Game of Thrones season six will be tamer following backlash from controversial r*pe scene
Game of Thrones got right under the skin of its fans in season five with its controversial r*pe scene, and the criticism won't be ignored in season six, promised director Jeremy Podeswa.
Episode six - titled Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - saw Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) brutally r*ped by her villainous husband Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) on their wedding night.
Podeswa has now assured fans that show runners DB Weiss and David Benioff are aware of the backlash and have taken their critics into consideration for when the show returns to screens in April.
Speaking at a breakfast briefing at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, he said: "It is important that creators not self-censor. The show depicts a brutal world where horrible things happen.
"They did not want to be too overly influenced by that criticism, but they did absorb and take it in and it did influence them in a way."
Podeswa revealed Weiss and Beinoff did change "a couple of things" in response to the negative feedback.
Although he admitted the scene was always "going to be challenging for the audience", he added: "But it was very important to us in the execution that it would not be exploited in any way. It was handled as sensitively as it could possibly be.
"I welcomed the discussion about the depiction of violence on television and how it could be used as a narrative tool sometimes and the questionable nature of that."
Podeswa returns to season six to direct the opening two episodes, which he teased are "really strong".
HBO dropped the first trailer of season six earlier this month.
After almost a year of speculation surrounding the fate of Jon Snow, the worst kept secret in television was seemingly confirmed with a shot of the Bastard of Winterfell, indicating he'll be taking centre stage once again.
