Publications
Partners
We may be in the heat of summer, but the most reliable indication that Winter is Coming has arrived: the trailer for the new season for Game of Thrones.
Of course, it will still be a while until the new season premiers, so there's only one thing to do: obsess fanatically over all our favourite and least favourite scenes in seasons 1 - 3.
Warning: Spoiler alert for those who haven't finished the first three seasons.
1. Whenever Joffrey is slapped
We like Jamie now, some of us might even feel the occasional twinge of sympathy for Cercei, and while Tywin might be evil, he has a certain style; but Joffrey is the one Lannister we will always universally despise.
From the first moment we realized what a spoilt, malicious, arrogant little creature he is, we’ve wanted to slap him; which is why it’s so great when someone does it for us.
Especially when that someone is Tyrion:
2. When Daenerys learns to talk like a Khaleesi
After a lifetime of being powerless, relying always on her cruel brother’s care, never being given the power to make her own choices, and eventually sold like a slave, it’s wonderful to see Daenerys taste her own power for the first time.
The fact that we get to see Viserys in the dirt is just a bonus.
3. Viserys' "coronation"
Viserys is crowned in gold, and we discover that, for a barbarian, Khal Drogo is impressively good at word games. Easily one of the most brutal scenes in the series, which is saying something.
4. Ned's execution
Generally speaking, people are used to the main protagonist of a story living to the end. It's called "main character armour", and refusing to equip his characters with it is possibly what George R. R. Martin is best known, loved, and hated for.
5. When we meet Daenerys' dragons for the first time
One of the most beautiful, impressive and iconic scenes, this taste of what is to come ensured a strong demand for Season 2.
6. When Melisandre gives birth to a shadow creature
There's something about childbirth. And then there's something else entirely about the terrifying horror that is the birth of a murderous shadow baby.
7. The Battle of Blackwater
Between Tyrion's speech, "They say I'm half a man. But what does that make the lot of you?" Stannis Baratheon's speech, and the wildfire, the Battle of Blackwater is one of the best fantasy battles we've seen.
8. Cersei getting drunk at the Battle of Blackwater
And, perhaps for the first time, we see the more human side to Cersei.
9. The White Walkers at the end of season 2
And Samwell Tarly's reaction, curling into a little ball and crying, seems exactly the only right way to respond.
10. Meeting The "Queen of Thorns"
As poor Ned Stark found out, King's Landing is a web of lies where no honest man really has a place, and no one, except maybe Joffrey, ever says what's on his or her mind.
Enter Lady Olenna Tyrell, who speaks directly, gets to the point almost immediately, and makes these traits work for her.
11. When Daenerys gets her Unsullied army and teaches the slaver Kraznys a lesson
Silly Kraznys, you can't own a dragon.
12. When Jamie loses his hand
Jamie, whose entire character is built on the fact that he's a damn good warrior, loses his sword hand.
This whole scene was pretty much just so that George RR Martin could show us that it's not just heads that aren't protected by main character armour.
13. Theon's castration
Theon Greyjoy is not a good man, but even so, the punishment he faces throughout season three seems unspeakably harsh.
I've rarely come across a Game of Thrones fan who can mention Theon without a wince of intense sympathy.
14. The Bear and the Maiden Fair
Jamie's decision to turn back and rescue Brienne of Tarth is definitely one of his most iconic moments.
You know. Along with the one where he has sex with his sister and the one where he tries to murder a seven year old boy.
15. The romance between Jon Snow and Ygritte
This is impossible to tie down to just one scene, though perhaps the scene in the cave is the most memorable. All we know is the chemistry between these two, especially when they argue, might just beat all other relationships in the series.
Ygritte is especially great because, while most women in the series have to rely on the men in their lives to offer them protection and treat them kindly, Ygritte is able to match Jon Snow exactly in power and ability.
16. The Red Wedding
At the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, before season 2, David Benioff claimed that, if they could "get to R.W.", he'd be able to retire.
In the books, this scene is one of the most devastating and traumatizing, and, since season 1, makers of the show and fans of the books have wondered if the same scene in the TV series would be able to have the same impact.
It did.
What were your favourite and least favourite moments from past series?
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook
