5 most nerve-wracking duels from Game of Thrones, ranked

The title Game of Thrones is a literal representation of the show's plot: people playing games against one another for the Iron Throne. If you have watched the show, you must have witnessed the cinematic and bloody duels that shaped its most iconic moments.

While Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama, it's renowned for its raw representation of warfare and violence. Mercy is rarely seen on the show, and personal duels are usually how characters solve problems. If you want to revisit five of the most nerve-wracking duels of Game of Thrones, we have them ranked in ascending order for you.

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5 most nerve-wracking duels from the Game of Thrones

Jon Snow vs The White Walker

This duel takes place during the massacre of Hardhome in the Game of Thrones season 5 episode 5, Hardhome. Jon Snow and Tormund arrive at Hardhome and meet the Lord of Bones, and after a disagreement, Tormund kills him to establish his leadership. Jon and Tormund gather the elders, and Jon offers them safety south of the Wall if they help fight the White Walkers. As five thousand of them agree and get ready to leave, the White Walkers attack.

Jon and Loboda go to collect the dragonglass weapons, but a White Walker kills Loboda and throws Jon out. Jon then has to fight the White Walker, and the two duel it out in what is one of the most cinematic scenes of the series.

The duel is intense, and it seems like the White Walker might be able to hurt Jon, as he was able to kill Loboda with his crystal sword. However, Jon Snow kills him with his Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw. He wins the duel, but Hardhome falls, and Jon and the others flee.

As they escape, Jon watches the Night King raise the dead into white walkers. The duel also establishes that, other than dragonglass, Valyrian steel can also be used to kill the White Walkers.

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Brienne of Tarth vs. Jaime Lannister

This duel marks the beginning of a complex and evolving relationship between Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister. It takes place in Game of Thrones season 3 episode 2, "Dark Wings, Dark Swords."

The episode focuses on Brienne of Tarth, who is tasked with transporting the prisoner, Jaime Lannister, to King's Landing. But as we know, Jaime isn't a man who likes to be a prisoner, and manages to escape. Brienne can't let him go due to her loyalty to Catelyn Stark, who was hoping to get her daughters, Sansa and Arya, in exchange for Jaime. Brienne and Jaime end up dueling on a bridge, but before either can win, they are taken captive by Locke, sent by House Bolton to capture the Kingslayer.

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John Snow vs Ramsey Bolton

This duel took place in Game of Thrones season 6 episode 9, "Battle of the Bastards." The episode focuses on a combined alliance of Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, and the Free Folk battling Lord Ramsey Bolton, Warden of the North, and the houses supporting him. The battle was set to decide who would have control over Winterfell.

At the battle, Ramsey sadistically kills Rickon Stark in front of Jon Snow, which leads to him charging at Ramsey with his army. As the war gets bloody and gruesome, Ramsey finally agrees to single combat. He throws arrows at Jon, who is unarmed, but Jon is soon able to flip the game and knocks Ramsey to the ground. He beats Ramsey almost to death, but leaves him alive so that Sansa gets to be the one who decides his fate.

Ramsey dies later when Sansa feeds him to his own dogs. While this duel is slightly different from others in Game of Thrones, it shows how Jon and his allies brought down a sadistic and overconfident villain like Bolton, and the very woman he traumatized became the one who decided his fate.

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The Mountain vs Oberyn Martell

This duel, the most nerve-wracking duel in Game of Thrones, took place in the show's season 4 episode 8, "The Mountain and The Viper."

While neither Oberyn Martell nor Gregor Clegane wins this duel in Game of Thrones, they both go down fighting. The duel takes place because Oberyn decides to fight for Tyrion in a trial by combat. But a bigger motivation for Oberyn was that he would be facing Gregor, who had raped and killed his sister and her children. Oberyn fights with his spear, and despite Gregor's huge size and strength, Oberyn fights well.

Finally, Gregor, aka The Mountain, kills Oberyn, but Oberyn delivers a final stroke. He pierces Gregor with his poisoned spear. Gregor ultimately died a few days later.

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The Mountain vs. The Hound

This duel takes place in Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5, "The Bells." It is one of the most anticipated duels of the show that takes place between brothers Gregor Clegane and Sandor Clegane.

Gregor, aka The Mountain, had put Sandor, aka The Hound's face, in a brazier when they were children for taking his toy. That had scarred Sandor's face for life, made him fear fire, and made him vengeful against his brother. The two do not like each other at all. In the show's penultimate episode, they finally fight each other.

As King's Landing fell, Sandor had only one goal: to end Gregor, or the zombie version of him. The two duel each other in one of the most well-filmed scenes of Game of Thrones. They duel against the backdrop of King's Landing burning and the castle crumbling.

While Gregor and Sandor are probably each other's only competition in Westeros, Sandor realizes that a zombie Gregor cannot be killed. He also realizes that the only thing that can kill him is fire. Despite fearing fire, Sandor grabs Gregor and jumps into the fire. While this kills them both, Sandor wins the duel by overcoming his fear and becoming a better person before he dies.

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Game of Thrones featured multiple duels throughout the eight seasons, and these five stood out as the most nerve-wracking to us for their rawness, brutality, and consequences.

You can revisit these duels by watching Game of Thrones, streaming on Max.

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