--- ---  # _Game of Thrones_ Actors Say, Again, That Controversial Scene was not Rape > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Apr 7, 2015 9:34 PM UTC  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey on Game of Thrones Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey on Game of ThronesNeil Davidson—HBO  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Apr 7, 2015 9:34 PM UTC Obviously, **spoilers** for last season ahead. Lena Heady and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who play Cersei and Jaime Lanniser on _Game of Thrones_, [told](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/07/jaime-cersei-controversy-sex) _Entertainment Weekly_ that they did not intend for that controversial sex scene to look like rape last season. “It’s that terrible thing as a woman—talking about something as horrendous as rape and dismissing it, which I’m not. But we never discussed it as that,” said Headey. “All these emotions going through them, it was never intended to be something where he forced—it wasn’t a rape, and it was never intended to be. But it’s one of those things where you can’t \[publicly\] say ‘it wasn’t rape,’ because then everybody goes, ‘How can you say it wasn’t rape?!’ But that was definitely not the intention,” Coster-Waldau added. Critics disagree. **_MORE:_**[_The_ ](http://time.com/70829/game-of-thrones-rape/)[Game of Thrones](http://time.com/70829/game-of-thrones-rape/)[ _Sex Scene Can’t Be Both Rape and Not Rape_](http://time.com/70829/game-of-thrones-rape/) _Game of Thrones_ fans will recall the scene and the many weeks of controversy following it last year. The problem for many viewers wasn’t that Cersei and Jaime are siblings—that’s par for the course on _Thrones_—nor did audiences object to the incest occurring next to their dead son’s body. Rather, critics objected to the fact that Cersei told Jaime to “stop” and “no” when he tried to have sex with her and he replied “I don’t care,” and did it anyway. Many writers ([including this one](http://time.com/70829/game-of-thrones-rape/)), pointed out that when someone says “no,” the act becomes rape. The director of the episode [Alex Graves](http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-game-of-thrones-breaker-of-chains-uncle-deadly) and actor [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/20/game-of-thrones-most-wtf-sex-scene-nikolaj-coster-waldau-on-jaime-lannister-s-darkest-hour.html) (who plays Jaime) seemed to make matters worse by trying to explain that the sex was not consensual in the beginning but _became_ consensual by the end. Again, many writers pointed out that rape cannot _become_ consensual. Even George R.R. Martin, the author of the _A Song of Ice and Fire_ series upon which the HBO show is based, apologized to his fans for the portrayal. (In Martin’s book, the sex is clearly agreed upon by both parties.) The critical disapproval came at a cultural moment when consent has become a rallying cry from college campuses to the White House. _Game of Thrones_ is a brutal world where a lot of terrible things happen—including rape. But in other instances of assault on the show, it’s clear that the sex is a violent act. For many, the problem with saying this scene did not depict rape is it somehow tells viewers that sex which doesn’t begin consensual can somehow become consensual. Read the full interview [at _Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/07/jaime-cersei-controversy-sex). **MORE:** [There’s a Reason There’s So Much Rape on Your Favorite TV Shows](http://time.com/50328/theres-a-reason-theres-so-much-rape-on-your-favorite-tv-shows/) "Game of Thrones" Actors Say, Again, That Scene Was Not Rape ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3774072/game-of-thrones-actors-say-scene-not-rape/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3774072/game-of-thrones-actors-say-scene-not-rape/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Actors Say, Again, That Controversial Scene was not Rape","datePublished":"2015-04-07T21:34:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:45:51.721Z","description":"The show's actors continue to push against critical disapproval","url":"https://time.com/3774072/game-of-thrones-actors-say-scene-not-rape/","keywords":["Television","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96ef90cc352dd0a2/69878702e53aba2afd4d8712/gameofthrones14_08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96ef90cc352dd0a2/69878702e53aba2afd4d8712/gameofthrones14_08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Game-of-Thrones-S4-E1","caption":"Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey on Game of Thrones","creditText":"Neil Davidson—HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3774072/game-of-thrones-actors-say-scene-not-rape/","name":"Game of Thrones Actors Say, Again, That Controversial Scene was not Rape"}}]}] ```