[Book Spoilers] Ranking the Best Seasons for Characters

[Colonel Green]

In attempting to evaluate the characters on a season-by-season basis, I tried to assess each individual season within its own terms, rather than just measuring screentime, etc. (so, for instance, Theon's three episodes in Season 4 versus six episodes in Season 3, I think most would prefer the latter).

A couple of my rankings:

JAIME

1. Season 3 - he had the single-best plot that year, and a highly effective adaptation of the book's material, which was itself a highlight of the third novel. The only real thing that I think could be said against it is that it kind of peters out at the end due to structural decisions, but whatever.

2. Season 1 - I was debating whether this or Season 4 should be in second, but Season 1 isn't marred by a single terrible scene, and I think the writers do a great job of integrating some of Jaime's later characterization into his AGOT appearances (since at that point in the books he was really nothing more than a villain).

3. Season 4 - This would be in second place if not for the badly mishandled sept scene. The omission of the Tysha is also controversial, but I think that affects him far less than Tyrion. His midtrial bid to save Tyrion is one of the show's best narrative additions.

4. Season 2 - comparative brevity doesn't decide the matter here. My main issue is with the much-debated murder of Alton. Unlike some people, it's not the "Jaime is a kinslayer!" complaint that bothers me (as kinslaying isn't really a 'thing' in the show), its just how dumb the action is. There's literally no reason for it. Also, while the Jaime/Brienne dynamic would turn into one of the highlights of Season 3, its intro here isn't terribly promising.

DAENERYS

1. Season 1 - still the best. It still has the clearest and best-executed narrative arc of any of Dany's seasons to date, and Clarke does a very good job of depicting Dany's character growth (it's also the only Dany story arc to date to feature compelling antagonists, though this is also something of an issue with the books).

2. Season 3 - exceptional start, kind of loses steam after episode 4.

3. Season 4 - Intermittently compelling, but I don't care for some of the writing choices made in how she's depicted, which tend to distance the audience from the character even in what should be really key moments of emotional conflict (only at the very end of the season, with the chaining of the dragons, do we get that, and Clarke is really good in that scene).

4. Season 2 - it sucked. What else is there to say?

THEON

1. Season 2 - since Season 2 was ranked last in the first two characters' rankings, I'll point to a season where it was clearly on top. Theon's story was, together with Tyrion's, the main saving grace of the second season, apart from the muddled ending. Alfie Allen really shone here, which is why it's disappointing the extent to which, from my observations of viewers, the subsequent seasons have pretty much squandered the audience goodwill toward this portion of the show. Hopefully Season 5 can rectify that.

2. Season 4 - limited screentime and not really much in the way of an arc, but the scenes themselves work (the Yara scene is stupid from the perspective of Yara, but as far as serving Theon's character, I have no problems with it).

3. Season 1 - I briefly debated putting this in second place, but I don't think there's enough there in terms of focus to warrant that, even if I like the final bit of brotherly acknowledgement he gets, which sets up the following season.

4. Season 3 - I don't dislike this story nearly as much as some people do, but in retrospect I don't think this was the way to handle the narrative quandry created by Theon skipped ASOS.

SANSA

1. Season 4 - the writers deign to stop cutting her story, so this kind of wins by default. But it was in fact a strong season overall, less the changes to the Purple Wedding.

2. Season 1 - I imagine a lot of people would rank Season 2 in second place, but I put Season 1 here because I think she has a much better narrative through-line, whereas the changes to the plot in Season 2 result in a collection of scenes that largely work individually, but I don't think convincingly add up to anything. She has pretty much nothing going on in the first five episodes, but it finishes strongly.

3. Season 2 - Like I said above, on a scene-by-scene basis this season looks good (they cut the only bad one that we know of), but when the climax of the character's arc hinges on her interactions with the Hound, it's a problem when the show has cut so much that that relationship doesn't make any sense on the show (or, I guess, lacks definition). Also, the cutting of Dontos was detrimental to the character's plot, which became a much bigger issue in...

4. Season 3 - This season opened promisingly (ironically, I'd argue that if you were evaluating each season on the basis of the first four episodes, this would be in first place for Sansa), then utterly and completely tanks by the midway point, reducing the character to, alternately, a not very funny joke about how dumb she is and a plot device for Tyrion.

