A selection of wonderful moments from the seventh season of Game of Thrones.

Brandon, Arya, and Sansa Stark walk through the Winterfell courtyard.

7.1 Dragonstone

Best moment: The Hound digs the graves of the family he left to starve.

Why? The Hound wasn’t just brought back to Game of Thrones because he was a fan favourite. His reintroduction to the main cast was also a wonderful display of how characters in this world can, in fact, change. To be truthful, Sandor had always been a bit of a softy underneath the soldier he had to be as part of the Kingsguard, but in some ways he still believed that “the way of the world” was the correct one. In season 4, while on the road with Arya, he left a family to starve and stole their money simply because he thought he could put what little finance they had to better use for himself. After his reunion with the Brotherhood in season 6, they venture north to Eastwatch, looking to head beyond the Wall. In ‘Dragonstone’, the Hound returns to the family he stole from, only to find their skeletons, with the father and daughter having starved to death in the winter snows. There’s nothing he can do now but bury them. He knows it’s a futile gesture, and he knows that his actions in this episode can’t reverse his actions from season 4 that caused their deaths in the first place, but it’s a sign of vulnerability and an acknowledgement of wrongdoing that Sandor had rarely shown on previous occasions, if at all. ‘Dragonstone’ isn’t exactly an action-packed episode, but its quietest moment is still its most beautiful.

Honourable mention: Daenerys Targaryen arrives at Dragonstone.

7.2 Stormborn

Best moment: Theon Greyjoy suffers a PTSD relapse as Euron attacks the Iron fleet.

Why? At the end of a hectic battle sequence, as Euron Greyjoy ambushes Daenerys’ wing of the Iron fleet in the dead of night, he holds his niece Yara hostage. Once the melee begins to die down, he spots Theon in the crowd and shouts his name, taunting his nephew with the sight of his sister in his clutches. For a second, Theon allows you to think he might well charge at his uncle and rescue his sister, but then his face twitches, Reek re-emerges, and you know what comes next: he jumps overboard in fear, and your hopes are crushed. It’s a stunning show of humanity from Alfie Allen, who lets us dive miles below Theon’s surface and right into the darkest corridors of his mind. His recovery from the type and length of torture he suffered at the hands of Ramsay Bolton was a slow, arduous process, and this flashpoint shows that reality better than any other. A heartbreaking but truly wonderful moment.

Honourable mention: Samwell Tarly attempts to cure Ser Jorah of greyscale.

7.3 The Queen’s Justice

Best moment: The Lannisters take Highgarden, Lady Olenna drinks poison.

Why? Of the second-tier characters we said goodbye to in season 7 (Littlefinger, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes, Thoros, Randyll Tarly), Lady Olenna gave the best farewell scene of the lot of them. Having taken Highgarden from the Tyrells following their declaration for Daenerys in the War of the Two Queens, the Lannister army force its inhabitants to surrender the castle. Jaime climbs its many stairs, straight to Lady Olenna. Understanding that the battle is lost but not wanting to go out quietly, the Tyrell family matriarch goes out swinging instead. She necks that poison like an absolute champion and reveals to Jaime that she was the one who murdered King Joffrey all those seasons ago. “Tell Cersei, I want her to know it was me” is now recognised by fans as one of the best final line from any character in the show. And her comment to Jaime that Cersei would “be the end” of him proved to be stunningly prophetic after all. We shall never see her like again.

Honourable mention: Jon Snow and Daenerys meet for the first time.

7.4 The Spoils of War

Best moment: Daenerys Targaryen ambushes the Lannister army.

Why? Later seasons of Game of Thrones are at their best when you forget you’re watching the small screen. Think ‘Hardome’, ‘Battle of the Bastards’ and ‘The Winds of Winter’. You can add ‘The Spoils of War’ to that list now, too. After watching her forces knocked back over the previous two episodes, Daenerys takes matters into her own hands and lands a destructive blow to the Lannisters in a battle sequence that will live long in the memory. Jaime Lannister’s horror is woven superbly into the terrifying action as Drogon emerges as a new weapon in Westerosi war. The Loot Train Battle is chocked full of instantly iconic visual beats and is masterfully suspended by the fear that characters we sympathise with might well kill each other. Fire, smoke, and ash fill almost every inch of the screen, Daenerys and her Dothraki horde feel utterly frightening, and as Tyrion watches his brother charge at his queen we’re given eyes to watch this chaos through. It’s stunning television and a defining sequence of the seventh season.

