A Definitive Ranking of All the Times the Women on 'Game of Thrones' Made You Jump on Your Couch and Cheer

Back in season one, Daenerys Targaryen was not quite the powerful Stormborn Khaleesi-Queen she is now, and she spent a good part of the season whimpering next to her brother. Until, you know, she decided to deliver the golden crown he demanded.

It may have taken her four whole seasons and a fair amount of laughter, but everyone seemed to dismiss Brienne's avowal that she would murder Stannis Baratheon, something that two major houses and a Bolton couldn't do. Violent, but proof that Brienne can do quite literally anything.

Yes, she defies her father, but she proves that Ramsay's forces are indeed penetrable and that there is nothing more intense than an Iron-born axe-maiden who gets the. freaking. job. done. (Well, not actually, but that's her bro's fault, not hers.)

The Hound has always been on Arya's list, but her decision to turn her back on him and head to Braavos depicted a girl on a mission, one who isn't caught up with sentimentality and has a truly cold, calculated approach to the game.

"My son is fighting an actual war, not playing at one." Brutal, but not the most serious burn Loras will ever suffer, as it turns out. (Sorry, too soon?)

No, neither one of them walked through a fire, murdered a king, or punished the non-faithful, but seeing two characters who have been so adrift and so wounded connect with each other speaks to the power of the feminine in the GoT world. Sansa needs nothing more than a sword and counsel, and Brienne needs a leader to believe in.

Dany's dialogue has laid out a vision of a better world, but the alliance between the Iron Islands and the Targaryens envisions a new world order—one with women in charge.

"I don't want to be a queen," she explains to the most power-hungry man in Westeros. "I want to be the queen." Gauntlet thrown.

Surely, giving away one tiny dragon wouldn't hurt, right? Except when those dragons are your children, and your power coup is based on freeing slaves, and you would rather deliver a bad-ass speech than play by anyone's rules. And also, she's a pretty powerful polyglot.

While their blind refusal to acquiesce feels somewhat shoehorned in, the daughters of Ellaria are certainly powerful avatars for women who feel disenfranchised by the current status quo. Though their motivations are a little unclear, their badassery is not.

The power of Ygritte and her Wildling fierceness did indeed lead to her death, but not before she reminded everyone that lords from inside the wall have no idea about, well, anything.

We are told that Loras Tyrell is the gem of the Tyrell empire, and is one of the best tournament knights in the Seven Kingdoms. But the first time we see him, he is bested by some mystery knight, and no one knows who he is. Because he's a she, you turkeys.

When she appeared in this season, Lady Mormont immediately became a fan-favorite, for being the tiny little bad-ass straight talker promising Mormont support. During the season finale, she shamed an entire roomful of lords for not doing what was right. She has plenty of time to deliver a withering monologue and be in bed for her 8 p.m. bedtime.

C'mon, now. Can someone make a dubstep remix of this?

Sansa Stark once considered herself a true lady, one who was impeccably polite, even when Joffrey brutalized her. But the showdown between her and Littlefinger shows a Sansa who refuses to remain unbowed, one who admits that "ladies aren't supposed to talk about these things," but does so anyway, using her voice to force Petyr Baelish to live her trauma with her.

Yes, we might not all be exactly fireproof, but Dany's great speech to the Dothraki Khals once again reminds viewers that the strongest, most epic characters are its women, and that anyone who wants to call you a beggar queen probably deserves to be torched.

In other words, it's on.