- Pretty much any scene involving Vermithrax Pejorative. Half a century on, still the nastiest most badass dragon to ever appear in a Hollywood film.
- The sequence at the burning lake, as Galen has his back turned while Vermithrax rises up from the water, the full reveal of what the dragon looks like up close and personal. Horrifying.
- Ulric's battle royale against Vermithrax. Wizard against Dragon. Thunderstorms versus Fire. All leading up to Ulric's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Vermithrax isn't the only one who gets these moments. When Tyrian—who has murdered two of Galen Brandwarden's friends—finally confronts Galen as he's trying to prevent the latest sacrifice, he explains that Galen will have to kill him to stop it. Galen hits back with this gem:Galen Brandwarden: I have plenty of reasons to kill you that have nothing to do with this sacrifice.
- The ensuing fight scene is also pretty damn awesome for the both of them. Galen gets awesome points for fighting with an armed, trained soldier, and Tyrian gets them for fighting a guy with a magic spear that effortlessly slices through metal.
- Elspeth. When she learns her name was never put in the lottery, what does she do? Somehow, she has hundreds of lottery tickets — all made from baked clay, mind you — made with "Elspeth" carved on them. While she doesn't exactly have a Dying Moment of Awesome, she does show absolutely no fear in sacrificing herself to a gigantic firebreathing lizard.
- While he was Wrong Genre Savvy and paid for it with his life, Brother Jacobus was brave enough to confront the dragon and try to stop it, even when all his companions except one fled and he was clearly frightened himself. Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the will to go on despite the presence of fear. In fact, he became a martyr, convincing Valerian's father than such bravery was proof that Christianity would overcome magic.
- The first sacrifice was Defiant to the End, even freeing herself from iron shackles through pure determination.