ARYA (this was the hardest ranking to do; I think her material has been pretty consistent year-to-year)

1. Season 3 - the gradual falling-away of Arya's group of companions is well-done, the new characters of the Brotherhood are great, and the climactic disillusionment at the Red Wedding and the aftermath are very affecting, and start to catch the character up with her book version.

2. Season 1 - it's a fine introduction, and does a great job of building the significance of Syrio to her even though he's really not in it much if you really look.

3. Season 2 - makes a lot of changes from the book, and puts her progression on hold until the following year in some respects, but still compelling.

4. Season 4 - not a bad season scene-to-scene, really, but on a meta level the character is kind of running in place until she can go into her Book 4 story, and it feels like that's the case.

EDDARD

1. Season 1 - :frown5:

[TheKingoftheSevenKingdoms]

My opinion:

Jon:

1. Season 1

2. Season 4 (close-tie with Season 4. If Craster's Keep hadn't been in Season 4, it would be first)

3. Season 2

4. Season 3

Daenerys:

1. Season 1

2. Season 3

3. Season 4 (Season 4 was pretty ok for Daenerys, but Meereen conquest let her down but I did like that she learned what it meant to rule)

4. Season 2 (WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS!)

Arya:

1. Season 3

2. Season 2

3. Season 1

4. Season 4

Tyrion:

1. Season 2

2. Season 4

3. Season 3

4. Season 1

Jaime:

1. Season 3

2. Season 4

3. Season 1

4. Season 2

Cersei:

1. Season 2

2. Season 3

3. Season 1

4. Season 4

Bran:

1. Season 2

2. Season 1

3. Season 4

4. Season 3

Sansa:

1. Season 4

2. Season 2

3. Season 1

4. Season 3

Robb

1. Season 2

2. Season 3

3. Season 1 (Only because we didn't really see that much of Robb until the final three episodes of season 1. I would have liked a personal scene between Robb and Eddard, but sadly that did not transpire.)

Tywin:

1. Season 3

2. Season 4

3. Season 2

4. Season 1

Davos/Stannis/Melisandre

1. Season 3

2. Season 4

3. Season 2

Theon:

1. Season 2 (Alfie Allen may not look like Theon at all, but he is an incredible actor with so much nuance in his performance. How he was nominated for an Emmy during Season 2 confounds me)

2. Season 4

3. Season 1

4. Season 3

The Hound:

1. Season 4

2. Season 3

3. Season 2

4. Season 1

Catelyn:

1. Season 1

2. Season 2

3. Season 3 (They basically made Catelyn a background character in that season until the final three or four episodes. Talisa or Robb took up most of her roles throughout the series, and that was disappointing)

Littlefinger:

1. Season 2

2. Season 1

3. Season 4

4. Season 3

Varys:

1. Season 3

2. Season 2

3. Season 1

4. Season 4

Brienne:

1. Season 3

2. Season 4

3. Season 2

[Colonel Green]

BRAN

1. Season 2 - the clear winner, before the show (and, in their defence, GRRM) basically ran out of story for him.

2. Season 1

3. Season 4

4. Season 3

TYRION

1. Season 2 - the main highlight of Season 2 (along with Theon).

2. Season 1

3. Season 4 - this really should have been his best season, and for much of the way through it was making a decent case for that honour, but they botched the ending.

4. Season 3 - the writers prized having him on screen as much as possible over having a compelling story (this is also the point where Tyrion's sainthood began to negatively affect the adaptation in really noticeable ways that made the story less interesting).

CATELYN

1. Season 1 - the only season that I think mostly gets the character right, apart from omitting her climactic plea for peace (an omen of things to come).

2. Season 2 - things get worse.

3. Season 3 - straight and linear progression down the hill.

JON

1. Season 1 - best and most consistent story arc, good intro to the character and his surroundings.

2. Season 3

3. Season 4

4. Season 2 - retains all the most boring parts of the early ACOK Jon story, fumbles all the more compelling later parts (I do like the Jon/Ygritte scenes for humour, but they're scarcely as important as the material they replaced would have been).

