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Episode 44: A GAME OF THRONES, SANSA III: "Life is Not a Song" SHOW NOTES!
🕑 Added 2018-12-25 15:01:01 +0000 UTCHello and welcome to the Not A Cast … podcast: the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week. I’m one of your hosts Jeff better known as BryndenBFish.
And I’m your other host Emmett, better known as PoorQuentyn.
Welcome to our forty-third episode of the Not A Cast entitled: “Life Is Not A Song: An Analysis of AGOT, Sansa III,” in which Sansa Stark gets creeped on by Littlefinger, fights with Arya and then makes an unwitting breakthrough for Ned in his investigation
This episode is brought to you by our Small Council: Hand of the King WolfmanZack, Grand Maester Timothy W, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Mark N. Lord Travis, Master of Ships and Warden of the Waves, Ser Keith J, Master of Whisperers, Jancy O, Lady Commander of the Night’s Watch, Archmaester June, Healer of the Lesser Poxes, Ragged Michael, Warden of the North and our newest member of the Small Council Lord Philip the Merciful, Master of Laws. Welcome Lord Philip and Vroom-Vroom for another 6 years. Congrats and thanks for what you do!
Spoiler warning: All published books - 5 novels, 3 Dunk and Egg novellas, histories, interviews, TWOW sample chapters, as well as Game of Thrones the TV show. Anything and everything!
Question
So, we’re going to do something a little different this time as it was requested by a few of you, but our friend JoeMagician had a poll designed to start fights. Here’s the question:
Pick one thing you would be okay removing from ASOIAF
And possible answers:
- Magic
- Politics
- Battles
- Myths and Legends
Given how little we fight here, it’s time for a good ol’ fashioned Valyrian steel cage match as to which thing we’d remove from ASOIAF.
Synopsis
It’s a Sansa chapter, and Emmett is giving me the look. You know the one: the one where I have to give the synopsis of a Sansa chapter. Sigh. Here we go.
Sansa Stark and Jeyne Poole enjoy a dinner alone as Arya is off at her dancing lesson, Septa Mordane’s feet are hurting and Ned is having a bite to eat with his boys. Sansa tells Jeyne Poole that her father Ned wouldn’t send Loras Tyrell to hunt down Gregor Clegane. It was probably his leg or something. Loras’s leg? Jeyne asks. No, not Loras. Her father Ned’s leg. It hurts him so much or else he would have sent Loras. Right.
Everything about what Ned was doing in King’s Landing confounds Sansa. If life down here was like the songs, then Loras, the shining knight of chivalry, would have gone after Gregor. He looked like a hero, slim, beautiful, golden roses in his hair and ... God … do I have to keep going, Emmett?
Okay, okay. Fine. Anyways, Ned had refused Loras, and Sansa was pretty upset by that. But Mordane had told Sansa that it wasn’t her place to question Ned’s decisions. And then Creepyfinger had arrived from the shadows after probably listening to some Further Seems Forever songs on vinyl.
Oh, I don’t know, Septa. Some of her lord father’s decisions could do with a bit of questioning. The young lady is as wise as she is lovely.
Goddammit. Just … ugh. We’re going to have words later about this. Septa Mordane is mortified that Baelish was listening and tried to cover for Sansa, but Littlefinger brushes her aside and asks Sansa what she would have done. When she explained about chivalry and songs, Littlefinger traces his creepyfinger thumb along her chin like the grooming monster he is before saying:
Life is not a song, sweetling. You may learn that one day to your sorrow.
But now at dinner after, Sansa didn’t feel like telling Jeyne about that. It made her feel uneasy. Jeyne takes the Varys role and says that Ilyn Payne should have been sent. But Sansa’s not about that. Ilyn was another monster. Jeyne is glad that Beric went. He seems brave and gallant.
Sansa side-eyes Jeyne. Beric was old. 22. Loras was a much better choice. Jeyne had been in love with Beric since the Tourney of the Hand, but Sansa knows that Beric would never marry Jeyne. She was too far below his station to ever marry a daughter of a steward. But Sansa decides that it’s too impolite to tell Jeyne. So, she changes subjects:
I had a dream that Joffrey would be the one to take the white hart.
This is a lie as Sansa hadn’t actually dreamed that, but she knew that calling it a dream was better. Dreams were prophetic. Ha, oh George. Love the meta here. More later!
