Game of Thrones Season Five, Episode Six - Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.

Game of Thrones - both the novels by George RR Martin and the TV adaptation by David Benioff and Daniel Weiss - has never shied away from controversial and often shocking scenes and scenarios. One could argue that the lure of both these forms of media lie in the ability to challenge and broadcast scenes so far from the norm.

However, last night (or over the weekend depending on your time zone) the TV adaptation once again included unnecessary sexual violence in an episode. This makes the third high profile instance of rape in the series, where the TV show has deliberately deviated from consensual sex in the source material, to a disturbing - and frankly - unnecessarily shocking depiction of rape.

The first instance was Daenery's Targaryen on her wedding night to Kal Drogo of the Dothraki, way back in Season One. In the novels, Daenery's is terrified and facing a future so far removed from her current life that it is a wonder she had not collapsed out of fear. All she see's are strange people, who live brutal lives and she dreads the future ahead. When it comes to her wedding night and the consummation of her marriage, she discovers that her imposing husband Drogo, is in fact a calm and caring man, who goes out of his way to make his young bride feel at ease in what is clearly a highly emotional situation for her. She responds by initiating their lovemaking.

In the show, this scene was bizarrely changed to have Kal Drogo raping Daenery's from behind. Numerous times she said no, whilst Drogo carried on regardless. We did not know it then, but it has in fact set the tone and standard to which Game of Thrones has been known to their audience over the years.

The second instance was between Jaime Lannister and his sister, Cersei. The scene in the novels has Jaime returning from his journey with Brienne in the Riverlands, to find his son Joffrey dead and his brother Tyrion imprisoned and accused of regicide. Cersei feels alone and the appearance of Jaime - who she admits is the other half of her soul - brings a lot of emotion to the fore. Jaime and Cersei proceed to have sex - entirely consensual, once more - in the Great Sept. The scene is initiated and encouraged by Cersei and the way in which it is written completely lays out the twisted relationship they both share.

However, yet again the TV show changes this, for absolutely no reason that I can see - or have yet to see. Jaime literally drags Cersei to the ground beside the rotting body of their son, and he forces himself upon her. Cersei says NO - again, numerous times. It left a sour taste in the mouth for many viewers - and especially for readers who were familiar with the scene from the novels.

Which brings us to Sansa Stark and Ramsay Snow. In the novels, Jeyne Poole - who many may remember as Sansa's closest friend from Season One - is dressed up and made to act the part of Arya Stark, who went missing at the end of the first novel. Jeyne's story in itself is one of the saddest and most desperately uncomfortable character arcs in Martin's entire series of novels. I would go so far as to say that it is the most horrifying, for me personally. Jeyne is essentially the mirror image of what would have happened to Sansa had she not been a high born lady from a wealthy, strong family. Jeyne is taken by Littlefinger (Peter Baelish) on the command of Cersei. Littlefinger gives Jeyne over to one of his brothels and for a girl of barely 14/15 years of age, you can only imagine the torment she had to go through and the things she was forced to see and participate in.

Further to this, when she is sent North to be Ramsay Bolton's bride, her life takes an even more horrifying turn for the worse. Ramsay is cruel and sadistic and he takes great pleasure in terrorizing his new wife. Through all of this, Theon is present. He is witness to the senseless depravity that Ramsay inflicts upon a young girl that Theon knows is not Arya. He knows exactly who Jeyne is, but he is scared - with good reason, considering what Ramsay has done to him - to act. Eventually, he reluctantly helps Jeyne to escape and it is the moment that many fans view as being the act that helps to steer him away from his Reek persona and towards truly being Theon once more.

Now, in the TV series, they have made the change to merge Sansa's story line with Jeyne's. Budget and character demands necessitated this - I fully understand that. Most of the time, I understand the changes that the TV series must make. Martin's work is so vast, so epic, that it must be adapted and streamlined for a TV audience. I get that, I truly do.

