[SPOILERS] So about Ros...

[Gendels Children]

i was wanting them to kill her off so much, but now i feel rather bad... meh ;)

[MarieAntoinette]

I did not care for Ros, but I don't like how this was handled. I thought her character would be build up and she would play some kind of role in the future. I thought that her off-screen death was anticlimatic. I did not want to see her tortured by Joffrey, but they could gave given her some lines and maybe a short scene with Joffrey or Littlefinger or something.

[HouseLark]

This is just about the most despicable adaptation decision that the show has taken. I get it, it harks back to the warning that Littlefinger gave Ros in season two, and yes, it's a horrifying visual shot but at this point we've had a lot of horrifying visuals (Theon's torture, the charred miller's boys, crucified slaves, Dany's rapes in season one). Furthermore, it's pretty much unnecessary as a way of either illustrating Littlefinger's ruthlessness or Joffrey's sadism. The show has already done a good job in making Joffrey the most hated character on TV and Littlefinger has made it clear (because he loves a good monologue) that he's not to be trusted, which we will see again when he throws Lysa out of the Moon Door next season.

The question I have is why did they choose to kill off Ros in this way? There are many ways it could have been done, and I believe many of us expected her to take Ser Dontos' role and she would therefore end her days at the bottom of Blackwater Bay. This would still have been gut-wrenching, perhaps even more so as it would have required Littlefinger to dangle hope in front of Ros. Instead, we have been given a scene which implies horrific sexual violence against a female character that served no purpose other than to press upon us an image that will disturb. I've really got to question the motivation of a writer that would make these choices.

It's also a poor end to Ros' arc. She's been referred to as a "convenient pair of tits" which ignores that Esme Bianco has been fully clothed since the end of season one. Love her or loathe her, she had an arc that is unique in both the books and series: a commoner trying to climb the ladder of Westerosi society. To stop this tale being Disney-fied then Ros was always going to suffer but did her end really have to be one of sadistic sexual violence? All told, I was sorry to see Ros go, Esme Bianco was good in the role and it made sense for TV purposes to have a single character with a little depth to substitute for Martin's myriad prostitutes (just as it makes sense to consolidate Robert's bastards into one character, Gendry). The end was just unworthy of any female character and again, I just can not understand why it was chosen other than for titillation.

To be fair, I have to note that Martin also subjects many of his female characters to shocking sexual violence, often defended with claims that "that's how it was in medieval times" which ignores that this is a fantasy series and any scenes included are there at the author's choice, not because "historical accuracy" demands it. These scenes usually add little other than to illustrate already-established brutality (e.g. the Mountain's men recounting the rape of a tavern girl; how many people were in doubt about their violent nature by that point?).

I really like both ASoIaF and GoT but the treatment of female characters in both really bothers me the more I think about it. This latest contrivance has just crystallised that for me.

In the scene where we see Ros with the three arrows in her was I the only one who noticed the similarity to the Arya scene? Arya shoots the dummy in the head, breast and balls. Joffrey has shot Ros in the head, breast and where the balls would be if Ros was a man. I don't see why they would link the two apperances but did anyone else see that?

Ros didn't take a quarrel to the head. I'd say take another look but I wouldn't encourage anyone to look at this scene again. I do, however, see the point that both you and the show are trying to make. Arya's own path is, in it's own way, as sadistic as Joffrey's from a certain point of view.

[White Raven]

After all the gruesome violence in the books and show people are upset about Ros?

Sorry, I don't get it.

[Pinkie Baelish]

I don't get the complaints about misogyny, to be honest. A misogynistic character killing a prostitute in a sadistic and misogynistic way? OUTRAGEOUS!

And the more I think about it, the more I agree that Ros had to go. If LF kept her around, and she became the surrogate for Ser Dontos(which I honestly expected), it would make LF look like an absolute idiot. Even if he knew she was spying on him, there's no way he would have kept her around for so long. And killing Varys' spy before leaving for the Vale ties up his loose ends in a way.

[The Mondrian Oak]

I did not care for Ros, but I don't like how this was handled. I thought her character would be build up and she would play some kind of role in the future. I thought that her off-screen death was anticlimatic. I did not want to see her tortured by Joffrey, but they could gave given her some lines and maybe a short scene with Joffrey or Littlefinger or something.

Are sure you and others wouldn't have said then "they wasted precious time to show a Ros' with Joffrey, time that could have been used to develop REALLY important book characters, such as Bran"?

[Khal Porno]

I can't believe they assassinated Ros' character like that

LOL!!

Also you people are sick.

[Buckwheat]

This can end the Ros will be fake Arya talk

:agree: This, a thousand times this.

I am glad she is gone, it is a cruel way to kill her off, I am happy they did not show it in the process, but really, I am so glad we will not be seeing her again.

[TheLoreSeeker]

I'm not surprised, I always thought Dontos will be standing in for Dontos

Same here. I mean.... they introduced his character already....albeit minorly.

[Clariana]

Now both Ros and Theon who we were both introduced to in person enjoying sexual relations have been tied up and tortured. In Ros's case she's dead for a sadist's pleasure. Theon is still alive for a sadist's pleasure. The GoT can be extremely cruel to losers.

[MarieAntoinette]

Are sure you and others wouldn't have said then "they wasted precious time to show a Ros' with Joffrey, time that could have been used to develop REALLY important book characters, such as Bran"?

While I don't care for Ros, I don't hate that she was a part of the show either. The writers have included her in the story for 2 seasons and I just think that the way they killed her off offscreen was not well done. Actually from her last couple of scenes I expected that she would have some kind of role in the future, I honestly did not expect her to bite the dust so soon.

[TheLoreSeeker]

I actually really didn't care for Ros much across the first two seasons....but she gained a lot of props from me after her scene on the docks with Shae after episode 1 in this season. I don't know why... i just liked that scene.