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maisiestyle · 6 months

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"Ned Stark's Precious Little Girl"

Arya is a mix of both her parents. But as her story unfolds, with every new chapter and book, Arya has moved beyond her parents and into a far more dynamic character.

Ned was a role model to Arya, she loved him more than almost anyone (she loves Jon most of all). She holds on to Ned's memory now more than any of his children.

Ned is stubborn, quick to anger, loyal to a fault, and deeply devoted to his family to the point where he sacrificed his honor and died for his children.

Both Arya & Ned had a dislike for Southern culture. Which is double odd considering Ned was fostered in the South: That was never truly his place. Whereas Cat and Sansa are very much creatures made for the South.

Treatment of the smallfolk and not judging those lower than their station... That says a lot about their character, something Ned, Lyanna, Arya & Jon have all shown in the books.

Arya & Ned are similar but different as well. Where Ned was lacking, his ability to not see the truth in the lies around him - Arya has developed beyond that point. Ned was too slow and unyielding until it was too late and he died. Cat was to heedless, prideful, and emotional - that cost her life. At the beginning Arya was a mix of both her parents BUT her journey so far has made her grow and develop where her parents had not. By Book 5, Arya is extremely artful and considerate, patient and willing to face the truth in all its ugliness, adaptable and fluid like water - a changeling. That's how she'll survive where her parents did not.

While Sansa is learning how to flirt, organise a glorified party and remain passive and isolated.

Arya lives out in the open, has escaped death and captivity by her own wits, travelled all over Westeros leaving her memory imprinted on the people she met along the way, and her unyielding desire to never be helpless again which brought her to Braavos. The Sealord of Braavos stood up to a King and his dragons and won - all he did was whisper the "faceless men" and King's Landing yielded - that is true power. Arya will return to Westeros having grown in many ways. But like her father and mother, her family will always be her guiding light.

I love how the Northmen constantly connect Arya to Ned and want to fight for them both:

When White Harbour (a place Arya has visited twice with Ned) hears of "Arya Stark" marrying Ramsay.

“Was ever snow so black?” asked Lord Wyman. “Ramsay took Lord Hornwood’s lands by forcibly wedding his widow, then locked her in a tower and forgot her. It is said she ate her own fingers in her extremity…and the Lannister notion of king’s justice is to reward her killer with Ned Stark’s little girl.” - (Davos, A Dance with Dragons)

~*~

As "Arya" suffers in Winterfell, they connect her to Ned:

"The bride weeps," Lady Dustin said, as they made their way down, step by careful step. "Our little Lady Arya." ... What do you think passes through their heads when they hear the new bride weeping? Valiant Ned's precious little girl." ...

"Lady Arya's sobs do us more harm than all of Lord Stannis's swords and spears.

~*~

The northmen want to fight for Arya:

“Even ruined and broken, Winterfell remains Lady Arya’s home. What better place to wed her, bed her, and stake your claim? […] Let Stannis march on us. He is too cautious to come to Barrowton…but he must come to Winterfell. His clansmen will not abandon the daughter of their precious Ned to such as you. - (Reek, A Dance with Dragons)

[…]

Lord Arnolf shoved himself up, a vulture rising from its prey. One spotted hand clutched at his son’s shoulder for support. “We’ll take [Winterfell] for Ned and for his daughter.” - (The Sacrifice, A Dance with Dragons)

~*~

"Winter is almost upon us, boy. And winter is death. I would sooner my men die fighting for the Ned’s little girl than alone and hungry in the snow, weeping tears that freeze upon their cheeks. No one sings songs of men who die like that. As for me, I am old. This will be my last winter. Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die. I want to feel it spatter across my face when my axe bites deep into a Bolton skull. I want to lick it off my lips and die with the taste of it on my tongue." - (Dance with Dragons)

#arya stark #sansa stark #asoiaf #anti sansa stans #house stark #game of thrones #gotaryastark #grrmartin #ned stark #braavos #asoiaf art #jon snow #arya

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yeniayofnymeria · 11 months

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Theory: The End of A Stark "Will Sansa Die?"

Hi, Selam!

This week I would like to revisit a theory that I read years ago, but I have to say that I have rewritten it with my own additions and ideas. I want to say at the beginning what I'll say at the end, to be honest, for years I've had a 50% chance that Sansa will live or die at the end of the story, but I'm a little bit more on the possibility of her dying, but I have to say that it's still not a definite idea, I'm still not very sure.

Here I will not only discuss Sansa's possible signs of death, but also include some ideas between the lines on how her story might progress.

(It's going to be a bit of a long post and I hope my bad grammar doesn't kill your enjoyment of reading.)

As you know very well, none of the characters are safe, except for one person at least. For this reason, we approach almost every character, be it the main character or the lead, with the possibility that they might die.

While characters have their own missions in the story, the writers also impose other missions on them, and the two missions can be completely opposite as well as compatible. For example, even if character x sees himself as the savior of the story, the author can turn him into the villain of the story. People like Martin place hints about missions and story development in the text from the very beginning, and if we pay close attention we can see them, but sometimes we don't fully understand the purpose of the characters' existence. For example, I still can't figure out why Val exists. I think it's easier to predict the protagonists, after all, they are the main focus of the author, they are the characters that drive/shape the story.

Sansa is one of the main characters, like Cersei and Jaime, and there is no doubt that, like every character, the author has a mission for her. We're not going to discuss that here because that's not our topic, but the meaning that is attributed to her can affect the ending of the story.

In my opinion, the author has not yet used Sansa for her purpose. Yes, she served as Arya's foil at the beginning of the story, but I don't think her part in what happened between Ned and the Lannists is her raison d'etre, at least not her sole raison d'etre. Most fans think that she is the one who will turn into a player for the throne and make up for the Starks' lack of intrigue; some readers don't attach any special meaning to her; or some - like me - think that she will be partly involved in a game for the throne, but against Jon, to his detriment. It's impossible to know which of these three ideas will turn out to be exactly right without reading it, but some uncertainty about the character's purpose in the story creates a similar uncertainty about her possible ending, at least for me.

I'm thinking of two possible scenarios.

The first one is that, like when we start the book, she takes some actions against her family, which in this case it's Jon and Arya, but in the end she realizes what she did wrong, corrects herself and helps destroy the family enemy, which would be Littlefinger. That's a bit of a classic character development, so I'm actually leaning a bit towards that idea, especially with the prophecy of killing the giant that we think is Littlefinger.

In these scenarios, there are usually two possibilities; (1) the character survives and finds her own happiness by turning into a figure who supports her family until the end, or (2) she sacrifices herself for the sake of protecting her family / righting the wrong she has done(There are readers who think that because the Lady died instead of Nymeria, Sansa will sacrifice herself for Arya).

In the second scenario, she becomes the villain within the family and continues to reinforce her betrayal and is eventually executed within the family. Of course, the adjective "villain" here does not mean turning into a devilish temptress. For example, the desire to protect the inheritance rights of her brothers (against Jon) with good intentions and to elevate / secure her own position in return for all that she has suffered is quite possible and I think it would be a reasonable desire. Although I already think that she will act in this or a similar way, as I just said, she is more inclined to the possibility of correcting herself, but if she does not, "death" would be inevitable for such a figure. The person I got the theory from already thinks that Sansa will die by Arya's hand.

For this reason, we can approach the theory with two separate questions: Will Sansa die and if so, how/by whom?

First, let's look for an answer to the question "Will Sansa die, or rather, are there signs that she might die?". The short answer to this question is "yes". As we have already said, no character seems to be safe, so it will be possible to find at least one sign that could point to death for almost every lead and main character.

So, what are these signs for Sansa? Let's take them one by one.

Death Signs / Arguments

1- Our first sign is RED ROSE and SWEET SMELL.

When the characters smell sweet from someone or something, it is considered to be danger bells. Of course, we do not claim that they will die 100%, they may be there as a sign that they will face death and return from death, but if they have received more than one sign, it may be difficult to say that they will simply fall into a coma.

The red rose that Loras Tyrell gave Sansa at the tournament in the first book is remarkable. While he gave white roses to everyone else, he gave her a red rose, which Loras didn't even remember. It was probably a political gesture to honor his father for being the daughter of the Hand, which he did at Renly's direction in the show.

While white roses are usually associated with purity, innocence and cherishing, red roses are the most remarkable and most acceptable of all types of roses because they express love and passion. It is for this reason that it is the most valuable, at least spiritually, which is why Loras gives a red rose, but if we look at the author's intention, the fact that a sweet scent emanates from this rose can be interpreted as a sign that Sansa may die for the sake of love/love, considering the importance she attaches to love. Now let's elaborate on this scenario.

When we think of love, we usually think of romantic feelings between a man and a woman; if you remember the SanSan theory, Sansa's emotional bond with Sandor may be a path that leads to their deaths in the future. Almost everyone thinks Sandor will die in his fight with his brother, probably very few think he will survive. The part that interests me is the idea of how this will happen.

I have actually opened two threads for this in the past. Bran's coma dream, which refers to Sandor's fight with Jaime against his brother, and Sandor's motivation. If you haven't read it or forgotten the details, I recommend you to read it again.

Roughly summarized... So in the fight of the three shadows that we saw in Bran's coma dream, Sandor's motivation to fight his brother the Mountain could be to protect Sansa. Sandor will probably die protecting Sansa at the end of this fight.

Alternative Interpretation of the Rose Sign

Apart from the love for Sansa and Sandor, the red rose reference can also be interpreted as "love for family". After all, what we call love is not a uniform thing. Usually, when we buy roses for our mothers, we prefer red roses. This could fit the scenario that Sansa comes to her senses and dies trying to protect her family. Of course, I am closer to the love interpretation, but I think this is a possible scenario.

The Red Rose is the strongest death argument for Sansa. The ones after that can be considered equivalent or relatively less strong.

2- Let's continue with Lady The Direwolf.

Everyone knows that wolves symbolize their owners and are a sign of their fate. The Lady, like her owner, is a graceful and calm animal, but she is killed because of Cersei's hatred of wolves. Some interpret Sansa's naming of the wolf and its untimely death as a sign of two things. The first is that a character who was expected to be queen in the first book (because of her betrothal to Joffrey) will remain a lady forever , and the second is that Sansa will die with the early death of her wolf.

While I agree with forever lady interpretation, but I can't claim that I see the wolf's death as a sign that Sansa should also die, at least not directly. Yes, I'm not ruling it out as a possibility, maybe it is indeed a sign, but there is a more weighty view(for some people), which I'm a little closer to.

Wolves symbolize Stark children and their Stark identity. They are also the key to triggering the warg abilities. We know that Sansa is a warg, but it's a dormant ability that never triggers because her wolf died. Whereas all her other siblings have their wolves and their warg abilities have awakened.

So what does this detail mean for Sansa? Why is Sansa the only one of all the children who is deprived of this?

Well, like Nymeria, the Lady could have been kept alive somehow, but the author did not choose to do so. For some view is that Sansa is no longer a Stark as an "identity", that this aspect is dead. Don't get me wrong, of course she is still her father's daughter and a member of the family. We are talking about her spiritual Stark identity. If you remember, after letter she sent to her family, when Robb reacted angrily and asked what was wrong with this girl, Bran's answer was "her wolf is dead". It's a rather meaningless thought when you look at what's going on, but I think the writer is sending a signal here that Sansa's spiritual bond with the north and with the Starks has been severed.

In 2001, we see an interesting dialogue between the fans and Martin (actually, I remember there was something similar, but I couldn't find the source).

Well, 20-odd years later this information is still there, so I'm proceeding from the conclusion that it hasn't been refuted. And this is parallel to what I'm about to explain.

So, what exactly does Martin mean by that?

Now Sansa is disguised as Aleyna in the Vale and keep her role of father and daughter, as if performing a theatre with Littlefinger. No doubt she still remembers Sansa in her mind(even she is Sansa), but at LF's request, they continue to play father-daughter roles even when they are alone(it's important detail).

However, if you pay attention, there are changes in the names of the characters starting from the 4th book, this is a detail that Martin later thought of and added. The POV name is written in this way if the character feels himself as what or who he is at that moment.

In an interview in 2006, Martin explained that pov names are a sign of how the characters, but especially Sansa, think of themselves, and even in 2008, when asked if the Hound and Sansa will get together, He says: “Why? The Hound is dead and Sansa may be dead too, there is only Aleyne Stone.”

What is meant by death here, of course, is not bodily, but as a "spiritual-identity". There is a nice theory that the Hound is not essentially dead, but that the Hound within is dead. We've probably seen him in Brienne povs anyway... The author (seems) has made a statement that the same identity-spiritual death is also for Sansa. In later years, he explained the changes in these pov names of the characters as "identities are under attack." As a matter of fact, although we talking about Sansa, the identities of many characters such as Arya and Theon are also under attack. It looks like Theon has finally found himself, as we look at Mercy POV, we know Arya's holding onto her identity thanks to Needle and Nymeria, but Sansa?

She has neither a wolf nor an anchor like Needle to connect her to her identity.

Martin said the imaginary kiss was intentional and hinted at something; He explains by pointing to Sansa's psychology. When we first met Sansa, we saw that she told a little lie and we didn't dwell on it, we said we all tell little lies like that, but then the lies started to get bigger and more serious. Worse still, Sansa lies to herself the most, which is made most obvious by the imaginary kiss. Lying is one of the most striking situations in Sansa's story. She lies so often now that she begins to remember events that way (something we actually saw in the first book with the Mycah issue).

Considering Martin's emphasis on Sansa's psychology and Aleyna identity, in addition to the reason for the changes in pov names, Sansa will probably begin to consider herself as Aleyna in the future. It looks like Sansa will lose her identity while the readers wait for Arya. Of course, to me, this loss of identity will not be like the Faceless Men. Sansa will be well aware of herself, but she will see herself as Petry Baelish's bastard daughter Aleyna Stone; As we are used to seeing in spy movies, we can expect to see in Sansa the character starts to integrate with the identity she is acting after playing long enough.

In fact, this situation can be seen from time to time in actors who show method acting, they cannot get out of the role and their behaviors change because the point of this technique is not to portray the character, but to live. Like a method actress, Sansa does not portray the character of Aleyna, she is officially live it. You can easily observe this between the lines. Remember the scenes where Theon goes back and forth between The Reek and Theon. This shows that she will not be able to get rid of the LF effect for a long time, which is one of the reasons why I think she will act against Jon, because she is under the LF effect.

To summarize this matter, the death of Sansa's wolf is a sign for her breaking of her ties with Stark and the north, her distance from being a Stark spiritually and her slowly starting to assume the identity of Aleyna Stone. This, in the LF effect, makes her a pawn to be used against the Starks. If Sansa cannot find her identity again at the end of the story, I don't see it possible for such a person to live, she will definitely die at the end of the story.

3- Another argument, Blood Oranges

Actually, this is a bit sweet and death theory thing . Blood Oranges are death symbols that symbolize murder in the series. It caught our attention mainly in the Doran Martell scenes; Hotah was talking about the sweet smell of overripe and falling blood oranges, which, as you can see, also has a sweet side. Another notable example is the phrase "whatever you do, keep your hands clean" in the scene where LF squeezes and drinks a blood orange while LF's with Sansa, where they're talking about Joffrey's murder. Of course, these two are not the only examples, but the example that interests us is in the first book, between Arya and Sansa...

...the two sisters were talking about the Mycah murder at a time they were arguing at dinner and Sansa was lying again, Arya said "liar", squeezing the blood orange in anger, then she throws it to Sansa. The orange falls first on her head and then on her lap, staining her dress. Sansa's fear of Illyn Payne from the first moment she saw it; When we think about things such as having terrible dreams/fears that her head will be cut off, does the blood orange that hit her head indicate that she will be the victim of such a murder? Moreover, the orange falls into her lap, which is actually where her private area is; When she took off the dress, she was having a fit of crying, seeing that it was also covered in her underwear. Here Martin may have signaled that Sansa will be killed, there seems to be strong symbolism, especially when we combine it with the red rose scene.

The fact that her white silk dress was dyed a dark color (I think it was black) because it was stained shows that her innocence has been lost. Even if that's not his intention, the fact that she's poisoning Sweet Robin is a sign, or that she blames the singer for Lysa's murder. No doubt we have reason to justify this latest incident, but there may come times when we can no longer justify it, when Sansa can do things we can't justify.

4- For now, let's briefly touch on Sansa's dreams as the last argument.

Contrary to what we are used to, Sansa's dreams appear as psychological dreams triggered by her trauma. This shows that they have a lot of violence, of course, there are some that are not, some of them include longing for home and family. Sansa often dreams of Payne and is afraid of dying. She had seen the rebellion in a dream and had been struck with a sword in the stomach. Although it is a weak approach, the fact that dreams are so violent and bad, but especially the Payne detail, may be a reference that Sansa's fear of death can become reality.

I have theory about "Tully Women Mental Health."

Even though they have a strong psychology image at the first stage, after a point, the last generation Tully women are like iron like Stannis, but they have a mind structure that is so sensitive that they break before they bend over. I thought that Sansa had her share of it because she looked like her mother in everything. When you combine it with what I have told you so far, it may be possible to predict that Sansa has a very sensitive psychology and will experience a breaking moment in the future.

Further of the death marks and the Possible Sandor Scenario, could Arya have an interior in Sansa's death or murder?

While I don't think Martin would get Arya to kill her sister or anyone in the family, I can't dismiss the possibility because the conflict between the two sisters is not to be overlooked. From the very beginning, Sansa was created to be Arya's foil. Foil characters are those in which the meaning of existence is opposite. Martin wrote Sansa because he didn't think everyone got along well in a family. So the "conflict" between siblings is Sansa's main purpose of existence.

As a matter of fact, the Sansa'a arc, which I expect to come to the fore in the story, will be exactly in this direction; The escalation of her conflict with Arya...

The development of tension between the sisters...

We already know Sansa in the first Arya POV, and as the contrasts between these two are revealed right before us, a small and simple sibling conflict is staged. After that, the two sisters have more conflicts with each other during their time together and they are getting bigger every day, but then the Ned case happens and the sisters separate. It has gone beyond being a simple sibling quarrel between them, but we cannot claim that it is an irreversible situation that still crosses the threshold; at least until Arya finds out that Sansa has said her father's plan to Cersei. Even then, the threshold may not have been fully crossed, but if Sansa, as Aleyna, starts making moves against Jon by advancing under the influence of Littlefinger, as I believe she will, then the threshold will be crossed for Arya.

After all, Jon's appearance as a surprise egg is definitely an obstacle to LF's goals, and he must eliminate Jon to realize his thoughts about the north. The most useful tool for this is Sansa herself. We can read a triple attack as I believe LSH will come and join this duo, but LF will stay behind to keep his hands clean as per his life philosophy.

It becomes much more meaningful at this stage that Arya is equipped with abilities that she can use in Game of Thrones, such as understanding lies and learning to gather information... etc. In any case, the point of "understand a lie" becomes more meaningful when you think of Sansa and LF, who are constantly lying and are used to telling, and it becomes a more important skill. Of course, we should not forget the likes of Varys and Illyrio. So it looks like the author chose Arya, not Sansa, to make up for the Starks' lack of intrigue. I mentioned and explained these abilities in a old thread of mine and I even mentioned that the Kind Man teaches Arya of mother languages of Dany, Illyrio, and Varys besides Braavos.

But yes, Sansa will also get involved in intrigue/game of thrones as LF's student, but she will use it against Jon. This will bring the conflict between Arya and Sansa to the peak.

We read that Sandor said that when he looked at Arya in one scene, he said he thinks Arya want to kill Sansa; It's also worth remembering that Arya said "I don't hate her" while Ned admonished her not to stab Needle into her sister, saying "that was just half a lie". Of course, these may be red herrings, but the possibility of not being must be considered. This might be a reference, as it was Arya who threw the blood orange at Sansa.

These are my opinions in general, what do you think about it? Will Sansa die, and if she does, how?

TLDR: There are several signs that could indicate Sansa's death. These are the sweet fragrance of the red rose; blood orange scenes, killing/injuring in her nightmares are a few of them. In addition, the death of Lady may indicate that she dies at the end of the story as a result of her breaking away from her Stark identity, and it may also be a sign that Sansa begins to see herself as Aleyna Stone over time and enters into a game of throne against Jon and Arya under the control of LF. As the tension between Arya and Sansa grows, in addition to the possibility of Arya having a share in Sansa's death, there may also be a possibility that Sansa will die here by taking part in the Sandor and Mountain fight.Of course, you have to read the articles in detail for them to make sense.

Thank you.

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