All theGame of Thronesseasons, ranked

Game of Throneswas one of the great pop culture fascinations of the 2010s.

Heroes rose from unlikely origins.

Villains revealed unexpected moments of humanity.

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen on ‘Game of Thrones’.Credit: HBO

Here is every season ofGame of Thrones, ranked from Dorne-iest to best.

Years past his prime, poor terrible Stannis (Stephen Dillane) tries to dosomething.

The rest of the season can’t compare, unfortunately, the occasional dragon cameo aside.

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen on ‘Game of Thrones’.HBO

Also, yes, theSand Snakes, period.

Season 8

The final six episodes aimed for a double shot of epic-showdown catharsis.

Then came the scalding of King’s Landing,a major final-act twistthat inspired loud debate.

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen on ‘Game of Thrones’.Helen Sloan/HBO

Will history be kind to the violent twists that endedThrones?

Ask me again in 10 years.

Season 2

In some ways, this is the firstrealseason ofGame of Thrones.

HBO

Over in Dragonstone, a sullen man named Stannis stews.

Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony) totally pulls a Renly on this whole “rebellion” thing.

And there are also Greyjoys!

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen and Kit Harington as Jon Snow on ‘Game of Thrones’.Helen Sloan/HBO

Also, Dany keeps losing her dragons.

The shrugging reaction to the latter’s death sums up this season’s flaws, unfortunately.

but it all climaxes with the best one-two punch of final episodes the show haseverhad.

Kit Harington as Jon Snow on ‘Game of Thrones’.HBO

Season 1

It’s practically a low-key chamber drama compared to the fire and blood that followed.

However, the slow burn ofThrones’debut season has aged remarkably well.

The gradual descent of Ned Stark is one of the show’s more purposefully deflating arcs.

The ‘Game of Thrones’ season 1 finale.Helen Sloan/HBO

Credit season 1 for sheer world-building dexterity, too.

Far-flung locations like Castle Black and the Eyrie come to life, even with only the scantest plot connection.

(Witness the arrival of Tywin Lannister,soliloquizing while skinning a deer.)

The Red Wedding on ‘Game of Thrones’.HELEN SLOAN/HBO

Merely the start of big things, but quite a big thing in its own right.

(Did we need Theon’s [Alfie Allen] season of torture?

Orso many seasonsof Bran’s [Isaac Hempstead Wright] long walk northwards?)

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister on ‘Game of Thrones".Helen Sloan/HBO

But season 3 triumphs as a showcase for some of the show’s best double acts.

Really, though, season 3 belongs so high up for two sequences.

It’s the moment a legend is born, in theGame of Thronesworld and our own.

The fourth season benefits the most from the source material.

This was the height of the show’s icon-generating powers.

Up north, a young warrior holds his nemesis-lover in his arms, watching her die.

Down south, a despised son kills his own father (and the woman who betrayed him).