Game Of Thrones: Sansa’s Slow Transformation Over The Years (In Pictures)

Every character on HBO’s fantasy drama Game of Thrones had aspirations for the type of life they wanted to live. Ned Stark’s eldest daughter, Sansa, thought she was meant to be Joffrey’s Queen and live the rest of her life in King’s Landing. But her aspirations changed quickly for she lived in a world fraught with political uncertainty and rife with family wars.

Without Littlefinger, Ramsay Bolton, and the rest, Sansa said she would have stayed a little bird forever. Here’s a look back at the key moments in Sansa’s life that opened her eyes to the real world.

10 Marry Joffrey & Have His Babies

Sansa Stark, the eldest daughter of Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn Stark made her first appearance in “Winter Is Coming.” She sat by the fire and demonstrated fine sewing craftsmanship. The high-born Stark girl was trained in the skills she would use in later life as a wife and as a mother.

Sansa was betrothed to the Crown Prince, the cruel Joffrey Baratheon. She yearned to rule two steps behind him as his Queen. The prospect of having his children greatly delighted her. Sansa’s biggest worry back then was if Joffrey would like her enough to marry her.

9 Arrived In King’s Landing

Sansa learned life’s most valuable lessons the hard way. Her first meeting with Cersei Lannister in Catelyn’s presence was a clear nod to the hardships that would befall in her King’s Landing.

“Your daughter will do well in the capital. Such beauty shouldn’t stay hidden up here forever,” remarked Cersei, before taking her hostage and deriving pleasure from watching her evil son mistreat her. After Ned discovered the truth about Cersei and her children, he warned her to flee King Robert’s wrath. At the end of season 1, two major developments took place – Robert’s assassination and Ned’s execution on false charges would change the course of Sansa’s life forever.

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8 Cersei Lannister’s Hostage

Sansa fainted from the shock of watching Ser Ilyn Payne behead her father in front of the Great Sept of Baelor. If that wasn’t bad enough, Joffrey brought her out onto the ramparts and forced her to look at her father’s head. Ned’s oldest son, Robb aka the Young Wolf rallied his men against House Lannister across the Riverlands to seek secession from the realm, and vengeance for his father’s assassination.

During Sansa’s time as a hostage, she was befriended by her handmaiden, Shae, and the youngest Lannister sibling, Tyrion. At the end of season 2, Sansa secretly reveled in joy after watching Joffrey cast her aside to marry Margaery Tyrell of Highgarden. Her celebration however was cut short by Petyr Baelish aka Littlefinger who reminded her she’d be in Joffrey’s captivity for the rest of her life.

7 Learning Things The Hard Way

In season 3, the cunning Lannister patriarch Lord Tywin arranged for Sansa’s nuptials to Tyrion. It was a well-crafted scheme to ensure House Lannister’s control over Winterfell. The marriage, however, was never consummated and the couple shared a cordial relationship. Ironical as it may seem, a young Stark girl had found refuge in a Lannister man.

At the season’s end, the Lannisters, the Boltons, and the Freys came together to successfully orchestrate the massacre of the king in the North, Robb Stark, his mother, and his army. Sansa and Tyrion’s relationship falls apart in the aftermath of the Red Wedding.

6 The Purple Wedding

Sansa started out season 4 grieving the loss of her family, but gradually reinvented herself to tackle the insurmountable challenges that lay ahead of her.

The Purple Wedding played a pivotal role in Sansa’s story arc. The events that succeeded Joffrey’s murder at the hands of Lady Olenna had far-reaching consequences. The Tyrell matriarch had sneakily taken a poisoned gemstone from Sansa’s necklace and slipped it into Joffrey’s wine glass. In the meantime, Sansa was smuggled out of the city by Ser Dontos Hollard and Littlefinger to her mad aunt’s Vale.

5 Alayne Stone

Thanks to Cersei Lannister, Sansa had begun to grasp the intricacies of power politics, the art of statecraft, and Machiavellianism. As she made her way out of King’s Landing and into the Eyrie, she posed as Petyr’s niece, Alayne, to keep her guard up. But she dropped the act the second she was greeted by her sharp-tongued aunt.

On more than one occasion, Lysa mistreated her niece and accused her of having an affair with Petyr Baelish. In Lysa’s last moments, she nearly managed to push Sansa out of the Moon Door but Petyr intervened and threw her down instead.

4 Sold To The Bolton’s

No sooner had Sansa escaped from King’s Landing than she was caught in the machinations of Petyr Baelish. The cunning man had forged an alliance with the Boltons to further consolidate his power. Petyr manipulated Sansa into marrying Roose Boltons’ son, Ramsay, and seizing control from within. She agreed and essentially became a prisoner of the Bolton’s until the end of season 5.

Ramsay played his games with the Stark girl and abused her on several occasions. In “Mother’s Mercy” Sansa and Ramsay’s other captive, Theon Greyjoy, jumped off of the castle walls and fled into the Wolfswood.

3 Reunited With Jon

At the beginning of season 6, Theon and Sansa attempted to get far from Ramsay’s men and hounds. Brienne and Podrick’s fortuitous arrival saved them from getting caught. In one of the most heartwarming Game of Thrones’ moments, Brienne knelt before Sansa and promised to guard her life. Theon returned home to the Iron Islands and the trio marched to meet Jon Snow at Castle Black.

The rest of the season assessed everything Sansa had learned over the years. After she reunited with Jon and sought forgiveness for her past behavior, she persuaded him to take back Winterfell from the Boltons. Their open rebellion ensued in the Battle of the Bastards, wherein the Knights of the Vale proved to be fatal for Ramsay’s army. The Starks reclaimed their ancestral seat and Sansa fed Ramsay to his starving hounds. Jon was named King in the North at the end of season 6 and the Stark siblings vowed to stick together.

2 The Lady Of Winterfell

Season 7 and 8 marked Sansa’s ascendance to power. As the threat of the army of the dead loomed, Jon vacated his seat to make allies with Daenerys Targaryen. He left the North in Sansa’s responsible hands and she did not disappoint. During her tenure as the Lady of Winterfell, she reunited with her siblings Bran and Arya.

At the end of season 7, Sansa charged Baelish with murder, treason and issued his death sentence. Before the deplorable man was executed, Lady Stark thanked him for all his lessons.

1 The Queen In The North

The little bird survived the War of the Five Kings, the battle of Winterfell, and finally, became the one to secure the North’s independence. From the naive Stark girl to becoming the Queen in the North, Sansa’s journey is a tale of extraordinary determination and courage.

In the show’s closing, Ned Stark’s true-born daughter was coronated as the Queen in the North. The Northern lords fervently raised their swords and chanted for Sansa’s ascension.

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