The Best Season Of Game Of Thrones According To Rotten Tomatoes

Ah, “Game of Thrones.” If there was ever a TV show that the internet was famously totally chill and normal about, it was this one. I kid, of course, and some of the harried reactions to the final season were actually understandable — it’s pretty universally acknowledged (even by the stars of the show) that the show rushed its ending and eventually stumbled its way across the finish line. We can debate if a series’ entire legacy should be pinned to whether it “sticks the landing” (I’ve found my own thoughts on this subject sometimes changing, depending on the project in question), but before “Game of Thrones” slammed down the gas pedal and sped through its final two seasons, the show was operating at an exceedingly high level, narratively. (Even though the story took some major hits in last two seasons, the production value remained amazingly impressive.) This was unquestionably one of the best things on television at the time.

But while everyone has their favorite episodes and favorite moments of the show, is there something resembling a consensus about which season is the best? We’ve written before about how Rotten Tomatoes is flawed, but for ease of conversation, here are the critics’ scores for each individual season:

Season 1: 90%

Season 2: 96%

Season 3: 96%

Season 4: 97%

Season 5: 93%

Season 6: 94%

Season 7: 93%

Season 8: 55%

As you can see, season 4 barely edged out seasons 2 and 3 to take the top spot — and looking back on what happens in that season, it’s pretty hard to argue with that.

For some, “Game of Thrones” season 4 might be best remembered as the Oberyn Martell season. Appearing in the season 4 premiere for the first time, Pedro Pascal’s Dornish prince instantly became one of the most interesting characters in the sprawling ensemble, and his arc, from a small council member to becoming Tyrion Lannister’s unlikely champion in trial by combat against The Mountain, and ultimately getting his eyes gouged out and his skull smashed because of his own pride in the eighth episode of the season, is yet another of George R.R. Martin’s terrific subversions of fantasy archetypes.

Season 4 also featured the so-called Purple Wedding in its second episode, in which the sadistic Joffrey Baratheon marries Margaery Tyrell but is poisoned to death at his own celebration. In the weakest plotline of the season, Daenerys Targaryen realizes ruling Slaver’s Bay is harder than it looks. In the North, Jon Snow fights the mutineers at Craster’s Keep, and at the end of the season, fights to protect Castle Black from the invading Wildling army, while his lover, Ygritte, is killed by the young Olly. (Remember that huge secret scythe embedded into The Wall that takes out the Wildling climbers? So rad.) 

Meanwhile, Bran wargs into Hodor and the group continues to head North, where Jojen Reed eventually dies during a fight with skeleton creatures and Bran meets up with the Three-Eyed Raven. And finally, three delightful pairings persist throughout the season: Lady Brienne and Podrick Payne team up to find and protect Sansa Stark after Joffrey’s poisoning, Arya Stark and The Hound continue their journey across Westeros, and Bronn teaches Jaime Lannister how to fight lefty since his right hand was chopped off.

Obviously, that’s just a smattering of the storylines that take place across the fourth season. (Littlefinger also shoves Lysa Arryn through the moon door at The Eyrie!) Hot damn, when this show was good, it was the best. Is it time for a rewatch?