Game Of Thrones: Ranking Every Season From Worst To Best

5. Season 2

Game of Thrones' second season massively expanded the scope of the show, introducing a raft of new characters and still picking up the pieces after the shocking demise of Ned Stark.

Season 2 is a greatly important one in the characters and arcs it introduces, but that means the season itself is more of a mixed bag, as coming after Season 1 it stalls momentum and feels less like a second season, and more like a second first season instead.

Of course, that doesn't completely detract from the fact there are some incredible storylines in this run of episodes. Tyrion as Hand of the King is one of the best roles the character has had on the show - it feels like it comes too soon in the run to say its Peak Tyrion, but it's certainly right up there - as he gets to scheme around King's Landing, while his father has Arya Stark working as his cupbearer in one of the show's most surprisingly wonderful partnerships.

Jon's forages beyond the Wall are pretty good, especially as they introduce us to Ygritte, likewise Jaime's capture by the Starks, and Robb falling in love. It's all important, but we don't quite get the satisfaction of them until the following year. The characters it introduces - Stannis! Davos! Brienne! Melisandre! Margaery! - are brilliant, but there are so many of them, on top of those we met in Season 1, that the show doesn't quite know at this point how to juggle them all.

There's also too much time devoted to Daenerys' Quarth storyline, which is one of the most boring in the show's history, and we don't even get a real satisfying payoff with the House of the Undying. Thankfully we got the Battle of Blackwater in episode 9, which helped elevate the season and proved the kind of cinematic spectacle the show was capable of.

Best Episode: Blackwater

Worst Episode: The Prince Of Winterfell