25 reasons we’re naming Sansa Stark the Queen in the North

3. She can handle winter

Northerners know a thing or two about how bone-chilling winter can be. The Starks’ family motto is “Winter is Coming” after all, and it officially arrives moments after the Great Sept of Baelor erupts in a hail of wildfire (“The Winds of Winter”). But from the looks of it, it seems Sansa is up to the challenge of the threat the long winter poses.

In this scene, she and Jon have just reclaimed Winterfell from the Bolton army, and have taken back the North. As the snow falls around them, Sansa announces, “Winter is here.” But she says it with a small smile. There’s no fearing this upcoming winter. As long as she has her family, they can hunker down and weather any storm.

Starks know the importance of togetherness during winter. It’s not the biting cold they have to fear, it’s infighting for resources as they wait out a storm. Sansa has shown she has a knack for patience, even when she’s all by herself. And now that she reunited with her brother, there isn’t any obstacle they can’t handle. Surviving a long winter takes strength, especially when you have what’s beyond The Wall basically knocking at your castle’s back door. Now that she’s the (technical) Stark in the North, there just might be a chance to save it when the real winter comes (and brings all the wights along with it).