WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for The White Lotus season 3, episode 6!SinceGame of Thrones’ ending, there’s been a search for a worthy popular HBO replacement show, withThe White Lotusassuming that role asone of the network’s top ongoing prestigious, shock-heavy dramasin more surprising ways than one. Though theGame of Thronesfranchise is still thriving withspinoffs likeHouse of the Dragon, it doesn’t maintain the same novelty and impact as its predecessor. Rather, the replacement for that Goliath of an HBO show has to be distinct enough from its content while providing comparable thrills and widespread engagement, similar to howGame of Thronesitself arguably replacedThe Sopranosafter its 2006 conclusion.
The White Lotushas now effectively stepped into that role since its 2021 debut. The anthology regularly recruits some of today’s most popular actors for biting satire, dark twists, incredible character writing and exposition, gorgeous settings, and an engaging murder mystery. There may not be dragons, large-scale battles, or White Walkers like inGame of Thrones, but the shows still share some overlapping foundational aspects with well-designed character and tension-building. Sealing their comparisons, as ofThe White Lotusseason 3, episode 6,the HBO show has unexpectedly wandered into some divisive themes that have definedGame of Thrones' franchise.
The White Lotus Season 3’s Lochlan/Saxon Scene Makes It More Like Game Of Thrones
HBO Has Another Show With An Incest Story
After teasing the subject before revealing the characters weren’t actually related in season 2,The White Lotusseason 3 actually features an incest plot. The idea that incest would play a role in season 3 was set up in the premiere when Lochlan watched his older brother Saxon masturbate nude in their bathroom. Their dynamic becomes increasingly strange untilThe White Lotusseason 3, episode 5’s ending, when they drunkenly kiss at Chloe’s encouragement. If that weren’t weird enough,The White Lotus season 3, episode 6 confirmsLochlan drunkenly performs a sex act on Saxonduring a threesome.
THAT Ratliff Brothers Twist Officially Makes The White Lotus Season 3 The Most Twisted One Yet
The White Lotus season 3 has raised the bar in just about every way compared to previous seasons, especially with its controversial Ratliff brothers.
On any other TV show, an incestuous relationship would be looked down upon and rejected, butGame of Thrones’ fantastical world oddly sanitized the taboo subject for audiences after eight seasons. After Jon and Daenerys’ nephew-aunt romance inGame of Thrones, the uncle-niece or cousin-cousin relationships inHouse of the Dragonseemed absurdly normal, being understood under the context of theTargaryen family’s preference for “dragon blood” purity. On the other hand, withHBO’sThe White Lotustaking place firmly in our own world and today’s society, Saxon and Lochlan’s incest scene is much more twistedand unexpected.
Why The White Lotus Uses Incest & How It’s Different To Game Of Thrones
They Have Very Different Purposes In Each Show
Again, unlikeGame of Thrones,The White Lotusdoesn’t get to use the justification of a fictional, fantastical world with dragons and magic for its incest inclusion.Game of Thrones’ use of incest is tied to establishing lore, historical family dynamics, thecontext of the Targaryens’ familial power, and their political decisions and domination within the franchise’s worldbuilding. Meanwhile,The White Lotus’ incest is used more to evoke shock and disgust in its satireof lost souls and strange wealthy family dynamics like the Ratliffs.
Lochlan
Sam Nivola
Mike White isn’t afraid of tackling taboo topics inThe White Lotus, and the Saxon and Lochlan story directly approaches this real-world subject in ways that TV, includingGame of Thrones, rarely does. Saxon and Lochlan’s incest plot puts a twist on their power dynamics while forcing them to confront their moral corruption, sense of self and identity, and how those inform their sexuality and familial relationships. White uses Saxon and Lochlan to analyze the abuse, power shifts, and shame’s aftermath, whileexposing the role of the family unit’s ignorance and harmful dynamics in influencing their actions.
