Ranking the episodes of Game of Thrones Season 6

1. “The Winds of Winter”

Finales are tricky beasts. People expect a lot out of them, and showrunners can sometimes trip over themselves trying to deliver a show-stopping moment. (Think about the most recent season finale of The Walking Dead, for example.) Game of Thrones has it a little easier, since the fireworks traditionally go off in Episode 9. Episode 10 can deal with the aftermath.

The Winds of Winter, on the other hand, pushes the narrative forward in exciting ways, starting with the 20-odd-minute opening sequence where Cersei blows up the Sept of Baelor. It’s the most momentous stretch of the episode, and putting it at the top of the hour is a brilliant structural move on the part of writers Benioff and Weiss. “You didn’t think we would ever top the Battle of the Bastards?” they ask. “Let’s cut that doubt to shreds as soon as possible.”

On one level, the opening sequence is a spectacle on par with any battle the show has produced. The editors achieve a hypnotic rhythm that crescendos with the final explosion, helped along ably by Ramin Djawadi’s eerie score. It’s nail-biting television. It also represents the end to several plotlines that had been running for seasons, and not just the one with the Sparrows. This is the last we see of Margaery Tyrell, whose long game was violently cut short by Cersei’s short one, and King Tommen Baratheon, who commits suicide rather than live in a world where his mother did what she did. And with nothing left to lose, Cersei herself steps over the line separating normal villainy from supervillainy, and the board has been reset for Season 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFK0yG8xG5I

Resets dominate “The Winds of Winter.” Arya, after two seasons in Braavos, returns to her home turf and immediately crosses a big name off her list. Winterfell, long either burned out or occupied by enemy forces, is ruled by Starks and Stark sympathizers once more. And Daenerys, after six seasons of ups and downs on Essos, finally sets out for Westeros. In a way, “The Winds of Winter” is a reaction to “Mother’s Mercy,” the Season 5 finale. There, all of our players are on the downslide—Arya is blinded, Daenerys is captured, Cersei is shamed, and Jon is killed. Here, they’re on the rise. For fans who have stuck with these characters through the low points of their journeys, that’s incredibly satisfying.

It’s a moment of reprieve for our characters, but it also promises dark times ahead. So long as the Sparrows were around, viewers could root for Cersei to take them down. But now that she’s destroyed them, along with Margaery and many innocent bystanders, she emerges as a threat to characters we love. Likewise, we’re glad to see justice come to Walder Frey. But Arya’s joy in his murder reminds us that she’s deeply troubled. And at Winterfell, the Northerners make Jon their new king. But we remember how badly that gig turned out for Robb. By the looks of it, so do Sansa and Littlefinger, and we should be concerned.

So “The Winds of Winter” sounds many notes. It delivers the resolutions we want, and does so in spectacular fashion. But it layers in warnings, too. It tears apart the fabric of the show and weaves it into something new. And most importantly, it has salivating to find out what happens in Season 7. It’s a wonderfully rich episode of Game of Thrones, and an example of peak TV at its finest.