I Can't Believe THAT Is How The White Lotus Has Turned Into HBO's Game Of Thrones Replacement

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for The White Lotus season 3, episode 6!Since Game of Thrones’ ending, there’s been a search for a worthy popular HBO replacement show, with The White Lotus assuming that role as one of the network’s top ongoing prestigious, shock-heavy dramas in more surprising ways than one. Though the Game of Thrones franchise is still thriving with spinoffs like House 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 how Game of Thrones itself arguably replaced The Sopranos after its 2006 conclusion.

The White Lotus has 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 in Game of Thrones, but the shows still share some overlapping foundational aspects with well-designed character and tension-building. Sealing their comparisons, as of The White Lotus season 3, episode 6, the HBO show has unexpectedly wandered into some divisive themes that have defined Game 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 Lotus season 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 until The White Lotus season 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 confirms Lochlan drunkenly performs a sex act on Saxon during a threesome.

Ratliff Brothers Twist Makes The White Lotus S3 The Most Twisted One Yet

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.

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On any other TV show, an incestuous relationship would be looked down upon and rejected, but Game of Thrones’ fantastical world oddly sanitized the taboo subject for audiences after eight seasons. After Jon and Daenerys’ nephew-aunt romance in Game of Thrones, the uncle-niece or cousin-cousin relationships in House of the Dragon seemed absurdly normal, being understood under the context of the Targaryen family’s preference for “dragon blood” purity. On the other hand, with HBO’s The White Lotus taking place firmly in our own world and today’s society, Saxon and Lochlan’s incest scene is much more twisted and unexpected.

Why The White Lotus Uses Incest & How It's Different To Game Of Thrones

They Have Very Different Purposes In Each Show

Again, unlike Game of Thrones, The White Lotus doesn’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, the context 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 satire of lost souls and strange wealthy family dynamics like the Ratliffs.

The White Lotus Season 3's Ratliff Family
Character	Actor
Timothy	Jason Isaacs
Victoria	Parker Posey
Saxon	Patrick Schwarzenegger
Piper	Sarah Catherine Hook
Lochlan	Sam Nivola

Mike White isn’t afraid of tackling taboo topics in The White Lotus, and the Saxon and Lochlan story directly approaches this real-world subject in ways that TV, including Game 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, while exposing the role of the family unit’s ignorance and harmful dynamics in influencing their actions.