20 TV Episodes That Are Practically Flawless

20. Game Of Thrones - The Rains Of Castamere

During its eight-season run, Game of Thrones aired countless episodes that could have made this list, but none that were ever as methodically paced, memorable and brutal as season three's penultimate masterstroke The Rains of Castamere.

The now-infamous episode follows a handful of key storylines, from Dany's crusade to free the slaves in Yunkai to Bran's mysterious warging abilities, all of which culminate in the harrowing Red Wedding, in which Catelyn and Robb Stark are massacred alongside their men and Robb's pregnant wife by a vengeful Walder Frey.

Even for a show widely known for its brutality, The Rains of Castamere is a bleak and uncompromising affair; the build-up to its final tragedy is a stunning exercise in tension, and when the violence finally comes it knocks the wind out your lungs and cements the war for the Iron Throne as one nobody is safe from. Peace is futile.