Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 17, 2015. It was written by Bryan Cogman and directed by Jeremy Podeswa.

Plot
Arya trains. Jorah and Tyrion run into slavers. Trystane and Myrcella make plans. Jaime and Bronn reach their destination. The Sand Snakes attack.

In Braavos
Arya continues her training with the Faceless Men. She cleans a corpse methodically, which is then taken away by two men. Arya is obviously curious about what is on the other side of the door through which the corpse was taken. Arya is about to walk through the door when the Waif obstructs her path and latches the door. Arya wants to know what happens to the bodies she scrubs clean, but the Waif tells her that she will know when the time is right. Frustrated at the lack of answers, Arya demands to play the game of faces. The Waif tells her that Arya has already tried playing the game but failed. She again asks Arya who she is, to which Arya replies that she is no one. The Waif simply tells Arya to get back to work and is about to walk away when Arya asks her who she is. The Waif tells Arya a story about how she was the only daughter of a widowed Lord, who remarried, producing another daughter. Her stepmother, in order to secure her own daughter’s future, tried to poison her. The Waif found out about this and sought out the help of the Faceless Men to exact her revenge. The Waif then asks Arya whether she believed the story, surprising Arya. When Arya doesn’t respond, embarrassed that she bought the Waif’s story, the Waif tells her to get back to work, hinting to Arya that to pass the game of faces, Arya must be able to lie convincingly. Later, when Arya is asleep, Jaqen H'ghar comes to test Arya again. This time, when he asks Arya who she is, Arya tells him how she came to join the Faceless Men, trying to slip in a few lies into the story. However, Jaqen is able to tell when Arya is lying and hits her with a switch whenever she does. He strikes her repeatedly when she insists she hated the Hound. Before he leaves, he tells her that she is lying not only to him, but to herself as well. A grieving father brings his sickly daughter to the House of Black and White. He explains to Arya that he has been to every healer in Braavos and spent every penny he had. He tells her that his daughter is suffering and needs to find peace. Arya sits besides the girl and tells her a short false story, about how she was sick too, but her father brought her here and when she drank from the temple's well, she was healed. This persuades the sickly girl to drink the poisoned water from the well. The water gives the peace of death to the sickly girl, and Arya, having successfully proven that she can lie, is brought to the Hall of Faces with Jaqen H'ghar, a great underground chamber that houses thousands of faces. All the faces had been taken from the corpses that the acolytes wash in the temple. The Faceless Man then asks Arya if she is ready to give up who she is to become "no one". After a moment of silence, he then states that she is not ready to become "no one" (she is too attached to her past as a Stark), but that she is ready to become "someone else".

In Slaver's Bay
On the western side of Slaver's Bay, Tyrion Lannister and Jorah Mormont are still making their way to Meereen (on the far opposite eastern side of the region) on foot, after losing their boat passing through the Smoking Sea and the ruins of Old Valyria. Tyrion is annoyed that they didn't find any villages to steal a boat or supplies from as Jorah had hoped, so they're slowly walking and only have berries and roots to eat. The topic of just why Tyrion was even in Volantis comes up, and Tyrion is surprised that Jorah did not ask earlier: he explains that he actually fled from Westeros because he killed his own father Tywin. He says he did it because his father tried to have him executed for a crime he didn't commit, and then he found his father screwing the woman he loved - Jorah nods, as this seems as likely a motivation for Kinslaying as any. Tyrion then says that despite how miserable Jorah is now, at least he can say that he had a good father. Jorah asks how he could have known his father Jeor Mormont, but Tyrion explains he visited the Wall once and met him: he was a great leader who seemed to genuinely care about all of his men, a rare thing in the world, but now as the eulogy for Night's Watch members goes, "the world will not see his like again." Jorah is shocked to realize he means that his father is dead. Tyrion becomes apologetic and says he thought that Jorah knew already. Jorah asks how he died: Tyrion says he only knows the report he heard, which said that his father led an expedition beyond the Wall, but there was a mutiny, and Jeor was murdered by his own men. Jorah processes this in silent grief, then changes the subject by saying that they have to keep moving.

As they walk, Tyrion asks why Jorah would support Daenerys Targaryen and how she would be better than any other rulers, or why Westeros would even support her, given that her father was the Mad King. Jorah explains that he never used to believe in things like destiny and was very cynical, but after seeing Daenerys emerge from the flames unharmed with baby dragons, he believes in her now, and the Iron Throne is hers by right. Tyrion remains skeptical that this doesn't automatically mean she will be a good queen, given that the Targaryens were famous for going insane, just like Daenerys's own father.

Spotting a slaver ship in the distance, Jorah pulls Tyrion to the ground. However, the pair has already been spotted before they start hiding, and the slavers emerge from the trees behind them and take them captive. The lead slaver, Malko, intends to return them back to their destination in Volantis. Tyrion, however, manages to successfully persuade him that Jorah is one of the most skilled knights in Westeros, and would fetch a better price being sold to the fighting pits in Meereen, which have just reopened. Though not in the circumstances they hoped, Tyrion and Jorah are once again quickly heading towards Meereen and Queen Daenerys.

