Euphoria season 2's sex scene flips the script on Game of Thrones

Euphoria's season two premiere was HBO's most talked-about episode since Game of Thrones choked its finale in 2019, as per Variety. Did a gag-worthy number of penises (penii?) help drive this increased conversation around Euphoria's return? Let's just say it didn't hurt...

And now, only one week later, Euphoria is combining the best of both worlds with a giant wang that's attached to an imaginary Game of Thrones-esque warrior in Kat's bedroom.

Here's that scene again, in case you forgot what that looked like. Just don't move too close to the screen, you might poke your eye out. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

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You ok, hun? All recovered?

Last week's episode threw an abattoir's worth of meat onscreen to reposition male nudity as something that can be laughed at, thereby robbing dicks of their power onscreen. For once, the exposed wieners reinforced how weak men can be, associating their willies with vulnerability rather than toxicity or power.

Episode two does something similar but from a completely different angle. This time round, the naked male form is depicted as strength personified. Actor Brock O'Hurn, aka Super Hot Warrior Man (his character's actual name, we kid you not) represents the pinnacle of physical perfection — assuming you're into conventional beauty standards, of course.

Longtime Euphoria fans might recall that Super Hot Warrior Man has appeared in Kat's world before. Remember in season one's third episode when her gains in confidence coincided with a wild Game of Thrones-esque crossover moment?

Super Hot Warrior Man enters this scene from a similar position of power by impaling Ethan before telling Kat he has plans to use a different kind of sword with her. Which he then does. Quite vigorously. But this Dothraki knockoff isn't "conquering" Kat, despite what he says. Because this, of course, is Kat's story.

From the ripped, glistening muscles to that girthy one-eyed monster, everything that's "strong" about male physicality here actually comes from Kat's horny imagination. And despite playing a submissive role in the sex, Kat is very much in control of the narrative, quite literally, because this is really a memory she's embellished while chatting to her pals in the bathroom at school.

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The Game of Thrones parallel is very deliberate here. In that HBO show, women were often depicted as powerless in sex, the victims of cruel and unnecessary violence. But in Euphoria, it's the male fantasy-warrior who is objectified, penis and all.

So yes, this naked man is depicted as strong and mighty in ways that the men and their floppy wangs from last week's episode were not. Yet regardless, it's the female point of view that stands erect and tall at the forefront of this scene.

No matter how powerful Super Hot Warrior Man might be or how much he takes charge physically, he only exists to please Kat. Even in 2022, that kind of gendered power reversal is something we don't see often enough when it comes to sex and its portrayal onscreen.

While it's impressive to see Euphoria actively explore and deconstruct the impact of male nudity in season two, the show continues to draw its fair share of detractors who argue that this is all just played for shock value. And there might be some truth to that.

But if a gaggle of cocks onscreen can also generate some much-needed conversations around sex and misogyny, then we hope to see a lot more of Super Hot Warrior Man and his giant, throbbing shock value moving forward.

Euphoria airs Sunday nights on HBO and Monday nights on NOW and Sky Atlantic in the UK.

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