Sunday night's episode of Game of Thrones brought together two characters who had never shared a screen before, and the results were epic. No, not Ramsay and Jon Snow; we're talking about Daenerys, Mother of Dragons, and Yara Greyjoy, rightful Queen of the Iron Islands — and now also of the hearts of fangirls everywhere.
flirtatious, subtext-laden conversation between the two would-be rulers didn't go unnoticed.
For all the plot twists, shadow babies, white walkers, dragons and tree elves in Game of Thrones, there are surprisingly few LGBT characters — and only a handful of interactions between them over the course of the entire series.
But Sunday's unbearably flirty scene between Yara, who was seducing wenches only two episodes ago, and Daenerys, who, let's not forget, had at least one night of helpful "lessons" with her handmaid once upon a time, had plenty of GoT fans ready to board the Yara + Dany ship.
I think we can all agreed that the greatest part of GoT last night was the sexual tension between Yara and Daenerys.
Yara and Daenerys making MAJOR bedroom eyes at each other like am I still watching Orange is the New Black or what?¿?
The vibes between Yara and Daenerys were, obviously, no accident. As Gemma Whelan, who plays Yara, said in a feature for HBO, "It's clear as the scene plays out that Yara quite likes Dany. We share a lot of little looks and there's some playful language in how we talk to one another."
But the audience response is evidence of how important queer representation is to so many fans, and how rare it is to see two woman characters — characters with actual backstories, families and motives — have an interaction that's as laden with "will they, won't they" sexual tension as any conversation between a man and a woman might be.
The likelihood of a real relationship between Yara and Daenerys is slim — after all, barely anyone in the world of Game of Thrones has any time for romance these days, what with all the battles and assassinations and political maneuverings that have to get done, but it's important for us all to see that queerness exists in our fictional worlds as well as our real one.