SPOILER WARNING! This is a follow-up to my previous post on the subject, and will also include spoilers for both the Song of Ice and Fire books and the show Game of Thrones.
Previously, I wrote that I wasn’t as angry as most people about Sansa being raped by Ramsay Bolton in this season’s Game of Thrones. I said that I was happy to see where that plot went, because there was a chance that her being raped by Ramsay would be the trigger for her finally transforming into a badass who takes action and saves herself.
Well, I was wrong. Sorry. Last night’s season finale made it very clear that Sansa’s rape this season was done purely for shock value and nothing else. She hasn’t grown or changed in any noticeable way since she was being abused by her first sadist husband, Joffrey. In the books, Jeyne Pool is subjected to Ramsay’s torture, but the producers of the television show decided that the torture would be way better if it was enacted on a woman who viewers cared about more.
When Sansa grabbed the corkscrew in the previous episode, I think everyone was hoping she’d use it to core Ramsay. I literally laughed out loud when she used it to pop the lock on her door and then dropped it to the ground, as if the writers were saying, “Fuck you” directly to me. I still had hope as I watched her look over the battlefield and realize this was her chance to at least escape without any confrontation at all, but apparently she wasn’t even clever enough to disguise herself in any way or, I don’t know, hustle a bit.
And when she was confronted with Myranda aiming a bow at her point blank, there was a tiny shred of me that hoped she would jump her, since a bow is a stupidly ineffective weapon at close range. But alas, instead, Sansa accepted her fate and basically asked Myranda to murder her. When Myranda informed her that she would actually be taken apart bit by bit so that Ramsay could continue to rape her, Sansa accepted that, too.
No, it was Theon who ended up the hero, as I feared. Sansa’s rape, and the threat of her being raped and abused some more, was just the nudge that poor Reek needed to transform back into Theon and bravely push Myranda over the rampart.
And even then, Sansa couldn’t figure out how to run away. She watched, slack-jawed, as Joffrey — I’m sorry, I mean Ramsay — returned from the battle, and it was brave Theon who encouraged her to run and jump off the castle wall into the snow.
So that’s all settled! Game of Thrones has wrapped up a garbage season in an appropriately garbage fashion.
Also, shout-out to the writers of this episode for actually managing to beat their previous cringe-worthy Sand Snake dialog with this instant classic: “You want a good girl but you need bad pussy.” Awesome line, guys.