[It’s almost time! Game of Thrones returns for its final season this weekend, so in case you’re playing catch-up, we’re re-posting the essential episodes to re-watch according to one of the series producers.]
Game of Thrones will return for its eighth and final season on Sunday, April 14th, and folks who have never watched an episode or people who need a refresher have been binging the hit HBO series in an attempt to be ready for the final six episodes. But if you don’t have time to watch all 67 episodes before the final season, executive producer Bryan Cogman is here to help. The writer, who has been with the show since the first season, named 21 episodes that are a must-see before jumping into Season 8. For Cogman, these are his 21 favorite episodes:
- “Winter Is Coming” (Season 1, Episode 1)
- “The Kingsroad” (Season 1, Episode 2)
- “Baelor” (Season 1, Episode 9)
- “Fire and Blood” (Season 1, Episode 10)
- “What Is Dead May Never Die” (Season 2, Episode 3)
- “The Old Gods and the New” (Season 2, Episode 6)
- “Blackwater” (Season 2, Episode 9)
- “Walk of Punishment” (Season 3, Episode 3)
- “And Now His Watch Is Ended” (Season 3, Episode 4)
- “Kissed by Fire” (Season 3, Episode 5)
- “The Rains of Castamere” (Season 3, Episode 9)
- “The Laws of Gods and Men” (Season 4, Episode 6)
- “The Mountain and the Viper” (Season 4, Episode 8)
- “The Children” (Season 4, Episode 10)
- “Hardhome” (Season 5, Episode 8)
- “The Door” (Season 6, Episode 5)
- “Battle of the Bastards” (Season 6, Episode 9)
- “The Winds of Winter” (Season 6, Episode 10)
- “The Queen’s Justice” (Season 7, Episode 3)
- “The Spoils of War” (Season 7, Episode 4)
- “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season 7, Episode 7)
Image via HBO
You can click over to EW to read Cogman’s reasoning for choosing these episodes. Personally, it’s hard to argue with this list, and it definitely includes some of my favorites like “The Laws of Gods and Men” and “Hardhome”, although I’ll never really be able to get on board with “Battle of the Bastards”. It’s fight geography just isn’t as strong as “Hardhome” and it’s yet another instance where Jon Snow isn’t shown as a great leader as much as he’s someone who gets his ass saved at the last minute by someone else.
Are there any missing episodes that you think he should have included? Sound off in the comments. And be sure to catch up on everything GoT in the links below: