No matter where you stand in the Game of Thrones versus House of the Dragon debate, there’s one area where the prequel series trounces the original, and that’s its treatment of sexual violence.
Onscreen sexual violence was a constant from Game of Thrones‘ very first episode, in which Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) raped Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) on their wedding night. From there on out, scenes of sexual assault became a disquieting norm. Several consensual encounters in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels were turned into non-consensual ones in the show, including Jaime Lannister’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) rape of his twin sister, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), in Season 4. At times, Game of Thrones even used a woman’s assault as a vehicle for a male character’s development. The show’s depiction of Sansa Stark’s (Sophie Turner) rape at the hands of Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) became less about her traumatic experience than about Theon Greyjoy’s (Alfie Allen) reaction to it. (Sansa does not even cross paths with Ramsay in the novels.)
In showing these scenes of sexual violence in graphic detail, Game of Thrones hoped to hammer home the brutality of Westeros. But House of the Dragon proved that you don’t need explicit scenes of assault to emphasize the harsh realities women face in the series (and by extension, the medieval period on which it was based). Aside from one upsetting but brief scene of marital rape between Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), House of the Dragon has shown far more restraint than its predecessor when it comes to portraying sexual violence. Instead, it focuses on the patriarchal systems that cast doubt and inferiority on women like Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke), which in turn foster violence.
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However, a scene in House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 2 threatens to derail that restraint and launch the series down a slippery slope towards Game of Thrones‘ worst tendencies.
In the scene, Master of Laws Jasper Wylde (Paul Kennedy) accosts Alicent, believing her to be a traitor to the Iron Throne. He then attempts to rape her, falsely assuming she would be willing due to her prior sexual relationship with Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Thankfully, Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) intervenes not too long into the attack, and the scene is nowhere near as graphic as anything we’ve seen in Game of Thrones. Still, Alicent’s extended struggle set off alarm bells that any Game of Thrones viewer is all too familiar with. For a moment, it looked like we were about to watch yet another unnecessary Westeros-set rape.
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“Unnecessary” is truly the best way to describe the scene. Alicent’s assault is not in House of the Dragon‘s source material, Martin’s Fire and Blood. Nor does it wind up having any further bearing on the episode, besides terrifying Alicent as she tries to ensure Rhaenyra’s safe passage to the Red Keep. You know what else could have established that fear? The simple fact that Jasper already suspects her plans! There was absolutely no need to escalate to threats of sexual violence. Possibly losing her head as a traitor to the crown should be frightening enough, yet House of the Dragon seems to believe that the only way it can truly raise the stakes for Alicent is by putting rape on the table. (The show has already put her through enough sexually, between her marital rape, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) fetishizing her feet, and her own son, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), giving her a non-consensual kiss.)
Alicent’s assault isn’t the only troubling moment of sexual violence to appear in House of the Dragon Season 3. In episode 1, Ser Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) witnesses a frightened, half-dressed woman leaving a soldier’s tent. He informs Criston that their troops are hurting women and should be punished for their crimes, to which Criston responds that they’ll all be reduced to their base animal instincts soon enough thanks to the war. The scene is meant to establish their opposing outlooks: Gwayne hopes to hold fast to order and any last modicum of knightly honor, while Criston embraces apathy. Yet the show fails to consider the victim who sparked this conversation. She’s a nameless entity whose trauma exists solely to fuel Gwayne and Criston’s differences. Her rape is as good as window dressing for House of the Dragon‘s purposes, and that is a severe step back for a show that has previously not relied on sexual violence as a crutch for shock value.
Rape should not be a world-building tool. It took five seasons and a loud uproar over Sansa’s assault for Game of Thrones to truly understand that. While the series scaled back its portrayals of sexual violence in Season 6 and beyond, that unfortunate legacy still lingers over the franchise, including in Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In the show’s first few scenes, Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) rehearses being a knight by telling an imaginary assailant to “stop raping.” In a vacuum, it’s a funny moment, but it also feels like an acknowledgement of Game of Thrones‘ over-reliance on rape as a plot device. If only House of the Dragon would listen.
If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.
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