Game Of Thrones: Every Episode Ranked From Worst To Best

4. Hardhome (S5E8)

Written By: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss Directed By: Miguel Sapochnik

Episode 9 came early in Season 5. So too did Christmas, if you prefer your gifts to be the bombastic, shocking, raising-the-dead sort.

The episode starts off in fairly conventional - although admittedly excellent - fashion. The first half is given over to conversations and character moments, which include Sansa confronting Theon, and him revealing the truth about Bran and Rickon, showing the cracks in the Reek armour he's forced to wear. Arya gets her first assignment, Sam and Gilly get closer, and Cersei gets to know Septa Unella more than she'd like.

Then there's the meeting of Tyrion and Daenerys proper, giving us two scenes that live up to the billing and then some, as each of these huge characters figures the other one out, and Dany delivers are break the wheel speech.

After that, the second half of the episode is given over to Hardhome, but it's impossible to know that this would happen. It takes a relatively small book moment and sets it on fire, with some of the greatest, most cinematic spectacle ever seen on the small screen. While at first it does really appear as though they're just retrieving the wildlings, out of nowhere the dead appear. And they keep on appearing. Game of Thrones in this single episode deliver better zombie action than The Walking Dead has ever managed. Karsi is instantly great, and then tragically killed. Wun Wun is awesome. Jon Snow fights a White Walker, and kills it with his sword of Valyrian steel, and it's hard to know who is more stunned: Jon, the Walker, or us viewers.

It ends with the chilling shot of the Night King, staring down Jon Snow, slowly raising his arms, and raising the dead at the same time. The episode was raw, horrifying, blistering, perfectly marrying massacre with the best look yet at the series' endgame.