Sophie Turner: Sansa's story going in different direction from books (book spoilers likely in thread)

[Robb_Warged]

"Game of Thrones" book readers shouldn't expect to be in the know about the direction Sansa Stark's storyline goes in Season 5. As Season 4 pretty much covered all of Sansa's published "A Song of Ice and Fire" material, Sophie Turner says her character's storyline will diverge in the 2015 season.

"'Game of Thrones' is so unpredictable and it was a big surprise what is happening to her this season," Turner tells HitFix while promoting her new movie "Another Me." "I am so excited because it gives me the opportunity to work with new people and it goes in a completely different direction. I think the fans will really like where her storyline is going this season."

In "A Feast For Crows," Sansa and Littlefinger continue to work together in the aftermath of Lysa Arryn's death. Though Turner admits to not reading later "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels because of the way the show differed from them, it sounds like Season 5 will really deviate from its source material for her.

"I kind of read the 'Game of Thrones' books as the seasons [went on]," Turner says, "But now that the storyline and scripts are kind of going away from the books I decided I'm just going to read the scripts so I don't get confused and read the books later."

This likely isn't welcome news for fans already frustrated with the way "Game of Thrones" is changing around its source material, but with Sansa absent from book five, "A Dance With Dragons," and no publish date on book six, "The Winds of Winter," it makes sense why Sansa's storyline would need to be added to or changed.

http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/game_of_thrones_season_5_sophie_turner_sansa_different_story_books-2014-08

I thought this was pretty big news and I didn't see a thread on this. Sorry if there is one on these comments already

I'm not sure if I should feel disheartened or optomistic about this news. I fear with the show wanting to end in about 3 more seasons/years, what's happening with Sansa may become the norm for everyone. As book 6 and book 7 shouldn't be rushed but the show can't wait for the two to release so either the show will be allowed to spoil the books or the show will choose to tell a different story

What is everyone's thoughts? You think this will be good or bad for sansan shippers?

[JustAnObsessedFan]

Inb4 Sansa becomes Queen of the Brotherhood.

[FalseKnight]

I think they already passed basically all of her arc from AFfC. They can still introduce Harry the Heir, but they won't and shouldn't spend more than a minute on the descent from the Eyrie. Don't get your hopes up for the show telling an entirely different story. They paid for the real ending, so they'll use it.

[jakmanuk]

"I think the fans will really like where her storyline is going this season."

I bet we don't

[Woman of War]

I bet we don't

There is no "We" in this forum nor among fandom in general.

Some will like the aspects from Sansa's story the show uses, some will hate that emphasis and want to see their Sansa version coming to life on screen.

[Gendry_Goldeneyes]

i saw this and was very interested in what it hinted at as well..

[Annara Snow]

Um, she doesn't know if the story is going away from the books in season 5, since she hasn't read the unpublished books. She obviously knows that the story has already "kind of gone away from the books" in season 4, with Sansa revealing herself to the Lords of the Vale and getting some leverage over LF. Which meant that the show has already covered or dispensed with most of Sansa's AFFC material.

So, what books could season 5 be "going away from"? The Winds of Winter? Would she actually know that?

Season 5 can either 1) try to stall things by inventing lots of stuff before they get to the same place where Sansa is, but that's really unlikely - since she really has very little to do in AFFC to begin with, and especially after they covered/got rid of the need to cover her first two chapters in AFFC (did anyone really think we'd be watching Sansa babysitting Robin, descending the Eyrie, talking to Myranda Royce about sex and trying to get Mya and Lothor together for an entire season, before LF tells her that she's going to marry HtH in the finale?); 2) they can dive straight into TWOW; or 3) invent some other storyline that's got nothing to do with what Sansa would be doing in TWOW and further. But since they had GRRM tell them the rest of the story he's got planned, and since they have probably read some of Sansa's TWOW chapters (as they certainly did read "Mercy" before they started working on season 4!), I think it's more likely we'll be seeing lots of TWOW spoilers in season 5 (not that there isn't likely to be invented material as well).

To sum it up: Sophie knows that they've gone away from AFFC in season 4. But season 5 can't be based on AFFC since there's almost nothing left to cover. I think it's pretty obvious that she's talking about what happened in season 4. Unless you think that D&D have told her: "This is what happens to your character in the future books, George told us so we wanted to share: [..................] However, you can know forget about all this, because we're going to do something completely different with Sansa" - Sophie has no idea whether the season 5 scripts are going away from the books, or following The Winds of Winter storylines. And there is also no indication that "is going to be completely different" means "from the books" (which she hasn't read, since they're not published) rather than "different than what her storyline has been so far".

Could we have less sensationalist titles based on misquotes/jumping to conclusions, please? First it was "GRRM says some people have guessed the ending", now this...

I think they already passed basically all of her arc from AFfC. They can still introduce Harry the Heir, but they won't and shouldn't spend more than a minute on the descent from the Eyrie. Don't get your hopes up for the show telling an entirely different story. They paid for the real ending, so they'll use it.

This. (Except I'm not one of those who sees 'the show telling an entire different story' as a good thing, but there are people - oddly enough, some of the biggest book purists out there - who actually would like that.)

[Ser Frasier of House Crane]

Well, Martin has given tidbits of character arcs to the actors, so he might've tipped Sophie Turner about where the character might go, but D&D might be taking a different route to get there. I wouldn't mind too much if this were the case; Sansa is one of the characters I feel the show has improved from the books, and while "Darth Sansa" is leaving a bad taste in people's mouths, I like the idea of seeing her taking a more active role as Littlefinger's acolyte.

[Colonel Green]

Well, Martin has given tidbits of character arcs to the actors, so he might've tipped Sophie Turner about where the character might go

From one of Sophie's recent interviews, she has no idea what's going to happen with the character in the books.

[Annara Snow]

Well, Martin has given tidbits of character arcs to the actors, so he might've tipped Sophie Turner about where the character might go, but D&D might be taking a different route to get there. I wouldn't mind too much if this were the case; Sansa is one of the characters I feel the show has improved from the books, and while "Darth Sansa" is leaving a bad taste in people's mouths, I like the idea of seeing her taking a more active role as Littlefinger's acolyte.

Where are you getting that info from? As far as I know, he's only told it to D&D.

And a lot of people have been predicting that Sansa would become more politically active under LF's mentorship based on the books alone, long before the show stopped writing her like a moron who asks "Will my family come to the wedding?" There was a whole bunch of "Sansa: From Pawn to Player" threads.

I suspect that the only reason TV show is trying to make her into a "player" now is because D&D now know where she's heading, but they have to get there faster because they only have 3 seasons left. And besides, show Sansa is older and Sophie looks very mature; book!Sansa is 13, and will probably get a bit more time to convincingly get wherever she was meant to be at after the 5-year time jump. I certainly don't think that D&D would have ever come to the idea of making her more mature and active than in the books, since nothing in the way they wrote her for the first 3 seasons, especially in season 3, seemed like a preparation for that; they had only made her less mature and less active than she was in the books.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

Kinda agree with Annara Snow. She doesn't know more than we do and we didn't even need her to say that for us to figure it out.

In books she is still naive and pretty much a hostage of Petyr. Also, she's on the way to discover that she could get away with many stuff by using her own sensuality. In shows, she has Petyr wrapped around her finger and she has revealed herself to the Vale lords.

Still, there is a chance her plot in shows later catches up with whatever happens to her in books.

[Ser Frasier of House Crane]

Where are you getting that info from? As far as I know, he's only told it to D&D.

And a lot of people have been predicting that Sansa would become more politically active under LF's mentorship based on the books alone, long before the show stopped writing her like a moron who asks "Will my family come to the wedding?" There was a whole bunch of "Sansa: From Pawn to Player" threads.

I suspect that the only reason TV show is trying to make her into a "player" now is because D&D now know where she's heading, but they have to get there faster because they only have 3 seasons left. And besides, show Sansa is older and Sophie looks very mature; book!Sansa is 13, and will probably get a bit more time to convincingly get wherever she was meant to be at after the 5-year time jump. I certainly don't think that D&D would have ever come to the idea of making her more mature and active than in the books, since nothing in the way they wrote her for the first 3 seasons, especially in season 3, seemed like a preparation for that; they had only made her less mature and less active.

Several actors have said that Martin has told them little bits of information about their character that has yet to be revealed in the books, but I don't think he lays out EVERYTHING that happens to them. For instance, he may tell one actor something that their character does in The Winds of Winter, but that wouldn't necessarily mean that the actor in question knows where the character is going past that. I don't know if he ever informed Sophie Turner on Sansa, but if he had, I wouldn't expect him to give her the full story of what happens to her.

I agree that the series has to pick up a lot of ground now, which in Sansa's case is actually a good thing. I felt rather bored with what was going on in the Vale with her, not because I felt that it was bad writing or characterization, but because I had a notion of where it was all going anyway, and it was just starting to pick up just as the book ended. I feel her characterization is going just fine in the series, as it's skipping a lot of what I felt was waffling.

[WindyWinter]

Well given as the show has already given LF some major SanSan dialogue and kinda overlooked Jeyne's arc (which really sheds light on LF worst sides) and over all has shown Sansa totally fading into Alayne ... Whatever it is that they have in store can't be too good. :/

[Colonel Green]

and over all has shown Sansa totally fading into Alayne

Er, no, not at all. "Alayne" and Sansa are completely indistinct in the show, personality-wise. She doesn't act any differently than she normally does (and her wardrobe switch at the end had nothing to do with being Alayne -- it was about trying to put Baelish off-balance).

