"Game Of Thrones" Season 5 on HBO adds another major book departure on the story of Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). While major changes have been expected this season, many viewers got upset when they saw the gruesome plot that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss threw into Sansa's way. GOT 5 producer and episode writer Bryan Cogman explained his insights.
Spoiler alert: This feature recaps one of the highlights of "Game Of Thrones" Season 5. Read on at your own risk.
Titled "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken," this weekend's episode of "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 revolted many fans. Jamie Lannister's fight with the Sand Snakes and the plot on the Tyrells are overshadowed by the gravity of what happened on Sansa's second wedding in the series adaptation.
In the book series "A Song Of Ice And Fire" (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin, Ramsay gets married to someone else. He rapes his wife, too. In the adaptation on HBO, the wife is Sansa Stark, a character who was believed to be rising into power toward the end of "Game Of Thrones" Season 4.
That Theon Greyjoy appears to be snapping out of Ramsay's fright spell while Sansa is being raped was another matter that upsets some viewers. Will Theon become Sansa's hero because of this? GOT 5 producer and "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" writer Bryan Cogman said Sansa "will have to deal" with her television story.
"This isn't a timid little girl walking into a wedding night with Joffrey. This is a hardened woman making a choice and she sees this as the way to get back her homeland," Cogman told Entertainment Weekly. He also said what happened to Sansa on her first wedding night with Ramsay was "pretty intense and awful." Jeremy Podeswa directed "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken."
Asked whether Petyr Baelish a.k.a. Littlefinger knew Sansa Stark would suffer such disgrace with Ramsay, Cogman said the schemer "doesn't have the intelligence on [Ramsay]." Cogman also said the gruesome wedding night with Ramsay is "a shared form of abuse" for both Theon and Sansa.
"Game of Thrones" Season 5 has four episodes left. The next episode is called, "The Gift." It was written by GOT series developers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and directed by Miguel Sapochnik.