In Dorne
Bronn and Jaime approach the Water Gardens, wearing Martell disguises from the soldiers they killed. Bronn wonders what Jaime will do once they get inside and find Myrcella, to which Jaime replies that he likes to improvise; Bronn sarcastically remarks "That explains the golden hand." Meanwhile, Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes are already inside the Gardens. Ellaria sends them out to abduct Myrcella, telling them to do it "for Oberyn."

Myrcella herself is enjoying another stroll with her betrothed, Trystane Martell, Trystane's father Prince Doran Martell and his bodyguard Areo Hotah watch from above. Doran comments that they look lovely together, but that they don't realize how dangerous their betrothal is, and that he and Areo must protect them. Doran asks if Areo remembers how to uses his longaxe, and Areo assures him that he does.

Jaime and Bronn infiltrate the Water Gardens and soon come upon Myrcella kissing Trystane. Jaime tries to convince Myrcella to come with him, but Trystane interferes, suspicious of the bloodstains on Bronn and Jaime's Dornish robes. When Trystane tries to draw his sword, Bronn quickly knocks him down, to Myrcella's horror. Jaime tries to lead her away, but they are suddenly attacked by the Sand Snakes. Bronn fights against Tyene and Nymeria, while Obara attacks Jaime with her spear, driving him away from Myrcella. Obara orders Nym to break away from Bronn and take Myrcella prisoner, but as Nym tries to pull her away, they are cut off by Areo and Prince Doran's guards, who surround them and force them all to drop their weapons. Jaime, Bronn, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are all taken into custody.

In King's Landing
Petyr Baelish arrives in King’s Landing and is on his way to meet Cersei when he is confronted by Brother Lancel and some other Sparrows. Lancel warns Baelish that they have purged King's Landing of its corrupt ways, and the new King’s Landing will not tolerate his prostitution business. Baelish dismisses these threats.

Cersei, meeting with Baelish, continues to deny her involvement in Loras Tyrell’s arrest by the Faith Militant. Baelish is not fooled and warns that House Tyrell will not tolerate this insult. Cersei claims that she is the insulted one since Ser Loras, who was promised to her, prefers the company of men. Cersei then explains why she summoned Baelish; she is suspicious where his loyalties truly lie and asks him whether she can rely on the the Vale to fight for the Throne if the time comes. Baelish assures her that young Robin heeds his advice and he will always counsel loyalty to the Throne. Baelish then reveals that Sansa is back in Winterfell, where Roose Bolton has arranged for her to marry Ramsay. Cersei is infuriated by the Boltons’ betrayal. To add fuel to the fire, Baelish adds that marrying the last remaining Stark gives the Boltons a stronger hold over the North than an alliance with a hated southern house. Baelish counsels patience and suggests letting the Boltons and Stannis fight each other, and when the victor is still recovering from the battle, step in and defeat him. He suggests that Cersei’s uncle Kevan Lannister muster a force or have Jaime Lannister lead an army to the North. Cersei contemptuously claims that her uncle doesn’t have the courage to lead an army, while Jaime is away on a “sensitive diplomatic mission.” Baelish proposes that the soldiers of the Vale could fight instead but Cersei is unsure of Baelish’s ability to lead an army. Baelish convinces her, stating that he "lives to serve". All Baelish wants in return is to be named Warden of the North. Cersei agrees to talk to the King about this.

Olenna Tyrell returns to King’s Landing after learning of her grandson’s arrest. Olenna tries to talks Cersei into releasing Loras. Cersei sticks to her claim that it was the Faith Militant who arrested Loras and she had nothing to do with it. Olenna warns Cersei that her actions have endangered the Lannister-Tyrell alliance – the very alliance that is supplying the capital with food. Cersei informs Olenna that the High Septon has called for a preliminary hearing to determine whether the charges against Loras have merit and expresses confidence that Loras will be acquitted.

The High Sparrow interrogates Loras first, who refutes the accusations against him. He then questions Margaery, who also denies any knowledge of it. The High Sparrow then calls in Olyvar, in character as Loras’s "squire", who claims that the accusations against Loras are in fact true. Olyvar also admits that Margaery walked in on them once, but didn’t seem surprised. To support his testimony, Olyvar tells the High Sparrow of a birthmark Loras has that is shaped like Dorne, much to Loras' shock and fury. Deciding that this is more than enough evidence for a trial, the High Sparrow has Loras arrested. Since Margaery bore false witness before the Gods, she is arrested too. As Margaery is forcefully dragged away, she calls out for Tommen, paralyzed with indecision, while Olenna sadly regards Cersei's barely contained smug expression.