When Jeyne asks if Joffrey touched the white hart and did the hart no harm, Sansa replies that nah. Joffrey had shot it with an arrow and brought it back to her. Yeesh. Foreshadowing. But here we get an interesting note from Sansa that, admittedly, shows her growth:
In the songs, the knights never killed magical beasts, they just went up to them and touched them and did them no harm, but she knew Joffrey liked hunting, especially the killing part.
But Sansa is certain that Joffrey had nothing to do with the death of Jory. That was Jaime. And Ned was still angry about that. It ain’t fair to blame Joffrey for that. And, admittedly, Sansa is right about that. That’d be like blaming Sansa for something Arya did.
Almost as if reading Sansa’s mind, Jeyne blurts out that she saw Arya. She was walking on her hands in the stables. Why was she doing that? Sansa says she doesn’t know why Arya does anything. She doesn’t like the stables -- it’s the smell.
Sansa changes the subject again, asking if Jeyne wants to hear more about things about the court. Jeyne says, sure. Why not. Sansa relates that a black brother of the Night’s Watch wanted men for the Night’s Watch. But he smelled bad when Sansa always figured the men of the Night’s Watch were like Yoren. Besides, the songs were always calling the men of the Night’s Watch black nights of the Wall. But Yoren didn’t look much like a knight. Bent-backed and ugly with lice, he was gross. Sansa felt sorry for Jon that he had to hang out with people like that.
Ned had called for volunteers from the Red Keep, and of course, because this is ASOIAF, no one had come forward. So, Ned had given Yoren command of the dungeons. Then two freeriders from the Dornish marches had come forward pledging their swords to Ned which he had accepted, and then …
Are there any lemon cakes, Jeyne interrupts, yawning.
Well, Sansa ain’t about being interrupted, but lemon cakes sounds oh so fetching. They head down to the kitchen and find no lemon cakes. They find a cold strawberry pie instead and ate it, giggling and gossiping. Sansa goes to sleep that night thinking she feels as wicked as Arya.
The next morning, Sansa wakes and goes to the window to watch Lord Beric get his men ready for the march ahead to pursue Gregor Clegane. Sansa is pleased that the sigil bearing the direwolf of House Stark flies alongside of Beric’s lightning slashed across a field of stars against a dark night sigil. Sansa sees Alyn and feels pride in him. He was going to be a knight one day, and he was riding side-by-side with Beric.
Sansa heads to the tower of the hand to get some breakfast and sees Arya and Septa Mordane there. But the hall is empty. Where is everyone? Arya asks. They’re off to behead Gregor Clegane, Sansa sighs back at Arya. Sansa turns to Septa Mordane and asks if they’re going to behead Gregor and put his head on a spike on his own gate or bring it back to King’s Landing. Mordane is horror-struck, chiding Sansa for forgetting her courtesies. But Arya doesn’t care. She asks what Gregor had done. He burned down a holdfast and killed a lot of people. Arya has a thought about that:
Jaime Lannister murdered Jory and Heward and Wyl, and the Hound murdered Mycah. Somebody should have beheaded them.
She’s not wrong. But Sansa says it’s not the same. The Hound is Joffrey’s sworn shield. Your butcher’s boy attacked the prince. Well, shit is on after that. Arya tells Sansa that she’s a liar while she grips a blood orange so hard that juice flows through her fingers. But Sansa doesn’t care.
Go ahead, call me all the names you want. You won’t dare when I’m married to Joffrey. You’ll have to bow to me and call me Your Grace.
And then Arya throws the orange at Sansa. The orange hits her full on the head and slithers down into her lap. You have juice on your face, Your Grace.
The juice runs all over Sansa, and her dress, her beautiful ivory silk dress is ruined. Sansa shrieks at Arya that she’s horrible and that they should have killed Arya instead of Lady. Mordane jumps up, shouting about how Ned will hear about all of this. She sends both girls to their rooms.
When Sansa protests that it’s not fair, Mordane says the matter is not up for discussion. Sansa heads off, refusing to cry. Queens do not cry in public. When she reaches her bedchamber, she throws her dress off and examines it. It’s ruined. Sansa screams that she hates Arya. Worse, the orange juice has bled into her underskirt. She cries herself to sleep.
