[Warning: If you haven't seen Game of Thrones Season 5 episode 6 or read the George R.R. Martin book A Dance With Dragons, prepare for spoilers in the next few paragraphs.]

Sen. Claire McCaskill is done with Game of Thrones, and the Missouri politician is not alone.

Sunday night's episode of the HBO hit depicted the rape of Sansa Stark, one of the show's beloved female characters, after her wedding to the sadistic Ramsay Bolton. The backlash has been loud and passionate. Game of Thrones is the network's most-watched show ever, with 18.4 million total viewers across all platforms.

By Monday morning the complaints were so loud that author George R. R. Martin, whose books act as the source material for the series (but, interestingly, not for this particular scene), weighed in on the controversy.

What Martin didn't say is that the scene is far more brutal in his telling. Though Ramsay's bride in the books is Jeyne Poole, a friend of Sansa's, the moment is recounted in excruciating detail. Theon is forced to join in, rather than just watch as he does in the show. In other words, the showrunners presented a somewhat sanitized version.

That distinction didn't matter to many viewers. Nor should it.

Ok, I'm done Game of Thrones.Water Garden, stupid.Gratuitous rape scene disgusting and unacceptable.It was a rocky ride that just ended. — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) May 19, 2015

Ok,winter is definitely coming.I just expressed an opinion.Cumulative effect violence & brutality took its toll. Sansa rape last straw. #GOT — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) May 20, 2015

This, of course, is not the first time a TV series has angered its viewers with its depiction of rape. Nor will it be the last.

And that's absolutely how it should be.

Regardless whether Thrones was in the wrong here, whether the showrunners filmed it with enough sensitivity, or whether they've truly burned through their good will after last year's Cersei/Jaime horror show, it has spurred a discussion among fans, TV viewers and an entire creative industry.

It's a discussion that needs to be had as often as possible.

What's been learned in the past

The last time the conversation about rape on TV was brought to a similar boil was early 2014, when a series of sexual assaults on television followed one another in quick succession.

First, a flashback that aired during November Sweeps 2013 revealed Scandal's First Lady Mellie Grant was raped by her father-in-law and may have produced a child. Then Anna Bates, the quiet and sweet housemaid on Downton Abbey was attacked by a guest during a party at the manor in an episode that aired stateside in January. And House of Cards Season 2, released in February 2014, introduced a plot that involved Claire Underwood confronting her rapist.

Anna Bates (right) sits with her husband in a photo from Season 4 of 'Downton Abbey.' Image: PBS

The consensus? This was not a coincidence — it was an epidemic.

The creators of all the respective series defended their moves, particularly Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes, who said she was "disturbed" that some viewers suggested the reveal of Mellie's past rape was a ploy to make the sometimes-conniving, always-amusing character more likable.

"It’s not a show about likeability," she told Vulture. "We’re also not working from that point of view. Really, for us, a lot of it is just about illuminating the characters...We’re gonna peel back their layers and you’re gonna discover stuff about them, and it’s going to make you feel uncomfortable because maybe you always hated them or maybe you always loved them, but that’s what humanity is."

Intention is everything

Humanity is the key word when it comes to depiction of rape itself on TV.

Rape scenes on TV should horrify you. But they shouldn't horrify you for the sake of a plot twist. It's horrifying because it's rape, and rape is real.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) has often consulted on television shows — including Fox's Glee and CW's Reign, which had star Adelaide Kane film a PSA to air after the episode that introduced a rape storyline. Its aim was to realistically and respectfully portray sexual assault.

Scott Berkowitz, founder and president of RAINN, told Mashable that the organization encourages shows to include rape as part of a storyline if the assault fits the character and theme of the program and is not just a one-off event.

"I think TV's responsibility, if they are going to take on this issue, is that they do it right, that it conveys accurate information and that they show the real impact of it, on the victim directly and other characters that the victim is interacting with," Berkowitz said.

The myths and misperceptions presented on television often revolve around a survivor's relationship with an attacker.

While viewers might be accustomed to seeing characters assaulted by a stranger in a garage or dark alley, statistics show that nearly three-quarters of female victims know or have previously met their assailant.

Some might argue for fewer depictions of sexual assault. Berkowitz said that it is misleading to ignore the crime, particularly on shows the feature female characters between the ages of 16 and 24. That demographic is considered at the highest risk for sexual assault.

"There's almost no way not to have a rape storyline," he said, "because it is such a common part of young women’s experience."

That television reflects the growing awareness around sexual assault is not necessarily a bad thing. But when trying to tell those stories, the lesson, it seems, is pretty clear: Intention is everything.

When rape is used as a cheap and lazy device to build a strong female character's vulnerability — or, from the attacker's POV, their maliciousness — it harms both the story and is disrespectful to real-life survivors.

The most notable recent example of such a disservice was last year's premiere of FX's Tyrant, which featured three instances of sexual assault against women in the pilot alone. And yes, that fact was rightly and properly skewered by TV critics — something that happens across the board.

Even shows that get an aspect of a sensitive scenes right inevitably get something wrong. But there's nothing to be lost from a discussion.

In fact, Mad Men's depiction of Joan's sexual assault at the hands of her fiance in Season 2 put the issue of marital rape into the mainstream in a way that hadn't been seen since a much-debated 2006 episode of Rescue Me saw the main character, played by Denis Leary, force himself upon his estranged wife.

Following the scene, Christina Hendricks told New York Magazine that she was astounded by some viewers' cavalier attitude about Joan's experience, with some expressing doubt about her assault.

"It illustrates how similar people are today, because we're still questioning whether it's a rape," she told them.

And in about a week, Starz's Outlander is sure to spark a discussion of its own.

[Warning: If you haven't read the first book from the Outlander series, beware of spoilers in the next three paragraphs.]

Those who watch the show know that in Saturday's episode Jamie was captured by the villainous Black Jack Randall. In the books, it is during this captivity that the character is raped.

Thus far, Outlander has had its fair share of backlash for the pure number of attempted rapes shown on screen, particularly those involving the heroine Claire. But it has also been lauded for its handling of some of those brutal sexual scenes. In one instance, a sexual assault was thwarted when the attacker had a humiliating moment during the rape attempt.

A few weeks back, Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie, told Mashable that extreme care is put into filming those scenes because they're well aware of the delicate way source material must be translated to the small screen.

"We're very aware that they're hard scenes to film, and even going up to the stuff with Black Jack Randall and the end ... it's something we want to get right," he said.

Of course, when it comes to this topic, there really is no "getting it right." The best most writers — and TV fans — can hope for, really, is that the showrunners not get it terribly, terribly wrong.