Kit Harington doesn’t think the final two Game of Thrones episodes were sexist
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 8 and the series finale of Game of Thrones.
It’s official: Game of Thrones has ended, and with it, eight seasons of wondering who would rule the Seven (now Six) Kingdoms. However, some fans are less than satisfied with the series’ conclusion, and there are angry memes and petitions to remake the entire season. Daenerys Targaryen’s turn from Breaker of Chains to Destroyer of Cities has been especially unpopular, with some even arguing that the storyline implied women shouldn’t lead countries. But in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly about the end of the show, Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington argued that Dany’s ending was not sexist.
Harington told EW that he worried fans would push back on the end of Dany’s character arc—and Cersei’s, too. He addressed these criticisms by pointing out that women can also be villains.
"One of my worries with this is we have Cersei and Dany, two leading women, who fall," he told EW. "The justification is: Just because they’re women, why should they be the goodies? They’re the most interesting characters in the show. And that’s what Thrones has always done. You can’t just say the strong women are going to end up the good people. Dany is not a good person. It’s going to open up discussion but there’s nothing done in this show that isn’t truthful to the characters. And when have you ever seen a woman play a dictator?"
Harington also said that he felt Dany’s fall was “going to divide” fans.
"But if you track her story all the way back, she does some terrible things," he continued. "She crucifies people. She burns people alive. This has been building. So, we have to say to the audience: 'You’re in denial about this woman as well. You knew something was wrong. You’re culpable, you cheered her on.'"
It’s true that fictional women can be evil, but many fans have argued that Dany had no clear motivation to burn King’s Landing and that her quick turn plays into tropes about “crazy” women. Needless to say, these fans probably won’t be too convinced by Harington’s argument.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1127775511432847360
The Daenerys twist could have been nuanced and honest and interesting. It wasn't. My extensive thoughts on how #GameofThrones failed Daenerys by relying on lazy, sexist tropes in the final episodes https://t.co/XvaXdsfqcx
— Eliana Dockterman (@edockterman) May 20, 2019
IDK. “Daenerys’ cold reaction to the murder of her abusive brother foreshadowed her turn to madness” is weird analysis of a show where Tyrion strangled his girlfriend to death and we’re supposed to see him as a lovable hero.
— Caroline Siede (@CarolineSiede) May 19, 2019
I’m SO upset. You had me watch Daenerys rise from literal rags to riches. Free slaves, unite people, escape near death. For her to arrive at this?!? A dickmatized mad queen? I feel cheated. Her character deserved better. #GameofThrones #GoT pic.twitter.com/F3ZCnfwIUM
— The Double Minority 🌈✊🏾 (@DoubleMinorityy) May 13, 2019
We’re still processing the rise and fall of the “Mad Queen,” so the jury’s still out on this storyline. What are your thoughts?
