Is it recency why this seems to have a bigger response than Khal/Dany? It was not such a thing then, was it? Why wouldn't it be? He was a savage? It was expected? Show hadn't spent time nicey nicing him? It's not a betrayal of a previous relationship?

eta: GRRM's response: [link]

It's not even the first time Cersei's been raped (Thank you, Robert.). I think, especially paired with the scene immediately before, where Tommen goes off with Tywin, it serves quite well to isolate Cersei. She's running real low on allies, at this point.

I think maybe the show wasn't as big a deal at that point? I honestly don't know.

I feel like HBO's done a great job of making it a big deal from the start (says a non-reader, or at least one who *tried* and failed during the first book). But it's definitely a bigger deal now.

I doubt many people will stop watching because of it, and who knows--the noise may attract new viewers.

Not my co-worker, though. He doesn't watch TV, and was trying to tell me about a show popular amongst his friends "Something about a chair?" It was quite endearing coming from a hip (but not ster) thirtysomething.

Is it recency why this seems to have a bigger response than Khal/Dany

Rape culture 101 I think. Audience LIKES Jamie and don't want to think this character could do something like that.

Of course the savage man would do that on his wedding night.

I thought Amanda Marcotte's take on the episode was exactly on point: [link]

Having finally read it, I think it's absolutely not. I don't think you can flatly diagnose assholishness of people because they enjoyed seeing a despised character get narrative comeuppance (he's not effectively a child), and "it puts you in a position to do exactly what you just spent the last hour judging others over" is nothing if not an exaggeration. For a start, we haven't done anything or been reacting to real people, as they all have, in universe.

“You are all terrible people, sitting there on your couch, enjoying the sight of a child dying a painful death.”

Yeah, no.

“You are all terrible people, sitting there on your couch, enjoying the sight of a child dying a painful death.”

That bugged me too. I wasn't enjoying his death; I was transfixed, thinking what a terrible way to die that would be. Based on limited experience, choking/not being able to breath is a very terrifying feeling.

I'm glad he's dead, and I do wonder if maybe he should have suffered more for the things he did (jesus, those prostitutes), but there's some distance between that and being a cheering throng at a gladiatorial throwdown between slaves, or something.

Marcotte and I part ways on a whole host of things. I used to really like and respond well to her writing. Since pandagon fell, not so much.

Since pandagon fell

This is what?