One of pop culture’s creepiest arcs has been Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen’s romance in Game of Thrones. The HBO series pulled the trigger on them as a couple, adding drama to the rebellion they’d eventually form against the Lannisters. While at first we took pity on Jon as he didn’t know he was a Targaryen, it was a tad disturbing that they kept their love burning once the secret was spilled by Samwell Tarly. Dany didn’t care for their shared bloodline, and Jon didn’t put up too much of a fight either. The status quo just continued. Ironically, Apple TV+’s See feels like Game of Thrones in a post-apocalyptic America, and while it also has an incest arc, it’s a lot creepier.
The arc revolved around the young Gether Bax, who constantly tried to disrupt the peace within the Alkenny clan. He hated how an outsider, Baba Voss (Jason Momoa), came in and was anointed leader, thinking that the role should have gone to someone within the tribe, namely him.
However, the tribe’s shaman made it clear Baba, a former slaver, was the only one strong enough to hide and protect them from Queen Kane’s forces. This riled Gether’s mom, who was burned alive for insubordination when she questioned Baba’s appointment. This left Gether’s with a chip on his shoulder, and pushed him and aunt Souter to attempt to incite civil war and get Baba voted out, so they could take over the leadership.
However, in “The River,” it all took a weird turn because while at first it seemed they were just bitter family members with a vendetta, they were actually conducting a secret romance. It’s implied they were both kids when the murder occurred, and subsequently grew up secretly hiding this incestuous relationship. They willingly engaged in sex, driven by attraction and passion for each other, but more so, by the tragic death of Souter’s sister, in what is an odd kink, to say the least.
Admittedly, it’s a tad different from Jon and Dany, who fell in love first before the secret emerged, but there is a parallel as Gether and Souter, nephew and aunt, push forth to make their claim on the Alkennt throne.
Sadly, just like how Jon and Dany’s crusade eventually cost thousands of lives, See would paint a bloody end as Gether betrayed the clan to the Witchfinders, led by Tamacti Jun. He shared that Baba and Maghra had kids who could see — Haniwa and Kofun — which brought Tamacti Jun’s soldiers in and sent Baba’s family on the run.
However, in a brutal battle upstream, as Baba lost allies on a raft, Haniwa fired a couple arrows into Gether on the shore, as he tried to guide Tamacti Jun. The warlord then gutted him with a knife to hasten his death in a mercy killing. Little did Gether know he was dooming himself and his beloved, as Tamacti Jun’s frustrated soldiers would then slaughter Souter and the rest of the clan who turned on Baba.
See Season 2 premieres Aug. 27 on Apple TV+.
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