“Blackwater” (Season 2, Episode 9)

During the climax of the show’s second season, everything that makes Game of Thrones great explodes in a geyser of green flame. The boat full of “wildfire” that serves as Tyrion Lannister’s secret weapon against the invading forces of Stannis Baratheon detonates with mind-boggling ferocity, dwarfing even what readers of the books might have imagined. Just as important as this sight are the sounds that follow: the screams and cries of burning, drowning, dying men. This is no antiseptic fireworks-display destruction. This is death. This is war.