SPOILERS up to 5×09

What can one say about the latest episode of Game of Thrones? A lot, it seems, because a lot of people are pretty outraged by it. Well, the girl did say she wanted to help her father, right? So in a way she did help. If her death will truly prevent his army from going hungry, isn’t there something noble in that? Yes, it was horrible but I’ve come to expect horrible things happening in Game of Thrones and nothing really shocks me anymore.

Although, can I say, at the end of 5×08, all I could think was ‘Oh, Shit.’

Winter is here – and it scared the bejesus out of me!

I wanted to bring up 5×06 because there has been some weeks distance, and to be honest, it’s taken me a while to shake the ill feeling of Sansa getting raped out of my system. I know the episode left a lot of people divided so I wanted to give my two cents towards the incident.

If you missed it, you can watch it:

There has been an uproar and I truly cannot understand why. I’ve read people’s comments to try and understand it and there seems to be some common reasons why people felt the way they do. It either came down to – it isn’t portrayed how it is in the books or Sansa has gone through enough.

I’ve never been a fan of Sansa as a character but what happened to her was truly awful. Perhaps it is only made worse because we’ve watched Sansa grow from a child to a young adult over five seasons. Or maybe it was the heartache in Reek nee Theon’s eyes as he was forced to watch.

Yes, it was horrific to watch – but is anyone really surprised? Ramsay is an awful awful character. We’ve seen him do such horrible monstrous things to many characters in the past. Is it any surprise that he would expect his bride to put out on their wedding night, whether she consented to it or not?

I’ve read some people say that Sansa connected to marriage, she didn’t technically say no to having sex with Ramsay and that he know owns her. I disagree with this whole-heartingly. Yes, she agreed to marry him but it wasn’t exactly her choice. Yes, she didn’t technically say no to having sex with Ramsay – but even a married woman has the right to not have sex with her husband. Just because she is married does not mean that its not rape if she doesn’t content to it. And no, he doesn’t own her because they are married.

We later learn that Ramsay keeps Sansa locked up unable to leave. A bruised Sansa tells Reek that Ramsay does such awful things to her every night.

In trying to understand why this scene made people so upset, I still haven’t figured it out. It’s not the first time that rape has been shown on Game of Thrones. Dany was raped on her wedding day to Drogo during season one yet no one seemed to blink an eye at that.

We must remember that it’s an television program. Game of Thrones is not history or based on real life events. Yes, rape is horrible and should never happen to anyone but it’s a part of our world. Are people upset because the scene reminded us that child brides are forced into marriage in third world countries at such a young age? Is it too horrific to think that things like this actually do happen in the world?

Ramsay is a sadist monster who makes Joffrey look like a saint in comparison. Many have said they thought the scene took away the strength that Sansa has gained over the past seasons. Personally, I’ve never seen Sansa as a strong character. I see her as a character who has been drifting through life doing what she is told and being stuck between a rock and a hard place throughout her life. She is stuck in the situation she is in and there isn’t much she can do to change it.

If she were to kill Ramsay, she herself would probably be killed. We’ve seen what Ramsay does to “her friends in the North” who’ve tried to help her. I believe what has happened to Sansa is true to the story and for that reason, I don’t understand the controversy. I understand the anger but I do believe if the world of Game of Thrones were real and the two really did wed, then it would have done down exactly the way it happened on screen.

I hope Ramsay gets what’s coming to him. But at the end of the day, you don’t agree with the high levels of sex, violence and language then you can always stop watching. Simple.

PS. I want a pet dragon.
And PPS. Bring on the comments!