At midday, Mordane brings Sansa to her father. Sansa had been dreaming about Lady, her Direwolf and her sad, golden, knowing eyes. She had been running with her. But now that the dream is gone, the memories fade. Lady was still dead again.
In the solar, Sansa finds Ned bent over a massive book. He tells her to come sit beside her. A moment later, Septa Mordane reappears, bringing a squirming Arya under her arm. Ned thanks Mordane for her service. As soon as she leaves, Sansa immediately accuses Arya of starting it and recounts what happened, adding in some detail about how Arya is jealous that Sansa is going to marry Joffrey and that she doesn’t want anything to be beautiful, nice or splendid.
Enough, Sansa.
And then Arya shockingly states that she’s sorry and begs for Sansa’s forgiveness. Sansa is speechless, but then she asks about her dress. How would she fix it. Arya says that she’ll wash it, but Sansa retorts that the silk is ruined. Arya says, well, she’ll fix the dress. Sew it or something.
You? You couldn’t sew a dress fit to clean the pigsties.
But Ned’s not about dresses here. He has an announcement. He’s sending everyone back to Winterfell. Both girls are shocked, and they beg Ned not to send them back. Ned smiles and says says At last we’ve found something you agree on.
Sansa thinks it’s a punishment. She loves King’s Landing: the court, the fashion, the tourneys, the masked balls, mummer shows. And her father was taking that all away. Send Arya away. She started it. Father, I swear it. I’ll be good, you’ll see, just let me stay, and I promise to be as fine and noble and courteous as the queen.
Ned twitches at that. He’s not sending Sansa and Arya away for fighting. Yeah, they need to stop fighting, but they need to get the fuck out of dodge, because it’s dangerous here. His men are being killed, and Robert is neglecting rule of the realm. Arya is sullen and angry but asks if they can take Syrio back with them.
Who the fuck cares about Syrio, Sansa sort of asks. Besides. Sansa can’t go. She’s going to marry Joffrey. She loves him. Truly. As much as Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. As much as Jonquil loved Florian. She wants to be queen and have his babies.
Ned tries a gentle approach. He’ll marry her off to someone worthy of her. Someone brave and gentle and strong. And Joffrey. Damn, Sansa. Open your eyes. That ain’t Aemon. Well, Sansa doesn’t want someone gentle, brave or strong. She wants Joffrey. They’re going to be happy like in the songs. She’ll give him a son with golden hair. They’ll be brave, strong lion and wolf. But Arya knows better.
Not if Joffrey’s his father. He’s a liar and a craven and anyhow he’s a stag, not a lion.
Sansa then says something that will change ASOIAF forever:
He’s not the least bit like that old drunken king!
Oh boy. It’s fucking on now. Ned looks at Sansa. Out of the mouth of babes. Ned shouts for Mordane. He’s still sending them back. And if Syrio wants to come too, he can. But goddamit, please don’t fucking say anything about this, okay girls? Everyone clear on that. Yes, you, Sansa, look at me. Please do not run off to the queen and let her know what we’re planning. Okay, great. We’re all agreed!
Sansa cries as Mordane leads her and Arya away to their rooms. They pass by Frank who’s been in his room since last summer. Mordane does her whole I am certain your lord father knows what is best for you bit which … sigh. Mordane. C’mon. Little more effort here. Arya tries to comfort Sansa, saying that they’ll sail on a ship all adventure-like. And they’ll get to see Bran, Robb, Old Nan and Hodor again! But Sansa’s not about that. Arya, you ought to marry Hodor. You’re stupid, hair and ugly like him.
She gets into her room, slams the door and then bars it.
And that is AGOT, Sansa III. Look, as much as Chloe claims that I’m on a redemption journey with Sansa. And as much as I think that Sansa’s pawn to player arc is a good one, I am side-eyeing most of Sansa’s words, thoughts and deeds here. But it’s still a good chapter -- one that kind of gets glossed over when people think about great chapters in ASOIAF. But it’s vital to progressing the plot forward and setting the character dynamics for things to come.
What did you think, Emmett?
Depth
Well, I think we should all take a moment to applaud Jeff for his courage in getting through that synopsis. Been a while since he had to do a Sansa chapter, and he got through it!
There’s a “calm before the storm” feeling to these last few King’s Landing chapters before Ned goes down in the throne room and everything changes forever for his daughters. That’s especially true in the case of Sansa III because of the bubble she inhabits, which is the central subject of her arc in this book. GRRM is gradually deconstructing her worldview in front of her, and every chapter contributes in its own way until the axe falls with her father’s death.
