Smalljon Umber with teeth and knife.
-Brienne and Pod rescue Sansa and Theon from the Bolton men.
Also Considered/Toughest Omissions:
-Jon is crushed beneath his own men in battle, and fights his way to the surface. (NOTE: I think this is one of the absolute best scenes of thi entire stellar season, but I voted for it in the Best Dramatic Scene category instead. For Best Fight, I wanted to focus more on duels between individuals or small parties).
-Benjen Stark takes out several wights to save Bran and Meera.
-The Waif chases Arya through the streets of Braavos.
-Euron challenges his brother Balon and throws him from a rope bridge.
Is there any way to find out the names of the stunt doubles at the ToJ?? They deserve all the accolades for putting on one of the most spectacularly choreographed sword fights in the history of television. Also special shout out to Luke Roberts aka Arthur Dayne for being so awesome…He was a 1 man show in the fight sequence!!
Jon faces multiple opponents in the chaos of battle in one long uncut shot.
^^^^^only one winner^^^^^
Battle for Winterfell simply has to win best action scene!
As for the other, two were head-and-shoulders above the rest:
1) Arthur Dayne v all the northerners; amazeballs! I watched it SO MANY times!!!!
2) Jon v Ramsey’s arrows; the coolest fist pump moment!
“Jon faces multiple opponents in the chaos of battle in one long uncut shot.”
The clear choice!
SBFG,
He’ll yea
Too many good scenes from chose from …
Too many good scenes to choose from!
Young Ned and friends take on the Kingsguard at The Tower of Joy – I love Ned but Arthur Dayne owned this scene. I remember the casting call looking for the greatest swordsman in Europe, and WOW, did they get him. Vladimir Furdik was amazing wielding the two swords and just kicking ass throughout the entire fight scene. Also major kudos to Luke Roberts for conveying Arthur’s honor, loyalty, sadness, and resignation with just a few short lines.
Jon deflects Ramsay’s arrows and pummels him after the battle – It was soooo satisfying seeing Ramsay finally get the shit beat out of him, and seeing Jon finally snap and allow his animalistic rage to take over was glorious. I also love that even when Ramsay used his weapon of choice and Jon couldn’t use Longclaw, Jon still easily defeated him. No wonder Ramsay was afraid of Jon’s one-on-one combat offer.
Tormund takes on Smalljon Umber with teeth and knife – I was spoiled for BotB but one of unknowns was Tormund’s fate. When Smalljon was headbutting him into submission, I was sure Tormund was done for. I actually yelled at him through the TV to “get the fuck up, man!” and “c’mon, Tormund, c’mon!”. I was ecstatic when he tore out Smalljon’s jugular. And when his stabbed him with the bone knife, I practically shed tears of joy. It’s a shame Smalljon turned out to be an oathbreaker, because he seemed like a great warrior and I really liked the actor.
Jon faces multiple opponents in the chaos of battle in one long uncut shot – They just threw us right into the chaos of BotB. I’d been looking forward to the battle for half a year but after a minute of watching the actual fight, I felt overwhelmed. That was due to how beautifully they choreographed and shot this long uncut scene. Like Ozzyman said in his review, it felt like we were inside a pinball machine. But it was great.
Jon is crushed beneath his own men in battle, and fights his way to the surface – At no point did I ever think Jon would die here, but watching him initially struggle to get up, then just kind of give up, and then finally see the moment he decides he wants to live and fights his way out was incredibly powerful. My boy chose life! What’s sad is there was another man down in that mosh pit with him who wasn’t so lucky. That poor guy’s head got trampled into the mud, never to be seen again, and no one every mentions him.
Voted for:
–Young Ned and friends take on the Kingsguard at The Tower of Joy.
–Tormund takes on Smalljon Umber with teeth and knife.
–Brienne and Pod rescue Sansa and Theon from the Bolton men.
–The Hound takes an axe to rogue members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.
–Jon is crushed beneath his own men in battle, and fights his way to the surface.
– The best fight out of those was no doubt the Tower of Joy sequence, hands down.
– Brienne’s rescue of sansa was also well done.
– Jon’t rather figurative fight for air was incredibly well done (and thought out), so i voted for it despite it’s non actual fighting nature.
– Jon’s deflection of Ramsay’s arrows wasn’t as cheesy as it easily could have been.
– And who am I to not vote for the Hound. Though that wasn’t a fight either, just an execution.
Of those choices I vote for the Arthur Dayne scene. It wasn’t perfect (two swords…why?), but the actor did a super job as Arthur Dayne.
But my favorite action scene of the season was Jon picking himself up, nodding, ripping his belt off and taking out Longclaw at the same time. Ready to take on the line of cavalry coming at him. Maybe it was the music, just took a lot of courage.
Joey,
By the way, I counted 15 kills for Jon in that battle. Anyone got an official number?
Jenny,
These were my choices as well.
On pure skill of swordplay alone, TOJ was the standout for me, so that’s the one I voted for. Plenty of good scenes though.
Gimli and Legolas laugh in his face 🙂
Absolutely no way to vote for Arya post-stab because surviving that is JUST NOT FUCKING POSSIBLE.
Lady Crane couldn’t have saved her. Nobody without modern medicine (or magic) could have saved her, because a wrenching knife inside the guts releases poisons into the bloodstream, and the guts won’t heal on their own the same way, say, a finger can.
Easily the worst part of the season for me.
Jinnj,
No! – there are many kinds of martial arts containing fights with two swords, and it definitely makes sense https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unv8aAR7oNA
Tower of Joy: Dayne was awesome, and loved the 2 swords, the moment he blocks all 4 adversaries is just awesome.
