[quote=Tick]
Holy shit. I haven't read this much at once since some (EDIT:) IC (/EDIT) post from Mosis.Okay, I know I'm late on this, but I was stuck at college.Baelish shiz is interesting, much thanks on that. :]Quick note: Yeah, GRR Martin didn't speak badly of the scene beyond his disappointment about the it ended up disturbing, and I think he made an awesome intelligent response, but I wouldn't him to speak badly of the showrunners. Both because they're people (who he knows), and because it's bad business. No one wants to hire someone that actively gives 'em a bad image and poisons everything.I don't know what the fuck is with the rape scene. It came out of no where, seemed wildly out of character, and made just for the sake of TV sensationalism (which is Soap Opera level shit, and the main reason I got pissed). It also seemed to make the whole redemption arc pointless. Sure, he didn't seem a full-on goody two shoes, but this is extreme. And why bother making him have such a huge thing against rape (involving others/himself) if he's gonna rape his lover-sister next to the corpse of his nephew-son? I kinda see the points for it, it makes more sense, but it still reads like a stretch to compensate the scene.I've heard claims it's out of character because Jaime's chivalrous/extremely caring when it regards his sister, and regretted the rape of another female character because he couldn't do anything to stop it (standing right there). Not sure if that's true. The book's thing comes off as a grayish consensual (rape/potentially rape at the start), but it mostly reads like Cersei's bullshitting (or genuinely expressing worry) in fear they get caught, before encouraging Jaime. It didn't seem like she was accepting rape. I know the books often vary in interpretation, but GRR Martin seems to be confirming it wasn't rape in the way the show was.There were of people saying it was supposed to be grayish consensual like the book, and the show just fucked up badly. Tried looking it up and got different results. I'm assuming they mean Graves was talking flat out rape. Not positive., "yes and no" on the question of rape, that Cersei gives in at points and fights at others.In the show, it read as flat out rape, no consensual part at any point.I like the book's thing better, way better. And I don't get why they didn't add Cersei encouraging (or not saying no) Jaime if it was supposed to be consensual at some point. That said, I would accept the new shit if it went somewhere. Otherwise, it was a waste of time on a show that has too little time for its cast.
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Calling Jaime "chivalrous" is like calling water "dry." I really think people give him too much credit: When he attempts to kill a child, no one bats an eye. When, in the show, he kills one of his own cousins just for a chance to escape the Northern army, no one seems to think it's out of character. He gets overcome with rage and lust and rapes the primary object of affection in his life, and suddenly people are up in arms. I mean yeah, he's certainly in the middle of a redemption arc, and he's done some fairly decent things recently...but all of those things have to do with Brienne, who he has slowly come to respect. He's a narcissist, just like every other member of the Lannisters; in fact, probably more so than any other of his family members. He's spent his entire life pining after his ideal woman (who is his identical twin...you can't get much more narcissistic than that), only to have that ideal come into contest as he slowly realizes just how disgusting Cersei is as well as having new ideals take root (Brienne, who embodies a woman who is honorable, and more importantly, strong and independent, qualities that Jaime admires). So now Cersei offers little emotional attraction, but he's still physically attracted to her. Hence, rape. He's a dude that's shown time and time again that he has no qualms getting his hands dirty in order to get what he wants, and this doesn't feel that much different. 

Again, think it could've been handled better, but I don't think the scene was as outlandish as people think. As much as the audience likes to see him grow and develop as a character (and I'm no exception, he's very fun to watch/read), he's still an asshole.