Spoilers can't ruin dramatic impact of 'Game of Thrones' finale

Note: Contains spoilers for the season finale of “Game of Thrones.”

Confession: I knew every major story beat of Sunday's “Game of Thrones” season finale a few weeks ago.

Repentance: I told no one what would happen.

Reflection: Knowing the twists of the plot did nothing to dull my enjoyment of what turned out to be the best episode of the HBO epic's penultimate season.

I've been a spoiler hound for years, going back to the pre-internet era. I used to scour Starlog magazine and behind-the-scenes specials for every bit of information before a new movie would come out; later I would turn to the “spy reports” over at Ain't It Cool News; now, I wait for early screenings to yield a plot description on a film's Wikipedia page.

At first, I did this because I was young and impatient. It became a hard (well, impossible) habit to break, so now I've convinced myself that I do it for a different reason: I want to judge a piece of drama purely for its execution. If you take away the shock value of a plot twist, the film or episode in question can't lean on it as a crutch — the characters, the dialogue, the emotion become that much more important.

And that's why “The Dragon and the Wolf” is one of the finest episodes of one of TV's finest shows. The dramatic, game-changing plot developments — the execution of Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) by Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), the revelation that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is a Targaryen and the true heir to the Iron Throne, the destruction of the ice wall protecting Westeros from the Night King — would ring hollow without the previous seven years' worth of interpersonal drama.

When murderous Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) grants an audience to her turncoat brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), seven years of secrets, hatred and betrayal boil over. Seven years of our investment in these characters make a two-handed dialogue scene the most exciting bit of a season that has included fire-breathing dragons, zombie hordes and sea battles. Headey and Dinklage will almost certainly be nominated for Emmys next year.

No amount of plot spoilers can ruin the thrill of this finale's many reunions at King's Landing: Cersei and Tyrion. Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and The Hound (Rory McCann). Brienne and Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Even minor characters like sword-for-hire Bronn (Jerome Flynn) and loyal squire Podrick (Daniel Portman) had their moments. “Game of Thrones” built its reputation on killing off its star (Sean Bean) in the ninth episode and has continued to kill its stars, making our attachment to those who remain even stronger. We've all been through the Seven Hells together.

The six final episodes of “Game of Thrones” begin filming in October, and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss aren't committing to a 2018 airdate. We may have two years of dreaming ahead of us: Can Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and her new allies defeat the Night King and Cersei Lannister? Will she and Jon discover the incestuous nature of their new relationship? (Will that relationship produce an heir?) Can the Stark siblings survive what's coming for them at Winterfell? Is there anything cooler than a zombie dragon breathing blue fire?

Whatever happens, “Game of Thrones” will be a success if Benioff and Weiss continue to do justice to George R.R. Martin's characters. It's a familiar refrain from me, but great characters, above all, drive the best shows and films. “Game of Thrones” has characters that will live forever — even after they've gotten on their knees, cried, and begged for their lives before getting their throats slashed.