Entertainment

'GoT' Women Speak Out About Power

by Mallory Schlossberg

Who's your favorite character on Game of Thrones? Whether you practice saying "you know nothing, Jon Snow" into your mirror or not, it's pretty easy to agree upon the fact that show has some remarkably strong female characters. In fact, the Stark girls agree that the women are strong on GoT, too. By the Stark girls, of course, we mean actress Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, who play Sansa and Arya, respectively. On the Today Show, Turner said, "I mean, the great thing about the writing is that they've written these [female] characters that you don't really get to see — that you haven't seen before — because they're so strong, and probably the strongest characters in the show."

Who could disagree? The women often hold the key to power, and never become weak objects who give into men. In fact, when they do, they fight. Look at Daenerys Targaryen, for example! She's the mother of dragons, and also eradicates expectations of female characters. Her actions prove her to be a feminist. Moreover, look at how much her character has grown and developed — from being sold into the Dothraki to obtaining and leading and enormous army.

Arya has developed into a fearless girl, and Williams has spoken about how she loves how ruthless the character has become. Even Shae is more than just a whore (even if she, at times, thinks she is). Even Ygritte's super-quotable line (you know nothing, Jon Snow) is essentially a reversal of something that men throughout history have said to women.

But if you were looking for a Stark girl reunion, you shouldn't get your hopes too high. Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, says, "It seems they're heading further and further apart now."

To be fair, it seems like whenever a GoT lady loses something, she gains some kind of power or emotional strength. So if the two are heading further apart, we can likely anticipate some kind of serious character development.

Either way, talk from the stars is enough to increase the hype about the imminent Season 4 premiere (April 6! Winter is coming!). Surely we can expect more super powerful moments for (medieval, fantasy) womankind — but hell, having women like this on television — young women like this on television — is a huge step forward for our contemporary womankind.