Game of Thrones season 7: Some Sansa Stark suggestions

We haven’t seen much of Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones season 7 promotional materials, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t hints floating out there.

Game of Thrones has firmly established the three key players of season 7 are the same three people we expected them to be: Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, and Jon Snow. The trailer played up the three of them. But, to quote John Donne, “no man” — or woman — “is an island.” None of the three rulers exists alone. For Jon Snow, his greatest ally might be Sansa Stark … for now, that is.

Our sister (pun not intended) site, Winter is Coming, found a recent interview with Sophie Turner from Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore about, what else, Game of Thrones.

Perhaps this statement, more than any other, foreshadows what we may see of Sansa in season 7.

"“I think she just feels kind of under-appreciated, and she’s kind of wondering where her loyalties lie now.”"

Even though she may have some doubts in Jon, it’s hard to see Sansa flat-out betraying him, not after he helped her regain Winterfell. They don’t necessarily get along. Nor do we expect that to change all that much, something we’ve speculated on before. Jon and Sansa’s fundamentally different experiences over the past seasons mean that they come at things from very different angles.

But it’s certainly possible that she points out to him that perhaps he does need to listen to her more. After all, the last time a male Stark didn’t listen to a red-headed female Stark, there was this incident called the Red Wedding. Let’s not repeat that, shall we?

Interestingly, Turner also brought another of the three rulers into the conversation in the form of Cersei Lannister:

"“[Sansa and Cersei are] both so family-obsessed and family-oriented, and will do anything for the people they love.”[…]“If that means becoming like a ruthless killer, leader, sadistic woman or evil lady, then so be it.”"

One can argue that Sansa has already crossed that Rubicon. Remember, she fed Ramsay Bolton to his own dogs. That cold smile then spoke volumes. But if Jon is part of her family, then the question becomes: which part of Sansa will win? Will it be the familial love or the resentment?

Based on the idea that more Starks could come back to Winterfell, the odds are that family will win out. With their parents, Rickon, and Robb all dead, all they have is each other. It’s a very Cersei-like sentiment indeed.

But perhaps Sansa will turn that resentment out onto others. Who says that she can’t do some more killing of her own? She probably won’t charge into battle a la Brienne of Tarth, but she doesn’t necessarily have to.

Instead, her methods may end up being far more subtle (and yes, for these purposes, killing by using hungry dogs is subtle; this is a show that has dragons in it, and standards are different). Now that could be interesting to watch indeed.

Perhaps subtlety even extends to an appreciation for her sister’s newfound talents as an assassin. Arya and Sansa didn’t always get along, but just as the years have changed Jon, they’ve done the same for Arya. That relationship could be worth exploring.

Next: 25 reasons Sansa Stark is queen in the North

Alas, we’ll have to wait until season 7 actually premieres next month to find out.