Game Of Thrones: Ranking All Episodes From Worst To Best

5. The Mountain And The Viper (Season 4 Episode 8)

The Mountain and the Viper is a fantastic, suspenseful episode that kicks off the top 5 in grand fashion. Even leaving out the amazing trial by combat, the rest of the episode is extremely action-packed and well executed. In the North, Ygritte's wildling party destroys Mole's Town on their way to Castle Black, and Ramsay and Theon capture Moat Cailin for Roose Bolton, earning Ramsay his long sought-after promotion to true Bolton. Across the Narrow Sea in Meereen, Daenerys becomes aware that Jorah used to spy on her for Varys, and exiles him from the city despite his protests. The shot of Jorah riding away with Meereen at his back makes you feel for the guy, as he has indeed become fanatically loyal to the Khaleesi over the years. In the Eyrie, Sansa Stark transforms into a player of the game of thrones by lying for Littlefinger before shedding her pure image by donning an all-black wardrobe and devious facial expression. Arya and the Hound also reach the Eyrie, only to be told that Lysa is dead. The Hound's face coupled with Arya's laughter is very humorous and brightens up a thus-far dark episode. Before the trial by combat, Tyrion and Jaime's discussion about their beetle-smashing cousin does wear on a bit too long, but it's nice symbolism of the Mountain's brutality and just the general unfairness of life with people getting smashed out left and right. Then the trial by combat actually occurs, and after a good fight and an absolutely incredible monologue by Oberyn, probably the best of the show thus far, it appears to end. Oberyn has won. Tyrion is free. Then the Mountain surprised Oberyn mid-victory speech, pushes out his eyes, and crushes his skull. It's incredibly gruesome and Oberyn's scream makes it even worse. We should've known they wouldn't have let Tyrion off as easy as that! For all of these reasons, The Mountain and the Viper takes its place as the best of Season 4 and #5 on the list.

4. Baelor (Season 1 Episode 9)

Baelor, the first "episode 9" of the show, is now infamous for the moment in which Eddard Stark, the guy we all thought was the main character, is executed on the steps of the Sept of Baelor. That moment is obviously what makes people think it is great, but the rest of the episode is nearly, if not just, as good as its climactic minute. First off comes Tyrion's story about his former wife Tysha, the first example of Peter Dinklage's Emmy-worthy acting (and they were paying attention- he won!). He then goes to war and is knocked out in minutes. When he wakes up, he discovers that the Lannisters destroyed the Starks because the main Stark force was not there, so where was it? It was defeating Jaime Lannister, in fact. Robb and his men take Jaime captive after securing an alliance with Walder Frey of the Twins, which Robb would go on to break, causing his death. Also in this episode, we learn that Maester Aemon of the Night's Watch is a member of the Targaryen family. In Khal Drogo's camp, Daenerys convinces the witch Mirri Maz Duur to use magic to save Drogo's life. She then goes into labor and is forced to seek Mirri's help. Finally, Eddard Stark confesses his "crimes" at the Sept of Baelor, believing that he will be allowed to join the Night's Watch. Arya and Sansa are witnesses to Joffrey betraying Ned and ordering his execution, and as the council members and Cersei try to stop it, Ned is beheaded. It's a shocking moment and still lives on to this day in pop culture as being the first time that Game of Thrones killed a major main character, in this case THE main character.

3. Fire And Blood (Season 1 Episode 10)

Although most people would place Baelor above this episode as the best of Season 1, after watching the two back to back multiple times, Fire and Blood gets the edge. Most of the episode deals with the aftermath of Ned's execution as Bran discovers his father's death and Robb declares himself King in the North in a suitably epic moment. Tywin orders Tyrion to go to King's Landing and rule as Hand of the King in order to try to rein in Joffrey a bit, meaning we get to look forward to future fireworks. Joffrey taking Sansa out to the catwalk is a horrible experience - she is forced to look at her father's severed head and comes extremely close to pushing Joffrey off of the catwalk. How much trouble would have been spared had she done this? Joffrey also has a singer's tongue cut off for singing an "inappropriate song" about Robert, reinforcing his cruelty once again. Although many of these moments are epic and set up the next season, what really grants this episode the edge over Baelor and pushes it into the #3 spot is the Daenerys storyline. She discovers that Mirri has betrayed her and caused her baby to die, along with keeping Drogo alive but in a brain-dead state. As the khalasar leaves them behind, Daenerys smothers Drogo with a pillow to put him out of his misery. The distraught Khaleesi then builds a funeral pyre for Drogo and orders Mirri to be burned alive alongside it, before walking into the fire with her dragon eggs. The next morning, emerges naked and completely unharmed with 3 newly hatched dragons. The music helps make it even more epic, and as the dragons screech, we realize that the world of Game of Thrones has permanently changed.