Sansa III is about Sansa grasping for the dreams that worldview offered even as they start drifting away, “like trying to catch the rain with her fingers” as she puts it. She was able to both stand up to and feel sympathy for Sandor in Sansa II, but in this chapter the bearer of hard truths that conflict with the stories and songs is her father, which is a whole different dynamic.
- The fairytale dream shattered
- Sansa III starts with Sansa’s take on the events of Eddard XI
- Like Varys, she wanted Loras to go, but for different reasons
- Or perhaps not different reasons, but flipsides of the same reason; Varys advised Ned to send Loras in order to access Tyrell power, and Tyrell power is founded in part on their mastery of the chivalric politics that get Sansa all swoony
- In other words, she is once again an audience avatar
- The irony is that Gregor really is a monster out of fairytales, as GRRM clearly drew in part from legends of Bluebeard to create the Mountain
- And Ned did send a handsome hero to slay the monster, but it’s Jeyne’s crush instead of Sansa’s, namely Beric Dondarrion, and he won’t become the inspiring champion of the people until he’s no longer handsome
- Later on, when Sansa sees them ride off, she thinks of them as “a song come to life,” and all I can think of is Tom o’ Sevens, singing his songs...and memorializing Alyn of Winterfell, who wanted to be a knight
- All part of the image v. reality theme running through--well, the whole series, but especially AGOT and especially Sansa in AGOT
- And then Littlefinger shows up (why)
- Mordane freaks out that he might’ve overheard Sansa criticizing Ned, a reminder that Sansa is a public political figure at this point--it matters what she says!
- Why is Littlefinger asking? Is he probing to see if Sansa is a political prodigy?
- Grooming: “Wow, you’re so smart and your dad is such a dud.”
- Well, she ain’t, and when she explains about heroes and monsters, he chuckles because that’s how he used to think, back when he challenged the heir to Winterfell to a duel
- He touches her face now (ew), moving closer than her hair in Sansa II, and insists that “life is not a song”
- This is a critical moment because it gets at Littlefinger’s cynicism and how it has motivated his entire conspiracy
- But what makes him so unsympathetic is that he’s not trying to warn Sansa away from this potential “sorrow”
- Quite the contrary--as we see unfold throughout ACOK and ASOS, he wants her to suffer this lesson so she’ll be more amenable to him and his worldview
- There’s not the same kind of empathy and sadness we see with Catelyn diagnosing “the knights of summer,” for example
- Cold hard manipulation is all that’s left of Petyr Baelish the young romantic fool
- This is what Sansa must not (and will not) become after her dreams shatter
- The framework of Sansa’s story to Jeyne
- Quick sidebar on the structure of the first half of the chapter, which isn’t told in real time but is Sansa relaying the day’s events to her BFF Jeyne Poole
- It’s not the only time GRRM pulls this sort of time gambit with Sansa--he structures Jeff’s favorite chapter, ASOS Sansa II, in a very interesting fashion
- It adds a layer to the recurring theme of songs and stories in Sansa’s arc, because now she’s spinning her own fantasy narrative
- Not only does that narrative elevate Loras on superficial grounds, it’s dishonest on the face of it--Sansa lies about dreaming of Joffrey and the white hart
- She’s specifically lying in order for her story to be more like the stories she loves, you don’t get a genre critique more savage than that
- And it doesn’t work on Sansa in the moment, because she still has to admit the bloody reality--Joffrey would kill the deer, and that’s because he would enjoy it
- Sansa being put off by Yoren adds to the theme, because of course Yoren being smelly and grouchy doesn’t prevent him from being a hero
- Then Jeyne gets bored, and requests lemoncakes. Same
- That’s also notable because it establishes Sansa as interested in this sort of thing relative to Jeyne, if not adept as she will be in AFFC in terms of navigating it
- But you need these sweet innocent moments, especially in which Sansa is compared to Arya--like when she talks about beheading Gregor
- That’s the grace being fallen from and what they’re all trying to recapture
- The fairytale dream shattered, part 2: shatter harder
- When Sansa is sent to her room for squabbling with Arya, she dreams of Lady, and it’s the saddest thing
- "Lady," she whispered. For a moment it was as if the direwolf was there in the room, looking at her with those golden eyes, sad and knowing. She had been dreaming, she realized. Lady was with her, and they were running together, and … and … trying to remember was like trying to catch the rain with her fingers. The dream faded, and Lady was dead again.
