If you love Game of Thrones like I do, then you know that despite its incredible production and fantastic acting, the show is far from perfect, especially as the seasons progressed. So which episodes of Game of Thrones are the worst ones fans had to endure?
11. S4E5: “First of His Name”
“First of His Name” begins our list of the worst episodes of GOT because it’s just talking. This dialogue-heavy hour feels like a lot of filler with little resolution to problems that half a dozen of our favorite characters face. From discussion between Cersei and Tywin Lannister, to talks with Dany and Ser Jorah, to Sansa and her Aunt Lysa, and even more, this episode is primarily people chattering away. There’s little reprieve from all the chatter, with a little sparring scene between Arya and The Hound. Other than that, this episode is worth skipping.
10. S3E6: “The Climb”
“The Climb” is one of those GOT episodes that’s all about torture, for the viewers and for the characters. Jon, Ygritte, and the Wildings ascend the Wall. Theon gets tortured by Ramsay Bolton. Weird plot lines get explored that will never be useful to the story, like Sansa and Tyrion getting engaged or Melisandre hunting down Gendry, the bastard son of Kind Robert. Neither of those storylines ever played out in a way that made sense for the long term. Was this episode necessary? We will never know.
9. S6E4: “Book of the Stranger”
“Book of the Stranger” is a blasé episode, except for the last two minutes, maybe. Even that is questionable. This is another episode that advances some parts of the story that are abandoned in later seasons, or don’t make any sense when we look back on former seasons. We get the bratty Robin Arryn, a bit of the Night’s Watch, and some politicking in Slaver’s Bay. The writers are also desperately trying to get Dany back to her assumed throne so they can eventually get her to Westeros. Was this episode just a sidetrack? It feels like it.
8. S7E3: “The Queen’s Justice”
It wasn’t far into season seven that GOT became even more unhinged than it had been in season six. One of the worst episodes in season seven is “The Queen’s Justice,” in which the writers desperately scramble to resolve the plot lines of so many families they introduced in earlier seasons that obviously can’t make it to the end. Yara Greyjoy and the Martell mother and daughters are taken care of, Ser Jorah is miraculously cured for some unknown future purpose, and Sansa meets up with Bran again. This episode has a feeling of, “Hurry, we don’t have much time!” to it.
7. S7E7: “The Dragon and the Wolf”
When is incest not okay, and when is it okay? According to “The Dragon and the Wolf,” when it’s an aunt and uncle it’s just fine. The writers only like to shame sibling incest … and sometimes it’s questionable whether they’re really shaming it or condoning it. This is also one of those episodes where you really begin to ask yourself: “Why is Theon still around? And what in the world are they going to do with Bran?” Unhinged is just one adjective for this episode—that and this seventh episode is the season finale, which makes no sense because seasons 1-6 had ten episodes each.
6. S4E1: “Two Swords”
Season four of GOT begins in a lackluster way with “Two Swords.” We see that they have recast Daario Naharis as a much more boring and plain man after season three, Daenerys does very little with her dragons despite their sizable growth since season three, and Tyrion, Sansa, and Jon’s storylines don’t gain much ground. It’s a slow introduction to a long season, packed with too many scenes in different locations. Game of Thrones does better when it dwells in one place for longer than a few minutes. This episode does give us two jewels, though: We get to meet the Martells and we get to see The Hound say, “Fuck the king,” which is one of best lines in the series.
5. S5E4: “The Sons of the Harpy”
What was going on in season five in the Game of Thrones writers’ room? Weird side quests abound in “The Sons of the Harpy,” while Melisandre tries to seduce Jon Snow, and we get to see the true power of the Faith of the Seven Pointed Star. Where did these guys even come from? On the other side of the world, Daenerys spends even more time distracted by diplomacy in Slaver’s Bay instead of seeking out her dreams of conquering Westeros. Sadly, our brief time with Bronn and Tyrion doesn’t really give us enough to make up for the rest of this tedious, drawn-out episode.
4. S3E10: “Mhysa”
This is a rough episode, primarily because it’s an ending of a season and focuses far too much on Daenerys Targaryen’s brief white savior arc. When Dany decides that she wants to take over multiple slave cities in the East with her dragons and the Unsullied army, she does so in the name of freeing the slaves, who are all people of color in this episode. What Dany really wants to do is conquer, despite her messages of freedom. And conquer she does, but for some reason, instead of the slaves being upset that she wants to rule their world, they all raise her up and call her “Mhysa,” which means “mother.” It’s cringey at best, problematic at worst—not a good episode, and certainly not a good ending to the third season.
3. S8E2: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”
The intent of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is no doubt to give the audience a lot of feelings about our different characters on the night before an epic battle. Instead, what this waste of an hour gives the audience is uncomfortable feelings about Arya, and a too-long drinking farewell scene that devolves into bedtime storytelling. This was just more signs to Game of Thrones fans that our favorite medieval fantasy series was devolving by the episode.
2. S5E6: “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken”
“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” might be top of the list if the show didn’t have such a terrible eighth season. GOT fans had to endure a sexual assault scene with Sansa that was absolutely unnecessary to the story, too long, had no point in the following seasons, and was gratuitous by all counts. It’s one of the worst scenes in the whole series. The rest of the episode isn’t good enough to justify its existence, and again follows plotlines that will never be truly resolved in later seasons. Season five was extra rough on fans.
1. S8E6: “The Iron Throne”
It’s hard to pinpoint where season 8 of Game of Thrones went wrong. Perhaps it was from the beginning. But there is a wide consensus amongst the fanbase that the series finale, “The Iron Throne,” was anything but good. It was chaotic, frustrating, and didn’t give us much closure. The worst line of the episode is when Tyrion asks, “Who has a better story than Bran the Broken?” As the meme goes, just about everyone else in the series has a better story. But that didn’t seem to matter to the writers room when they wrapped up the series in this disaster of an episode.
Early Game of Thrones was an incredible television series and made new strides for medieval fantasy TV. It’s hard to find a comparable show when it comes to production, costumes, acting, and story combined. Of course, not every episode can be a certified banger. Yet, it’s still an incredible series that worth an annual rewatch.
(featured image: HBO)
