There aren't many more violent shows on television than Game of Thrones: heads are burst, limbs are hewed and genitals are severed - i's fun, and can, at times, be entertaining. But there's something about the violence in Game of Thrones that seems quite immature, and often misguided, and a lot of the time the show uses violence purely as a vehicle to shock the audience. Yes, it looks good and can be exciting, but its thrills are ultimately cheap and tacky. Take the now infamous scene where Jaime rapes Cercei in front of the dead body of their inbred son. It didn't make sense for Jaime to do this after his character arc through series three, and all in all, it felt wrong and crowbarred in, especially since it was consensual in the books. There wasn't any logical reason for Jaime to rape Cercei and it all just reeks of the writers playing up to the show's reputation and forgetting any integrity to story or character. Violence can be used well - the Mountain's skull crushing moment is a good example - but too often the show hides behind acts of overblown brutality that are neither needed nor warranted, but hey, it certainly makes the show stand out and it always makes a good GIF.