[JagLover]

In attempting to evaluate the characters on a season-by-season basis, I tried to assess each individual season within its own terms, rather than just measuring screentime, etc. (so, for instance, Theon's three episodes in Season 4 versus six episodes in Season 3, I think most would prefer the latter).

A couple of my rankings:

JAIME

1. Season 3 - he had the single-best plot that year, and a highly effective adaptation of the book's material, which was itself a highlight of the third novel. The only real thing that I think could be said against it is that it kind of peters out at the end due to structural decisions, but whatever.

2. Season 1 - I was debating whether this or Season 4 should be in second, but Season 1 isn't marred by a single terrible scene, and I think the writers do a great job of integrating some of Jaime's later characterization into his AGOT appearances (since at that point in the books he was really nothing more than a villain).

3. Season 4 - This would be in second place if not for the badly mishandled sept scene. The omission of the Tysha is also controversial, but I think that affects him far less than Tyrion. His midtrial bid to save Tyrion is one of the show's best narrative additions.

4. Season 2 - comparative brevity doesn't decide the matter here. My main issue is with the much-debated murder of Alton. Unlike some people, it's not the "Jaime is a kinslayer!" complaint that bothers me (as kinslaying isn't really a 'thing' in the show), its just how dumb the action is. There's literally no reason for it. Also, while the Jaime/Brienne dynamic would turn into one of the highlights of Season 3, its intro here isn't terribly promising.

DAENERYS

1. Season 1 - still the best. It still has the clearest and best-executed narrative arc of any of Dany's seasons to date, and Clarke does a very good job of depicting Dany's character growth (it's also the only Dany story arc to date to feature compelling antagonists, though this is also something of an issue with the books).

2. Season 3 - exceptional start, kind of loses steam after episode 4.

3. Season 4 - Intermittently compelling, but I don't care for some of the writing choices made in how she's depicted, which tend to distance the audience from the character even in what should be really key moments of emotional conflict (only at the very end of the season, with the chaining of the dragons, do we get that, and Clarke is really good in that scene).

4. Season 2 - it sucked. What else is there to say?

THEON

1. Season 2 - since Season 2 was ranked last in the first two characters' rankings, I'll point to a season where it was clearly on top. Theon's story was, together with Tyrion's, the main saving grace of the second season, apart from the muddled ending. Alfie Allen really shone here, which is why it's disappointing the extent to which, from my observations of viewers, the subsequent seasons have pretty much squandered the audience goodwill toward this portion of the show. Hopefully Season 5 can rectify that.

2. Season 4 - limited screentime and not really much in the way of an arc, but the scenes themselves work (the Yara scene is stupid from the perspective of Yara, but as far as serving Theon's character, I have no problems with it).

3. Season 1 - I briefly debated putting this in second place, but I don't think there's enough there in terms of focus to warrant that, even if I like the final bit of brotherly acknowledgement he gets, which sets up the following season.

4. Season 3 - I don't dislike this story nearly as much as some people do, but in retrospect I don't think this was the way to handle the narrative quandry created by Theon skipped ASOS.

SANSA

1. Season 4 - the writers deign to stop cutting her story, so this kind of wins by default. But it was in fact a strong season overall, less the changes to the Purple Wedding.

2. Season 1 - I imagine a lot of people would rank Season 2 in second place, but I put Season 1 here because I think she has a much better narrative through-line, whereas the changes to the plot in Season 2 result in a collection of scenes that largely work individually, but I don't think convincingly add up to anything. She has pretty much nothing going on in the first five episodes, but it finishes strongly.

3. Season 2 - Like I said above, on a scene-by-scene basis this season looks good (they cut the only bad one that we know of), but when the climax of the character's arc hinges on her interactions with the Hound, it's a problem when the show has cut so much that that relationship doesn't make any sense on the show (or, I guess, lacks definition). Also, the cutting of Dontos was detrimental to the character's plot, which became a much bigger issue in...

4. Season 3 - This season opened promisingly (ironically, I'd argue that if you were evaluating each season on the basis of the first four episodes, this would be in first place for Sansa), then utterly and completely tanks by the midway point, reducing the character to, alternately, a not very funny joke about how dumb she is and a plot device for Tyrion.

