Sansa Stark

Sansa Stark
A Song of Ice and Fire character
File:SophieTurnerasSansaStark.jpg Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
First appearance	Novel: A Game of Thrones (1996) Television: "Winter Is Coming" (2011)
Created by	George R. R. Martin
Portrayed by	Sophie Turner Game of Thrones
Information
Aliases	Little Bird Alayne Stone Jonquil
Title	Princess of Winterfell Lady of the Vale
Family	House Stark
Spouse(s)	Tyrion Lannister (unconsummated) Ramsay Bolton (television adaptation only)
Relatives	Ned Stark (father) Catelyn Stark (mother) Robb Stark (brother) Arya Stark (sister) Bran Stark (brother) Rickon Stark (brother) Jon Snow (paternal half-brother)
Kingdom	The North

Sansa Stark is a fictional character created by American author George R. R. Martin. She is a prominent character in Martin's award-winning A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Sansa is the eldest daughter and second child of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife Lady Catelyn Stark. She subsequently appeared in the following three novels, A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000) and A Feast for Crows (2005). While absent from the fifth novel A Dance with Dragons as the books are separated geographically, Sansa is confirmed to return in the penultimate impending book, The Winds of Winter.

In HBO's adaptation of the series, Game of Thrones, Sansa Stark is played by Sophie Turner. The character has received critical acclaim, being praised as the 4th greatest character in the series by Rolling Stone.

Character and appearances

Sansa Stark is the second child of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark. She was born and raised in Winterfell, until leaving with her father and sister at the beginning of the series. She has a younger sister Arya Stark, two younger brothers Rickon Stark and Bran Stark, as well as an older brother Robb Stark and an older illegitimate half-brother, Jon Snow.

Raised as a lady, Sansa is traditionally feminine. Sansa's interests are music, poetry, and singing. She strives to become like the heroines of romantic tales by attempting to find a prince, knight, or gentleman to fall in love with. Sansa pities her younger sister Arya who is so different from herself due to her strong passion for sword fighting. For a companion animal, she owns a direwolf named Lady.

Sansa has been described as tall, slim, and beautiful, destined to be a lady or a queen. She has blue eyes and thick red hair. Sansa is 11 years old in A Game of Thrones and nearly 14 in A Feast for Crows. Arguably the most naive of the Stark children, Sansa often finds herself used as a pawn in the machinations of the other characters.

Storylines

File:Stark Coat of Arms.png

Coat of arms of House Stark

Books

A Game of Thrones

Sansa Stark begins the novel by being betrothed to Crown Prince Joffrey Baratheon, believing Joffrey to be a gallant prince. While Joffrey and Sansa are walking through the woods, Joffrey notices Arya sparring with a lowborn boy. A fight begins and Joffrey is attacked by Arya's wolf after Joffrey threatens to hurt Arya. Sansa lies to King Robert about the circumstances of the fight in order to protect Joffrey. Since Arya ran off her wolf to save it, Sansa's wolf is killed instead, estranging the Stark daughters.

After Eddard discovers the truth of Joffrey's paternity, he tells Sansa that they will be heading back to Winterfell. Sansa is devastated and wishes to stay in King's Landing, so she runs off to inform Cersei of her father's plans, unwittingly providing Cersei with the information needed to arrest her father. After Robert dies, Sansa begs Joffrey to show mercy on her father and he agrees to allow Ned to live if Ned will swear an oath of loyalty. After promising Sansa that he will be merciful, Joffrey instead executes her father. Sansa is now effectively a hostage in King's Landing and finally sees Joffrey's true nature.

A Clash of Kings

Sansa is a hostage in King's Landing, and has learned to be outwardly loyal to King Joffrey to avoid severe physical abuse.

At the celebration for Joffrey's name day, she saves the life of Ser Dontos Hollard after he shows up late, winning Dontos' apparent loyalty. Some time later, Tyrion Lannister enters King's Landing and treats Sansa with kindness and respect, protecting her from the guards that abuse her. Sandor Clegane, also called the Hound, protects Sansa from being beaten when he can. Sandor saves her life during the riots in King's Landing, eventually offering to take her away with him during the Battle of the Blackwater. Sansa refuses as she already has a planned escape with Ser Dontos and the Hound vanishes from King's Landing. After House Lannister wins the battle, her betrothal to Joffrey is called off so he can marry Margaery Tyrell. Joffrey informs her he can still use her when he is married and to expect a nightly visitor for a long while.

A Storm of Swords

Sansa starts to get close to Margaery and her grandmother Olenna Tyrell. Sansa, now a teenager, is first offered a marriage into House Tyrell and an escape from the Lannisters, but the plan is foiled when Tywin forces her to marry Tyrion. Though he initially gropes her, Tyrion eventually refuses to consummate the marriage until Sansa agrees. At Joffrey's wedding, Joffrey is poisoned, and Cersei orders both Tyrion and Sansa to be arrested, however Dontos rescues her from the chaos. Ser Dontos is later killed by Petyr Baelish, who reveals that he is the mastermind behind nearly all of the intrigues in the capital. He reveals that he was the one who sent Dontos to her. He also provided Margaery's grandmother with the poison used to kill Joffrey. Baelish smuggles her to safety in the Vale of Arryn, where she poses as his bastard daughter Alayne Stone. She is taken to her Aunt Lysa Arryn, now married to Baelish. Lysa declares that Sansa must marry her sickly boy Robert, heir to the Vale. Lysa later attempts to murder Sansa after seeing Lord Baelish kiss her, but she is saved once again by Baelish, who kills Lysa.

