#so much of bryndens story has been about Ends Justifying The Means | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thereturnofsansastark · 7 years

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@aryainwinterfell

“You’re purposefully ignoring the chapters upon chapters of Bran being prepared for leadership and learning politics”

Oop! I’ll say this one time cause I want to be sweet, but Iet’s keep it cute now! Let’s keep it real cute. Now back to the books. Bran has 14 chapters in the first two books, 7 each.

I want to say that maybe…one of those in the first book heavily involves politics, and not for very long: Robb calling the bannermen if I’m not mistaken (and I could be; it’s been a really, really long time).

Maybe… 4 of those in the second focus on any significant political tutelage for Bran. And I am being extremely generous considering how much focus is given to the Walders, the Reeds, his dreams, the comet, etc.

Throughout almost all of his chapters, the supernatural is the most important part.

His arc has been building towards this training montage with Brynden. If that isn’t supposed to be a part of his endgame, then why is it ever present? Why is so much time spent on it? Why is it that the majority of the cast in Bran’s storyline talk to him not about how to run a castle, but on greenseeing, warging, the “old stories”, the children of the forest, the others, etc.?

These chapters upon chapters, these loads and loads of political tutelage you mention…Where are they?

Bran absolutely can become king of Winterfell! It’s probable even. But his chapters have given me a lot of reason to believe that *if* he not only guides, but rules, it’s going to be from where he is right now. I doubt he’s going to be making the trek back to Winterfell.

As for the commens about Sansa. I’m really puzzled about you suggesting that Sansa is perfectly happy with her cousin one day dying from poison, and will ultimately follow along with Petyr and Cersei’s style of ruling.

The quote I gave you was not in response to her randomly talking about what she wants other people to think of her. It was her vocalizing that she is rejecting the philosophy you say she welcomes. Again. Cersei: Rule through fear. Sansa: No thank you! There’s no ambiguity there.

But to Hammer it home

Cersei: I don’t give a shit about any of these women, but if we win it will look good that I tried to protect them.

Sansa: (“Sansa knew most of the hymns, and followed along on those she did not know as best she could. She sang along with grizzled old serving men and anxious young wives, with serving girls and soldiers, cooks and falconers, knights and knaves, squires and spit boys and nursing mothers. She sang with those inside the castle walls and those without, sang with all the city. She sang for mercy, for the living and the dead alike, for Bran and Rickon and Robb, for her sister Arya and her bastard brother Jon Snow, away off on the Wall.

She sang for her mother and her father, for her grandfather Lord Hoster and her uncle Edmure Tully, for her friend Jeyne Poole, for old drunken King Robert, for Septa Mordane and Ser Dontos and Jory Cassel and Maester Luwin, for all the brave knights and soldiers who would die today, and for the children and the wives who would mourn them, and finally, toward the end, she even sang for Tyrion the Imp and for the Hound. He is no true knight but he saved me all the same, she told the Mother. Save him if you can, and gentle the rage inside him.”)

Make them fear you is Cersei’s philosophy. Even a passing amount of affection for her subjects is missing, but it isn’t from Sansa’s. Her scene in the Red Keep proves that empathy is an important part of her views on leadership. After Cersei abandons the women, Sansa actively demonstrates her leadership philosophy and how it conflicts with Cersei’s.

She goes with compassion, not subjugation. She comforts the women, asks for someone to help Lancel, tries to have someone else make them laugh in the middle of this chaos, etc. not because she wants to be admired but because she has empathy for those women. This is Lord Eddard Stark’s daughter.

Shifting on over to Sansa and the man grooming her. The same man who she was going to snitch to Lysa about in an effort of getting away from him…before he killed Lysa. Anyway Sansa alternates between trusting Petyr and being suspicious of him. She justifies this by saying that he’s like two different people - Petyr and Littlefinger. Unlike us, she doesn’t recognize that she’s under the influence of a predatory man who has twice killed someone in front of her in a show of his power. She doesn’t recognize that he has taken care to isolate her from anyone who could warn her about him. It’s true that she is absolutely dazzled by how well he plays the game.

I can agree on this part! The 15 year old girl is allowing herself to get comfortable and to become more trusting of the person convincing her that he’s the only person who can help her. But it’s also! telling that she hasn’t been completely won over when she questions the autonomy of the “pieces” he uses and shows care for those “pieces”. People are disposable in Littlefinger’s philosophy, but not so in Sansa’s. I think that the time is coming for her to reject him completely just as Arya will reject the Faceless Men.

And moving this thing right on over to Robin!

Sansa is pushed into taking on the role of mother for him. This is something she doesn’t have to do. But she does her best to comfort him.

She is not trying to kill Robin and she doesn’t want him to die.

(“The tourney, the prizes, the winged knights, it had all been her own notion. Lord Robert’s mother had filled him full of fears, but he always took courage from the tales she read him of Ser Artys Arryn, the Winged Knight of legend, founder of his line. Why not surround him with Winged Knights? She had thought one night, after Sweetrobin had finally drifted off to sleep. His own Kingsguard, to keep him safe and make him brave.”)

(“If the gods are good and he lives long enough to wed, his wife will admire his hair, surely.”)

This is her *cousin*. This is not someone who she could care less about. This is in the text. While she is very clearly exasperated while playing mother to a sick child, she genuinely cares for the boy and is the only one who tries to show him a suitable level of care. Idk if they left it out on that godforsaken show, but sweetrobin is being given sweetsleep on the orders of the Maester AND Petyr, because other than Sansa (!) It’s the only thing that calms him down. The Maester worries because it’s fatal if taken in large doses, yup. That’s what Littlefinger is counting on. Which means it’s a good thing that Sansa tries to calm Robert herself so that this isn’t necessary.

This is a situation where I genuinely do not know what else you expect this girl to do. The way I see it, she can either kill Petyr or snitch and out herself as Sansa Stark, wanted murderess.

Do you see where I’m coming from?

Like I said, I really believe that the kids are being prepped for their roles. Arya has seen firsthand the effects of high lord squabbles on civilians, but that is not the same thing as learning about politics. I think that Arya will be, like she was in the very beginning, among the smallfolk, *protecting* them when they need it. I feel like my girl is going to Dark Knight it out because when the ice zombies and the greyscale have done their jobs, it’s going to be chaos for civilians. Is that such a bad ending for someone who clearly never wanted to be bothered with court and playing games with nobles in the first place? Why would you want that for her?

#the boy who flew #the princess in the north #baby cat #baby batman #the lioness of casterly rock #sansa can be petty af #and she used to be *quite* uppity #but to suggest that she's like fuck robin!#or that she just wants the admiration of the smallfolk and doesn't really care #lmaooo #replies

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