Sansa Stark and Sandor Clegane’s brief reunion scene in Season 8 Episode 4 ‘The Last of the Starks’ has sparked a lot of criticism and debate on social media. In the scene, Hound and Sansa talk about the traumatic experiences she went through (with Ramsay and Littlefinger) after they parted ways. Some fans are saying the scene glorifies women’s traumatic and abusive experiences as a character-shaping factor. Read on!
Sansa meets Sandor in the Winterfell celebrations and they talk about her abuse in the hands of Ramsay. The Hound remarks, “None of it would have happened if you left King’s Landing with me. No Littlefinger, no Ramsay, none of it.” He is referring to Season 2 episode ‘Blackwater’ when he had offered Sansa to take her to Winterfell but she refused. Sansa responds by taking Sandor’s hand and saying, “Without Ramsay and Littlefinger and the rest, I’d have stayed a ‘little bird’ all my life.”
Sansa with Ramsay on their wedding night from Season 5 Episode 6
Many fans thought this line plays into the idea that women’s growth is somehow connected to their being traumatized, and implies that it is not possible to become a powerful and resourceful woman without going through horrible abuse. Many took to Twitter to express their disappointment.
Rape is not a tool to make a character stronger. A woman doesn’t need to be victimized in order to become a butterfly. The #littlebird was always a Phoenix. Her prevailing strength is solely because of her. And her alone.#GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/TVIyt8LYxI
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) May 7, 2019
dan & david making sansa say that she needed to be abused in order to grow up is such bullshit,, a woman doesnt have to experience rape to develop as a character get out of here with your pathetic attempts to excuse your unnecessary violence against women
— lauren (@sansastcrk) May 6, 2019
It’s several hours later and I’m still so fucking mad that D&D made Sansa say that repeated sexual trauma was the only thing that made her strong. Sansa was always strong. Trauma made her practical – and cynical. And these men are so bad at writing women. #GameofThrones
— kaye toal (@ohkayewhatever) May 6, 2019
d&d really made sansa say that all the abuse she endured made her strong, they really hate women
— lou (@starksrights) May 6, 2019
But some other fans had a very different take, including some who have had experienced abuse before. They point out, they would probably say the same, as a way of owning the narrative and boosting their own confidence.
It’s bad that the season has no female writers or directors, but granting that, I think an abuse survivor (like Sansa) can decline to live in regret, accepting her life as it is, without thereby “expressing gratitude for her rapist.”
— ——— (@fatecolossal) May 6, 2019
Ya dont get it do you?? Coming from someone who was sexually assaulted when I was very young. Let me tell you of course I wish that did not happen but I am thankful for every good and bad thing in my life because I am the strong person I am this day..
— Shauna Pardy (@gypsybling232) May 6, 2019
“I’m stronger for having come through horrific trauma” Is a pretty common feeling among survivors of abuse though? (It’s certainly how I feel) So it’s great, realistic representation?
— Daniel Scott (@DanielScott128) May 6, 2019
That said, female representation on Game of Thrones has continued to come under fire for some time now. Sansa’s meeting with Bran in Season 7 had focused only on her abuse. In this scene also, Hound immediately starts talking about Sansa’s abusive past as if it is the most natural thing to discuss with a woman you see after many years.
It seems the makers themselves are suggesting that Sansa’s current strong and powerful persona would not have been possible without the trauma and abuse. That is both problematic and very much out-of-character for Sansa, who has been portrayed as naive but smart and a quick learner in the early seasons. Maybe the Game of Thrones team could indeed have done with some women writers, eh?
What do you think of the Sansa-Hound scene? Tell us below in the comment.
