Game of Thrones season 8: Why the real winners are women
They have been raped, tortured, blinded, strangled, beheaded and made to walk through the streets naked — but the women of Game Of Thrones have emerged as the real winners.
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They have been raped, tortured, blinded, strangled, beheaded and made to walk through the streets naked — but the women of Game Of Thrones have not only grown stronger, they are the real winners.
For a television show that has been attacked for its abundance of gratuitous female nudity and violence against women, bizarrely the strongest characters are … women.
Of the five serious contenders to take the Iron Throne at the end of the much-anticipated eighth and final series, which begins on Foxtel on April 15, three of them are women — and the show’s women have just grown stronger and more impressive as the saga has developed.
No matter who ends up on the Iron Throne or how the show finishes, it could be argued that women are the winners.
That is certainly not something you could say for the first couple of seasons, when every other scene seemed to be bouncing with bare breasts.
Or indeed during the controversies that erupted when poor Shireen Baratheon was burned alive at the stake, when Walda Frey and her baby son were torn apart by hounds or when Sansa Stark was raped by the brutal Ramsay Bolton.
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Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa, admitted she was shocked with the backlash: “Sexual assault wasn’t something that had affected me or anybody I knew, so I was pretty blasé about the whole thing. Naively so. And then I shot the scene, and in the aftermath there was this huge uproar that we would depict something like that on television. My first response was like, maybe we shouldn’t have put that on screen at all.”
Then when the brutal Ser Meryn Trant revealing himself to be a sadistic paedophile (only to be killed by Arya in disguise), the show copped social media backlash such as this: “Game of Thrones: the show that made dragons, rape and child prostitution fashionable”.
Yet the show has redeemed itself with the way the women have just become stronger, while the men have barely changed.
Look at the main male characters.
Jon Snow is still brooding, still not sure of what he wants to do and uncertain of taking power. Jaime Lannister seems more honourable but we’ve just discovered a side of him that was always there. Tyrion Lannister still loves a drink and a quip but hasn’t really changed for the past three seasons. The Hound is still fighting and eating chickens. Tormund still dreams of making giant babies with Brienne and as for The Mountain … well, he’s a living zombie. Varys is still the same Varys we liked back in season one, as is Ser Davos, while most of the other men (like Rob Stark) are dead.
Theon Greyjoy is perhaps the only one who has grown — and he needed to have his man bits cut off before that could happen. Sure, Bran Stark is now the Three-Eyed Raven and has gone through a huge journey — but it hasn’t exactly made him more likeable or relatable.
Contrast that with the main women.
Daenerys has gone from a timid young woman who was married off by her brother to be a brood mare for Khal Drogo to a queen of the East and quite probably the ruler of Westeros.
Sansa Stark has gone from a spoilt girl who was obsessed with needlework, pretty dresses and shiny crowns to a woman who can rule the North, save the day when the foolish Jon Snow allowed himself to be tricked and trapped in the Battle of the Bastards — and even outwit the sneaky Littlefinger.
Cersei Lannister started as a queen but one without power. Now she wears the crown and is prepared to do anything to keep it. She is even prepared to blow up part of the capital to destroy her enemies.
These three are all strong chances to win the Game Of Thrones, despite all that has been done to them, from rape — Daenerys and Sansa — to Cersei being forced to walk naked through the capital.
Then there is Arya Stark. She has gone from plucky tomboy to one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Along the way she has seen her brother and mother killed, lost her sight and been beaten and stabbed.
Then there is a cast of other powerful women who, again, made the men look weak and foolish.
Brienne of Tarth is a peerless warrior who defeated both Jaime Lannister and The Hound. She has gone from being a bodyguard to a trusted adviser, as well.
Before she perished in wildfire, Margaery Tyrell was a real player. She tried to mould Renly Baratheon into a king, then attempted to tame the vicious Joffre and put some spine into the meek Tommen. Sadly her bravery and willingness to confront Cersei was her downfall but she was so much better than the men she was married to.
Likewise, her grandmother Lady Olenna was the brilliant mind behind Joffre’s poisoning and the Lannister alliance that ruined the plans of Stannis Baratheon. Even when Highgarden was destroyed, she had a final victory by taking poison and not allowing herself to die at the hands of a man.
Yara Greyjoy is also twice the warrior and sailor that Theon ever was or probably will be. You could say she has more balls than Theon but, as his were removed by Ramsay Bolton, that’s a bit of a cheap shot.
Even Catelyn Stark, who died in the Red Wedding, proved a more cunning warrior than her celebrated husband Eddard.
Yes, Melisandre hasn’t quite redeemed herself for the Demon Baby and burning Shireen at the stake, even if she did bring Jon Snow back from the dead.
But you can’t deny she has played a huge role in the Game Of Thrones — and there’s still a season left to show she can be on the right side.
So, no matter what happens, it’s a victory for the women.
BINGE FOR THE THRONE
As the final season of this epic drama looms large (returning April 15 to Fox Showcase), those wanting to be part of the TV event of a generation can start back where it all began.
Either binge the seven seasons via On Demand or Foxtel Now, or set your own pace and work in an episode each day — all 67 of them — which will take you from this Thursday, right up until the day the new season drops.
Foxtel — the only place to see the Game Of Thrones final season on the same day as the rest of the world — will also screen a season each day from February 7 on its Boxed Sets channel.
And later this month, join us as we binge watch a season each week and share the experience on social, using the Twitter hashtag #BingeForTheThrone.
The Iron throne is up for grabs — don’t miss out on the greatest royal coronation of your lifetime.
— Holly Byrnes, national TV editor
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