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Game of Thrones ushered in a new era of fantasy television. Before HBO turned George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books into a global blockbuster, fantasy TV shows existed in their own little niche, separate from the mainstream: Merlin, The 10th Kingdom, Xena: Warrior Princess. But Game of Thrones not only brought fantasy into the mainstream; it perfected the genre. Game of Thrones told universal, human stories in a fantasy setting, so it had all the dragons and magic that fantasy enthusiasts crave, but it also touched on something deeper, so that people who don’t care about fantasy still got emotionally invested.
Although it stumbled in its final seasons, when it ran out of source material and the creators started eyeing up Lucasfilm as their new creative home (which didn’t even end up happening), Game of Thrones is still the best fantasy show of all time. Its first six seasons are among the greatest television ever made, and its most iconic episodes exemplify the medium at its absolute finest: the perfect intersection of cinema, literature, and good old-fashioned drama.
There are many iconic installments that could lay claim to the Iron Throne of best GoT episode. “Blackwater” was our first introduction to the kind of dazzling action spectacle we could expect from the show’s battle sequences, and “Hardhome” took that spectacle to another level. “The Rains of Castamere” has the infamous Red Wedding massacre, and “The Lion and the Rose” finally gave us the euphoric catharsis of Joffrey’s gruesome demise. The season 6 finale, “The Winds of Winter,” marked the end of the show’s golden age; the last gasp of greatness before a whiplash-inducing fall from grace.
All of these episodes represent Game of Thrones at its best, but the undisputed champ is season 6, episode 9, “Battle of the Bastards.” That episode is peak Game of Thrones, peak fantasy, and peak TV.
Battle Of The Bastards Is Fantasy At Its Finest
The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones’ sixth season — its last great season — brings Jon Snow’s intense feud with Ramsay Bolton to a head. Jon leads the combined forces of the free folk and the loyal houses of the North into battle against Ramsay and the combined forces of Houses Bolton, Umber, and Karstark. Ramsay is Joffrey’s only real competition for the title of most hateable character in Westeros. At this point, we’d seen him brutally torture a handful of much more lovable characters, and we were waiting for the satisfaction of his inevitable grisly demise. When Ramsay finally met his end in “Battle of the Bastards,” it did not disappoint.
Fantasy storytelling works best when it simultaneously transports its audience to another world and touches on something deeply human within them. The best fantasy is emotionally engaging escapism, and “Battle of the Bastards” is a perfect example. The titular battle is a glorious, visceral, cinematic set-piece, but it’s not just empty, mindless spectacle. It’s so effective because the previous episodes had done such a great job of getting you to root for Jon and root against Ramsay. So, as thrilling as the battle is, you’re also invested in it, and rooting for one side over the other.
Kit Harington and Iwan Rheon carry the episode with incredible, Emmy-worthy performances. They really capture the intense, blood-boiling ferocity of Jon and Ramsay’s hatred of each other — it doesn’t seem like they’re pretending to want to kill each other — and it also culminates in the beautifully poetic justice of Ramsay being torn limb from limb by his own attack dogs. It’s an exhilarating hour of television, and a satisfying payoff to weeks and weeks of buildup. Game of Thrones reached its pinnacle with “Battle of the Bastards,” and it was all downhill from there.
