Top 10 Game of Thrones season 3 moments

Just one week now until HBO’s epic fantasy series Game of Thrones is back for season 7. And for those of you who’ve been struggling to deal with this year’s extended absence I’m putting together a bunch of content to help remind you what we’ve all been missing. In this blog post I turn my eye to my 10 favourite moments of season 3 – let’s go!

Season 3 is hands-down my most favourite season of Thrones. It was excruciatingly difficult to pick just 10 moments for the list and I’ve had to miss out some of the most epic parts of the world of ice and fire like Ser Barristan the Bold turning up, confirmation of the existence of wargs, wildings climbing the Wall and Ramsey Snow being an unhinged bastard.

I’ve also had to miss out some fantastic pieces of writing, for example Varys and Littlefinger talking about chaos, Beric Dondarrion opening up about death and Tywin bantering with the Queen of Thorns.

Why? Simply because these next ten moments were either more memorable or had a bigger effect on me personally. Here we go:

10. Arya murders some Freys

Arya Stark was always an unruly young lady who wouldn’t ever back down from a fight, but in the final episode of season 3 she takes a much darker turn. Yes, we’ve seen her kill before but this murder wasn’t down to fear or survival, it was straight up revenge.

It’s the very beginning of Arya’s journey down a different path, one that’s consumed by vengeance rather than a desire to get back to her family. Her frenzied squeals as she repeatedly drives a dagger into the soldier are disturbing, but it’s the calm, cold way she speaks before and after the murder that really scare me.

9. Bran wargs into Hodor

Confirmation that wargs exist in the world of ice and fire comes earlier in season 3 with us catching a glimpse of the wildling Orell taking control of his pet eagle. And don’t get me wrong, that was cool, but Bran possessing Hodor was just something else.

We’re not talking about hypnosis or the power of suggestion, this is full on mind control as Bran takes hold of Hodor’s body to calm him down. It opens the doors to so many different possibilities the writers can explore that it felt like a HUGE moment in the show. Although I’ll admit that it’s arguable whether or not they’ve take advantage it.

8. Kill all the masters

Daenerys isn’t my favourite character, in fact she’s not even anywhere near my top 10. To be honest for the most part the only interesting thing about her up until season 3 is her dragons. And we barely get to see them enough when they’re little.

That being said, this is the moment she becomes interesting.

As an audience it’s pretty clear from the start that we’re supposed to be #teamdaenerys but for the most part she’s a very passive character. This is the first time she takes charge of her narrative and more interestingly, it’s the first time that we see the daughter of The Mad King do something that makes us question whether or not she’s actually fit to rule.

7. “Burn them all…”

One of the highlights of season 3 was Jamie Lannister’s road to redemption. It’s a fantastic character arc that’s spectacularly pulled off, thanks in no small part to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s range and charisma.

It’s the first time we hear the much maligned Kingslayer’s version of how events unfolded on the day he slew Mad King Aerys and it’s so far beyond the act of cowardice we’ve been led to believe that it’s actually shocking.

His sadness slowing turning to anger as he asks Brienne to put herself in the position of having her king order her to stand by as he burned thousands of innocent people alive. And to Gwendoline Christie’s credit her performance only enhances the scene, never drawing the mind further away from Jamie’s confession than it should.

6. Rob executes the Karstarks

Poor old Robb Stark, he didn’t look happy when he was made King in the North and things haven’t gone smoothly ever since. Yes, he’s managed to win every battle he’s fought but somehow, he’s still losing the war.

Everywhere he looks there’s somebody looking to challenge him, and that’s just the people on his side! His mum frees his most valuable captive, his uncle Edmure manages to fuck up his plans to catch the Lannisters unawares and one of his most loyal bannermen Rickard Karstack betrays him by killing two of his hostages.

What’s a king to do?

Much his like his dear old dead dad Ned, Robb tries to do what’s right even when he knows it’ll hurt him in the long run. Rickard reminds him that there’s blood between Houses Stark and Karstark, cursing him as a kin-slayer shortly before Robb swings the sword. And considering what happens later in the season, it’s hard to argue that the curse didn’t stick.