2. The Rains Of Castamere (Season 3 Episode 9)

The source of pop culture infamy, Internet memes, and reaction videos, The Rains of Castamere is the best episode of Season 3, very nearly the pinnacle of the show and easily the second best episode thus far. Like Baelor, the Red Wedding is what this episode is mainly remembered for, but there are other cool moments. One of these other good moments is Jon Snow finally making his move, dueling with the wildlings and escaping back to Castle Black with several of Ygritte's arrows in his legs. Jon is helped out by Bran, who wargs into his wolf and attacks several wildlings. In Yunkai, Daenerys sends Grey Worm, Jorah, and Daario into the city to capture it, which they do, giving her control over two of the three cities of Slaver's Bay. While these moments are indeed well-done, the Red Wedding takes the cake as the most surprising event of the show so far, even more so than Ned's execution. At first, it seems as if Walder Frey has forgiven Robb Stark for breaking his oath after a bit of grumbling and groaning. As the wedding feast moves on, the doors close and musicians begin playing "The Rains of Castamere", a song associated with House Lannister. Catelyn Stark realises that Roose Bolton is wearing armour, and at that moment, Robb's wife Talisa is stabbed in the stomach multiple times. Robb is shot with crossbow bolts several times and Catelyn takes one of the Frey girls hostage. As she demands Robb be allowed to go free, Robb is stabbed in the chest and Catelyn cuts her hostage's throat, getting her own throat cut in return. It's an immensely shocking sequence that pretty much kills House Stark for good, and honestly it is likely that hearing about this "Red Wedding" is what brought some new viewers to the show. For its shocking events packed with emotional moments, The Rains of Castamere just falls short of the #1 spot.

1. Blackwater (Season 2 Episode 9)

Season 2's quality definitely varies at points, as evidenced by how it bookends our list. However, the Battle of Blackwater Bay has yet to be topped on Game of Thrones and earns its place above many contenders as the best episode produced thus far. Blackwater focuses only on King's Landing as Stannis Baratheon's fleet sails into the bay and Tyrion leads the Lannister forces against him. The preparation to the battle is very well put together, bringing the suspense to a high level before Stannis' men actually arrive. As the first ships are sighted, Tyrion deploys his trap and sets a single ship filled with wildfire out to them, which Bronn then shoots. The resulting explosion is movie-level quality, and like Tyrion, Bronn, Joffrey, Stannis, and the Hound, viewers just sit back shocked for a moment as they see the devastation occurred. Many believed Davos to be killed during the attack, and most of Stannis' fleet is crippled by the explosion. As the battle itself actually commences, we see Cersei and Sansa back in the safety of the castle, which surprisingly are not boring scenes that detract from the battle; instead, they add to it by showing how non-warriors view the events. Eventually, Cersei calls for Joffrey to retreat from battle which forces Tyrion to rally the remaining troops and lead a successful counter-assault on the Baratheon troops, ending in a Kingsguard knight nearly killing him and unconsciousness taking him. The Hound flees the city just as Tywin Lannister's forces arrive and save King's Landing from Stannis. Stannis is seen being carried off by his men screaming for them to hold, and as Cersei prepares to kill herself and Tommen with poison, she sees Tywin enter the throne room and announce that the battle is won, ending the battle. The usage of the song "The Rains of Castamere" throughout the episode and during the end credits enhance the quality of the proceedings even further and elevate Blackwater to the best episode thus far produced. Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know in the comments what your list would be or if you agree or disagree with this list. Only 10 more months until Season 5! Have a great day!