The Most Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Website

Ranking Every Game of Thrones Season, From Worst to First


Sunday nights will never be the same because after eight long years, HBO’s epic drama series Game of Thrones has ended its watch.

However, now that Season 8 has wrapped, we here at Epicstream decided it was time to update our 2017 list in which we ranked all (then) six seasons of the series. So, with that in mind, here’s our ranking of every Game of Thrones season, from worst to first:

  1. Season 5

    Not only does Season 5 of Game of Thrones suffer from poor pacing but all of the biggest moments rely far too heavily on gratuitous violence and nudity, sacrificing good storytelling for simple shock value. Between Sansa’s abuse at the hands of Ramsay, Cersei’s uncomfortably long walk of shame and Shireen being burned at the stake, it felt as though the showrunners were trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator rather than double down on what made the show so captivating during the four previous seasons. Nevertheless, Season 5 did succeed in some respects, such as Daenerys and Jon Snow’s incredible character arcs, Arya’s revenge on Ser Meryn, and who could forget the events of “Hardhome?” Unfortunately, such epic moments were few and far between in a season that largely felt like pieces being moved into place.

  2. Season 2

    Season 2 is admittedly home to one of the best battle sequences in all of Game of Thrones, the Battle of the Blackwater, which solidified Tyrion Lannister as a fan-favorite character. However, Daenerys’ time in Qarth dragged on for far too long, turning one of the show’s most engaging characters into the least interesting part of the entire season. Elsewhere, we had Theon’s betrayal of Robb, Brienne’s journey to bring Jaime home, Arya serving under Tywin and Jon Snow’s trek behind the wall. And while each of these plotlines resulted in some entertaining moments, few of them are particularly memorable in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps the most lasting effect is that the dynamic between Jaime and Brienne made the former a much more palatable character, but there wasn’t enough substance elsewhere to justify placing Season 2 in a more favorable position on this list.

  3. Season 1

    Naturally, Season 1 of Game of Thrones deserves praise for laying the foundation that the show continued to build upon for years to come. In particular, it established the harsh reality that in Game of Thrones, there are no rules because it broke the biggest one of them all when Ned Stark, who was seemingly the primary protagonist of the series, was beheaded. Few other shows have the fortitude to cast someone with as much star power as Sean Bean, build him up as a central figure of the story and then kill him off all in the first season. In any case, it served to teach viewers what honor and nobility are truly worth in Westeros, and thankfully, the series spent enough time developing the other characters to draw audiences back for the second season. Plus, it was all bookended by the birth of Daenerys’ dragons and the introduction of the White Walkers, setting the stage for the supernatural thematic elements that would become more prevalent as the series progressed.

  4. Season 4

    Season 4 saw a number of characters meet their maker, including Ygritte, Lysa, Oberyn, Tywin and even Joffrey. And while Oberyn’s death was disturbingly brutal and Tywin’s was bittersweet (he was simply a character you loved to hate), Joffrey’s was an incredibly welcome surprise as his petulance and sadism had become far too off-putting to deal with week after week. From an action standpoint, there was certainly no shortage of thrilling showdowns, between the aforementioned Oberyn’s battle with The Mountain, Brienne’s epic duel with The Hound and the Wildling’s savage attack on Castle Black. Not all of the best moments of this season involved bloodshed, though. We also witnessed Tyrion and Arya depart from Westeros, each for different reasons but both facing uncertain futures, Daenerys was forced to chain up her dragons in an incredibly poignant scene and we finally learned Littlefinger was the true puppet master pulling the strings that resulted in some of the show’s most damning events.

  5. Season 7

    We waited years to see Daenerys arrive in Westeros, and Season 7 wasted little time in that regard. The majority of the season centered on an ill-fated attempt by Jon and Dany to recruit Cersei in their impending struggle against the White Walkers, and it made for some incredible moments. For example, we witness the death of one of Dany’s dragons, which was every bit as shocking as it was tragic. Additionally, we saw the Night King destroy the Wall, setting the stage for what everyone knew would be the most impactful battle of the entire series. We even saw Jaime abandon Cersei, which seemed impossible in earlier seasons. Ultimately, in Season 7, escalation was the name of the game.

  6. Season 8

    Say what you will about the character’s decisions and the shortened episode count of Season 8 but this was arguably some of the best television of all time. The drama and fantasy were high, as were fans’ expectations, which could explain why the season is so polarizing. Still, it provided the most incredible onscreen battle of the entire series in “The Long Night,” as well as the biggest shock in “The Bells.” What’s more, it managed to provide a satisfying conclusion to years of storytelling, which is no small feat. You might not like how Season 8 played out, but the fact that it elicited such a strong reaction from fans is proof of just how impactful it was.

  7. Season 6

    Few seasons of Game of Thrones were quite as packed as Season 6. Jon was resurrected and declared King in the North, Cersei killed everyone and seized the Iron Throne, Hodor’s backstory was fleshed out before he was killed, Arya killed Walder Frey, Tyrion helped fix Meereen, Daenerys and her allies set off for Westeros, and those are just a few of the biggest moments. It was a major course correction after a lackadaisical Season 5, and more importantly, it was a true culmination of each and every major narrative we’d witnessed up to that point. Daenerys’ journey to the Iron Throne began back in Season 1, and the payoff of seeing her set sail with an army of followers to return to Westeros was immensely satisfying, as was seeing Sansa finally break free from her seemingly endless cycle of abuse. Plus, who can forget the confirmation of the long-held fan theory concerning Jon’s Targaryen parentage?

  8. Season 3

    You’d be hard-pressed to find a list such as this that doesn’t rank Season 5 as the worst and Season 3 as the best, which is a true rarity in most fandoms. This, of course, largely stems from the now-famous Red Wedding, in which nearly every remaining member of House Stark is brutally slaughtered, including Robb’s unborn child. However, this is hardly the only reason that Season 3 stands out. We also have the continuation of Jaime’s redemption arc, which transformed him from palatable to outright likable, plus Daenerys hit a major milestone in her quest for the Iron Throne by acquiring the Unsullied Army. No season of Game of Thrones is perfect, though, and while Season 3 does come close, Ramsay’s torturing of Theon dragged on a bit longer than necessary to get the point across that the former is a sadistic monster. In any case, the good significantly outweighed the bad, propelling Season 3 straight to the top of the list.

    What about you? Do you agree with our ranking? Let us know in the comments section!

For more articles like this, take a look at our Game of Thrones and Lists page.