5.06 Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

[REBerg]

Sansa, Sansa, Sansa. I envisioned several ways by which she could have been spared the brutal wedding night deflowering by Ramsay: In descending order of probability – Brienne bursting through the door and cutting Ramsay in half with Oathkeeper; Theon regaining a microscopic shred of his manhood and slitting Ramsay's throat from behind; or Sansa producing a well-hidden dagger and doing the deed herself.

For once, Tyrion's incessant tongue proved useful. Funny the slavers took the Imp's word that the body part they thought most marketable was not proportional to his stature. How long before they find out that his severed head would fetch the best price?

It came as no surprise to me that Jaime and Bronn – despite their fiendishly clever, impenetrable disguises as Dorne guards – quickly failed in their attempt to rescue Myrcella. Bronn's initial reaction to squaring off against the Sand Snakes and his off-handed compliment at the end were both funny.

 

[ctg]

All I want to say is that it was too much. I felt sick. So sick on all that brutality.

 

[Dave]

You would have thought that someone in, "You still have friends in the North," Winterfell would have poisoned the House of Bolton long before Sansa arrived there. Apart from the brutality, they are so depressingly dull.

 

[svalbard]

That was difficult viewing at the end. The show is going to a very dark place.

The Water Garden scene was ludicrous. Poor writing, bad directing and just plain poor TV.

Tyrion and Jorah's scenes were somewhat better with one of the best lines in the whole series about searching out a certain type of merchant.

The Loras trial was again ridicolous. How can the Faith Militant have gained so much power so soon. Cersei is making really poor decisions. She has no army and now faces the threat of House Tyrell marching on Kings Landing. As for Tommen, grow a pair lad.

It is beggining to show how little input Martin had in this series.

 

[ctg]

Sophia Turner talked about her rape scene to idigitaltimes, and she blessed it, just like GRRM did. Actually she said:

"Last season [Thrones director] Alex Graves decided to give me hints. He was saying, 'You get a love interest next season,'" Turner told EW. "And I was all, 'I actually get a love interest!' So I get the scripts and I was so excited and I was flicking through and then I was like, 'Aw, are you kidding me!?'

Don't let the quote fool you, Turner said she actually 'loved' the Ramsay scene after first reading.

"When I read that scene, I kinda loved it. I love the way Ramsay had Theon watching," Turner continued. "It was all so messed up. It’s also so daunting for me to do it. I’ve been making [producer Bryan Cogman] feel so bad for writing that scene: 'I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!” But I secretly loved it.'"

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/game-t...rge-rr-martin-defends-sansa-rape-scene-442469

That wasn't the only thing that made me sick. Whole Bolton's flayed man symbol for their clan is so terribly horrifying that it must be true that there were such things in dark medieval times. However I don't believe for one second that they are going to survive till the end without getting some sort of payback, because going by the analogue Joffrey shouldn't had got his if Mr Martin were evil. And that man was more brutal than Ramsay.

In Ramsay's defence I could say that he's only doing what he can in the role he's been given. He could be more sadistic and simply start distributing flayed northerners all over the Winterfell walls. But he haven't. Instead he has mostly focused - from our PoV - on torturing Reek and making himself a biggest dick in the HBO history.

I seriously hope he'll get a horrifying ending, but I don't think it'll come from Theon's hands because he's been brainwashed so completely that it would take several years of nuthouse to get himself straight again. Only they don't have those places, do they?

 

[Narkalui]

I think it will be Theon who saves her, but I don't think he will raise a hand to Ramsey, I think that will be Sansa herself.


Or maybe Pod or Brienne. Who knows, we shall see.

 

[Dave]

In Ramsay's defence I could say that he's only doing what he can in the role he's been given. He could be more sadistic and simply start distributing flayed northerners all over the Winterfell walls. But he haven't. Instead he has mostly focused - from our PoV - on torturing Reek and making himself a biggest dick in the HBO history.

I've been watching something called The Residue on Netflix. The same actor plays a very ordinary, if a bit dim, civil servant

Spoiler

(there is a government cover up over germ warfare experiments)

But I'm so use to seeing him in this role it is very odd. That kind of typecasting doesn't usually bother me with other actors.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I haven't watched this episode, but I'm kind of left wondering what the intention of Sansa's rape was? Last we saw in the books, Sansa was with Littlefinger - who had his own unhealthy interest in her - and there was a sense that she was about to play some interesting move in the Westeros "Game of thrones" at the Vale.

Did the TV series really have Sansa accept marrying Bolton, because the Starks really have no more friends in the north?? Sansa's been a victim long enough - a new season of abuse doesn't seem the least bit justified. And god forbid that the producers claim it's to help "empower" her character!

The sound of all this is beginning to make Terry Goodkind's torture scenes seem fluffy-bunny by comparison!

