“Game of Thrones” had a lot of nerve teasing Jon and Daenerys’ so-called attraction to each other — then following it up with what has got to be the most vanilla sex scene in the entire series.
In its early seasons, “Thrones” was known for its uh, somewhat over the top depictions of sexual relations. Besides the often casual portrayal of rape, the show often featured what would be coined as “sexposition” — meaning, the series would take scenes heavy with exposition and pad them with some extra oomph by making sure someone was getting it on in the background. As the show has matured, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have thankfully gotten a bit wiser about the way they depict sex on screen. But with the scene between Jon and Daenerys, it seems like they’ve given up on sex being sexy ever again in the “Thrones” world.
It’s possible to both be responsible about the kind of sex you show in the series and for your characters to have hot, sexy and fulfilling sex lives. And both Jon — I mean, Aegon — and Daenerys had whole seasons dedicated to them finding their sexual footing. In the first season, Daenerys went from being a victim to being a woman with heaps of sexual agency in her marriage with Khal Drogo; and she learned a lot from her handmaids along the way. Jon, never forget, had his own heavy dose of sexual healing from a certain fiery wildling in the third season. At this point, these two adults know what they’re doing.
And yet, the finale of the seventh season just gave us a scene of Jon artfully laying on top of Daenerys, a literal undead wet blanket. There’s no semblance of passion, nor desire. And it’s frustrating! Here’s a moment “Thrones” has been teasing all season long, and it falls absolutely flat. We’re supposed to believe that Jon and Dany’s attraction to each other is so overwhelming and sparkly and inevitable, but they don’t seem very into having sex with each other.
There’s Dany, now nothing more than a pillow princess — even though her sexual relations with Drogo and Daario have proven otherwise. And there’s Jon on top of her, listlessly humping away. I didn’t spend countless hours watching and rewatching episodes of “Game of Thrones” to suffer through this! And sure, they’re related — but seeing as we saw twins Cersi and Jaime getting it on very vigorously in the pilot of the series, I’d say we deserve a bit more, I don’t know, chemistry between these two Targaryens.
Gotta give it up to Jon, though. He’s really grown into a hot piece this season. For a dead guy, he looks fantastic.
Follow Rachael Vaughan Clemmons on Twitter — @rachaelclemz
