Breaking the codes

HBO’s Game of Thrones is an epic story of intrigue and political violence with a bit of magic tossed in: winters that can last years, zombie-like predators, and dragons. Powerful families battle for the throne, and no character is safe from a gruesome death.

But amid all of the violence, one scene from the fifth season stands out in public opinion as particularly horrific. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), the daughter of the ruling Northern family, is raped by her new husband, Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon). Ramsay forces another man, Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), to watch, and when Ramsay and Sansa are offscreen, tears roll down Theon’s anguished face. The audience sees Sansa’s rape through Theon’s eyes.

Sansa’s been through plenty of dark stuff before this episode. She was engaged to a sadistic prince who delighted in showing her the severed head of her dead father. She lost the rest of her family in various brutal ways typical of the series. But viewers were upset when Sansa was raped. Senator Claire McCaskill tweeted that she would no longer watch the show because the rape scene was “disgusting and unacceptable.”