Khal Drogo Did Not Rape Daenerys Targaryen

** This debate will contain massive spoilers about the HBO television series "Game of Thrones". If you do not wish to read about the series before watching it, then please do not read this debate. **This debate is a "no scoring" debate. If you wish to leave an opinion about which position you found to be more convincing (i.e. an RFD), offer constructive criticism, and/or simply discuss the matter, there is a forum topic set up for this specific purpose here: (http://www.debate.org...) This debate is impossible to accept. If you want to debate this topic, please either leave a note in the comments section or PM me, thank you.Finally, this debate is about the television series and not the books. I understand there are significant deviations between the two.ResolutionKhal Drogo Did Not Rape Daenerys TargaryenThis resolution involves the first two episodes of the first season of the series, during which the two consummate their marriage and have sex repeatedly afterwards, evidently to the displeasure of an extremely uncomfortable Daenerys.First of all, to be clear, in a modern conception of rape, every single act of sex between Drogo and Daenerys would be considered rape for two reasons: 1) She was under-age (I believe 13 at the time, although in the show they do not make it clear, and the actress Emilia Clarke is herself 27), and 2) they did not share a common language, meaning that consent would have been impossible to establish in a modern court of law. For this debate, the modern legal definition of rape is not valid... instead rape will be determined by the accepted standards of the television series.ArgumentRecently, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding a particular episode in the current season of Game of Thrones that involves Cercei and Jaime Lannister having sex in front of their dead son inside the holiest building in Westeros. In the books, this was consensual, as it coincided with the reunion of the two after years of separation. In the TV series, the director of the episode has been all over the place, in one breath clearly calling it "forced sex" and "rape" (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com...), then when asked point blank whether or not it was a rape, waffles with answers like "it was consensual by the end." (http://www.hitfix.com...)The actor involved when asked the same question responded with "Yes and no," (http://time.com...) although he has since banned his children from ever watching the specific scene. (http://www.dailystar.co.uk...).That scene () explicitly involved Cercei saying "Stop!" repeatedly, and Jaime responding with "I don't care," while ripping her clothes off and forcing her onto the floor. Non-consent was clearly voiced, and so to conclude it was rape is plausible by most standards. Incidentally, the two are quite cool to each other as a result of that scene, and if anyone considers rape to be about an expression of power relations between genders as "the pervasive threat of sexual assault is used to limit women's sovereignty,"(http://www.theguardian.com...), Cercei makes it subsequently clear where the power lies, as in their next meeting she keeps Jaime waiting, addresses him as "Lord Commander", fully cognizant that her position as Queen (Regent) is the higher position, to which Jaime has no choice but to acquiesce (). ---I bring up Cercei and Jaime mainly to put the resolution in its proper context. There are material differences between the Cercei/Jaime affair and the Drogo/Daenerys affair that would categorize one as rape and not the other.First, did Daenerys ever say "No?". The answer is no. Khal Drogo said "no" repeatedly (apparently it was the only word he knew), but Daenerys, not once. (, last minute of the video). So, we do not have a clear, verbal indication of non-consent. Does she resist? She covers herself and cries...she is clearly uncomfortable with the entire concept...but did she agree to it? The answer here is clearly yes.Marriage in the Game of Thrones setting is typically only recognized when it is consummated, i.e. the act of sex. This is clear when King Joffrey is murdered...Margaery Tyrell asks whether or not she is queen, to which her grandmother answers "less than you would have been if Joffrey had done you the courtesy of consummating the marriage before dying." ()All of the political marriages in the series are inextricably tied to this concept of consummation (http://en.wikipedia.org...). This is true in every single political marriage in the series...the expectation is to produce (male) offspring to further the family lineage.Did Daenerys agree to the marriage? Yes - their marriage was consensual. Therefore, she agreed to the consummation of the marriage as well, and so what looks like reticence on her part is irrelevant to the issue of consent, but is much more an issue of having "cold feet".This is very, very different from Tyrion's marriage to Sansa, as Sansa had no choice in the matter...she is a Lannister hostage, and she does what the Lannisters command her to do. Tyrion is vocal that he will not rape Sansa...while Sansa's age is an issue (the actress who plays Sansa is herself only 17), the main issue is that such a marriage would have been non-consensual, and therefore any sexual act could very well be considered rape by the standards of the TV series ().ConclusionThere is a lot of talk about rape in the series, but this is not one of those instances. I await an intelligent rebuttal from my opponent.