Game Of Thrones: 12 Ups And 5 Downs From Season 7

Ups...

12. Dragons

Ian McShane dismissed the series as just being about "t*ts and dragons", a common reference point for the show.

That's always been far too reductive, and there is much more to the series than either of those things, but at the same time it was glorious to see them unleashed in such incredible fashion.

T*ts didn't have much of a role to play (save for Davos checking out people's 'good hearts'), but dragons came to the fore in a way unlike any other, and it was spectacular to witness.

It's easy to see where the budget went this year, because the CGI of the dragons was as phenomenal as it was thrilling to see them in action, especially in the barnburner that was Field of Fire 2.0. There have been criticisms of them as a deux ex machina, but given the show has been building towards unleashing these beasts since the very beginning, there's more than enough to justify the way they've been used this year.

Whether living or (un)dead, burning enemies or sharing a much quieter moment with Jon Snow, it was the best year yet for the dragons.