Game Of Thrones: 12 Best Moments From Season 5

1. The Battle Of Hardhome

The biggest sequence of the season wasn€™t Daenerys riding a dragon, and nor did it arrive in the ninth episode. Instead, Thrones delivered the mind-blowing action sequence early this year in Episode 8, Hardhome. It took up the entire back-half of the episode, a decision that was more than justified and paid off spectacularly. The standards for such scenes on this show are high, after Blackwater and Watchers on the Wall, and this not only lived-up to them, but managed to surpass them. It started off slowly, as Jon and Tormund attempted to negotiate with the wildlings living at Hardhome in order to get them to The Wall. Any plans were thrown into disarray when wights attacked, and all hell broke loose. The wights are a threat in their own right, but they are just servants. And their masters turned up here as well. The White Walkers watched the chaos from atop the mountains, before descending to join and add to it. Jon looked finished as he was struck by a Walker, unable to get his hands on the obsidian - the one thing known to defeat them. In desperation he stuck up his sword to protect himself from the impending fatal blow, and along with the attacker and the audience was taken by surprise when it blocked it. It turns out Valyrian steel can defeat the Others, and that€™s exactly what the Lord Commander does here. As he and the survivors sail away though, he€™s stared down by the apparent leader of the White Walkers, the mythical Night€™s King, who begins to raise all of the newly dead. If there were any questions as to how powerful the Others are, the Battle of Hardhome answered them and then some.