In the North
At Winterfell, Sansa is joined by Myranda in her room. She offers to help Sansa take a bath, so she is presentable to Ramsay during the wedding. While she is washing Sansa's back, Myranda mentions three other girls whom Ramsay had been with, and how he ultimately victimized them after a while because they bored him. Knowing that Myranda is trying to frighten her, Sansa startles Myranda by revealing that she knows about her relationship with Ramsay. She coolly tells Myranda that she is a Stark of Winterfell and will not be intimidated by the likes of her, and dismisses her to finish her bath herself, though she is visibly shaken by Myranda's story.

Later, when Reek comes to fetch Sansa for the wedding, she refuses to hold Reek’s arm, even after he pleads with her to do so, saying that Ramsay will punish him if she doesn’t. Sansa coldly asks if he thinks she cares what Ramsay does to him, and strides past him. Then, in front of the Godswood, Reek gives Sansa away to Ramsay (who actually allows Reek to call himself Theon Greyjoy) during the wedding ceremony, which is officiated by Roose Bolton and attended by many Northern Lords. After retreating to the bedroom, Ramsay orders Sansa to take her clothes off. Reek is about to leave but Ramsay tells him he must stay. Ramsay quips to Reek, "You grew up with her as a girl, now watch her become a woman." Annoyed by Sansa's hesitance, he angrily rips open the back of her dress and pushes her face-down over the side of the bed. As he unbuckles his clothes, Sansa obediently remains still but begins crying softly. Reek is visibly distraught and begins silently crying himself, as Ramsay proceeds to forcefully consummate their marriage.

Appearances

 * Main: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken/Appearances

First

 * Joss
 * Ghita
 * Malko

Deaths

 * Ghita

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister
 * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish
 * Natalie Dormer as Queen Margaery Tyrell
 * Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Princess Arya Stark
 * Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn
 * Alfie Allen as Reek
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton
 * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon
 * with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont

Guest Starring
 * Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell
 * Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow
 * Alexander Siddig as Prince Doran Martell
 * DeObia Oparei as Captain Areo Hotah
 * Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand
 * Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand
 * Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand
 * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell
 * Will Tudor as Olyvar
 * Eugene Simon as Lancel
 * Faye Marsay as The Waif
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Malko
 * Toby Sebastian as Prince Trystane Martell
 * Nell Tiger Free as Princess Myrcella Baratheon
 * Charlotte Hope as Myranda
 * Elizabeth Webster as Walda Bolton
 * Michael Yare as a slaver
 * James McKenzie Robinson as Joss
 * Hattie Gotobed as Ghita

Uncredited
 * Richard Buick as a Faith Militant

Cast notes

 * 15 of 27 cast members for the fifth season appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Conleth Hill (Varys), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) and Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.

The Sand Snakes fight scene
The fight scene between Jaime, Bronn, and the Sand Snakes which the first half of the season was building to was heavily criticized in virtually all professional reviews, most declaring it one of the worst the TV series has ever produced, filled with lackluster fight choreography, bad camerawork, and sloppy editing.


 * One of the main causes of the camerawork problems was apparently due to restrictions in filming at the Alcázar of Seville, a real-life royal palace in Spain and UNESCO World Heritage site. The production team only had one week to film in it, and the preserved nature of the site meant that the physical placement of cameras was limited. Moreover, the producers wanted Dornish characters to have a very fast, kinetic fighting style heavily incorporating Chinese wushu moves. As seen with the Oberyn/Gregor fight last season, it is very difficult for actors to actually learn complex martial arts moves in a relatively short amount of time - choosing to have such advanced moves meant that their stunt doubles had to be used much more frequently than usual. To hide the fact that stunt doubles are in the shot, they are frequently filmed a great distance away from the camera in wide-shots - the drawback being that the audience can only see those complex moves from a far distance, without the camera zooming in and out to follow the movement of the weapons. The end result is the actresses in closeups slowly performing what are supposed to be very advanced moves, alternating frequently with wideshots of the entire garden during which their stuntmen perform the moves more fluidly, but they are so far away that the moves are difficult to see anyway. Compare this to the Ned Stark/Jaime fight in Season 1's "The Wolf and the Lion", in which the camera is much closer and has the freedom of movement to quickly follow each attack and block.
 * 506 Nymeria Sand continuity error.png poor editing of the scene extends to the point that there are several basic continuity errors between shots: near the end when Nymeria Sand runs up to Myrcella she is clearly holding her large whip in her right hand, but in the very next shot when the camera angle shifts to Myrcella's side to see Nymeria approaching her, Nymeria's whip has suddenly disappeared, and she is instead holding a dagger she uses to threaten Myrcella. The shot wasn't simply flipped horizontally in editing, in which case Nymeria's left hand would be holding her whip - instead, she is using her left hand to grab Myrcella's arm, and her whip has simply vanished.
 * It also isn't clearly explained why Nymeria grabs Myrcella and tries to flee with her, when the entire point of their attack was to kill Myrcella immediately.
 * There are several other factors: the TV series had a new stunt coordinator in Season 5, Rowley Irlam ("There’s a new stunt coordinator on this season, which will be really exciting", said Castle-Hughes). Irlam actually worked extensively with the well-received fight sequences in the Wall and Meereen storylines. However, in a video on the official MakingGameOfThrones.com blog on the stuntwork in Season 5, Irlam explained that the three Sand Snake actresses did not travel to Spain to spend many weeks on coordinated training. Keisha Castle-Hughes (Obara) lives in New Zealand, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers (Tyene) lived in Italy, and Jessica Henwick (Nymeria) lived in London. Because they all lived so far afield (in contrast with local Spanish actresses), all three were "trained remotely" - Irlam arranged for trainers in each of their three countries to work extensively with them for weeks to use their weapons correctly. The end result, however, was that all three of them, together with Jerome Flynn (Bronn) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) did not spend as much time all together on the same set practicing a complicated three versus two person fight sequence. A key point that the actresses repeatedly emphasized in interviews is that the Sand Snakes are supposed to fight as a team, synchronizing their attacks. Nymeria in particular doesn't independently attack other people but is supposed to alternate between Jaime and Bronn, tripping them up with her whip to create openings for her sisters to attack. Therefore, to a far greater degree than when two other characters happen to be in a multi-person fight scene (such as when Bronn and Jaime fight off several Dornish guards earlier in the season), it was actually crucial that the Sand Snakes fight as a coordinated unit.
 * None of the three actresses that the TV series cast as the Sand Snakes had any prior stage fighting experience, compared to other physically demanding roles in which the TV series simply cast professional stuntmen to play the parts ("I had never done any martial arts though, so it was all new to me." - Laurenti Sellers). Laurenti Sellers (Tyene) even clarified in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that while the actresses spoke of extensive "training" with their weapons, she considered "training" and "fight choreography" to be two separate things, and admitted that they only started learning the fight choreography quite late in the production process:
 * "I learned the choreography late after I started training. So I had to really catch up on that, and it’'s really hard. I’ve never done any fight scenes. I've never done stage combat."