What I take issue with is that for four seasons - and five books - Sansa Stark has been on one of the most remarkable and engrossing character progressions I have had the pleasure to read or witness. She has gone from an empty headed girl, to a strong, intelligent and independent woman. Yet, in the space of one scene last night, the writers completely and utterly negated the entire arc that they had been carefully nurturing for four years. It is a damning fact that when HBO feel they need a shock factor involving women, they inevitably fall back on rape. There was no need to include this scene - indeed, they left out all the character building plot lines from Jeyne's story and instead kept the most horrifying and illogical part of it all.

Now, I am a writer. Not a famous one - or even a particularly great one - yet write I do. I am also human, so the very idea of rape shocks and appalls me - as it should shock and appall all right thinking people. Yet, unfortunately, we don't live in a world where 100% of the population are right thinking, moral people. Over the last 48 hours I have been involved - and have read - many different discussions regarding rape on a Facebook page dedicated to A Song of Ice and Fire. There are over 41,000 members in this group, which obviously leads to many different opinions on many different subjects. Yet rape - which should be one of the subjects the world universally agrees on to be wrong - is often dismissed as feminism. Even worse, people (mostly men admittedly) make apologies for it as being 'not a big deal'.

Well, you're wrong. Dead wrong. Rarely do I feel more disgusted about my gender than when I inevitably read through a discussion on rape. We live in a world of 'banter' and LAD accounts that subtly teach young men that it is essentially okay to objectify women. The people on those forums and the Facebook group who believe this, often choose to cry that "it's just fiction, it's not real life - get over it". These people are the issue. They cry that we should not be offended, that we should hide away and 'get over our feminism'. Yet answer me this: Why does feminism exist? It shouldn't do, if we take the time to truly think about it. Feminism is an idea and a movement that was born out of hundreds and thousands of years of women being viewed as second class citizens. Take a minute to think why there is no such word as 'Menism or Masculinism'. It's because for so long there was such a gulf in equality that it took many strong females sacrificing their lives and campaigning for justice before they were heard. Do not dismiss those sacrifices, because they are evident every day.

Yet to all those who continue to rail against, you are wrong. Especially regarding comments that center on ignoring real life issues. Almost all great Fantasy and Fiction novels take inspiration from real life issues. Many authors chose to write Fiction to challenge and discuss issues that are taking place in everyday life. This is what reading and writing exposes people to. In fantasy, it may often be only subtly hinted at, yet the message is clear and there for all those willing to see. From George RR Martin, to JRR Tolkien and even to some extremes like Terry Goodkind - who possibly went too far with his musings - every author strives to challenge a trope or stereotype. It is a fundamental cornerstone of all fiction. Even JK Rowling with the Harry Potter books looked deeply at segregation and discrimination and persecution of those who are different.

My own views on Fantasy center around the freedom it gives us. The freedom to explore and push the boundaries of our imaginations that can be considered impossible in the real world. There should be no subject on this planet that is considered too taboo for reasoned debate and discussion. It is only by discussing and railing against such views that we begin to make the world better. For those that ignore such issues, you become part of the problem. A brief look through history tells us that if everyone went through life not caring, then we would still be banging rocks together to make fire. In fact, the fire would probably just be a pipe dream.

So, how does this relate to the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones? In artistic rendition and quality of writing.

Firstly, rape is never okay, regardless of the circumstances or situation. It is the sensitivity with which it is treated and broadcast that makes the difference - especially in those artistic terms. This is what Benioff and Weiss have got so completely wrong. The scene with Sansa was a needless addition that totally destroyed their previous work. A strong willed woman was built up, then ruthlessly cut down - for no reason.

The irony of it all to me is that the title of the episode was Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - the words of House Martell. It was exactly what Sansa had become through all her torments with the Lannisters - until Benioff and Weiss went down their tried and tested female 'shock factor', that is.

The only surprise in all of this, is that any of us were truly surprised.

Chris Morton