The Best and Worst ‘Game of Thrones’ Episodes, According to Rotten Tomatoes
Winter is finally here. Tomorrow brings the premiere of the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” after a nearly two-year hiatus that left fans clamoring to finally learn who lives, who dies, and how it all ends.
Ahead of the final six episodes, Rotten Tomatoes crunched the numbers and looked back at the previous 67 to see which received the warmest reception from critics. Notably, only one episode — Season 5’s “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” which featured an especially controversial rape scene — fell into the “rotten” category. The second-most poorly reviewed episode still received a respectable 77%.
Even more impressively, 22 episodes scored a 100% “fresh” rating and 51 are at 90% or higher. Four different episodes from Season 3 landed in the top 10, which was rounded out by two from Seasons 4 and 5 each and one apiece from Seasons 2 and 6.
Because so many episodes received unanimous praise, RT compiled its rankings by favoring the episodes that received the highest number of positive reviews and the highest average ratings, meaning that an episode with a 100% rating based on 50 reviews will place higher than one with 40.
Also of note: Among season premiere episodes, only Season 6, “The Red Woman,” is among the bottom 10, although it still ranks a very respectable 86%. Per RT: “A solid season opener, The Red Woman balances its ongoing mysteries with a bit of humor and features Sansa’s touching reunion with Brienne of Tarth.” And among the 22 100% episodes are two season premieres: Season 2, “The North Remembers,” and of course Season 1, “Winter Is Coming.”
The full ranking can be found here, but here are some highlights:
The bottom 10:
67) Season 5, Episode 6: “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” (55%)
66) Season 3, Episode 7: “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (77%)
65) “Season 3, Episode 6: “The Climb” (83%)
64) Season 5, Episode 9: “The Dance of Dragons” (84%)
63) Season 7, Episode 6: “Beyond the Wall” (84%)
62) Season 5, Episode 7: “The Gift” (85%)
61) Season 6, Episode 8: “No One” (85%)
60) Season 1, Episode 3: “Lord Snow” (86%)
59) Season 6, Episode 1: “The Red Woman” (86%)
58) Season 6, Episode 3: “Oathbreaker” (87%)
The top 10:
10.) Season 2, Episode 9: “Blackwater” (25 reviews, 100%)
09.) Season 3, Episode 10: “Mhysa” (33 reviews, 100%)
08.) Season 3, Episode 4: “And Now His Watch Has Ended” (100%)
07.) Season 3, Episode 5: “Kissed by Fire” (36 reviews, 36 reviews, 100%)
06.) Season 3, Episode 9: “The Rains of Castamere” (38 reviews, 100%)
05.) Season 4, Episode 2: “The Lion and the Rose” (52 reviews, 100%)
04.) Season 5, Episode 3: “High Sparrow” (49 reviews, 100%)
03.) Season 5, Episode 8: “Hardhome” (50 reviews, 100%)
02.) Season 4, Episode 7: “Mockingbird” (55 reviews, 100%)
01.) Season 6, Episode 4: “Book of the Stranger” (63 reviews, 100%)