[Annara Snow]

Well given as the show has already given LF some major SanSan dialogue and kinda overlooked Jeyne's arc (which really sheds light on LF worst sides) and over all has shown Sansa totally fading into Alayne ... Whatever it is that they have in store can't be too good. :/

It's the exact opposite, as Colonel Green pointed out. Show!Sansa is very aware of who she is, has even revealed herself to the three of the Lords of the Vale, and is no danger of losing her identity while pretending to be Baelish's niece. She isn't even undergoing any identity crisis while playing a role. She also doesn't seem remotely in danger or developing a Stockholm Syndrome and starting to think of Baelish as a nice guy and her true friend (not that I think this will happen in the books at any point, but many people do, since Sansa in AFFC is trying to see Baelish in a more positive light and think of him as her father).

And whatever the problems with LF's portrayal on the show, making him look more likable and sympathetic sure as hell ain't one of them. If anything, they've made it crystal clear since halfway through season 1 that he's a villain and he's often been very muhahaha.

[Janicia]

If the show followed the books closely for seasons 3, 4, and 5, Arya and Bran's stories would have almost no impact on any of the other main characters. And Theon is mostly on ice during seasons 3-4. And Sansa would also not impact anybody in season 5, and Brienne would have one minute of impact at the end of season 5. They're all isolated from each other, from the rest of the story. GRRM can get away with this better than the show can, since he has rumors percolating across continents and mis-identified characters, making people seem more connected than they are. He can also have secondary characters popping up in multiple stories for cameos. But for the show, almost half of its main characters being completely off on their own for several seasons - it just isn't good storytelling.

So the show invented Arya and Bran meet-ups with other characters in season 4, and fast forwarded through Bran and Sansa's book material, and are bringing back a familiar face for Arya to interact with. They have to connect these people. My guess is that Arya will be involved in the Iron Bank story impacting Stannis and Cersei, as well as probably having a more impactful interaction with Sam and Gilly. I think Bran probably won't have much screen time, but they'll introduce/bring forward material to connect him to other stories, having him reach out to other characters.

And bringing Sansa's story forward will allow her to matter in the Kings Landing story or to feature in a Riverlands story involving BWB/Freys. The show deviated from the book in season 4 by making it pretty obvious to somebody like Qyburn where to look for Stark girls (both girls told people in the Vale who they were, Hot Pie talking, even Podrick knew to look in the Vale).

[Annara Snow]

If the show followed the books closely for seasons 3, 4, and 5, Arya and Bran's stories would have almost no impact on any of the other main characters. And Theon is mostly on ice during seasons 3-4. And Sansa would also not impact anybody in season 5, and Brienne would have one minute of impact at the end of season 5. They're all isolated from each other, from the rest of the story. GRRM can get away with this better than the show can, since he has rumors percolating across continents and mis-identified characters, making people seem more connected than they are. He can also have secondary characters popping up in multiple stories for cameos. But for the show, almost half of its main characters being completely off on their own for several seasons - it just isn't good storytelling.

The main reason for the lack of Sansa, Arya and Bran in AFFC/ADWD is the scrapping of the five year gap. Simply put, the kids need to grow up a bit. They are also in the process of training with their mentors.

The show has sort of solved the problem of the lack of the five year gap by aging the kids up by 2-3 years and the fact that the actors are even older now. The ages of the actors playing Sansa, Arya and Bran (and I think Rickon, too) are now pretty much the same ages their characters would have had after the five year gap. This makes their maturity more convincing, especially visually (and the show is being very vague about how much time has passed since season 1, more or less ignoring the issue or letting the viewers come to their own conclusion).

[Colonel Green]

And bringing Sansa's story forward will allow her to matter in the Kings Landing story or to feature in a Riverlands story involving BWB/Freys.

Neither of those things seems at all likely based on what we know.

[Beric175]

This thread is why I was never worried about the show catching up to the books: none of us know with absolute certainty how the story continues. All we can do is guess.

[1234567]

The characters on the show are beginning to differ substantially from their book counterparts, so it seems only natural that the storyline for theTV series will eventually change as well. The show and books may hit some of the same story outcomes, but the characters and the journey they took to reach these points may be vastly different.

We know Jaime is going to Dorne, the Tysha incident is no longer of any import, Arienne has been cut and so it seems have the Greyjoys and possibly even Young Griff. The producers have shown little interest in faithfully adapting Sansa's storyline and character from S1 onwards, so this really is not unexpected.