 * Keisha Castle-Hughes, however, is an Emmy-nominated actress, and actually had a fair amount of prior weapons experience (thought not stage fighting), as due to her half-Maori background she said she was familiar with the spear-like taiaha weapon.


 * Nymeria-and-Tyene-Sand-2469.jpg, there were apparently multiple character-building dialogue scenes with the Sand Snakes which were cut for time from finished episodes in Season 5. The audition script for Nymeria circulated online (containing dialogue from the novels, that Nymeria was first brought news of her father's death when she was abed with the Fowler twins) but the scene never made the final cut. Also several early production photos were released of scenes which never aired. One of these (seen at right) was for "Sons of the Harpy" - two episodes ago when the Sand Snakes first appeared (and they did not appear in the previous episode, "Kill the Boy"). The promotional image indicates that a longer introduction for Nymeria and Tyene was indeed apparently filmed, as they had a heated conversation with each other before Ellaria arrived at their campsite. In the finished, aired versions of the two episodes the Sand Snakes have appeared in by this point including this one (episodes 5.4 and 5.6), Nymeria and Tyene ultimately had minimal speaking lines.
 * Ironically, while speaking in an interview about other major fight scenes from the climax of Season 5, executive producer David Benioff recalled that back in Season 1, they reduced the scale of the Tourney of the Hand (from "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things" and "The Wolf and the Lion"), because they did not have the vast special effects budget needed to depict it as it was described in the novels. Benioff said of this decision, "Our attitude with effects is, if we can't do it well, we don't do it."
 * Much later, in August 2015, the episode's director Jeremy Podeswa was asked about the Sand Snakes fight scene in an interview with YahooTV. Podeswa was filming that day, it wasn't delegated to a second-unit director - though as explained above, the director himself isn't in charge of fight choreography and rehearsal, just the filming of the scene. Podeswa confirmed that filming in the Alcazar castle affected how the fight sequence was filmed, given that it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the Spanish government almost never allows filming within it, so there were restrictions on what they could shoot - i.e. they couldn't film a tight action scene in the corridors of the castle's interiors. Instead, Podeswa said that filming in the outer plaza of the castle was the only choice. Podeswa admitted that filming in the open plaza was problematic because it was much too open of a space to film a fight scene, meaning that they had to resort to static wide-shots instead of being able to zoom in on individual blows as they would in a more narrow area. They apparently realized these problems even as they were filming, because Podeswa admitted that the film crew moved in potted plants and trees around the edges of the fight in an attempt to make the plaza appear a little more narrow (notice the small trees planted in box frames around the edge of the scene - all of these were moved in, not permanent parts of what is otherwise a very wide and open plaza). In his own words:
 * Podeswa: "It was all shot at the Alcazar castle in Seville, which is a major tourist attraction in Spain. It’s a location that’s almost never closed for shooting, but the Spanish government really supported our show and allowed us to shoot there..."
 * Question: "Did the limitations of the location impact the choreography as well?"
 * Podeswa: "It was all shot in the Alcazar, and we had to find a big enough area for the amount of action we had to have happen. So when I was scouting the location, that plaza was the most obvious place. There was really no other choice of where to shoot it. In fact, the space was too big, so we put trees and stuff in there to make the characters seem more entrapped."