ARYA (this was the hardest ranking to do; I think her material has been pretty consistent year-to-year)

1. Season 3 - the gradual falling-away of Arya's group of companions is well-done, the new characters of the Brotherhood are great, and the climactic disillusionment at the Red Wedding and the aftermath are very affecting, and start to catch the character up with her book version.

2. Season 1 - it's a fine introduction, and does a great job of building the significance of Syrio to her even though he's really not in it much if you really look.

3. Season 2 - makes a lot of changes from the book, and puts her progression on hold until the following year in some respects, but still compelling.

4. Season 4 - not a bad season scene-to-scene, really, but on a meta level the character is kind of running in place until she can go into her Book 4 story, and it feels like that's the case.

EDDARD

1. Season 1 - :frown5:

Very detailed and I agree with most of it except Arya.

Given that season 4 had some of the greatest changes for her character you cant characterise it merely as running in place. It really developed a cold "killer" side to her IMO not only in the actual kills but in her reaction to Brienne and leaving scene with the Hound.

Arya for me

S3

S4

S1

S2

[zaphodbrx]

OP- very nice analysis. I'll add my own

Tywin

1. Season 1. Extremely well played. He looks and acts like the Lord of Casterly rock from the novels.

2. Season 3. He was ok. The nonsense about Loras and the conversation with Olenna was very annoying. But otherwise it was good. I am bummed that they cut his fishing scene with Pycelle though- easily the best.

3. Season 4. It was good to some extent - with the Tommen thing and then at the trial. But he had some very illogical and annoying fillers - conversation with Oberyn, the 'plot' to out Jorah ( which made no sense ) and finally, lack of Tysha really hurt.

4. Season 2. Arya-Tywin: Entertaining filler but pointless and illogical. Also whitewashing.

[larastone]

Jaime

1.Season 3

2.Season 1

3.Season 2

4.Season 4

Tyrion

1.Season 2

2.Season 1

3.Season 4

4.Season 3

Cersei

1.Season 2

2.Season 1

3.Season 3

4.Season 4

Sansa

1.Season 2

2.Season 4

3.Season 1

4.Season 3

Arya

1.Season 2

2.Season 1

3.Season 3

4.Season 4

Bran

1.Season 2

2.Season 1

3.Season 4

4.Season 3

Dany

1.Season 1

2.Season 3

3.Season 4

4.Season 2

Theon

1.Season 2

2.Season 4

3.Season 3

4.Season 1

Tywin

1.Season 3

2.Season 4

3.Season 2

4.Season 1

[Steelborn]

4. Season 2. Arya-Tywin: Entertaining filler but pointless and illogical. Also whitewashing.

Blasphemy!

[gvewolf243]

Jon :

1. Season 1

2. Season 4

3. Season 3

4. Season 2

Theon :

1. Season 2

2. Season 4

3. Season 1

4. Season 3

Arya :

1. Season 2

2. Season 3

3. Season 1

4. Season 4

Bran :

1. Season 2

2. Season 1

3. Season 3

4. Season 4

Jaime :

1. Season 3

2. Season 1

3. Season 4

4. Season 2

Catelyn :

1. Season 1

2. Season 2

3. Season 3

Stannis :

1. Season 2

2. Season 4

3. Season 3

Robb :

1. Season 1

2. Season 2

3. Season 3

Tywin :

1. Season 3

2. Season 1

3. Season 4

4. Season 2

Tyrion :

1. Season 2

2. Season 1

3. Season 4

4. Season 3

Sansa :

1. Season 2

2. Season 4

3. Season 1

4. Season 3

Littlefinger :

1. Season 1

2. Season 4

3. Season 2

4. Season 3

Dany :

Season 1

Season 3

Season 4

Season 2

Sandor Clegane :

Season 3

Season 4

Season 2

Season 1

Brienne :

Season 3

Season 2

Season 4

Cersei :

Season 1

Season 2

Season 4

Season 3

[Colonel Green]

Reviving my own thread from many months ago (and man was this a challenge to dig up without the search features), my revised ranking to account for Season 5:

 

JAIME

1.  Season 3 

2.  Season 1 

3.  Season 4

4.  Season 2

5.  Season 5 - There are a few decent Jaime moments here, but I ultimately just couldn't separate them from how ridiculous the plot and the people around him are. 

