The most violent – and most frustrating – episode ever. Why are the creators destroying the world they once carefully depicted?

An epic episode in the true sense of the word, filled with intrigue, heartbreak and a sense of impending doom

The zombie army descended on Winterfell for the ultimate standoff. What a thrill ride – tense and shocking to the last

Forgiveness, redemption and bedroom action were to the fore in an episode that served as a satisfying curtain-raiser for the coming mayhem

The final series is off to a thrilling start, with reunions we’ve waited years for, a shocking new kill list – and even a homage to the show’s own ‘sexposition’

A supersized, expertly paced and deeply satisfying close to the season, with a big reveal and a recurring theme: family

Expect stabbings and stand-offs as an epic battle takes over this penultimate episode that would have been great fun to watch … if only the plot made sense

Jon Snow assembled his fur-trimmed crack team for a death-or-glory mission in this action light but chat heavy instalment

The season’s shortest episode evokes John Wayne and John Ford, and offers reunions both long-awaited and not-awaited-at-all
• Warning: contains spoilers

Tense and magnificent, this episode gave fans a fair few moments we’ve been waiting for since the Seven Kingdoms first began to fall

What seemed as though it was going to be a relatively quiet episode ended in mayhem - but behind the big set pieces this show’s main interest lies in the nature of governance

Among the one-liners, the spooky moments and the Ed Sheeran cameo, an exposition-heavy opener perfectly set up questions for this season to answer

Talk about saving the best until last: it was a heart-stopping and spine-tingling conclusion heavy in blood, revenge and death

Game of Thrones once more proves it is at its brutal best when dealing with the horrors of war

A thoughtful episode shot through with sorrow, violence – and some very clunky plotting decisions indeed

Revenge is in the air in an episode full of warnings, axe-clutching and grizzled British character actors. Come on down, Ian McShane

A more subdued episode sets the table for the second half of the season as new alliances form and old friends and enemies reappear