We are days away from the final season of Game of Thrones; one of the greatest shows of all-time!  In preparation for the season premiere on April 14th, we are looking back at the first seven seasons and making lists about…everything!

Today, we are looking at deadliest combatants who play the game with their brawn…

Here we go!

Top Ten Deadliest Warriors

10. Jon Snow

How Deadly are They?: He starts out as a good fighter, but really comes into his own in the later seasons.  Fighting Wildlings and the dead will do that to you.

How They Kill:  Jon is a traditional, honor bound swordsman.  He comes right at his opponent.

Best Battle:  Though he was fierce and gallant in the Battle of the Bastards, his best duel was against the White Walker at Hardhome.  He stared down the dead and came out on the other side.  It certainly caught the Night King’s attention.

9. Bronn

How Deadly are They?: So deadly that he earned his way from Flea Bottom to the lord of a to be determined FOOKIN’ castle.

How They Kill:  He fights dirty.  Consider this exchange between him and Lysa Arryn. Lysa Arryn: [to Bronn] You do not fight with honor!  Bronn:  No, milady. [gestures to his fallen foe] He did.

Best Battle: In the sand dunes of the Dornish shore, Bronn takes on three guardsmen while Jamie lucks his way into killing one.  He employs both his skill with the sword (fighting one off traditionally), his trickery (throwing a knife at one before attacking), and a combination of the two (slashing the horse out from under one and killing him).

8. Greyworm

How Deadly are They?:  As the head of the notoriously deadly Unsullied army, he is trained to fight without fear.

How They Kill:  He is fast and deadly; preferring small blades or a spear.

Best Battle:  Greyworm leads Daario and Jorah into Yunkai to start a slave revolt.  They are ambushed by a patrol of enemy Unsullied and defeat them against great odds.

7. Ser Barristan Selmy

How Deadly are They?:  Selmy is considered the greatest living swordsman in the world; even despite his advanced age.

How They Kill:  Classical knight of honor.  Selmy is a warm and kind man, but on the battlefield, he is fierce. Jamie Lannister once said  Ser Barristan was “a painter who only used red.”

Best Battle:  Though most of his greatest battles are offscreen or in the past, we see his mettle in his final battle with the Sons of the Harpy.  After Greyworm and the Unsullied are ambushed on patrol, Ser Barristan rallies to their defense.  With only a wounded Greyworm left to fight by his side, Selmy tears into the Harpies like they are tissue paper.  He kills more than a dozen men before falling to his wounds… on the dead body of his final opponent.

6.  Arya Stark

How Deadly are They?: Between her lessons in Water Dancing, journeys with the Hound, and her training with the Faceless Men, Arya is probably the scariest of the killers on this list. Speaking of lists, you don’t want to be on hers…

How They Kill:  Arya can come at you in several ways.  She is deadly as hell with Needle, but she can also kill in stealth mode and serve you a pie with your sons in it.

Best Battle:  Arya doesn’t get in a bunch of conventional fights, so let’s marvel at her take down of House Frey.  She used her Faceless Man “skins” training to kill Walder. Then she impersonated HIM and gathered all the Freys for a feast and poisoned them.  She left a Frey woman with the message: “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe. When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for House Frey.”

5. Ygritte

How Deadly are They?: She cuts down several brothers of the Nights Watch and doesn’t even blink

How They Kill:  Ygritte is a master archer who can shoot the wings off a fly even during a heated battle.

Best Battle:  She was terrifying in the Battle of Castle Black.  She killed numerous sworn brothers before falling to Olly’s bow… only because she was distracted with Jon.

4. Brienne

How Deadly are They?:  A woman roaming through a war torn kingdom is usually surrounded by danger.  That is very true here…for the people who get in her way…

How They Kill:  Brienne is an old school follower of the ways of honor.  She shows steel before attacking a foe.

Best Battle:  Brienne kept the Hound off this list… because she beat his ass.  That was an epic battle with an opponent feared across Westeros.

3. Oberyn Martell

How Deadly are They?: As Tyrion says, you don’t call someone the Red Viper of Dorne without them being pretty deadly…

How They Kill:  Oberyn has an acrobatic fighting style and employs a spear tipped with slow acting poison that gets you now or later.

Best Battle:  I know he lost, but his battle against the Mountain was poetry in motion.  He destroyed the Mountain with his speed and head games.  Sadly, he had a mission other than just winning, so the next person on the list is…

2.  The Mountain

How Deadly are They?:  As Bronn says, he’s strong as a mountain, and faster than you expect.  I quote Bronn a lot. One mistake and your head is off. The guy once chopped a horse’s head off with a single stroke…

How They Kill:  Sheer…ass…strength.  He swings his giant broadsword with as great of ease as some swing a dagger.

Best Battle:  I can’t give him full credit for his defeat of the Red Viper because he did fall victim to him and have to get zombiefied by Qyburn.  So I will say he was strong when the Faith Militant came to take Cersei and she opted to “choose violence.”  A militant hit him with a spiked mace right in the chest, and the Mountain responded by pulling the man’s head off and tossing it (with his spine still connected) across the courtyard.

1. Ser Arthur Dayne

How Deadly are They?:  Considered the deadliest man ever to show steel in the history of Westeros.  Nicknamed the Sword of the Morning, he was a member of King’s Guard under the Mad King.

How They Kill:  Dayne uses not one, but two swords.  He figures if he is killing two people at a time, he doesn’t need a shield.

Best Battle:  The only battle we see of Dayne is in a flashback Bran witnessed where his father goes to Dorne to find his sister, Lyanna.  Dayne is guarding the Tower of Joy and cuts down all of Ned’s knights, and would have cut Ned to pieces, except he was stabbed in the back by Howland Reed. His loss was still impressive enough to keep him atop the list.

Honorable Mentions:

Jon Snow
Hound
Daario Naharis
Khal Drago
Jamie Lannister
Loras Tyrell
Jaquan H’agar
Tormound Giantsbane
Jorah Mormont
Syrio Forrel
Beric Dondarrion
Thoros of Myr
Tormound Giantsbane