 

DAENERYS

1.  Season 1

2.  Season 3

3.  Season 5 - This gets less compelling as it goes on (a problem for all seasons of Dany's arc apart from the first), but on the whole it works reasonably well.

4.  Season 4 

5.  Season 2

 

THEON

1.  Season 2 

2.  Season 5 - Even though he was reduced to what feels like at least the third banana in what should have been his big moment in the sun, I'd rate this as his second-best season.

3.  Season 4

4.  Season 1 

5.  Season 3

 

SANSA

1.  Season 4

2.  Season 1 

3.  Season 2

4.  Season 3

5.  Season 5 - Complete disaster that totally negates all the positive development of the prior season.  

 

ARYA 

1.  Season 3 

2.  Season 1 

3.  Season 2

4.  Season 4

5.  Season 5 - Not a bad season for the character at all, but due to the slow start I'd call it her least-compelling. 

 

BRAN

1.  Season 5 - Best season ever! ;)

2.  Season 2

3.  Season 1

4.  Season 4

5.  Season 3

 

TYRION

1.  Season 2

2.  Season 1

3.  Season 4 

4.  Season 3

5.  Season 5 - honestly, I can't summon much interest in TV Tyrion's story anymore.

 

JON

1.  Season 5 - while I had some issues with how "For the Watch" was done, this was easily Jon's best and most compelling season as a character.

2.  Season 1 

3.  Season 3

4.  Season 4

5.  Season 2

[The Amun Ra]

JON:

Season 5

Season 3

Season 1

Season 4

Season 2

 

Comment: Seasons 5, 3, 1 and 4 portrayals are great in my opinion. My only issue is season 2. I'm not sure what was the point of Jon in that season.

 

DAENERYS:
Season 1

Season 5

Season 4

Season 2 

Season 3

 

Comment: I've put season 3 in last place because I didn't like the portrayal of Daenerys as a white character / heroine instead of a grey /more complex character. At least seasons 4 and 5 improved that. While I didn't like the storyline in Qarth, I really liked her scenes with Spice King.

 

SANSA:

Season 4

Season 1

Season 5

Season 2

Season 3

 

Comment: Seasons 4 and 1 are great in my opinion and I also don't have issues with season 5. I disagree that this season negated character development or that Sansa was backtracking as some say. I would rather say that it stopped the character development as according to Sophie Turner's interview, Sansa did not lose her inner strength and she managed to survive in WF without being broken by Ramsay, not to mention that she managed to "wake" Theon. I didn't like that Sansa was pushed aside for most of season 2 (she got her screentime in second half though) and while I liked that she was more positive in season 3, I think she was a bit too dumb (although I liked her scene with Olenna and the wedding)

 

ARYA:

Season 3

Season 2

Season 5

Season 4

Season 1

 

Comment: Arya's seasons are all great in my opinion, I've put season 1 at the bottom because Arya didn't have much role in the storyline.

 

TYRION:

Season 2

Season 4

Season 1

Season 3

Season 5

 

Comment: Tyrion is also great in every season. While I didn't like Tyrion's storyline in book 5, I found his storyline pretty decent on TV. Still I liked the other seasons more.

 

JAIME:

Season 3

Season 1

Season 4

Season 5

Season 2

 

Comment: Season 3 is definitely the best. I've put season 2 at last place because Jaime was reduced to a side character in that season. While I didn't like Dorne storyline, I think Jaime's scenes were pretty decent in season 5.

 

THEON:

Season 2

Season 5

Season 4

Season 1

Season 3

 

Comment: I like Theon in every season. Season 2 is by far the most powerful for Theon, followed by his "Reek" portrayal in seasons 4 and 5. Season 3 is in the last place because there was a bit too much torture in second half. Maybe more interraction with Ramsay would have helped....

 

BRAN

???

 

A couple more:

 

CERSEI:

Season 5

Season 2

Season 1

Season 4

Season 3

 

Comment: Cersei is great in every season she appears, but season 5 is in my opinion the strongest. I've put season 3 at the bottom because she didn't have much role to play.

