Sansa Stark’s story is one that every modern woman recognizes

The world of Game of Thrones has everything from dragons to ice zombies to flaming swords. But Sansa Stark’s journey is one many women are busy living out today.

Game of Thrones is a high fantasy epic, with everything from fire-breathing dragons and giant wolves to murderous ice zombies and blood magic. As a result, the world of Westeros doesn’t always bear a tremendous resemblance to our own, nor are its residents always subject to the rules of our reality. (Looking at you, Faceless Men.)

However, the stories the show tells are largely universal ones. Even if we don’t have magic or dragons, we understand themes of love, family, loyalty and vengeance. We sympathize with a boy searching for a place to call his own, and applaud a girl who rejects the oppressive role society has mapped out for her.

And for many female viewers, we see ourselves in the story of a woman who’s finally found her voice after years of struggle, disillusionment and loss.

Sansa Stark’s journey in Game of Thrones has been a difficult one, to put it mildly. She’s suffered unimaginable pain and personal setbacks, endured sexual violence and discovered almost everything she ever believed in was a lie.

All things considered, it’s kind of amazing she’s still standing in season 8. But she is, and she’s grown into a powerful leader in her own right. After years of strife, Sansa has reclaimed her agency, discovered her own strength and put it all to work for the good of her people.

And her journey is one that resonates with women the world over who’ve been through some variation of the same thing.

Sophie Turner, Gwendoline Christie, Daniel Portman. Photo Credit: Helen Sloane/HBO

In season 1 of Game of Thrones, Sansa Stark is the perfect example of a naïve teen girl. She’s loves pretty dresses and lemon cakes, stresses over her hairstyle and spends most of her time fantasizing about what her life will be like once she marries the perfect boy. She believes in fairytales and happily every after and is convinced that good always triumphs in the end.

Basically, she’s a victim of the Disney marketing machine long before such a thing ever existed.

Sansa’s subsequent seven-season journey destroys most of the idealized notions she once held about the world around her. She suffers physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the show’s worst men, is constantly gaslit and manipulated by the people around her, is violently raped and repeatedly threatened with death. By the time she returns to Winterfell, Sansa has lost almost everything, including her innocent idealism and much of her trust in the things she once believed in.

But she has also come into her own as a woman.

The Sansa who returns home to the North once more is someone who has both found her voice and learned to use it. And that is what makes all the difference.

By the final season of Game of Thrones, Sansa is a completely different person than she was when its story started. That naïve girl from season 1 has grown into a confident and capable leader, one who trusts her own judgment, speaks her mind and refuses to back down to anyone. Yet, somehow, she still hasn’t become hard or cruel. Instead her leadership style is primarily a blend of mercy and justice, and she’s the only person in the North at the moment worrying about how they’re all going to manage to eat through the winter.

Women. Still busy getting [expletive] done in literally every reality.

Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark. Photo: Helen Sloan/Courtesy of HBO

Yes, Sansa Stark’s story exists in a medieval fantasy world. But it’s nevertheless one that still speaks to the women of 2019 on a practically spiritual level. Like many of us, Sansa was never really taught to believe in herself or trust her own abilities. Also, like many of us, she’s suffered abuse in countless ways; both mental and physical. And she not only survived these dark moments, she learned from them.

Like a weapon is forged in fire, Sansa is as strong as she is now because of the things she’s endured. And now she’s taking those same lessons and using them for the benefit of others, by caring for the people of Winterfell and helping her brother lead the North.

Is there any woman in 2019 who hasn’t had to take a heartbreaking or horrific experience and spin gold out of its straw?

There may not be many Cerseis or Aryas in the world as we know it, but there are plenty of Sansas. Women who carry private pain with them, but nevertheless manage to turn it into something worthwhile. Women who pick themselves back up and keep going, rediscovering their voices and power along the way. And women who feed those that have wronged them to a pack of their own dogs.

Okay, that last bit is maybe a little bit of wish fulfillment outside of the world of Game of Thrones, but there are certainly plenty of real life women right now speaking out against men who’ve violated and abused them, and trying to stop them from doing the same to anyone else.

You don’t have to be a warrior to fight, and the truest forms of strength don’t come from a sword. And, honestly, the world might be a little better if we were all a bit more like Sansa Stark.

Game of Thrones continues next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.