- This sense of the dream slipping through her fingers is perfectly emblematic of Sansa’s story as a whole
- As we’ve said before, that the wolf is named Lady means that her death symbolizes the death of Sansa’s dream of being a lady at court
- And then Dad threatens to take it away for good!
- She loved King's Landing; the pagaentry of the court, the high lords and ladies in their velvets and silks and gemstones, the great city with all its people. The tournament had been the most magical time of her whole life, and there was so much she had not seen yet, harvest feasts and masked balls and mummer shows. She could not bear the thought of losing it all.
- They were going to take it all away; the tournaments and the court and her prince, everything, they were going to send her back to the bleak grey walls of Winterfell and lock her up forever. Her life was over before it had begun.
- Sansa specifically grounds her appeal in wanting life to be like the songs:
- "I love him, Father, I truly truly do, I love him as much as Queen Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, as much as Jonquil loved Ser Florian.”
- But again, she inadvertently reveals how hollow this is:
- “I don’t want someone brave and gentle, I want him.”
- The reason one sings about Aemon the Dragonknight is because he is brave, gentle, etc. That Sansa dismisses those values suggests the songs have come unmoored from their reason for existence
- Being a true knight, lord, king, etc. should have less to do with one’s personal glory and more to do with living up to those values
- But all those previous slips of the tongue were appetizers for Sansa giving the game away
- The “from the mouth of babes” moment is so great because it contains the hidden truth within the argument of someone lost in surface appeal
- Sansa’s accidentally tearing down that which she’s trying to preserve
- When Sansa is sent to her room for squabbling with Arya, she dreams of Lady, and it’s the saddest thing
Foreshadowing/Groundwork
As with previous Sansa chapters, we get foreshadowing of Ilyn Payne executing Ned in front of her:
Every time she looked at Ser Ilyn Payne, she shivered. He made her feel as though something dead were slithering over her naked skin. “Ser Ilyn’s almost like a second monster. I’m glad Father didn’t pick him.”
Speaking of which, all the talk about heads on spikes in this chapter will pay off for Sansa in the most hideous fashion...
Sansa flinging her dress into the hearth because of a “blotchy red stain” from the *blood* orange will repeat itself in ACOK, when her first period causes her to try and burn the evidence lest she be forcefully married off to Joffrey.
Ned gives Yoren pick of the dungeons to get men for the Wall, and this is how Yoren grabs up Jaqen, Biter and Rorge.
Theory/Discussion
Our discussion this week is about something that doesn’t happen in Sansa III, but afterwards: Sansa goes to Cersei with the information about the Stark sisters’ impending departure from King’s Landing. How we should take this revelation (as we learn about it after the fact in Sansa IV) has been a long-running subject of debate within the fandom, and passions run high as they tend to in arguments about Sansa, so we thought we’d establish where we’re coming from.
Here is George’s take:
The way I see it, it is not a case of all or nothing. No single person is to blame for Ned's downfall. Sansa played a role, certainly, but it would be unfair to put all the blame on her. But it would also be unfair to exonerate her. She was not privy to all of Ned's plans regarding Stannis, the gold cloaks, etc... but she knew more than just that her father planned to spirit her and Arya away from King's Landing. She knew when they were to leave, on what ship, how many men would be in their escort, who would have the command, where Arya was that morning, etc... all of which was useful to Cersei in planning and timing her move.
I agree with George in that Sansa did convey more information to Cersei than merely “we’re leaving” and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. But Sansa’s goal is not to outright abandon her family for the Lannisters (as appears to have been the intent in the pitch letter). Her goal is to stay in King’s Landing by appealing to royal authority over Ned’s head. Her first instinct is go to Robert, but Robert frightens her so she goes to Cersei. She thinks she’s telling Cersei what Cersei needs to know in order to help her stay. Sansa does not realize that this is a big-picture move on her part, thinking of it in purely personal terms. Now, should she have realized the gravity of her actions? Well, that’s where we get into Sansa’s age and influences.
Something that doesn’t get enough attention is the roles of Ned Stark and Septa Mordane here. And as I say this, do I hear Chloe saying “She’s eleven, Jeff,” in the background? But it’s important to consider Sansa’s age and her influences at this time.