 

STANNIS:
Season 2

Season 5

Season 4

Season 3

 

Comment: I didn't like Stannis in season 3 and I think he should have had a bit more active role. Season 4 made some improvements but Stannis appeared in only 4 episodes. Seasons 2 and 5 are definitely the best as they contain the most powerful scenes and best dialogue.

 

BRONN:

Great in every season. I'm not sure how to rank them.

 

LITTLEFINGER

Season 1

Season 4

Season 2

Season 5

Season 3

 

Comment: ... (I don't have anything clever to say)

 

TYWIN:

Season 3

Season 4

Season 2

Season 1

 

Comment: Tywin is one of the best characters overall and he is absolutely amazing in every season. Season 1 is at the bottom simply because Tywin has the least screentime in it.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

Sophie Turner's characters.

Sansa:
Season 4
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3

Jeyne Poole
Season 5

[The Amun Ra]

Sophie Turner's characters.

Sansa:
Season 4
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3

Jeyne Poole
Season 5

Sansa doesn't actually share many similarities with Jeyne Poole. There is one significant difference: Ramsay completely broke Jeyne in the novels but he didn't break Sansa (the actress confirmed that in an interview). The biggest similarity is that they were both married to Ramsay and were both abused although Jeyne got far worse treatment. Sansa also took Mance's role - she was the active force behind the escape (remember the corkscrew), she was actively trying to breach Theon's "Reek" persona while Jeyne was just damsel in distress, she was even willing to taunt Ramsay about his bastard status.

[Annara Snow]

Sophie Turner's characters.

Sansa:
Season 4
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3

Jeyne Poole
Season 5

 

 

Sansa doesn't actually share many similarities with Jeyne Poole. There is one significant difference: Ramsay completely broke Jeyne in the novels but he didn't break Sansa (the actress confirmed that in an interview). The biggest similarity is that they were both married to Ramsay and were both abused although Jeyne got far worse treatment. Sansa also took Mance's role - she was the active force behind the escape (remember the corkscrew), she was actively trying to breach Theon's "Reek" persona while Jeyne was just damsel in distress, she was even willing to taunt Ramsay about his bastard status.

 

Sophie Turner did not play Jeyne Poole in season 5, indeed. Saying that would be really unfair to Jeyne. Jeyne Poole is a character whose characterization makes sense, whose motivations are not implausible, and whose behavior is realistic for someone who's been through so much trauma and has so little power. Jeyne did not decide to marry Ramsay when she had a choice (and the Boltons did not even murder her family, as they did Sansa's) just because some guy told her to do that and gave her a vague 2-minute speech about revenge that didn't explain at all why she should marry him; she was indeed completely helpless and without allies when she arrived in Winterfell. But even though she hasn't got an ounce of the political capital that Sansa has for being a Stark, Ned's daughter as, as far as anyone knows, heir to Winterfell, and that she had no power or relative safety that show Sansa had at the end of season 4, Jeyne is far smarter and more proactive than the character Sophie Turner played in season 5: even though she had been a sex slave in a brothel and may have thought whatever awaited her must be better than that, she quickly realized upon getting to Winterfell that Ramsay was a total psycho sadist, who in addition to this resents her for being of low birth and not the real Arya, and that she must get out of there - before the wedding and bedding. She sure did not react to being warned about Ramsay by sassing the person who told her. She didn't have an old lady or anyone else offering her help, but she tried to approach the only possible ally, Theon. Sadly, he was of no help. So, Jeyne quickly learned Ramsay was a psycho and understood a lot of his motivations; in other words, she also had much better intelligence (in both senses of the word) than show Littlefinger, who with all his power and resources didn't manage to do basic research and find out things about Ramsay that everyone in the North knows.

 

The character Sophie Turner played in season 5 was neither Sansa nor Jeyne Poole. She was a strange new character with a changing personality, inconsistent traits, and mystifying motivations, that I like to call Jeynsa, while others have called her Sansa Bolton, Fansa, Shamsa or Asnas Krats (because she's the opposite of book!Sansa in every possible way; she has no compassion, she's terrible at reading people, she makes self-destructive choices and does the opposite of the things that would be smart to do in order to survive [at age 15+, she's learned nothing that the real Sansa has by the age of 13), and though she is stripped of any agency, her 'empowerment' is seen in sassing people around her, telling a victim of her abuser she'd love to torture him the way her abuser did, and dramatically proclaiming that she's completely OK with being murdered). 

