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So much amazing stuff happened on Game of Thrones Sunday night, and though I know everyone will be talking about Daenerys and Drogon’s fiery attacks, I want to focus on Lady Stark.
Before I get to it, I just want to clear up a few things… Everyone else did the quickest 180 on fangirling when Bronn pointed that arrow at Drogon like I did, right? I was willing to sacrifice his life if it meant Drogon wasn’t harmed. Also, was I the only one silently making deals with the Old Gods and the New to protect Jaime Lannister at all costs? Somehow, Jaime has become one of those characters for me– he cannot die. I won’t be able to handle it. But enough about that, let’s get back to Winterfell and all the Stark reunions.
These first 4 episodes of Season 7 have fed us Stark fans well! Bran and Arya both have made their way back to Winterfell and reunited with their sister, Sansa. While Jon is away, Lady Stark has been in charge and she’s doing a damn good job so far. She and Jon had some disagreements in the beginning, but let’s be honest, if Jon just had the good sense to discuss things with Sansa before announcing them to everyone, he would save himself (and us) a lot of headaches. Sansa is a character who went from “kill this bitch” to “protect her at all costs” over 7 seasons and she’s proven herself worthy of our devotion. This is a young woman who has gone through hell and back and is desperate for a real and true connection to someone. Even though she’s been with Jon a while, their disagreements and her not being so kind to him in the past, leaves her feeling lonely, until she sees Bran at the gates.
Photo Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO
The reunion with Bran isn’t all she expects it to be and Sansa is disappointed that the brother she once knew, is no more. He’s not even Brandon Stark really, he’s the Three-Eyed Raven; this didn’t stop me, of course, from blubbering like an idiot when she threw herself on him weeping. Next our favorite little wolf, Arya, returned home.
For a minute, there I was ready to throw myself into the television if those two, dumb ass motherf****** delayed my girls’ reunion with her sister any longer, but then I remembered this was Arya and she would either kill them or escape… and she did. It was deeply moving having the girls reunite in front of their father’s tomb; the man who tried time and again to remind them, no matter their differences, they needed each other. Arya reminding Sansa that they were still here, even if everyone had died, was just what Sansa needed to hear. Later in the episode, Sansa observes how skilled a warrior her little sister has become and it is clear from her face, she is overcome by how much has changed.
As I thought about these Stark children and their reunions with their sister, I couldn’t help but think of the last woman we called Lady Stark. The one who allowed her daughters to be taken to King’s Landing, left her youngest sons home alone, and treated her husband’s bastard child like the scum of the earth (even though that wasn’t his fault, he was just a child). The woman who couldn’t love a motherless boy, died beside her favorite child, Robb. Sansa has an opportunity to do better. She tells Jon he mustn’t make the same mistakes as Ned and Robb did, and now she mustn’t make the same mistakes Catelyn did or her mentor, Cersei. She has the ability, the cunning and the wit to make better decisions. To unite her family under the Stark banner.
“Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa… Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you… and I need both of you, gods help me.” – Eddard Stark, Chapter 22, A Game of Thrones.
Photo Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO
As Lady Stark, Sansa must recognize the strengths of each of her siblings, not be afraid of them. Eddark Stark may have died, but his pack can and will survive, if they bound together and stand united.
Sansa is already surrounded by the beginnings of a small council. She tells Littlefinger, “No one can protect me,” well, Arya is no one. Who better to protect you than a sister that can take on anyone’s face? Who better to be a Master of Whisperers than a younger brother who is omniscient? Already by her side, a worthy Lady Commander of her army, Brienne of Tarth. Once Jon returns and his true paternity revealed, Sansa will be the Stark in charge for good. Queen in the North? Jon as her Hand? It could all work in their favor, and our Stark family can be standing at the end of all things. Is Sansa the key to keeping the Stark family alive?
“The winters are hard, but the Starks will endure. We always have.” – Eddard Stark, Chapter 4, A Game of Thrones.
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