 * Given that the film crew wasn't even filming "in the Alcazar" itself but in a plaza next to it, which the director acknowledged was problematically too large, it is unknown why they didn't simply film in another location entirely - either changing it to be an interior fight on a soundstage in Northern Ireland, or in another location in Seville to which the buildings of the Alcazar could then be digitally added in the background.
 * In season five's Blu-Ray commentary for this episode, writer Bryan Cogman explains that Jaime's and Bronn's infiltration of the water gardens and Ellaria's assassination attempt were written as night-time raids, which would make more sense for both of their plans. Although the whole sequence was supposed to take place at night, the production was only allowed to shoot at the Alcazar during the day.

Sansa's wedding night scene with Ramsay
While the storylines with the Boltons in the North and Sansa Stark in the Vale are related in the novels, the TV series made a major condensation by having Sansa actually marry Ramsay Bolton. In the novels, Sansa marries Robert Arryn's cousin and heir Harrold Hardyng, in order to rally the Vale against the Boltons, while Ramsay marries Jeyne Poole, an old friend of Sansa's who was taken prisoner, brutalized and passed off as Arya.
 * Ramsay's treatment of her bride was relatively toned down compared to the novels, in which he tortures her in several violent and sadistic ways, bizarre even by his own standards. Ramsay makes Reek "warm up" Jeyne by performing oral sex on her, to humiliate them both (threatening to cut out Reek's tongue if he doesn't). Among his other torments, it is implied that Ramsay forced Jeyne to have sex with one of his hunting dogs for his own sick amusement, threatening to cut off her feet one at a time if she didn't. Jeyne is left a horrified shell weeping uncontrollably, the sound of her sobs filling the halls of Winterfell, to the consternation of Northern lords who came to the wedding feast.
 * In Westeros, just as the Middle Ages, most marriages among the nobility are not out of love but arranged to secure political alliances, and they lack a concept of sexual abuse within marriage; a married woman has no right to refuse her husband. Sansa knew the marriage would entail going through this kind of experience since she accepted Littlefinger's plan to undermine the Boltons from within, though of course neither Littlefinger nor Sansa were aware of Ramsay's true level of cruelty, as writer Bryan Cogman explained in an interview. Cogman went on to state that Sansa knew she would have to have sex with Ramsay, but she didn't expect him to hit her and punch her during it (because he enjoys sadistic rough sex), leaving her badly bruised.
 * Cogman's exact words were: “The difference between the Ramsay Snow of the books and the show is the Ramsay of the show is not a famous psycho. He’s not known everywhere as a psycho. So Littlefinger doesn’t have the intelligence on him. He knows they’re scary and creepy and not to be fully trusted and it’s part of a larger plan."
 * Director Jeremy Podeswa was later asked about the wedding night scene in an interview with YahooTV in August 2015. When asked to discuss the accusations about too much violence against women in the TV series, particularly focusing on this change which wasn't in the novels, Podeswa repeatedly declined to comment, but pointed out that the decisions were all made by the scriptwriters, not himself, so there really wasn't much he could say about it, it wasn't his decision. He did confirm that he was instructed in the script for the camera to turn away from Ramsay forcing himself on Sansa, to instead play off of Theon's reaction (some critics disliked this, though other critics felt it was more tasteful). Podeswa confirmed that a lot of time was invested in reviewing over the actual filming and cinematography of the entire sequence (starting with the ceremony itself in the godswood), so everything that appears on screen carefully matched what the scriptwriters instructed him to do.

This scene has been panned by many critics, both as an adaptation and an artistic choice:
 * TheMarySue.com officially announced that they will no longer actively promote the TV series, including canceling their running recap and review article series devoted to it. Their chief editor Jill Pantozzi said this cannot be waved aside as an inevitable result of the need to condense longer story arcs in adaptation, but that Benioff and Weiss were aware or should have been aware that this would both offend viewers in the short term and damage the integrity of Sansa's characterization in the long term. She concluded that: "The show has creators. They make the choices. They chose to use rape as a plot device. Again."
 * U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill publicly announced on her Twitter account that she was similarly going to stop watching the TV show entirely after this episode:
 * "Ok, I'm done Game of Thrones. Water Garden, stupid.  Gratuitous rape scene disgusting and unacceptable.  It was a rocky ride that just ended.


