Game of Thrones' Disturbing Original Plans for One Character's End - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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Game of Thrones Season 5 and 6 villain Septa Unella, played by Hannah Waddingham, was originally written to suffer an even grislier fate than the one she received.

In an interview with Collider, Waddingham detailed her death on the HBO fantasy series. In the show, Unella's death is never unveiled to the viewer, though it is implied the character was tortured to death by The Mountain following her imprisonment by Cersei. Waddingham revealed that the original plan for the scene was much worse. "She was meant to be raped by The Mountain," said the actor. "And I think they'd had so many complaints about the rape of Sansa that they chose not to go with it."

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The change to Septa Unella's fate happened quickly and Lena Headey, who played Cersei on the show, has also previously mentioned that the scene was meant to be much worse. "I think they possibly changed it when I was mid-air flying to Belfast because suddenly I got sent these new sides that said that I would need a wetsuit top," Waddingham said. "And I thought they'd sent me the wrong bits. And sure enough, when I got there, I was then put in a wetsuit top and I was like, 'Because?' And they went, 'Oh, it's waterboarding instead.'"

The aforementioned Season 5 episode "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" with Sansa Stark's sexual assault saw high amounts of criticism from both fans and actors for the graphic act of violence. "Nobody wanted to be there," said Iwan Rheon, who portrayed Ramsay Bolton, in an interview last year. "They didn't sensationalize it or anything. It was very, very hard watching. It's a horrible thing that happens, unfortunately, and it shouldn't be. It was the worst day of my career."

While Unella was spared a more explicit fate in the show, Waddingham still suffered through the scene. "And there I was strapped to a wooden table with proper big straps for ten hours," she said. "And definitely, other than childbirth, it was the worst day of my life." Waddingham went on to say how the crew asked her how she was doing after shooting, and even went on to suggest the scene gave her "claustrophobia around water."

Game of Thrones stars Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and Kit Harington. All eight seasons are streaming on HBO Max.

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Source: Collider

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Juniper Tubbs is a writer, gamer, and casual enthusiast of the color sage green. A graduate from George Mason University's MFA program, she currently resides in the Washington DC area where she complains about tourists and writes long-form essays on narrative analysis of video games in her spare time. You can find June on Twitter (occasionally) at @JTheo173.