*Spoiler Alert!*
If you haven't watched this week's Game of Thrones then don't read on...
Last night, Irish viewers witnessed the gruesome - even by GOT standards - rape of Sansa Stark by her new husband, Ramsay Bolton, on the pair's wedding night. The scene sparked outrage among a lot of people, both this side and the far side of the Atlantic Ocean, with many questioning why it was necessary, especially given that the whole Sansa/Ramsay storyline isn't even the book.
Was it developing a plot or was it simply gratuitous? The author of the books, George RR Martin, has argued the former on his website:
There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one. And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect.
Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes. HBO is more than 40 hours into the impossible and demanding task of adapting my lengthy (extremely) and complex (exceedingly) novels, with their layers of plots and subplots, their twists and contradictions and unreliable narrators, viewpoint shifts and ambiguities, and a cast of characters in the hundreds.
Martin continues: 'Now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms, like the one presently engulfing my email.'
Meanwhile, the folks over on Deadspin really tore into the show, in an article headlined 'Game Of Thrones Is Gross, Exploitative, And Totally Out Of Ideas.' They argue the opposite to Martin, saying:
The problem here is that the rape scene added no value to the overall narrative. The audience was already well aware of the fact that Ramsay is a fucked-up creep and that Sansa is in big trouble as long as she is stuck in a castle with him.
What do you think? Is it as storm in a teacup or has Game of Thrones finally gone too far?
Make sure to like us on Facebook.
Tags:
