Game of Thrones cast salaries show no gender wage gap, and finally

This is what we came for

Words by Jadie Troy-Pryde

While we've been enjoying everything that's going on in this season of Game of Thrones - the return of Gendry! Cersei's fate in the season finale! Jon Snow's tasty curls! - something even better has been happening off screen. The cast salaries have been released, and while their staggering wages will make payday seem even further away, it's a definite win for women.

Earlier this year there were rumours that the Game of Thrones cast could be the highest paid actors and actresses in television, and now their exact earnings have been made public knowledge.

Variety reports that the show's five key players take home around $500,000 (approximately £390,000) per episode. Those falling into this top pay bracket are Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage, who play Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister and Tyrion Lannister.

Not all the actors and actresses wages have been released, with Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner and Aiden Gillen - Arya Stark, Sansa Stark and Littlefinger - falling into a different pay bracket.

So while Google, The White House and the BBC have been slammed in recent months for being complicit in the gender wage gap, the hit HBO show can safety dodge those arrows as they pay their talent equally, regardless of gender. Hurrah.

It's a huge step forward for women in film television, especially considering that all fourteen actors on the most recent highest paid actor list were revealed to have a significantly higher income than Emma Stone, who topped the highest paid actress list.

While there's still has a long way to go if Hollywood is ever going to tackle the gender wage gap, hopefully this news will get the ball rolling for other shows and movies to follow suit.

And it's about time.