5. Jamie loses his hand

As far as “Holy shit!” moments go, this was one of the most shocking in season 3. We’ve seen the Lannisters pretty much weasel their way out of every sticky situation they’ve been, so when Jamie and Brienne are captured by Bolton men it’s hard to imagine him not using the circumstances to his advantage.

And that’s exactly what happens as Jamie turns his silver tongue to helping Brienne avoid being raped, convincing their captors that she’s worth more with her “honour” intact. He even manages to talk his way into his chains being released and a hot dinner. Or so he thinks.

One smart word too many and his captor flips, teaching him a lesson about overplaying his hand. This was something I didn’t ever see coming considering how untouchable the Lannisters had been throughout the series. A true “Holy shit!” moment.

4. Meet the King beyond the Wall

We’d heard a lot about the King beyond the Wall throughout Game of Thrones, but the show had been very light on concrete details. We didn’t actually know anything about him except the fact that he’d done the impossible and united the wildlings.

When we did finally meet him it came via a nice bit of misdirection with the very wild looking Tormund, before revealing Mance Rayder – who didn’t look much like a wildling king.

It marked the first time in the series that the wildlings were shown to be no different to the people of Westeros, rather than waging war on the Seven Kingdoms it was made clear that the free-folk were uniting to face their true enemy -  the White Walkers.

3. Jamie vs Brienne

We’d heard a lot about Jamie Lannister being the greatest swordsman in Westeros but we hadn’t actually seen him use his sword very often. Even chained up, half-starved and suffering from months as a prisoner, it didn’t seem like Brienne would have much of a chance when the Kingslayer managed to get hold of a blade.

The fantastic swordplay that follows is Game of Thrones at its best, an extremely well-choreographed action set-piece that keeps us guessing at all times. The look of surprise on Jamie’s face is just brilliant, as he realises that Brienne isn’t just holding her own, she’s besting him.

It not only marks the beginning of Jamie’s redemption arc, it also announces Brienne as a bonafide warrior badass!

2. The Hound vs Ser Beric Dondarrion

You know what I just said about the things Game of Thrones does best? Well that goes double for this moment because you’ve got the added bonus of furthering the mystery behind the lord of light, R’hllor. Seriously, who didn’t gasp when Dondarrion’s blade magically went up in flames?

The fight itself was fantastic, as the Hound’s size, strength and sheer brutality were held in check by his fear of fire and Beric’s skill. The fight swings back and forth until Sandor’s shield catches aflame, causing him to lose concentration.

It looks like it’s all over for The Hound but with one brutish swing of his sword he cleaves through Dondarrion’s flaming weapon, his armour and most of his torso – almost slicing his arm clean off.

That’s not even the end of this awesome moment though because just as Clegane is gloating and Arya screams at him to burn in Hell, Dondarrion’s voice cuts through the scene revealing that somehow, he’s been resurrected from death.

1. It’s a nice day for a Red Wedding

Was this ever in doubt?

This moment was so shocking that when I read the books and first got to the Red Wedding I had to physically stop reading and put the book away. I just sat on the train with a beer in a stupor for the rest of the journey. I mean…come on…it’s just…

The Starks are the one undeniably “good” houses in Game of Thrones and they face so many awful things throughout the first 3 seasons. So, when Robb finds out his wife is pregnant and they discuss naming the baby Ned, we should know something is up. But still…

As the scene progresses it becomes clearer that something isn’t right but nothing could prepare me for what comes next. The brutal murder of a pregnant woman is always going to be a shock but this is on another level. My mum actually hid behind a cushion when this happened.

What follows is the utter decimation of the Northern forces but as Catelyn pleads for her son’s life you still have this tiny spark of hope that things might be okay. Nope! Catelyn’s scream as she slits the throat of Walder Frey’s wife is utterly devoid of hope, it’s clear there is no solace for her as she stares into the void.

Even just writing about it makes me feel a little bit awful, like nothing will ever be good ever again, which is a pretty extreme reaction to evoke. And that’s why it’s number 1 on this list.

As always, let me know if you disagree. Maybe you laughed out loud at the Red Wedding and think I’m just a big wuss, or can’t overlook the fact that I left Jojen Reed’s debut off the list? If so, make sure you comment.

Tomorrow I tackle season 4. Or more likely, I give up on this crazy idea because nobody actually reads the blog and I start a new job – so I’ll probably be up to my eyeballs in first day of school angst.