The Battle of the Blackwater is one of the biggest events in the series. Would a TV show be able to translate such an epic onto the small screen?

If this episode lacked much in the way of incident, it featured some great individual performances and if we know anything it’s that after the calm, must come the storm.

We’re getting into the business end of the second season now, and a lot of characters are having to face up to some hard truths.

The Old Gods and the New is a particularly focussed episode, with every location packed with action, incident and effective character beats. This is Game of Thrones firing on all cylinders.

Well, that was ballsy, wasn’t it? Not just the death of would-be King Renly Baratheon, but the decision to place such a shocking and unexpected event at the very opening of this fifth episode.

Garden of Bones is perhaps one of the darkest episodes that Game of Thrones has produced yet, and the darkest moment comes right at the end.

The strongest scenes yet again take place on the Iron Islands, where Alfie Allen’s Theon Greyjoy is making a serious claim to being Season 2’s MVP.