Sophie Turner and Iwan Rheon discuss last night’s final scene

This post is full of SPOILERS. If you haven’t watched last night’s “Battle of the Bastards,” beware, for the path you will take will lead you to certain destruction!

Thank you very much.

I WILL DEFEND YOU FROM SPOILERS!

Last night’s Game of Thrones episode was something of an exercise in wish fulfillment. By the time it was over, the Stark banners were hanging once again from the walls of Winterfell. And although it was Jon who gave us the satisfaction of beating Ramsay Bolton’s face with his fists over and over*, the real satisfaction came from knowing the day had been won because Sansa Stark had stepped in and taken control of the situation.

(*That scene of Ramsay getting face punched over and over was cathartic like Tyrion slapping Joffrey across the face way back in Season 1, so much so that I am asking those who know how to please create a matching ten-minute loop of Jon beating the stuffing out of Ramsay, the same way we had that glorious ten-minute loop of Tyrion slapping Joffrey back in the day.)

Entertainment Weekly talked to both Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa, and Iwan Rheon, who plays Ramsay, about their last scene together. Rheon said it’s been a long time coming, and that this was the right time to kill the character off. “I’ve had four lovely seasons here. It’s been great to be involved with such an amazing show. I think it’s kind of right he goes down. Because what else is he going to do after this? He’s done so many things. It’s justified and it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right path. He’s reached his peak.”

As for Turner, the fact that it’s Sansa who gets to feed Ramsay to the hounds was everything she wanted for her character, and everything audiences have wanted for her. As she put it: “Everyone is just saying, ‘I hope you kill Ramsay.’”

"…Sansa needs her first kill and it has to be Ramsay. No one else but her. And when he basically says, ‘He’s yours.’ I’m like, ‘Yes!’ She leaves him for dead, walks away doesn’t even watch him die. It’s such a great scene, so well written, and it’s so great to be able to have my first kill."

Rheon says it’s ironic, since “Ramsay has been banging on about those hounds.” However, even though this was the right time for Ramsay to go, Rheon doesn’t think Sansa’s words about him being forgotten are really true.

"It’s a good scene. It leaves Sansa in an interesting place as a character, because he’s saying, “I’m inside you now.” [Rheon shudders] It’s horrible, and I think he probably has done some damage. He’s gotten in her head. But I think it’s nice too, because it’s such a great scene to go out on."

Turner agrees. “It shows when she sees him in this scene. With Joffrey it was different. He was a little boy and he was so angry at her all the time. Whereas with Ramsay there would be serenity, and then he would be such a bastard – in every sense of the word. He just gets under her skin, and he violated her in such a terrible way. He’s imprinted on her, mentally and physically. She can never get that part of her back again.”

Rheon, who is actually one of the nicest people ever (and a great singer, by the way, you should check out his debut album), is nothing but gracious about his time on the show.

"I’ll miss when you pick up a script and read it and there’s always one scene in every season where i go, “Thank you so much, thank you, this is such a beauty.” And the excitement of doing that scene. Usually there’s a few, but there’s one absolute immense scene. It’s going to be really odd not doing this anymore. You’re a part of something huge and you turn up and see the sets and the castles and everything. I’m going to be really I’m going to miss being a part of it."

As for Sansa, she knows that she has to go her own way from now on. “Jon doesn’t listen to her… She can actually formulate a plan behind his back and they need it. So she does save the day. But she doesn’t really gets her thanks. Her reward is killing Ramsay.”