Arya being chased by the waif: I thought the chase was great!
And I voted the 3 other Jon moments. Simply outstanding, no words are needed.
I agree that it makes sense. It’s probably too difficult for most people, but someone that is perfectly ambidextrous, and has the talent to master fighting with two swords, would be stupid to fight with only one. Think of pro football (soccer) players for instance: only a very select few are really two-footed, but those that are become a nightmare for defenders as these don’t know which side to block. Anyway, the TOJ fight speaks for itself – in my opinion it is the acted battle that comes closest to the epic swordplay scenes described by Jim Butcher in his Codex Alera series.
BunBunStark,
My exact choices!!!! Cheers!!!
Jinnj,
Why didn’t it make sense? Because it wasn’t like the book? Lol.
Tower of Joy fight was one of my favorite scenes of the entire season. I absolutely loved it
Ashara D,
wait what??? hes in Black Sails? Well I am only in the beginning of season 2, so maybe I haven’t seen him yet?
It was hard to pick, I wanted to pick all Jon, but alwayssssssss do that lol.
I went with
Young Ned and Co
Jon Vs Ramsay
The Waif chases Arya through the streets of Braavos.
The Waif vs Arya sparring in the HOBAW
Jon is crushed at battle
Joey,
I counted 15 confirmed ones as well. This website counted 19: http://www.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Tube/articles/6obwv9KU5pJ/Jon+Snow+Kill+Count+Other+Stats+Bastard+Bowl
Either way, it’s a lot and it should cement his reputation as a warrior even further.
Eleanor,
Yeah Im with you there. Really disappointed how they did that. In my mind, I just edit a bunch of the scene through to the slash of the flame, and the scene with Jacquen. And when I watch it again it will be a scene I undoubtedly will fast forward.
I picked 5 and for me it was easy…
End scene with dragons and armada…amazing stuff.
Brienne & Pod vs. Boltons
TOJ (heck yeah)
Jon suffocating
Jon in long cut.
I had to pick Brienne & Pod scene, maybe not one of the best for this particular category but the scene made me cheer.:)
Another S1 reaction channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Spv0t00Vqc
Dee Stark,
I had a hard time too. I still had to pick the scenes with Jon except where he used the shield to deflect the arrows. I guess my reasoning for picking the scene with Brienne was because I literally cheered to FINALLY have her unite with Sansa….lol. TOJ was great (probably mostly because of the interplay with young Ned and Arthur Dayne) but I have a soft spot for it…lol.
Long time until next summer and Winter is Coming for sure here.
I’ve been away for a time but here I am again. I’ve picked up 4 this time:
1) Ned and his guards face ser Arthur and ser Gerold at the Tower of Joy
2) Jon is nearly crushed by his own men
3) Jon faces mutliple foes in one shot
4) Battle of the beards (I mean Tormund vs Jon Umber)
Eleanor,
maybe Lady Crane did use magic. We know nothing about her at all.
Only voting for 3 cause I wish I could vote for ToJ more than once.
Lord Parramandas,
Ps that was Oswell Whent, not Hightower
Benjen,
The actor himself confirmed that he played ser Gerold, but the character was combination of both.
Lord Parramandas,
Then the actor doesn’t know what he’s talking about cause Whent sharpens his sword with the whetstone and all of Hightower’s lines were given to Dayne lol
Tower of Joy. One of the best fights we’ve seen on the show so far. It absolutely did not disappoint. Also, I know they picked the guy who played Dayne for his sword fighting skills, but he wasn’t a bad actor either, so bonus points right there.
Lots of Jon, with a touch of Tormund and Arya.
Loved that scene too. It was the artistic direction too-photography. That sky. Those clouds…
As for Dayne and the two swords, I think they just wanted to show what a great swordsman he was. Couldn’t have a glowing sword, mind you. Although I have to admit that with his 2 swords he did come across as a show-off.
Yep, he’s in season 3.
Sou,
ouuuuuuuuuu
im excited
First and foremost, Tower of Joy. Obviously. Been waiting for that for years! 😀
Second, Jon’s long, uncut shot of fighting in the BoB. Wow! Amazing choreography and camera work, not to mention Kit’s physical acting. Utter chaos, gore, visceral… It was so realistic, though we now know lots of it was CGI. Reminds me of the S4 Wall battle and that famous 360 degree shot, which I loved. It takes a special kind of director to have the confidence to not cut here and cut there. GoT has been blessed with excellent directors.
Third, Jon’s rebirth when he fights his way up from under the masses of living and dead bodies. It’s funny to now know that that wasn’t planned by D&D, Kit and Sapo came up with that idea, and all the viewers drew the parallel with Dany’s “Mhysa” moment, and it became one of the most powerful moments of the BoB and Jon’s S6 arc.
Fourth, Sandor taking the axe to the rogues. Just because… Sandor! God, I love Rory!
Fifth, Brienne and Pod saving Sansa and Theon. Because I love Brienne and Pod, and everybody’s favourite squire Pod had his first kill – and was then saved by Theon in unReek mode.
This was much easier. Whatever scenes go thru to the final round, I don’t think anything can beat the fight scene with YoungNed at that tower.
Maybeeee the Jon shot from Battle of the Bastards.
Benjen,
The actor was aware that ser Gerold is different in the books that’s why he specifically said “a combination of both”. It’s not the first time the show would change characters. Ser Arthur also had two swords in the show and most of his lines in the show were the ones from ser Gerold in the books.