8. “The Laws Of Gods And Men” (Season 4, Episode 6)
Among the many triumphs of “Game Of Thrones,” one major one is the way that it made Peter Dinklage a legitimate megastar. Thanks to his turn in “The Station Agent” (directed by original “Game Of Thrones” pilot helmer Tom McCarthy), Dinklage was known to cinephiles, but he hadn’t always been able to get the kind of roles that his obvious immense talents deserved. But Tyrion Lannister, the boozy, self-loathing black sheep of the family, was the role of a lifetime. Dinklage tore into it with relish and immediately became a fan favorite, and got arguably his greatest showcase in this Season 4 episode. There are some other good elements to the ep, but the real focus, indeed the entire second half of the episode, is on King’s Landing and Tyrion’s trial for poisoning King Joffrey. As this list suggests, the show’s often at its best when it pulls in on one story, and this sees almost a shift into “Good Wife”-style courtroom drama: we know Tyrion’s innocent, but the evidence swiftly stacks up against him in a way that starts to feel hopeless (cleverly recapping some of the Imp’s greatest hits in the process). But then comes the gut punch: false testimony by Shae, Tyrion’s former mistress, and the only person he ever really loved. Dinklage’s mostly silent turn is a stellar thing to watch, director Alik Sakharov smartly keeping the camera on him as much as possible, culminating in a fiery, defiant speech that should have won Dinklage another Emmy (he took one the following year as consolation instead).
7. “Winter Is Coming” (Season 1, Episode 1)
“Game Of Thrones” had a more troubled path to the screen than most — years of development from showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss led to an original pilot, helmed by “Spotlight” director Tom McCarthy, that was poorly received by most who saw it, including Benioff/Weiss pal and screenwriter Craig Mazin, who would later call it “a complete piece of shit.” So it’s remarkable that, a few reshoots and recastings later (Jennifer Ehle, the original Catelyn Stark, among those who got swapped out), that our introduction to George R. R. Martin’s world proved as engaging and gripping as it does. Beginning with a chilling introduction to the White Walkers (who are only just starting to pay off now), it’s a concise and clear guide to the complex web of characters that we’d come to know and love (or, often, despise). Not everyone pays off immediately — our introduction to Daenerys, for example, shows her as a much meeker version of the character who’d eventually come to challenge for the Iron Throne, and so it should have to make her growth land properly — but it’s amazing to see how fully-formed the show is given its tortured gestation. Ned’s sense of honor, both his greatest asset and his eventual undoing, the love between the Starks (and Jon Snow’s awkward relationship with Catelyn), the utter wrongness of the relationship between Jaime and Cersei (Lena Headey) — which ends in a breathtaking cliffhanger, as Jaime pushes Bran out of a window. Greater scope and scale was to come as the show took off and its budgets were boosted, but the foundations that made the show a phenomenon are here right from the beginning.
6. “The Winds Of Winter” (Season 6, Episode 10)
A show like “Game Of Thrones,” driven by a relentless engine of plot, is inherently about moments, and it’s been fortunate in having some stellar direction since the very beginning. As such, to pick out the best-directed sequence in the show’s history is a tough feat, but the extended opening of Season 6 finale “The Winds Of Winter” might well stake that claim. It begins conventionally enough, with the confession of Loras Tyrell in front of the High Sparrow, his assembled family, and much of Kings’ Landing’s great and good. But then Ramin Djawadi’s plaintive piano-driven cue “Light Of The Seven” (perhaps the single most indelible part of an extraordinary feat of composition over the years) kicks in, and we see Cersei’s plan unfolding: Julian Glover’s Grand Maester Pycelle is the first to die, before virtually half the cast are blown up in a wildfire explosion, and then, a little later, as an additional sting in the tail, King Tommen jumps out of a window thanks to his mother’s actions. It’s a bravura sequence (yet another from director Miguel Sapochnik), evoking “The Godfather,” and certainly the highlight, but the episode had plenty of deeply satisfying elements too: Davos Seaforth banishing Melisandre, fan-favorite Lyanna Mormont kicking ass as per usual, a reappearance by Diana Rigg’s Olenna Tyrell, Arya getting revenge on Walder Frey, the revelation of Jon Snow’s parentage, and Daenerys finally setting sail across the Narrow Sea. It’s the show at the height of its powers, and it made the wait for this year’s seventh season and the beginning of the show’s final act virtually unbearable.