Honourable mention: Arya Stark and Lady Brienne spar in the Winterfell courtyard.

7.5 Eastwatch

Best moment: Drogon allows Jon Snow to pet him.

Why? ‘Eastwatch’ is full to the brim with decisive moments, both for the plot and for our main characters. Too full, in fact. For such a momentous, decisive, game-changing episode, it’s a shame that very few of its key events are given the patience and consideration they deserve. One of those moments that’s allowed to breathe for a second so the audience can feel the full weight of its significance is Drogon’s decision to allow Jon Snow to pet him. After Daenerys’ devastating victory over the Lannisters, she returns to Dragonstone to take stock — Jon waits for her on the cliffs, where Drogon gets up close and personal with him. On the surface, it’s a key moment between Jon and Daenerys, who has always trusted her dragons’ intuition. If Drogon trusts Jon, then so can she. The humongous elephant in the room, however, is the dramatic irony screaming out of every second of this scene: Jon Snow is a secret Targaryen and the only character aware of this (Drogon) can’t tell either of them because he’s an animal. His only way of letting his mother and cousin (technically) know is to nuzzle his snout into Jon’s hand and look happy.

Honourable mention: Gendry returns to the show after three seasons away.

7.6 Beyond the Wall

Best moment: Daenerys rejects Tyrion’s suggestions of democracy.

Why? Until the final season provided a wealth of them, ‘Beyond the Wall’ was very much in the discussion for Game of Thrones’ most controversial episode. The deliberate obfuscation of time and distance in the plot thread involving Jon Snow & co. (who were attempting to capture a wight) made things messy out beyond the Wall, and Arya’s unusually robotic and confused antagonism of Sansa made the scenes at Winterfell quite difficult to stomach. It’s back at Dragonstone, though, where the meat of the episode really lives. What begins as a conversation about the nature of ruling in Westeros soon turns nasty as Tyrion begins to talk about who will succeed Daenerys in the future. He suggests democracy, he suggests a kingsmoot (in the manner of the Ironborn), he suggests a future beyond a Targaryen dynasty. Daenerys’ mood suddenly shifts to a dark place, and she refuses to entertain any of his ideas. Simply put, she will not hear any argument that does not end with her (or another Targaryen) wearing the crown forever and ever. At the time, we could be forgiven for not noticing that this was one of several steps Daenerys took towards her tragic end, but hindsight improves this scene tenfold and doubles its emotional impact. Tyrion, for all he tried to, was just never going to get through to her.

Honourable mention: The Night King kills Viserion and raises him as a wight.

7.7 The Dragon and the Wolf

Best moment: Jaime Lannister finally leaves Cersei.

Why? Ever since season 3, Game of Thrones had gradually been working on positioning Jaime’s moral centre in much kinder place than Cersei’s. Despite this, he’d always hoped against hope that she was the woman he was destined to be with — that he could raise her up to be a good person. Finally, in the season 7 finale, she went too far. After learning that the White Walkers were real, Jaime’s first thought was to ride northwards with the Lannister army and assist Jon Snow’s forces in facing the undead. Cersei, though, had other ideas. Without consulting Jaime, she sent Euron Greyjoy on a scouting mission to Essos — she had no plans to go north and fight for a greater cause. Instead, she only had eyes on consolidating power in the south. Upset by this being kept secret from him and completely flabbergasted that she would seemingly dismiss the thread of the Army of the Dead, Jaime finally brings himself to give up on Cersei ever being anything other than a hateful woman. He leaves King’s Landing as the snows begin to fall, signalling the arrival of a winter his sister would willingly ignore. In truth, hindsight reveals this scene to be a mere stepping stone on Jaime’s journey to realising that he could never raise her up to be a good person — she was always going to drag him down first.

Honourable mention: Jon Snow convinces Theon Greyjoy to fight for his sister Yara.