 * Salon ' s Steven Attewell said: "We already knew that Ramsay Bolton was a sadist and an abuser of women, we already knew that Theon Greyjoy was his tormented puppet. Showing Sansa’s dress ripped, showing her face shoved down into the bed, hearing her screams did nothing to reveal character, or advance the plot, or critique anything about Westerosi society or about our own conceptions of medieval society that hasn’t already been critiqued."
 * Wired ' s Laura Hudson said: "In general, I'm not a big fan of people getting raped in entertainment as a manipulative way of heightening the stakes, but I'm even less of a fan of people getting raped in entertainment when it accomplishes absolutely nothing."
 * Vanity Fair ' s Joanna Hudson said: "Was it really important to make that scene about Theon's pain? If Game of Thrones was going to go there, shouldn't they at least have had the courage to keep the camera on Turner's face? But the last thing we needed was to have a powerful young woman brought low in order for a male character to find redemption. No thank you."
 * Vulture ' s Nina Shen Rastogi said: "To show Sansa being raped as the kicker to an episode — and then to cut to Theon, as if it’s his view, his reaction, his internalizing of the moment that matters — just felt like more of the same old same old we’ve been getting since Ros died, since Tansy was hunted, since Cersei was raped."
 * Hypable ' s Michal Schick said: "What character development could be wrung from this tragedy that could not have been created without a violent rape? Why does Game of Thrones — and so much popular entertainment — revert to this horrific crime when they want their female characters to “grow”?"
 * Bustle ' s Rachel Semigran said: "There are thousands of ways to make a character and a series compelling without having to humiliate and dehumanize her with sexual force. Come on, Game of Thrones, you should know better than that."
 * Vox ' s Jen Trolio said: "Now with Sansa and Ramsay, Game of Thrones is seemingly confirming that it has no idea how to use rape as a storytelling device — crass as it may sound, fictional sexual violence can be extremely powerful if managed carefully (see: The Americans) — and rape is just about the worst storytelling device to deploy clumsily."
 * New York Daily News ' s Lauren Morgan said: "The show pretty much added a new, and in my opinion, entirely unnecessary victimization to her story. More concerningly, after Jaime’s rape of Cersei last season, it’s yet another rape Benioff and Weiss decided to add to the show that was not in the text and at this point, we don’t need anymore."

Other critics have been favorable to the scene:
 * Slate.com ' s Laura Bradley proposed that Sansa might have realized Ramsay is too insane to ever seduce to her will, but she wouldn't want to tip him off that she is actively planning to betray the Boltons. So, if Ramsay was expecting her to be frightened and submissive, she may have just been putting on a performance to match his expectations - and thus erase his suspicions.
 * Rolling Stone ' s Sean T. Collins said: "[B]y involving a multidimensional main character instead of one introduced primarily to suffer, the series has a chance to grant this story the gravity and seriousness it deserves. The novels present this material through Theon’s eyes, relegating Bolton’s bride to a supporting role in a man’s story. Sansa has a story of her own, of which this is now an admittedly excruciating chapter — but she, not Theon, is the real victim here, and it remains her story nonetheless."
 * The Guardian ' s Sarah Hughes said: "I have repeatedly made clear that I’m not a fan of rape as a plot device – but the story of Ramsay and Sansa’s wedding was more than that. From the moment she agreed to Littlefinger’s plan, this evening was coming, as it came to many young women throughout history married off against their will for dynastic power. [...] The writers are walking a very fine line here. They handled it well tonight, telling a gothic tale of innocence sacrificed, which at times recalled Angela Carter and Neil Jordan’s dark and haunting The Company of Wolves, and hinted perfectly at horrors to come, but they must be careful not to tip from there to gratuitous violence for its own sake."
 * The Washington Post ' s Alyssa Rosenberg said the scene "managed to maintain a fine balance, employing a dignity and care for the experiences of victims that “Game of Thrones” has not always demonstrated."  She also criticized the writers who found this scene unacceptable: "The science fiction and fantasy site the Mary Sue [...] seemed to fatally misunderstand the difference between doing journalism about and criticism of a show and acting as a publicity subcontractor for HBO. [...] I think it’s important to preserve the distinction between saying that something simply isn’t for me and drawing a more definitive conclusion that something is a poor artistic choice. You can assert the former, but you have to argue the latter, using the text and the language of the artistic form at hand. For me, the scene of Sansa’s rape was tremendously unpleasant, but the care taken in the staging, acting and shooting of the scene made it impossible for me to regard it as lazy or slapdash. [...] Instead, this scene felt of a piece with the way I’ve always understood “Game of Thrones” and George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire”: as a story about the consequences of rape and denial of sexual autonomy. […] Sansa Stark isn’t ruined, as a character or as a person, because she was raped. She lives, and her story continues, even if you’re not tuning in to watch it."
 * RawStory ' s Amanda Marcotte, in response to the claim that the scene doesn't tell us anything new, argued it did advance the plot in terms of "whether or not Ramsay was going to be able to hold back once he got Sansa alone", and it "completely altered" the relationship between Theon and Sansa. As for why Theon didn't save Sansa, she denounced it as the kind of cliche this TV series always takes and turns on their head. Similarly, she decried the criticism that Sansa should've attacked Ramsay, as it "relies on the ugly and sexist belief that being a victim of sexual assault means you are weak or lack agency", calling it "victim-blaming". Marcotte then added "this whole storyline shows how strong Sansa is, because she went into this with open eyes and a will to survive—and to try to take Winterfell back." Likewise, she argued "the series is not siding with Ramsay and Littlefinger when it comes to using Sansa as a pawn." Regarding the charge that "they made it about Theon instead of Sansa" she retorts that "both experiences were well-represented. But done so in a way that minimized seeing Sansa actually get fucked. Which was clearly done so that the scene was not titillating." Marcotte concluded by disputing the idea that showing the rape was gratuitous or unnecessary: "It would be ludicrous to do a series that investigates the consequences of a patriarchal, semi-feudal society where women are used as objects to be sold and swapped in the game of thrones and then pretend that somehow rape isn’t a part of that process." As for the book-based argument that it should have been a lesser-known non-protagonist such as Jeyne Poole who suffered the rape, she laconized: "That assumes rape is less horrible if we don’t know the victim as well. Morally indefensible."

