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George R.R. Martin Explains, Defends Rape in “Game of Thrones”

Author of the “Song of Ice and Fire” series speaks out after shocking Sansa rape scene on HBO series

Jun 5, 2015 12:37 GMT  ·  By
Sansa Stark and new husband Ramsay Bolton on “Game of Thrones”
   Sansa Stark and new husband Ramsay Bolton on “Game of Thrones”

The episode “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” from the current season of “Game of Thrones” managed to upset even more fans through the inclusion of a rape scene, featuring a major, fan-favorite character and the latest villain, Ramsay Bolton.

That favorite character was Sansa Stark, who was wed to Ramsay and raped by him on their wedding night, while Theon Greyjoy was made to watch. The scene took place off-camera, but such a development in Sansa’s story was deemed a gimmick on part of the “lazy writers” to create drama.

George R.R. Martin says that this wasn’t the case.

Author speaks in defense of rape scenes: this is war, this is what happens

Martin wrote the “Song of Ice and Fire” series of novels on which the HBO series is based, and serves as producer and consultant. The latest season of the show has made great leaps to distance itself from the books, but fans still turn to Martin for explanations when something upsetting occurs. After all, if he’s a producer, he has a say in what makes it to the small screen.

Martin addressed the issue right after the episode aired, but he only did it in terms of “direct your outrage elsewhere because my official website is for the books only, not for the show.” We’re paraphrasing.

Entertainment Weekly got him to say more on the topic, and while he doesn’t refer the show in particular (as in, try to make excuses for what is perceived as gratuitous plot twists), he explains why rape is so frequent in the world he created.

People tell him that, because his work is one of fantasy, there should be no rape, that he should depict an egalitarian society. Martin doesn’t scoff at the suggestion that he should write his books in any other way than he wanted to, but he does say: just because he has dragons and other magical elements doesn’t mean that he can’t anchor the story in Middle Ages history.

And those were tough times for man in general and women in particular.

“I’m writing about war, which what almost all epic fantasy is about. But if you’re going to write about war, and you just want to include all the cool battles and heroes killing a lot of orcs and things like that and you don’t portray [sexual violence], then there’s something fundamentally dishonest about that,” he says. “Rape, unfortunately, is still a part of war today. It’s not a strong testament to the human race, but I don’t think we should pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Creating “real” characters, real drama

If he’d set out to write a utopia, then he would have come up with a very “boring” series of novels, Martin goes on to say: but at the very least, he would have made man and woman equals and there would have been exactly zero mentions of rape and other horrendous crimes.

Real drama comes from conflict, and you can’t have a solid, convincing character if he or she doesn’t experience the best and worst in life.

Martin’s characters are all misfits to a certain degree, which makes them even more liable to come across big obstacles in life.

Again, Martin doesn’t talk here about the HBO show, but his explanation could easily be used for it as well: the stories might be a bit different from the books this season, but the world is pretty much the same. That means that it’s one where man will use rape as a weapon, especially if the victim is someone as important to the “game of thrones” as Sansa is.  

George R.R. Martin Statement