Winner takes all: Three queens vying for the throne

Rise of Westeros’ leading ladies keeps ‘GoT’ an Emmy forerunner

Subject to unspeakable violence at the hands of their brutal male counterparts, the women of Westeros seemed to come back with a vengeance during the latest season of Game of Thrones. In fact, they strengthened the show’s position for this year’s Emmy Awards, to be held today.

Thanks to its powerful female cast, Game of Thrones entered the Primetime Emmys as the most-nominated show with 23 nods, including three in the Supporting Drama Actress category and two for Supporting Drama Actor, reported Reuters.

The show is based on George RR Martin’s popular fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and follows the ever-expanding battle for the Iron Throne to rule over the Seven Kingdoms. It was also nominated for the Best Drama Series award, which it won for its fifth season, last year.

The end of that season saw the show’s leading women trapped in precarious situations, with Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) enduring a naked walk of shame and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) encountering the desert warrior tribe of Dothraki, after her dragon leaves her stranded. Not to mention, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is blinded and her long-lost sister Sansa (Sophie Turner) tries to escape her sadistic husband, Ramsey Bolton.

However, in the sixth season, which concluded this June, Cersei sits on the Iron Throne, Daenerys gains control over the Dothraki and decides to head into battle while Arya’s vision is returned and she reclaims her mission for revenge. Sansa sits alongside her resurrected brother Jon Snow as rulers of the North.

Headey, Clarke and Williams have all been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress category at this year’s Emmys – television’s highest honours. “Game of Thrones hasn’t won the category yet but Headey has been earning this role since the very beginning,” Entertainment Weekly editor-at-large James Hibberd said in an interview.  “The final scene of her ascending to the Iron Throne almost felt like a metaphor for the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony.”

But Headey might be hampered by having to split the Game of Thrones vote at the Television Academy with her fellow cast members. Also competing with them are Downton Abbey veteran Maggie Smith, The Affair’s Maura Tierney and Constance Zimmer for UnReal.

Games of Thrones’ leading men have also been recognised in the Best Supporting Drama Actor category, with Kit Harrington’s Night Watch leader Snow being brought back from the dead. Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister has already won him two Emmy trophies previously and will go head to head with Harrington this year.

But despite Dinklage’s previous wins, Hibberd believes Harrington might have a chance after mastering a wide range of emotions. “Under-acting is undervalued but the scene where Kit comes back from dead is an amazing bit of physical acting,” Hibberd said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2016.

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