The cast and crew has commented on this issue in a number of ways:
 * In an Entertainment Weekly interview before the episode aired, co-executive producer and co-writer of the show David Benioff said they "really wanted Sansa to play a major part this season. If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that", while writer Bryan Cogman argued that, though "this is a very bold departure, [we liked] the power of bringing a Stark back to Winterfell and having her reunite with Theon under these circumstances. You have this storyline with Ramsay. Do you have one of your leading ladies —who is an incredibly talented actor who we've followed for five years and viewers love and adore— do it? Or do you bring in a new character to do it? To me, the question answers itself: You use the character the audience is invested in."
 * In another EW interview with Cogman, after the episode aired, he said that Sansa is not intended to simply be a victim in her wedding night with Ramsay. Rather, she"is a hardened woman making a choice and she sees this as the way to get back her homeland." Cogman later clarified that by the "choice" he was referring to "Sansa’s choice to marry Ramsay and walk into that room. She feels marrying him is a vital step in reclaiming her homeland" and that this was not supposed to be "an attempt to ‘blame the victim.’"
 * In a EW interview with actress Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, commented that, though she was horrified to find out her character would marry Ramsay and have to go through this, she loved the scene.

Bryan Cogman later discussed the scene at length in the Season 5 DVD commentary. Cogman did not actually address the decision to merge Sansa's storyline with the Bolton storyline in the first place, but stressed that once this decision was made it was a fait accompli that if Sansa married Ramsay he would mistreat her on the wedding night:


 * "I think it's important to talk about because of the response this storyline got. It's sort of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't.' If you don't talk about it, people think you're ashamed of it; if you do talk about it, everything you say is taken out of context. Basically, when we decided to combine Sansa’s storyline with another character in the books it was done with the idea that it would be hugely dramatically satisfying to have Sansa back in her occupied childhood home and navigate this Gothic horror story she’s found herself in and, of course, to be reunited with Theon – setting her on the path to reclaiming her family home and becoming a major player in the big overall story. That said, when we decided we were going to do that we were faced with the question: If she’s marrying Ramsay, what would happen on her wedding night? And we made the decision to not shy away from what would realistically would happen on that wedding night with these two characters, and the reality of the situation, and the reality of this particular world....It was a very difficult scene for me to write.  I've known Sophie since she was a kid...I think it was the attack on our motives behind it that upset me. Because I love these characters. I've spent the better part of the last decade with these characters, and I love these actors – I'm getting emotional talking about it – I love Sophie, I love Alfie, I love [Maisie] and it's...very personal to me and it's not an easy thing to put a character that I love through a scene like this."

Cogman also discussed in the DVD commentary that some critics were upset and felt that the camera cutting away to Theon at the end as Ramsay tears Sansa's clothes off was changing the scene from being about Sansa to being about Theon - though other critics felt this was more tasteful. Cogman reiterated and confirmed the position of the latter group of critics: he felt the entire scene was from Sansa's perspective and about Sansa, not Theon, and the camera only focuses on Theon's reaction at the end because they felt it was more tasteful not to actually show Ramsay raping Sansa on-camera:


 * "Another argument – and I get why this criticism was leveled at us – is idea that we took Sansa's story away from her and made it all about Theon. I personally don’t believe that’s the case...Certainly Theon's redemption journey is an element of the subplot. But if you really watch this scene it's played from Sansa's viewpoint, for the most part. The main reason we cut away at the end, frankly, is that this was Sophie's first scene of this nature, and we didn't want to show the attack. And so we cut to Theon to hear the attack. I understand why many people reacted to that, [thinking] we were making this scene about Theon and not Sansa. I’m sorry it was viewed that way. All I can say is it's certainly not my intention when I wrote it or when we were producing it...We could have stayed on her face of the entirety of the attack, that would have been a perfectly valid choice. To me it was about being respectful to Sophie."

