10 Most-Hated Game of Thrones Episodes, Ranked from Bad to Worst. (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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The initial seasons of Game of Thrones hit the ball out of the park with their sharp narrative, amazing performances, and unprecedented twists; however, a few episodes of the show failed to live up to the expectations and were disliked by the viewers.
Especially, the latter part of the HBO fantasy series left the audiences in bad taste as the show went downhill after going ahead of its source material, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Let’s take a look at the 10 most-hated episodes of Game of Thrones, ranked from bad to worst as per their IMDb ratings.
10. Season 6, Episode 8: No One
IMDb: 8.3
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Released before power-packed episodes like Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter, No One largely focused on Arya’s storyline in Braavos. The plot took almost a supernatural turn in the episode as Arya bounced back after being stabbed multiple times. In a series where the main characters died left, right, and center, Arya’s fate felt wrapped in plot armor. Additionally, the whole Braavos storyline felt slow and dragged, with many believing that it did not add anything to the overall plot.
Blood of My Blood has been criticized for spending too much time on unnecessary plots, and for deviating significantly from the books. Sam taking Gilly to the Citadel instead of leaving her at High Heart did not make sense to a section of the audience. Meanwhile, Tommen suddenly making peace with the High Sparrow and acting all political changed his character from the books. Additionally, Daenerys’ repetitive speeches about winning over Westeros felt boring to some.
8. Season 5, Episode 1: The Wars to Come
IMDb: 8.3
The debut episode of the fifth season is the 8th-least favorite episode of the show, with many believing the season to be the beginning of the show’s downfall. Fans were disappointed with the pacing of the episode and observed that it kept reflecting on the events of the previous season’s finale, especially Tywin’s death. The Wars to Come also featured the first flashback scene in the history of GOT, with a young Cersei meeting a witch. Unfortunately, this narrative device did not go down well with the ardent fans.
7. Season 5, Episode 6: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
IMDb: 7.9
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken was an eventful episode with Loras and Margaery’s arrest, the Sand Snakes’ attack on Jaime and Bronn, and Jorah and Tyrion being captured by the slavers. However, the episode sparked controversy for its very graphic display of Sansa’s rape by her husband, Ramsay Bolton, on the night of their wedding. The sexual violence was flagged by many as inappropriate for television.
6. Season 8, Episode 2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
IMDb: 7.9
The final season of Game of Thrones comprised six episodes, and all six made it to the most-hated list. Among these, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms still has a respectable rating. While the episode attempted to showcase different characters’ state of mind a night before the impending war against the White Walkers, it felt like a snooze fest with tiringly long sequences and dialogs.
5. Season 8, Episode 1: Winterfell
IMDb: 7.6
The lowest-rated season premiere, Winterfell, marked the arrival and reunion of different characters in the titular location ahead of the war against the Night King. With only six episodes left in the series, the audience felt there was a lot of unnecessary chatter in the episode, instead of real action. Also, fan-favorite characters like Davos and Tyrion served as mere commentators, explaining the obvious to the audience.
4. Season 8, Episode 3: The Long Night
IMDb: 7.5
After teasing the Night King’s threat for eight seasons, the villain finally arrived at Winterfell, only to be defeated by a teenage girl in a single episode. What added to the misery was the extremely low lighting, which made it difficult to make out what was happening on the screen. At the same time, the main characters had thick plot armor, coming out alive from the war despite grim chances of survival, something that goes against the ethos of GOT.
3. Season 8, Episode 5: The Bells
IMDb: 5.9
All the Daenerys fans went up in arms against GOT creators with this particular episode as after eight seasons of character development, the Mother of Dragons lost it all, turning into a Mad Queen, just like her father. As King’s Landing fell and the bells rang, Daenerys flew around on Drogon, burning down the city and its innocent citizens, becoming the Queen of Ashes, a path she had pledged not to go down on.
2. Season 8, Episode 4: The Last of the Starks
IMDb: 5.5
Following the battle of Winterfell, The Last of the Starks had its good moments with vulnerable and emotional scenes of Daenerys and Jon. However, the episode fell apart, defying logic in some major plot points. How Euron’s fleet ambushed a dragon was hard to believe. Then, Daenerys bringing Drogon to face Cersei, despite knowing the danger, seemed too risky and illogical. Cersei not attacking when she had the chance didn’t make sense, either, giving the audience the second most-disliked episode of Game of Thrones.
1. Season 8, Episode 6: The Iron Throne
IMDb: 4.0
A terrible finale to an amazing series, The Iron Throne fell short of all expectations, disappointing the loyal viewers of Game of Thrones who had been associated with the show for eight seasons. From Daenerys’ death to Jon’s banishment and Bran the Broken being crowned the King of the Seven Kingdoms, each and every plot point in the episode was hated to the core by the fans, who felt betrayed by the creators for rushing the climax of their favorite series, and even demanded a remake of the complete season 8.
