HBOSansa Stark (Sophie Turner) was the real "Battle of the Bastards" winner on Game of Thrones. The young Stark had her first kill and what a kill it was. Obviously spoilers are ahead.
After Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and his men took Winterfell from Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), Ramsay found himself beaten to a bloody pulp and a prisoner with just Sansa looking over him. And to quote The Simpsons' Mr. Burns, she "released the hounds." He was killed by his own dogs.
"It's amazing. It's Sansa's first kill and it's such a strong moment for her because all her life she's been affected by these men who have just done such terrible things to her," Turner said in a behind-the-scenes video from HBO. "She's always carried it with her and this is the first moment you hear her say [this dialogue] ‘Your words will disappear. Your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear.'"
Co-creator and executive producer DB Weiss said the show doesn't always give viewers happy moments, but this was one that made sense.
"The show doesn't always give people the things that are going to make them happy, but this felt like a moment that made narrative sense, that they would win this fight and that Ramsay would come into their possession as a prisoner," Weiss said. "His dogs were such a thing for him in this season and seasons past, such an extension of his own horrible urges. The idea that they would be turned against him and it would happen at Sansa's hands made a lot of sense to us. This isn't the little girl who wanted to dress up like a princess anymore. Her walk away at the end of the scene, that's one of my favorite shots we've ever had. Just the little ghost of a smile on her face. She's in Winterfell, but she's not the person she once was when she first left."
Rheon agreed.
"I did ask for a dragon-related death, but it's fine, dogs are alright," he joked. "In terms of story, it's a really wonderful way to end so Sansa has the power."
But before he got to the death, he got the crap beaten out of him by Jon Snow.
"There's nothing he wants more than to beat Ramsay to death with his own fists and then he sees his sister who suffered at the hands of this man and he realizes than this person is not his to finish," Weiss said.
The beating went on and one, to the point where things got a little too extreme.
"It's a horrible moment when you see your hero go a bit too far. The audience feel, ‘Yes, yes, Ramsay's getting what he deserves. He's still getting what he deserves…OK, stop. Could you stop now?' You go from hating the person that's being punched and then something should slightly turn into oh this is my hero becoming a monster," Harington said. "I actually did punch Iwan in the face twice by accident. He took it really well. He was really nice about it, so I had to buy him a pint after that one."
"That was good. Jaw hurt a bit the next day, but it's understandable."
Game of Thrones finale airs Sunday, June 26 on HBO.