Ultimately, Cogman did stress that the scriptwriters know more about Sansa's ongoing storyarc in the future - possibly implying that something similar was going to happen to Sansa in the next novel but they can't discuss that publicly.

Speaking later in December 2015, director Jeremy Podeswa said that the widespread negative reaction to this rape scene and change from the novels actually did reach executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss and has influenced how they are moving forward with Season 6 in some fashion. Podeswa said:


 * "[Benioff and Weiss] were responsive to the discussion and there were a couple of things that changed  as a result.  It is important that (the producers) not self-censor. The show depicts a brutal world where horrible things happen. They did not want to be too overly influenced by that (criticism) but they did absorb and take it in and it did influence them in a way...I welcomed the discussion about the depiction of violence on television and how it could be used as a narrative tool sometimes and the questionable nature of that. We were aware ahead of time that it was going to be disturbing but we did not expect there would be people in Congress talking about it [Senator Claire McCaskill]."

In the books

 * See: Differences between books and TV series - Season 5


 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows:
 * Chapter 2, The Captain of the Guards: In fear that Obara, Nym and Tyene will draw Dorne into a war against the Lannisters, Prince Doran commands Areo Hotah to imprison the Sand Snakes and Ellaria.
 * Chapter 21, The Queenmaker: On Doran’s orders, Areo puts a stop to the plot to use Princess Myrcella to spark a war between the Martells and the Lannisters, although Myrcella is almost assassinated.
 * Chapter 22, Arya II: The Faceless Man warns Arya that the Many-Faced God will take all her body parts, and her hopes and dreams and loves and hates as well. He wonders if Arya can allow that, yet answers for her —he doesn't believe she can. The Waif teaches the lying game to Arya.
 * Chapter 34, Cat of the Canals: While playing the lying game, the Waif lies about her background and asks Arya if she can spot the lies, and encourages Arya to try and do the same.
 * Chapter 39, Cersei IX: Cersei forces an entertainer to admit to sleeping with an accused Tyrell.
 * Chapter 41, Alayne II: Petyr Baelish intends to rally the Vale against the Boltons in Winterfell.
 * Chapter 43, Cersei X: Cersei conspires for the Faith Militant to imprison Queen Margaery, though a Tyrell leader marches back to the capital in order to free her.
 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
 * Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell: Before the heart tree in the Godswood, Reek gives Ramsay’s “Stark” bride away during the wedding ceremony, which is officiated by Roose Bolton and attended by many Northern Lords. Later, during the bedding, Ramsay rapes his new wife and forces Reek to watch.
 * Chapter 38, The Watcher: Cersei’s Kingsguard arrives in Doran’s court.
 * Chapter 40, Tyrion IX: On their way to Meereen, Tyrion and Jorah are spotted by slavers.
 * Chapter 47, Tyrion X: Tyrion and Jorah are captured by slavers, to be sold in Meereen and perform in its fighting pits, which they learn Daenerys has reopened. Tyrion convinces their captors of their usefulness.
 * Chapter 64, The Ugly Little Girl: The Faceless Man tells Arya she must don a new identity, and leads her down to the Hall of Faces, where the walls are covered with the faces of those who die at the temple.
 * The sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, remains unpublished, so there are some events brought forward from it that may occur in the story, yet the specific chapters are unknown. This may include Sansa's wedding and her return to Winterfell, both of which are also part of Littlefinger's plan in the books but have not happened yet.

Memorable Quotes
Petyr Baelish: "Lancel Lannister."

Lancel: "Brother Lancel. We abandoned our family names."

Petyr Baelish: "That's quite a family to abandon."

Lancel: "Step carefully, Lord Baelish. You'll find there's little tolerance for flesh peddlers in the new King's Landing."

Petyr Baelish: "We both peddle fantasies, Brother Lancel. Mine just happen to be entertaining."

Cersei Lannister: "I will skin him and his bastard like that wretch on their bloody sigil!"

Olenna Tyrell: "Put the pen down, dear. We both know you're not writing anything."

Cersei: "Ah yes, the famously tart-tongued Queen of Thorns."

Olenna: "And the famous tart, Queen Cersei."

Olenna: "I didn't trust your father. I didn't particularly like him but I respected him. He was no fool. He understood that sometimes we must work with our rivals rather than destroy them."

Cersei: "House Lannister has no rival."

Areo Hotah: "When you were whole, it would have been a good fight."

Roose Bolton: "Who comes before the Old Gods this night?" Theon Greyjoy: "Sansa of the House Stark comes here to be wed. A woman grown, trueborn and noble. She comes to beg the blessings of the Gods. Who comes to claim her?"

Ramsay Bolton: "Ramsay of House Bolton, heir to the Dreadfort and Winterfell. Who gives her?"

Theon Greyjoy: "Theon of House Greyjoy who was...who was her father's ward."

Roose Bolton: "Lady Sansa, do you take this man?"

Sansa Stark: "I take this man."

Ramsay Bolton: "You've known Sansa since she was a girl. Now watch her become a woman."