This article contains Game of Thrones season eight spoilers.
Game of Thrones only has two episodes left before it finishes for good, and fans can’t help but call out the HBO series for its considerable lack of consideration toward its female leads – especially as it draws to an end.
In season eight, episode four, ‘The Last of the Starks’ Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) learns the true identity of “Jon Snow”/Aegon Targaryen (Kit Harington) and shares that information with Varys (Conleth Hill). Varys ends the episode very seriously hinting he may be considering overthrowing Daenerys, via murder, to install Jon on the Iron Throne. Even if Varys is unsuccessful, the secret it will inevitably reveal will likely split countless Thrones heroes on which remaining Targaryen actually deserves to lead Westeros.
This conversation was not sparked by these two men, though. It was Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). After discovering Jon’s true parentage, Sansa sets out to sow the seeds of discord through Winterfell (and beyond). After years of horrific adversity, that is the kind of powerful person Ned Stark’s (Sean Bean) oldest daughter has fought to become. However, it doesn’t look like Sansa will be getting the credit she deserves come series end.
RELATED: ‘Game of Thrones’ Fans Are Furious About That Devastating Missandei Moment
Instead, Game of Thrones wraps up Sansa’s entire journey (including being raped and tortured by Ramsey Bolton and manipulated by Littlefinger) in one sentence that seems to congratulate the awful men she had come across. “Without Littlefinger and Ramsay and the rest, I would’ve stayed a little bird all my life.”
The women of Twitter can’t help but point out that Game of Thrones season eight was written entirely by men and that seems to have transcended onto the screen.
It’s not just Sansa that has received this treatment, though. Daenerys, Missandei and Brienne of Tarth were dealt a similar hand in ‘The Last of the Starks’.
Brienne, a freshly knighted soldier who from her very first appearance on the show challenged the state of otherwise archaic gender norms on the show, and beyond being a woman who was also one of the show’s very few noble characters. Giving her a brief brush of romance with Jaime in this episode, then following it with Jaime breaking her heart and leaving her in tears, felt like watching a stranger, or a poorly written version of a character we’d come to respect and cherish. In short, after eight seasons of getting to know Brienne, it doesn’t seem as if her character would crumble so openly at a romantic loss. And more so, is this all her character comes down to?
Missandei, the only woman of colour on the series to have a notable role, was beheaded in shackles without an explanation as to how this would affect the overall narrative in the coming episodes. And finally Daenerys, who’s supposed descent into “madness” was the result of losing a close confidant. This seems to lack the last ten years of her character development, all down to the proposed way a woman would act when things start to turn against her.
All we can say is, we hope GoT get the message before its too late.
WATCH: ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Episode 5 Trailer.
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