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The Controversial Game of Thrones Rape Scene: Serving No Purpose

The Controversial Game of Thrones Rape Scene: Serving No Purpose

So the entire internet is talking about this one rape scene in the latest episode of Game of Thrones , and since I just don’t know how to keep my nose out of other people’s pop culture, I figured I would weigh in as well. Warning, massive Game of Thrones spoilers ahead.

Now, a lot of people are saying that this scene was the worst thing to happen to the show, and a lot of people are trying to defend it, saying that it fits in perfectly well with George R.R. Martin’s bleak fantasy world, and I don’t really fall on either side there. Instead, I look at this from a more pragmatic point of view. A scene is a good scene in a show when it does something important for the plot; when it conveys important information to the audience. So I watched this episode thinking, “Does this scene convey anything important to the audience?”

The answer I came up with: no.

You see, this scene was based on a scene in the book where Ramsay Bolton rapes Jeyne Poole, Sansa Stark’s friend who the Boltons were using as a body double for Arya Stark in order to gain legitimacy in the North. When this occurred, Ramsay was making it clear to Jeyne that she was expendable. She was, in a sense, objectified to him, made an object simply to meet his political ends. A mentally destroyed Theon watched this, which then caused a turning point in his story which allowed him to get his sanity back. Jeyne’s story from that point on focuses on how she survives, realizing that her fake identity as Arya Stark holds power.

Meanwhile, Sansa’s story has long since progressed at this point. She had survived her horrible position at King’s Landing as the subject of torture of the late Joffrey, and is now looking for ways to take back Winterfell. She is essentially an icon of power coming from suffering.

So now we bring you to the show, where Sansa is still basically following her book plotline, but recently veered off to the left to take Jeyne Poole’s place. This means that Sansa is still standing as a survivor icon, but her torture is already over. It’s time for her to start scheming to take back the North.

For a while, it looked as if she was going to do this from the inside. She was married off to the Boltons to secure their place of power in Winterfell. Now, if I were to look into the future, I’m sure that Jon Snow would eventually send an army of wildlings down to Winterfell and liberate it, eventually bringing Sansa to Stannis Baratheon’s army, once again having her take the place of Jeyne Poole in the story.

Which is fine, it’s a perfect way for the show to go. But then they have Ramsay rape Sansa instead of Jeyne, and this doesn’t sit with me to well for a couple reasons. First of all, it doesn’t show that Sansa is expendable and has no worth. In fact, Sansa is particularly important to the Boltons. She is being married to Ramsay because her last name gives them legitimacy, legitimacy beyond what Jeyne’s fake Arya Stark impression could give them. She is not just a peasant girl, being used at Ramsay’s whims. Instead, she is the last surviving member of the Stark household being used in a political play, which is exactly where Sansa excels, now that she has her new set of skills from King’s Landing.

The Controversial Game of Thrones Rape Scene: Serving No Purpose

It doesn’t really establish that Ramsay is an evil person. That is already well-established considering how he treats Theon Greyjoy. He also has repeatedly enforced his dominance over Sansa since she entered Winterfell, just not in a sexual way. This is the same character that has flayed men and castrated Theon, so it’s not like his evilness stat has gone up in any meaningful way.

This is why I think people are so upset. Rape can be used as a plot device, but it shouldn’t be used “just because.” The topic of rape is a horrible one, a depressing one, and an emotionally charged one, so bringing it up in any context should lend the appropriate emotional weight to the scene. If someone is raped, it should do more than just show that “things are bad” or “this person is evil.” But that’s all that it’s doing in this context.

And so, if I were to honestly ask whether or not this scene has any place in Game of Thrones , I would have to say no, no it doesn’t. It feels just thrown in there for no good reason. It’s not serving any plot purpose. It’s simply something sensationalist, meant to drum up a buzz, and boy did it.

That’s what is making people upset, I think. Rape should never be used just to drum up buzz. I think that’s also why this scene has people so upset, but the scene between Dany and Kahl Drogo in the beginning of the show was simply accepted.

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