[A Ghost of Someone]

As much as I like Sophie Turner, the showriters have kind of left her on her own, trying to explain the rediculous storyline they gave her AND Littlefinger for season 5. She is sort of doing a so so job but even she must know that it was rediculous how they wroter her and Batfinger's story.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

As much as I like Sophie Turner, the showriters have kind of left her on her own, trying to explain the rediculous storyline they gave her AND Littlefinger for season 5. She is sort of doing a so so job but even she must know that it was rediculous how they wroter her and Batfinger's story.

That's the worst part for me. They send her out like a lamb to the slaughter, and pretty much everyone in comic-con noticed it. I mean, they were literally asked "What would you change about your storyline in season 5?", "Why did they focused on Theon?" "Will you adress the issues regarding women?" and just a lot about Sansa, really.
The actors are forced to say that there's a lot of violence all around and divided equally, but at least Sophie, since she read her chapters, knew she wasn't meant to marry Ramsay. When the director told her she'd be getting a romantic interest, she must have thought they were casting Harry 'The Heir' Hardyng.

[~DarkHorse~]

Sansa

 

Season 2

Season 4

Season 1

Season 3

Season 5

 

Jon

 

Season 5

Season 4

Season 1

Season 3

Season 2

[A Ghost of Someone]

Sansa

season 2 - "Blackwater" was her greatest moment of the series.

season 1 - played by the book really well and was equally dislikeable on the show, pratty, snotty and betrayer. Much to                      her later regret.

season 4 - So much potential at the end of it had me excited for season 5, she had Littlefinger by the "balls" until he                                    kidnapped her in season 5.

season 3 - her complicancy in the wedding with Tyrion and her beginning to strip for him to take his rights made me throw up -

                   enter - St Tyrion to turn down sex with his wife.

season 5 - not necessarily her fault. I agree with "AngryGotfan" Sansa never had a choice except not lighting the candle as 

                   it was handed to her by the "North Remembers" Old Lady.

                  to her by the old lady. Littlefinger kidnapped her and when at Moat Cailin, she knew it. She was sold like a whore and never really had a

                  choice except not lighting that candly. However, what good would have been done by Briene and Pod against all of the Boltons, let alone

                  Ramsay and his twenty good men, shirt on or off? Sansa's season was awful.

[The Amun Ra]

 

 

 

Sophie Turner did not play Jeyne Poole in season 5, indeed. Saying that would be really unfair to Jeyne. Jeyne Poole is a character whose characterization makes sense, whose motivations are not implausible, and whose behavior is realistic for someone who's been through so much trauma and has so little power. Jeyne did not decide to marry Ramsay when she had a choice (and the Boltons did not even murder her family, as they did Sansa's) just because some guy told her to do that and gave her a vague 2-minute speech about revenge that didn't explain at all why she should marry him; she was indeed completely helpless and without allies when she arrived in Winterfell. But even though she hasn't got an ounce of the political capital that Sansa has for being a Stark, Ned's daughter as, as far as anyone knows, heir to Winterfell, and that she had no power or relative safety that show Sansa had at the end of season 4, Jeyne is far smarter and more proactive than the character Sophie Turner played in season 5: even though she had been a sex slave in a brothel and may have thought whatever awaited her must be better than that, she quickly realized upon getting to Winterfell that Ramsay was a total psycho sadist, who in addition to this resents her for being of low birth and not the real Arya, and that she must get out of there - before the wedding and bedding. She sure did not react to being warned about Ramsay by sassing the person who told her. She didn't have an old lady or anyone else offering her help, but she tried to approach the only possible ally, Theon. Sadly, he was of no help. So, Jeyne quickly learned Ramsay was a psycho and understood a lot of his motivations; in other words, she also had much better intelligence (in both senses of the word) than show Littlefinger, who with all his power and resources didn't manage to do basic research and find out things about Ramsay that everyone in the North knows.

