Where is the line between an interesting drama that depicts life where the rules and laws of civilized society have vanished and a story line that panders to our perverse interest in rape, cruelty, and violence? Game of Thrones is a sort of Hobbesian State of Nature. Hands are severed. Penises are severed. Prostitutes are target practice. Incest and orgies happen. Children are thrown from high places. Children are torched and crucified. A man gnaws off his fingers, after the skin is flayed. The television show doesn’t really add too much grossness. It’s all in the books.

Until Sunday, when a brother hate-rapes his sister in front of the body of their murdered son. The television show added a new horror to the book. Frankly, I had to look away from the TV, even though I watched a million other gross acts.

This hate-rape may be the final straw for viewers. Some people hate that scene, because it deviates from the plot line. The brother had slowly been redeeming himself. The hate-rape seems out of character. Others think that the show crossed the line into the dirty waters of pandering.

Some reactions — iO9, Medium, Slate.