Sansa Stark is an enigmatic character. First, I believe that everybody who has read the books or watched Game of Thrones did not have a good impression of her at the beginning. Most people would consider her “stupid” at certain point. So far, the TV show has not put forward much of Sansa’s character development. However, at the beginning of Storm of Swords, the third book of A Song of Ice and Fire, the reader starts noticing a little bit of development.
First, the marriage of Sansa to Tyrion in the show is different than in the books. In the show, Tyrion informed Sansa about the marriage. In the books, Sansa did not know that she was going to get married to Tyrion. When she realized what was going to happen, she resisted by trying to run away. Cersei threatened her to have her beaten by the Kingsguard in order to get Sansa to comply. The main point is that the marriage was forced. Another main distinction is that book Tyrion is greyer than TV Tyrion. What I mean by “grey” is that most characters in A Song of Ice and Fire are neither “white” (good) nor “black” (evil). In the show, Tyrion was reluctant to marry Sansa. In the book, Tyrion agreed to a certain degree to the marriage. He was getting a pretty young bride with a name of high prestige. That was a plus for him since nobody from the Great Houses wanted to marry their daughters to the Imp. Of course, he was not aware that Tywin was planning the Red Wedding, so when it happened, Tyrion did not like that. Basically he was waiting for Sansa to grow fond of him in order to consummate the marriage. Because of the Red Wedding, that would become impossible for him to do. He found it even impossible even in their first night just after their wedding since Sansa was just disgusted by his presence. The good thing is that a marriage that remains unconsummated can be annulled later on. Basically, by the following books both characters do not want to be married to each other. However, the annulment process will not be straight forward due to certain events that will happen in the fourth season. Sansa will find out that remaining married to Tyrion will be an advantage since she will start to realize that men will just marry her for her claim to Winterfell and the North and not because of love. Sansa will also escape King’s Landing aided by Littlefinger who will try to use her for his own purposes.
Second, Sansa will be taking down one of the most important players in the game of thrones: Petyr Baelish. This event has not happened yet in the books, but it is foreshadowed. There is a character that was cut off from the show and whose role was fulfilled partially by Melisandre instead. This character is a very old woman probably related to the Children of the Forest, the Ghost of High Heart. High Heart is a location near Oldstones, The Riverlands. Here is the quote taken from the 2011 paperback edition of A Storm of Swords.
I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow (593).
The first part of this prophecy refers to what readers call the Purple Wedding. I will not give much details of what actually it is but after this event, everybody that will be watching Season 4 will be crying tears of joy and going out for a drink for sure. This event will speed up Cersei’s descent into madness too. The second part refers to Sansa causing the downfall of Littlefinger. A similar event is played later on when Sansa is at the Eyrie, the Vale (where Sansa’s aunt, Lysa, is the ruler). The Eyrie is described as a snow castle. Basically, snow has started to fall at the Eyrie, and Sansa is using it to build a small version of Winterfell. Then her cousin, Robert Arryn, comes with a doll referring to it as a giant, and destroys the castle. Sansa then gets into this sort of rage, and destroys the doll. Here is a description of how this doll is destroyed.
She grabbed for his hands but she caught the doll instead. There was a loud ripping sound as the thin cloth tore. Suddenly she had the doll’s head, Robert had the legs and body, and the rag-and-sawdust stuffing was spilling in the snow (1105).
First, Littlefinger’s grandfather was a sellsword from Braavos that gained knighthood and obtained a small piece of land at the Fingers, Vale of Arryn. Littlefinger’s personal sigil is a mockingbird, but his house / family sigil is the Titan of Braavos, which is basically a giant. Littlefinger is the one that convinced Joffrey to have Eddard Stark beheaded. This is probably something that Sansa will find out in the future. This action caused the War of the Five Kings and also the “temporary” downfall of House Stark. These events align with the description of the giant destroying Winterfell. Then, the giant is slayed by Sansa. I do believe that Sansa is capable of killing. Of course, she is so naive and innocent, but we have to remember that she was about to kill Joffrey by pushing him off from a small bridge when he was showing her the head of her father in the First Season, an event that also happened in the books.
There will be a second post to this topic coming soon. However, I would like to share a fan art concerning House Stark. I love this piece of art because it reflects the current roles that the Stark kids have. Bran is about to become a greenseer so he is part of the weirdwood. There is Sansa building her snow castle, Winterfell. Jon, Rickon, Arya, and the reanimated Catelyn Stark are there alive. The dead ones, Robb and Eddard, are buried. Please take a look a the Children of the Forest on the sides of the weirdwood.