Ned Stark
- Ned’s fault lies insofar as he makes generalized statements that don’t reach Sansa at her level.
- This match with Joffrey was a terrible mistake. That boy is no Prince Aemon, you must believe me.
- This statement is, of course, a true one. But Ned’s failing here is in not going beyond the generality, not explaining.
- Consider that Sansa is already upset at Ned for not sending Loras after Gregor. Ned doesn’t explain that decision to her. Instead that void of “Why” is filled by Mordane (who I’ll talk about in a sec) and Littlefinger.
- Sansa isn’t two years old. She needs more than “No, sorry, Joffrey isn’t Aemon the Dragonknight.” She needs reasons! I could say “Joffrey is evil”, and our listening audience would immediately understand what I meant. But would Sansa?
- Louis CK’s “Why?” standup (with obvious moral caveats about Louis CK)
- This statement is, of course, a true one. But Ned’s failing here is in not going beyond the generality, not explaining.
- And then, there’s Ned’s argument that he’ll make a better match for Sansa.
- It makes sense in Ned’s mind, but Ned, you gotta understand that what you’re saying to Sansa is that you’re taking the thing she wants most (to be the queen) away from her. That’s going to have an impact.
- This match with Joffrey was a terrible mistake. That boy is no Prince Aemon, you must believe me.
- And then, it’s worse with Cersei. Ned doesn’t remind Sansa about Cersei’s actions at the Trident.
- Instead, all we get is Ned’s mouth “twitching strangely” at the mention of Cersei.
- Sansa needs more than knowing looks to understand who Cersei is and how much of a danger and threat she poses to Sansa’s family
- Instead, all we get is Ned’s mouth “twitching strangely” at the mention of Cersei.
- Ned never had the talk with Sansa that he did with Arya, where he explicitly calls out the Lannisters as their enemies that aren’t to be trusted and that they have to stick together as a wolfpack
- That’s because doing so would risk blowing the whole thing open given Sansa’s connection to Joffrey
- Sansa is kind of being used as a sacrificial lamb here, her betrothal to Joffrey preserved so Ned can work behind the scenes
- It’s why he doesn’t have an answer for Arya in the show when she asks why he’d let Sansa marry someone as awful as Joff
- Sansa has to preserve her innocence for Ned’s plan to work, which itself leads to the downfall of her innocence--as with Arianne, keeping the princess in the tower is only a short-term solution and leads to more problems
Septa Mordane
- This is a chapter where I begin to understand why everyone is down on Septa Mordane, because she’s worse than useless here.
- Her constant “Your father knows best” statements to Sansa cause active resentments in Sansa.
- It seems to me that Mordane doesn’t want to leave King’s Landing either.
Point is that no one is reasoning with Sansa, giving her the “why” on how things are. Everyone is dismissing her objections in very childlike ways with Ned making vague promises that he’ll get a better match for her. Of course she’s going to be angry, but her reaction was still … sigh … I’ll get grief here, but it was wrong.
GRRM wants us to sympathize with Sansa’s motivations, but informing Cersei of Ned’s plans was the wrong move. I know. She’s eleven. I get it, Chloe. But still, informing on Ned was bad. Sansa has some understanding of who Cersei is. Hell, she even says as much in her prior POV chapter when she tries to excuse Joffrey’s involvement in Lady’s death:
At first she thought she hated him for what they'd done to Lady, but after Sansa had wept her eyes dry, she told herself that it had not been Joffrey's doing, not truly. The queen had done it; she was the one to hate, her and Arya.
Now, look, you sunzabitches: I get it. People aren’t logical. Sansa is making excuses for Joffrey by throwing all the blame for Lady’s death on Cersei. Could Sansa be doing the same thing here -- excusing Cersei’s behavior, rationalizing it to get her way of staying in King’s Landing and marrying Joffrey? Yeah. Of course. That’s how people do. And that’s what makes ASOIAF a terrific series. Sansa has to have an arc. She won’t make the right choices all the time -- especially this early in her arc. She has to fuck up to move up.
The thematic impulse for Sansa throughout AGOT is dispelling her of the notions that songs have put into her head. Life is not a song. And if you try to force the song into coming true, you’re going to get Joffrey in the end.
Conclusion
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