It’s hard to “reduce” Game of Thrones‘ defining moments, favorite or sad, into a Top 10. I made it to the Top 12 sufferings and on a “flashback Friday”, here’s a list of some of the franchise’s thrilling or satisfying moments.

12 – Joffrey chokes

I’ve never felt so guilty about celebrating the death of such a bad person. It was horrible, it was suffering and a relief!

11 – Ramsay Feeds His Dogs

Ramsay Bolton managed to annoy me and make me SCREAM even more often than Joffrey Baratheon did while alive. He tortured, killed, and stunned the best and worst of Game Of Thrones, something challenging and unique in a such toxic environment. I still consider him one of the evilest villains in a universe of cruel people.

Therefore, after being defeated by Sansa Stark and beaten by Jon Snow, the best thing was how the future Queen of the North chose to say goodbye to her detestable husband. She knew his faithful hounds were on a forced diet, therefore they would love to meet their owner, bloody and tied to a chair. It was, sorry, a delight. We smiled as Sansa.

10- Robb Stark Receives Tywin Lannister’s Message

A simple scroll would have done it, or the Boltons and the Freys openly announcing they traded sides, but Tywin Lannister would not have been the muse to a song such as Rain of Castamere for nothing.

First a banquet, a wedding, food, and wine. Then, the music finally gives a hint of what was actually going on.

A worldwide phenomenon was born.

9- Catelyn Stark’s reaction at the Red Wedding

A shout. And the unforgettable sound that haunts fans to this day.

8- Cersei Lannisters eliminates her enemies

A piano has never sounded as frightening as it does in Game of Thrones. Cersei Lannister declared open war on her enemies who had humiliated her with the Walk of Shame. By “choosing violence”, she simply and literally blew everyone up in one place. Watching from the box and toasting her victory alone. Cheers.

7- Tyrion is humiliated and judged unfairly

Tyrion Lannister was a flawed but wonderfully well-meaning character. Even defending his own House, he tried to be fair as much as he could. Being “different” from what was expected of his family came with a heavy price, with Cersei and Tywin always looking for an official reason to kill him. Joffrey’s murder, of which Tyrion was innocent, fell like a glove. The trial was a show-stopping performance by Peter Dinklage and one of the franchise’s most emotional moments.

6- Olenna Tyrell and the phrase that fell into popular taste

Olenna Tyrell is a typical Game of Thrones character. We like her because she is blunt and assertive in her goals and relationships. However, Olenna was one of the cruelest villains in the saga. Just as Otto Hightower did with Alicent in House of the Dragon, she used her granddaughter, Margaery, to gain the Iron Throne, marrying her first to Joffrey and then to Tommen Baratheon.

To dominate Westeros, Olenna killed Joffrey, and blamed Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister, with no qualms about seeing them tried and sentenced to death for something they didn’t do. She also denied Cersei a partnership to overthrow the religious sect that imprisoned her grandchildren, underestimating Cersei’s political abilities. Olenna lost her entire family in the process as they were in the explosion orchestrated by the very same Cersei Lannister.

As a last revengeful move, she teamed up with Daenerys Targaryen, but fell with the Lannisters’ best battle strategy. Still, her farewell before she died yielded one of the best lines in the entire series, repeated by fans in the real world. It’s always been her.

5- Jon Snow is surprised

Hardhome is even better than Battle of the Bastards. That simple.

Tense, building, and exciting, we saw the power of the Night King and how he fearfully measures Jon Snow’s presence in battle. Later, he taunts Jon with a glimpse of how he enlists the dead.

But the classic tease was a response to one of the franchise’s biggest surprises, when Jon, in a clearly losing fight, discovers the true value of his valerian steel sword. Tears, screams, and a lot of emotion come together when he wins the duel. Jon Snow was spectacular.

4- Daenerys gets an army and reveals her cunning

As a young woman, Daenerys was often ignored and looked down upon. But one of the most powerful scenes in the series was when, by “exchanging” Drogon for the Unsullied, she showed her cunning. She gained the trust of the soldiers, who followed her of their own free will and not out of slavery, she killed the lords who dominated them with a single command: Dracarys. Iconic.

3- Sansa and Jon are reunited

The emotion, the time it took for the Starks to reunite, and what they all suffered… one of my favorite scenes. of the entire FRANCHISE. It chokes me every time. Beautiful.

2- Daenerys and Drogon in King’s Landing

Daenerys destroyed the capital that was taken from her family after watching her best friend die at the hands of her enemy. She was the rightful ruler, and yet people seem to choose the usurpers. She had enough of it. Who’s to blame?

Besides, Daenerys and Drogon were indeed one and gave us one of the most beautiful images on TV ever.

1- Jon Snow faces an army alone

I already knew about the spoilers, but I still screamed, cried, and felt sick. A day when TV made history, it was a pure cinema and created one of the most iconic series images of all time.

Obviously, there are many other moments, and we will visit them again!