Few series have as valid a claim as Game of Thrones to the title of Defining Show of the 2010s. Coming at both the tail end of TV’s Second Golden Age and the advent of the social media age, it was one of the final vestiges of the monoculture: Every week, millions of viewers across demographics were united — and often divided — in their speculation over the battle for the Iron Throne, the looming threat beyond the Wall, and the many human dramas, both petty and profound, in between.

Over the course of eight seasons, Game of Thrones invited no small amount of criticism and controversy, culminating in a divisive final season that strayed considerably (by necessity) from the foundation provided by George R.R. Martin’s still-unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire book saga. But even that maligned final chapter can’t tarnish the series’ legacy as the pinnacle of Peak TV, a moment of utter cultural dominance the likes of which we may never see again — unless Targaryen-centric prequel series House of the Dragon, the first of a planned five “successor shows,” proves that lightning can indeed strike twice.