A Feast for Crows

After Lysa's death, Sansa becomes mistress of the Eyrie and continues to pretend to be Baelish's illegitimate daughter, Alayne Stone. Baelish successfully pacifies the lords of the Vale, who suspected Baelish's hand in Lysa's death. Afterwards, Baelish reveals to Sansa his plans to eventually marry her to the heir to the Vale, Harrold Hardyng, and his long range plans to reveal her true identity and reclaim the North. Sansa acts as a mother figure to Robert Arryn, caring for him after the death of his mother Lysa, and is shown to have grown in intelligence since the start of the series - she is able to figure out some of Baelish's plans, and does not trust him as she once did with Joffrey.

TV adaptation

Fifth season

Sansa's storyline is combined with that of Jeyne Poole in the books as Baelish brokers a marriage between her and Ramsay Bolton, now the heir to the North after the death of Robb Stark. Though reluctant to marry Ramsay, as his father Roose had personally murdered Robb, Baelish persuades her by claiming that the marriage will give her the opportunity to avenge her family. On the way to Winterfell, they encounter Brienne of Tarth, who had sworn to Catelyn Stark to take Sansa to safety and tries to convince Sansa to come with her; Baelish has her chased off by his men, but Brienne follows Sansa to Winterfell regardless. Though initially charming, Ramsay's sadistic nature becomes apparent when Sansa discovers that he has captured and enslaved Ned Stark's former ward Theon Greyjoy, who had supposedly killed Sansa's brothers Bran and Rickon, and forced him to assume the identity of his serving man, Reek. After Ramsay rapes Sansa on their wedding night, Sansa asks Reek to signal to Brienne for help. However, Reek, wishing to spare Sansa Ramsay's wrath, tells Ramsay, and he proceeds to flay the maid who had told Sansa of the signal and forces Sansa to look at her corpse. Furious, Sansa confronts Reek, who admits that he had failed to capture Bran and Rickon and killed two farm boys in their place. While the Boltons prepare to battle Stannis Baratheon's advancing forces, Sansa signals to Brienne, unaware that she has left to kill Stannis. When help does not come, Sansa attempts to return to her room but is caught by Ramsay's psychotic paramour Myranda, who threatens to mutilate Sansa. Finally snapping, Theon throws Myranda to her death, just as the Bolton forces return. Fearful of Ramsay's wrath, the two jump off Winterfell's battlements.

Controversy

In the episode "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", Sansa's rape was the main subject of controversy for the season's deviations from the books. The majority of professional criticism concerned the decision to have Ramsay rape Sansa on their wedding night, with most critics describing the scene as gratuitous and artistically unnecessary. "This grim scene was difficult for the show to justify," said Charlotte Runcie of The Daily Telegraph. Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair added, "this rape scene undercuts all the agency that’s been growing in Sansa since the end of last season. [...] I’d never advocate that Game of Thrones (or any work of fiction) shy away from edgy plots out of fear of pushback or controversy. But edgy plots should always accomplish something above pure titillation or shock value and what, exactly, was accomplished here?" Christopher Orr wrote in The Atlantic, "I continue to be astonished that showrunners Benioff and Weiss still apparently believe that their tendency to ramp up the sex, violence, and—especially—sexual violence of George R.R. Martin’s source material is a strength rather than the defining weakness of their adaptation." Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club wrote, "The issue with the show returning to rape as a trope is not simply because there have been thinkpieces speaking out against it, and is not solely driven by the rational concerns lying at the heart of those thinkpieces. It’s also that the show has lost my faith as a viewer." Writers from Vanity Fair, The Mary Sue and The Daily Beast all disapproved of the decision to use Sansa's victimization as a motivating agent for Theon, saying that the scene undermined Sansa's character development: "Was it really important to make that scene about Theon's pain?" wrote Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair.

Other critics responded positively to the scene. Sean T. Collins of Rolling Stone wrote: "[B]y involving a multidimensional main character instead of one introduced primarily to suffer, the series has a chance to grant this story the gravity and seriousness it deserves. Sarah Hughes of The Guardian wrote: "I have repeatedly made clear that I’m not a fan of rape as a plot device – but the story of Ramsay and Sansa’s wedding was more than that. [...] The writers are walking a very fine line here. They handled it well tonight, telling a gothic tale of innocence sacrificed". Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post wrote that the scene "managed to maintain a fine balance, employing a dignity and care for the experiences of victims that Game of Thrones has not always demonstrated."

Some critics questioned why this scene in particular should generate outrage when similar scenes have not. Sara Stewart of the New York Post pointed out that the rape and sexual abuse of both female and male characters is typical for Game of Thrones: "Why are we suddenly so outraged about the rape of Sansa Stark, when this show has served up a steady diet of sexual assault and violence against women since its first season began?" Cathy Young of Reason magazine, writing in Time noted what she calls a lack of complaint in response to the sexual mistreatment of male characters in earlier seasons, specifically the literal emasculation of Theon Greyjoy and the sexual assault of Gendry.

Criticism of the scene has not extended to the quality of the acting. Joanna Robinson of Vanity Fair wrote, "And if we can say one positive thing about that scene it's that Allen nailed his performance. Theon's horror mirrored our own and the camera—focusing on his reaction—let our minds fill in the blanks." Sophie Turner defended the scene as an artistic challenge for herself as an actor, saying, "When I read that scene, I kinda loved it. I love the way Ramsay had Theon watching. It was all so messed up. It’s also so daunting for me to do it. [...] I think it's going to be the most challenging season for me so far, just because it's so emotional for her. It’s not just crying all the time, like seasons 2 or 3, it’s super messed up." Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton) agreed, referring to Turner's performances this season as "absolutely amazing."

Some viewers, including U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, announced that they would stop watching the show because of this scene. According to Business Insider, this scene and increased use of streaming services are likely reasons why ratings dropped from 6.2 million viewers for this episode to 5.4 million for the next episode, "The Gift."

Family tree of House Stark

• See: Extended family tree of House Stark