What was the Best Action Scene in Game of Thrones season 7?

In our most recent Small Council conversation, we asked you to pick the best action scene from Game of Thrones season 7. Let’s take a look at the results:

What was the best action scene from Game of Thrones season 7?

As you can see, the Loot Train Attack dominated the competition by a large margin. “My first vote goes to The Loot Train Attack,” said commenter Stormborn, speaking for a great many people. “Specifically the Dothraki, rising to partially stand on horseback, shooting arrows. It’s potent, majestic and sexy as f**k!”

Julio Gidera loved it, too:

In a show where we’re usually cheering for the dragons to roast everything in sight, everything was flipped here as we finally see the horrors on the receiving end. And for the first time, Bronn looked terrified in battle, knowing that one misstep could bring him face to face with an experienced Dothraki warrior or get caught in a rain of fire.

The dragons’ attack on the army of the dead and Viserion’s death placed a distant second. Yes, the episode as a whole received some blowback, but there’s no denying that it had spectacular action photography:

Monz was a particularly big fan:

I know this whole scene is constantly debated, but I’ll put my hand up for Jon Snow and the frozen lake. We hadn’t seen a proper wight fight for a while and I think it was done well. Maybe I just liked seeing so many faves fight together in their different ways or I’m just a fan of seeing Kit do his thing and the hero gets away at the end….but it was close!!!

It was razor close; I wonder how much longer that kind of luck can last…

Perhaps the big surprise of the poll is that the duel between Brienne and Arya didn’t receive more votes. If Tahoe Mike had his way, the fight would have been finished much higher:

I am a fan of the Brienne and Arya fight. My favorite beat in it is the moment when the focus lands on Pod for a second, and he is LOVING it. It is the little things I love about Thrones. I love how in the middle of an action scene like that, they put in that little moment of humor.
There really was so much non-verbal storytelling going on in that scene. Richard wrote above about how you could see their respect for each other grow as things went on. I loved the look on Brienne’s face when she realizes that she just put a boot in m’Lady’s chest and knocked her in the dirt. As much as Brienne was surprised and impressed by Arya’s skill, that moment when Arya jumped right back up with the “Oh, it’s on,” look on her face was the moment when real respect was born between them.
I also liked watching Sansa squirm as she watched. So much was conveyed without a word; nice work there Miss Turner.

Not everyone loved the action scenes. Stormborn dinged the Greyjoy vs Greyjoy battle at sea for dim lighting, and zandru agreed. “I guess the directors call the lighting ‘realistic,’ but isn’t the point of video being able to see something?? The same tendency towards medieval realism has also caused most of the beautiful wardrobes and settings to be wasted as well.’

That’s a valid point — the lighting on Game of Thrones can get dim sometimes. The crew tried to compensate by flinging fire everywhere, but the sea battle still took place at night under cover of fog.

Finally, let’s take a moment to appreciate the scenes that didn’t make the poll. If it had included the bit where the Hound kicks over a box full of an angry wight, it probably would have done really well.