Game of Thrones year-end list roundup: highs and lows

December means list season! All across the web, publications are putting together their Best TV of 2014 lists, and Game of Thrones, is a regular onmany of them, as it has been since it started airing. Let’s take a look at some of the big ones!

The jewel in the crown is Hitfix’s TV Critic’s Poll, which has a collection of a few dozen critics from both online and print publications. Game of Thrones placed a clear third in their rankings, behind only Fargo and The Good Wife. Placing so highly on a universal list suggests that most critics are watching Thrones–and liking it.

Things were a little more chaotic, both in the year of television and in terms of Game of Thrones itself. We sort through it after the jump….

Last year, two shows gave the end-of-year lists a consistent shape: the final season of the critically-beloved Breaking Bad, and the first season of the refreshing Orange is the New Black. Between those and strong seasons from the usual suspects–Mad Men, Justified, Bob’s Burgers, The Good Wife, and yes, Game of Thrones–it was a relatively predictable list season, give or take an Enlightened. In 2014, something odd happened: almost every single one of those shows either went off the air, or took a step backwards in quality and/or critical acclaim.

In 2014, a bunch of new shows in their first or second season like Hannibal, Broad City, The Americans, Brooklyn 99, Fargo, and True Detective burst onto the scene. The end result: a chaotic mess where any given critic could plausibly choose one of ten or more shows. Nowhere was this chaos more obvious than with at The A.V. Club’s poll, which, despite similar voting mechanisms as Hitfix, put Hannibal–a show that didn’t even crack Hitfix’s top 10–at the pinnacle. Meanwhile, Game of Thrones was dropped from fifth in 2013 to 19th (!) this year by my former AVC colleagues.

The drop illustrated an odd trend of Game of Thrones. For every Washington Post, who placed GoT third on their list, there’s a Time, who dropped it off their top 10 entirely–although they did include “The Lion and the Rose” on their Top 10 Episodes list. What gives?

I know Game of Thrones fans tend to believe that Season 4 was the strongest season yet, but TV critics generally haven’t been so sure, with many (including myself) preferring the thematic resonance of Season 3, and some the tighter storytelling of Season 1. But I’d be hard-pressed to call Season 4 a significant drop in quality. Still, for whatever reason, critics weren’t as happy with the fourth season. (I have a podcast in the pipeline with Vox.com’s Culture Editor Todd VanDerWerff where we discuss a few theories–look for that this weekend.)

Still, even if it wasn’t necessarily able to take advantage of the wild year, Game of Thrones hasn’t exactly been low on awards. Entertainment Weekly rated it eighth, The Guardian slotted it in at #9, and TV Guide put it 11th. There’s almost certainly more out there, and more to come as well–if you see any, drop a link in the comments and we’ll do another roundup soon!

• Published on 12/12/2014 at 4:30 PM CDT
• Last updated on 12/12/2014 at 4:30 PM CDT