 

[svalbard]

It sort of makes sense moving Sansa's story to the North for the TV series. Leaving her in the Vale just bloats the story for a TV audience. By putting her back in Winterfell it leaves her in the middle of a major story arc, that if Stannis and the Boltons and in a position to effect an outcome.

The rape was IMO poor judgement, however it would not be true to Ramsay's character if he let her be. It is also a substitution for the Jeyne Poole story in the books. All that said it was a very tough scene to watch.

 

[Narkalui]

It was quite shocking, yes. And it could have been done less gratuitously, but let's face it: from the moment Littlefinger arranged the marriage it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to bed her, and we all knew that it wasn't going to be pretty!

 

[REBerg]

Perhaps the books and the series are best viewed as related but distinctly different creative works, each to be experienced independently and judged on its own merits or lack thereof.

 

[ctg]

I though when Littlefinger arrived at Queen Mother's champers and started spinning out lies using Vail warriors to wipe out the winner on North that he has NO intention on letting Sansa to marry that effing *******. Or then he wants to use them on a move to take over the throne at King's Landing and he knew all too well about what was going to happen at the wedding night.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Just out of curiosity, why has Littlefinger given Sansa to the younger Bolton?

 

[Narkalui]

He told Bolton it was to help him placate the North, he told Sansa it was to ally the North to Stannis once he'd defeated the Boltons...

 

[purple_kathryn]

I was just assuming that it was Jeyne Poole but they just hadn't revealed that yet.

I've seen some women saying that that they're not that keen on watching it anymore. They seem to be alienating female viewers somewhat

 

[Reivax26]

I have a few thoughts about when the old lady told her that she still has friends in the North. It could be one of the following situations:
1. Theon's sister is going to lead an army of Ironmen into Winterfell to rescue Theon and kill all the Boltons for what they did to him.
2. Blackfish Tully has rallied the scattered armies of the North and is going to lead a raid on Winterfell for revenge.

Those are really the only two scenarios that make sense because the lady said that line before Brienne and Poderick met that one old man in the Inn.

 

[MWagner]

I haven't watched this episode, but I'm kind of left wondering what the intention of Sansa's rape was? Last we saw in the books, Sansa was with Littlefinger - who had his own unhealthy interest in her - and there was a sense that she was about to play some interesting move in the Westeros "Game of thrones" at the Vale.

Did the TV series really have Sansa accept marrying Bolton, because the Starks really have no more friends in the north?? Sansa's been a victim long enough - a new season of abuse doesn't seem the least bit justified. And god forbid that the producers claim it's to help "empower" her character!

The sound of all this is beginning to make Terry Goodkind's torture scenes seem fluffy-bunny by comparison!

The TV show indulges in misery porn even more than the books. I never liked the Reek/Bolton segments in the books, and I'm not liking them so far in the series (just starting on season 4). In both cases, it goes far beyond the middle ages are brutal and into let's get our kicks by wallowing in depravity.

I think the reason why Sansa was put into the Jeyne Poole role is so the misery porn will be more emotionally charged. Sansa suffers more. The audience hates Bolton more. Presumably, the gory revenge against Bolton will be all the more satisfying when it comes. We're getting into Last House on the Left territory here.

I'm not a prude, but if we're honest we should recognize that the sex, brutality, and gore in AGoT is remarkably gratuitous. Nothing wrong with people choosing that in their entertainment. But we shouldn't pretend that is isn't gratuitous. The only point of many scenes is to titillate and horrify.

 

[MWagner]

I've seen some women saying that that they're not that keen on watching it anymore. They seem to be alienating female viewers somewhat

If anything causes the show to lose ratings and get canceled before finishing the story, it will be this. They have the 16-34 year old male market locked down. But that isn't enough to sustain the success of the show. And the problem with pushing the envelope is that it eventually goes too far and alienates viewers. And if the story starts to flag in the show as it does in the books, the audience is left to wonder if there's any point to show besides a parade of shocking scenes.

 

[Dave]

And if the story starts to flag in the show as it does in the books, the audience is left to wonder if there's any point to show besides a parade of shocking scenes.

This Season has already started to flag for me; there seems no great urgency from the characters to finish whatever they are planning to do before Winter (or the end of the series whichever comes first!) Having said that, I didn't find this scene any more gratuitous, shocking or brutal as some earlier scenes were. I'm not a fan of this either; I find it uncomfortable. It doesn't alienate me, but I could certainly see why it might make others turn off. All I'm saying is that if they have been watching since the start then I think they know what to expect by now.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've seen some women saying that that they're not that keen on watching it anymore. They seem to be alienating female viewers somewhat

My wife left the show after the first couple of episodes. I had the watch seasons 1-4 by myself. However, I stopped when they got to the Bolton torture scenes.

This Season has already started to flag for me; there seems no great urgency from the characters to finish whatever they are planning to do

This mirrors the books.