While lots of viewers obviously love the first season of Game of Thrones, it's the second season -- which first aired on HBO in 2012 -- many consider the beginning of the series' long-running and well-earned golden era. There's action all over the map: In the far-north with rumblings of 'A King Beyond the Wall,' in Winterfell and the Iron Islands, which stir with and fall victim to the spirit of raiding, across the Narrow Sea in Essos, where we discover a desert city called Qarth, and certainly at King's Landing, which is set to be invaded at any moment. There's a lot more going on, too, which is how Game of Thrones rolls. It's dense with characters and plot. Thus, we do the best we can to not only make sense of it all, but touch on the characters, moments, and arcs that stood out to us most, from the relationship between Arya and Tywin and the drama between Jaime and Brienne to the Battle of Blackwater Bay and the reignition of a fiery old religion.

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