Battle of the Bastards is an episode.
`` Battle of the Bastards '' is the ninth episode of the sixth season of HBO 's fantasy television series Game of Thrones , and its 59th episode overall . `` Battle of the Bastards '' was praised as one of the series ' best episodes , with several reviewers hailing it as a `` masterpiece '' . Critics described the battle in the North as `` terrifying , gripping and exhilarating '' and Daenerys 's reunion with her dragons at the beginning of the episode as `` thrilling '' . In the United States , the episode had a viewership of 7.66 million in its initial broadcast . It earned Game of Thrones several Primetime Emmy Awards ( including Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing ) , and was Harington 's choice to support his nomination for the Outstanding Supporting Actor ; Sapochnik also won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for the episode .