Originally written October 31, 2014

Season 4 of Game of Thrones is one of those impressive landmarks of television. As I’ve watched this series, I’ve felt that for the most part it’s gotten better as it went along, with season 1 being the weak link, seasons 2 and 3 being pretty even in quality, but now with season 4 definitely being its best to date.

Although I’ve never read the book series that the show is based off of, I’ve heard most people say “A Storm of Swords,” the third book in the series, is the undeniable best one. Season 3 covered the first half of “Storm,” while season 4 wraps it up. This is pretty obvious in the show, as season 4 did feel like more of a continuation of season 3 than past seasons have felt. However, I feel like it’s also the fact that season 4 is pretty much the climax of “Storm” that it’s so good.

I don’t want to talk about too many story details in the review, for obvious reasons. If you’ve never seen the show/read the books, talking about the story at the point it’s at won’t make sense to you. On the flip side, if you are a fan, I find it best to go in with the least amount of content spoiled as possible, because there are so many interesting twists, especially in this season. As for where the story is at in general though, I have to say this is easily some of the most interesting stuff the show has had so far. Things are constantly moving at a fast pace and the whole ride is wild and exciting.

Even talking about individual characters could possibly be considered a spoiler, because this is a series that’s known for killing off a lot of characters, so talking about the ones that haven’t died might be considered spoilers for some. However, since the show focuses on so many different character arcs, I do have to say in general I didn’t feel like any story arcs were particularly weak this season. Some characters I still consider to have had their most interesting arcs in previous seasons, but pretty much everyone still has very interesting story developments this season. I will mention one name and just say that even a character like Bran Stark, who I’ve always considered to have one of the least interesting story arcs on the show, has some really cool stuff going on for him this season (in fact, for him, this is his best story arc yet).

While it took me to the end of season 1 to get hooked on the show, it’s season 4 that has made me obsessed with it. This season is the first time I’ve went back and rewatched scenes from an episode I watched, and sometimes even rewatching whole episodes, before I moved on. There’s just so much fantastic content in this season, and it’s one of the few times I feel like I can say this was a perfect season of television. This one is easily up there with the likes of the final season of Breaking Bad. This was definitely the best season of Game of Thrones yet, and just an all around amazing viewing experience.

5/5