'Game of Thrones' reeled us in with nudity but the plot and characters are what made us stay
HBO's 'Game of Thrones' is reaching its end and things are pretty intense in Winterfell as the Night King is practically at the doorstep with the army in the North all prepared to tackle him. Perhaps with the looming threat of the walking dead, it is now time for the characters to put on their armor, and prepare for battle.
Considering the amount of violence the show has already portrayed, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Great War comes across as total butchery and slaughter. But what did surprise us in season 8 episode 2 was the fact that the show has toned down on its nudity.
The David Benioff and D.B. Weiss created show was quite the topic of controversy at its initial stages. Nudity went hand in hand with violence, and the two almost seemed to fill up vacant spots for each other. However, while on one hand, the show has been shunned for its nudity, on the other hand, it has been applauded for placing nudity right on the periphery of the power structure featured.
Several major female characters would often undress in scenes you would least expect them to but at the same time, those particular moments of coming out in their most carnal states were practically the show's way of pushing forward the plot.
Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, had to shoot several nude scenes since the premiere but if looked closely these are the very scenes that project Daenerys' rise to power. When we see her naked for the first time, she is a helpless young sister who is sold away by her brother to the Dothraki and is compelled to let her husband rape her on their wedding night.
However, as the season approached, Daenerys began to take control of her own body. She chose to learn tactics to please the Khal which, in a way, developed the whole idea that she was, after all, a Queen. Towards the end of season 1, Daenerys stands naked in front of the surviving Dothrakis and Ser Jorah, and that became a defining moment for the character as it symbolized her shedding her skin as a mere human and emerging from the fire as the Mother of Dragons.
Clarke herself has said Daenerys' naked body was a symbol of her empowerment. While speaking with the Sun, she said, "I just wanted to come out and do an empowered scene that wasn’t sexual — it was naked, but it was strong." Similarly, Carice Van Houten's character, Melisandre uses her sexuality as a mean of manipulation.
On several occasions, we have seen her trying to seduce the men whom she deems to be the Azor Ahai. In the case of Stannis Baratheon, she even gave birth to a shadow monster after having sex with him and that in a way signifies that for Melisandre, sex can also be a spell that she uses to create magic.
Van Houten said, "With my character, I use sexuality as a weapon. I feel very strong about the nudity. I feel very strongly about how you can show machine guns, and you can show horrible things, but you see a nipple and it’s, ‘Oh my God! A nipple has been displayed!’"
While the heights of its nudity peaked in season 5, by the time the events of season 7 began to unwrap themselves, 'Game of Thrones' had gradually toned down on its nudity. This was also the result of the characters' development. Things began to take a different turn for all the characters after season 5.
Daenerys established herself as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Cersei Lannister had done away with her walk of shame, and Melisandre understood that her sexuality couldn't always be used as a weapon. Hence, nudity began to take a back seat, and violence and politics came to the forefront gradually engulfing the major events of the show.
It can be said that 'Game of Thrones' actually took a risk with shameless nudity, as it could have easily fallen into the snares of censorship but that didn't happen. Nudity on the show never served the purpose of meager entertainment, and with every character, it served as reactants, weapons, and conspiracies according to the need of the hour.
It was only in the case of Jon Snow and Arya Stark, perhaps, that sex was actually garnered with love more than lust. As episode 3 is set to return April 28, we can assume the show has officially done away with bare skin as it is now time to put on heavy armor.
