‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8: The 12 Most Memorable Moments from the Final Season

Love it or hate it, the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones is still a spectacular visual feast in every way.

Yes, the season felt “rushed.” There were plot holes, dubious battle strategies, and—depending on the depth of your vested interest—unsatisfactory endings for a few beloved characters. However, despite the mixed reviews, the final season of the HBO fantasy blockbuster series maintained its reputation of delivering some of the most stunning visuals ever seen on television intact. And more often than not, these scenes also evoke plenty of emotions amongst viewers.

Whether it is a character’s crowning glory or soul-defining stance, or heartwrenching instances amidst the brutal battle sequences, Game of Thrones Season 8 offers an intriguing mix of melodrama, action and horror that resulted in many unforgettable scenes.

Here are but 12 of the most memorable moments from the last ever season of Game of Thrones.

1. Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls (Episode 1)

“We could stay here for a thousand years. No one would find us,” Daenerys Targaryen gushes to Jon Snow in the season opener, after the star-crossed lovers went on a dragon joy ride together for the first time over snow-covered valleys, before landing besides a picturesque waterfall. Considering what happened to the last woman whom Jon Snow had a romantic moment with near a waterfall, it should have prepared us for the cruel twist of fate between these two in the season finale.

2. The Night King’s Message (Episode 1)

At Last Hearth, Tormund, Ser Beric Dondarrion, and Dolorous Edd came upon young Ned Umber, dead and hung on the wall along with torn limbs arranged in a spiral. The season’s scariest moment occurs when the lad suddenly resurrects as a screaming wight and the spiral bursts into flames. Have to admit, the Night King has style. Pity we never found out what exactly does his spiral message means...

3. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Episode 2)

In this dialogue-heavy, "calm before the storm" episode, the best moments mostly came from the fireplace scene where Tormund relates the hilarious story of why he is called Giantsbane, while Podrick sings a haunting rendition of “Jenny of Oldstones.” The icing on the cake though, is the heartwarming scene of Ser Jaime Lannister knighting Brienne of Tarth, confirming her as “a knight of the seven kingdoms.” A real class act.

4. The Dothraki Charging into Oblivion (Episode 3)

At the Battle of Winterfell, the Dothraki's weapons being lit up by Melisandre is breathtaking, just as it is when the screaming fire-lit horde gallops towards the army of the dead. Elation turns into horror, however, when the lights start to diminish one by one, until it is absolute darkness. The almost total annihilation of Daenerys’ 100,000-strong blood riders in a few seconds was truly hard to fathom, just as it was when a good half of them miraculously survive to lay siege to King’s Landing in Episode 5...

5. Brave Little Giant Killer (Episode 3)

The Great War claimed many heroes but nobody went out with a bigger bang than Lyanna Mormont. When a giant wight creates mayhem in the Winterfell courtyard, the Lady of Bear Island does not hesitate to attack the beast herself. Despite having her bones crushed to bits, the smallest warrior kills the biggest wight with a stab to its eye before giving in to death. RIP, my lady.

6. Died Protecting His Queen (Episode 3)

Ser Jorah Mormont couldn't choose a better way to die than to do so protecting the queen he loves. Ironically, he was using the Tarly ancestral sword, Heartsbane, to defend the woman who stole his heart and yet who is also his bane. (Also ironic is Sam giving Jorah his family sword that shielded the dragon queen who roasted his father and brother.) The scene of Daenerys crying over Jorah as he lays dying, while a battle-weary Drogon arrives to shield her, was heartrending.

7. A Greyjoy and A Stark (Episode 3)

Theon Greyjoy completed his redemption arc by protecting Bran Stark—whom he ousted as Prince of Winterfell in Season 2—in the godswood, until he was the last man standing prior to the arrival of the Night King and his goons. After the Three-Eyed Raven assures the former Stark ward that he is indeed a good man, Theon bravely picks up his spear and fatally lunges at the Night King, a far cry from the loathsome Ironborn turncoat AKA Reek who would have been too chicken to make such a move.

8. Arya Kills The Night King (Episode 3)

The most exhilarating moment of Game of Thrones Season 8 is—when all seems lost for the living at Winterfell—Arya Stark leaping out of nowhere to kill the Night King with her Catspaw dagger. From the heart-pounding theme by composer Ramin Djawadi, to Bran Stark’s slow-mo stare-down with the blue-eyed ice king, the entire sequence was thrilling to the max as everything about it was totally unexpected.

9. A Queen Side-steps Clegane Bowl (Episode 5)

Clegane Bowl was epic and it produced a great shot of the Hound and the Mountain facing off each other on the Red Keep’s staircase as Drogon sprays fire above them. Yet, the truly best bit of the sequence—other than Qyburn being killed by his own creation—is when a flustered Cersei Lannister gingerly steps past the warring brothers with a “don’t mind me” demeanour and quickly moseys on down the stairs.

10. The Dragon Becomes Her (Episode 6)

After blazing King’s Landing with fire and blood, Daenerys lands in the Red Keep with Drogon to address her winning troops. As the beast flies off behind her, it seems as if the dragon queen was sprouting wings herself, a stunning metaphoric imagery that asserts she has become a devastating dragon herself. Daenerys Targaryen has never looked more majestic, and chilling, at the same time.

11. The Iron Throne's Meltdown (Episode 6)

If mother doesn’t get to sit on the Iron Throne, no one else does. That was what Drogon was probably thinking when it melted the Iron Throne down after Jon Snow buried a knife into Daenerys’ heart. (Why didn’t you roast Jon too, Drogon?) Prior to that, the distressed creature delivers a heartbreaking moment as it nudges its mother's dead body in an attempt to wake her up. Equally affecting is when it eventually carry Daenerys away from everything that has caused her so much loss and pain.

12. The Queen In The North (Episode 6)

The pack survives and Sansa Stark realizes her childhood dream of becoming a queen, and with a home base in Winterfell no less. With a simple steel direwolf crown (with matching throne), and a gown that pays tribute to her Stark and Tully heritage, the coronation of the Queen in the North was nothing short of phenomenal for Ned Stark's daughter who has gone through so much, and, as Tyrion Lannister predicted in Season 2, manages to survive them all.

Special Mention:
Instant Collapse of The Golden Company (Episode 5)

This moment is memorable for all the wrong reasons. We heard so much about the fearsome sellsword company from Essos and yet they were obliterated by Dany and Drogon within seconds during the Siege of King's Landing. A truly comical moment is when a fallen Harry Strickland, instead of getting up and fight, attempts to run away only to be undignifiedly cut downfrom the back by Grey Worm. Thank the old gods and the new that their elephants couldn't make it to Westeros!

Read also:

• 'Game Of Thrones' Season 8 Episode 6: The 20 Best Quotes From the Series Finale, “The Iron Throne”

• ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 8: The 15 Best Quotes from Episode 2, “A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms”

• ‘Game Of Thrones’: The 12 Best Quotes From The Season 8 Premiere

• 7 ‘Game of Thrones’ Fan Theories About the Crypts of Winterfell

• 'Game of Thrones' Season 8: Why Jon Snow May Use Greatsword Dawn to Slay the Night King