 

The character Sophie Turner played in season 5 was neither Sansa nor Jeyne Poole. She was a strange new character with a changing personality, inconsistent traits, and mystifying motivations, that I like to call Jeynsa, while others have called her Sansa Bolton, Fansa, Shamsa or Asnas Krats (because she's the opposite of book!Sansa in every possible way; she has no compassion, she's terrible at reading people, she makes self-destructive choices and does the opposite of the things that would be smart to do in order to survive [at age 15+, she's learned nothing that the real Sansa has by the age of 13), and though she is stripped of any agency, her 'empowerment' is seen in sassing people around her, telling a victim of her abuser she'd love to torture him the way her abuser did, and dramatically proclaiming that she's completely OK with being murdered). 

And how on Earth do you know what was going inside Jeyne's head? If I remember right, she is not a POV. Yes, you may be right but what if she really was completely broken? And submitting to Ramsay... does that make a character smart or weak? Would it make more sense for Sansa to completely resemble Jeyne? But if that had happened, it would have been a complete backstep for Sansa and show watchers would have been even more, not to mention the outrage of critics because of extensive torture and sexual violence.

 

Really Annara, I don't think I want to see any response from you because I've seen more than enough of them. Let's just say we agree to disagree.

 

BTW, considering how much of a hater you are, you still manage to write clear argumented opinions and I respect that. Sometimes I wonder if you are a writer yourself.

[Annara Snow]

And how on Earth do you know what was going inside Jeyne's head? If I remember right, she is not a POV. Yes, you may be right but what if she really was completely broken? And submitting to Ramsay... does that make a character smart or weak? Would it make more sense for Sansa to completely resemble Jeyne? But if that had happened, it would have been a complete backstep for Sansa and show watchers would have been even more, not to mention the outrage of critics because of extensive torture and sexual violence.

 

Really Annara, I don't think I want to see any response from you because I've seen more than enough of them. Let's just say we agree to disagree.

 

BTW, considering how much of a hater you are, you still manage to write clear argumented opinions and I respect that. Sometimes I wonder if you are a writer yourself.

 

I know what Jeyne was thinking because of what she did and said. Amazingly, we can actually get an idea about non-POV characters based on dialogue and action - just like we're supposed to do on a TV show, where there's no voice over.

 

 

The hearth was caked with cold black ash, the room unheated but for candles. Every time a door opened their flames would sway and shiver. The bride was shivering too. They had dressed her in white

lambs-wool trimmed with lace. Her sleeves and bodice were sewn with freshwater pearls, and on her

feet were white doeskin slippers—pretty, but not warm. Her face was pale, bloodless.

 

A face carved of ice, Theon Greyjoy thought as he draped a fur-trimmed cloak about her

shoulders. A corpse buried in the snow. “My lady. It is time.” Beyond the door, the music called them,

lute and pipes and drum.

 

The bride raised her eyes. Brown eyes, shining in the candlelight. “I will be a good wife to him,

and t-true. I … I will please him and give him sons. I will be a better wife than the real Arya could have

been, he’ll see.”

 

Talk like that will get you killed, or worse. That lesson he had learned as Reek. “You are the real

Arya, my lady. Arya of House Stark, Lord Eddard’s daughter, heir to Winterfell.” Her name, she had to

know her name. “Arya Underfoot. Your sister used to call you Arya Horseface.”

 

“It was me made up that name. Her face was long and horsey. Mine isn’t. I was pretty.” Tears

spilled from her eyes at last. “I was never beautiful like Sansa, but they all said I was pretty. Does Lord

Ramsay think I am pretty?”

 

“Yes,” he lied. “He’s told me so.”

 

“He knows who I am, though. Who I really am. I see it when he looks at me. He looks so angry,

even when he smiles, but it’s not my fault. They say he likes to hurt people.”

 

“My lady should not listen to such … lies.”

 

“They say that he hurt you. Your hands, and …”

 

His mouth was dry. “I … I deserved it. I made him angry. You must not make him angry. Lord

Ramsay is a … a sweet man, and kindly. Please him, and he will be good to you. Be a good wife.”

 

“Help me.” She clutched at him. “Please. I used to watch you in the yard, playing with your

swords. You were so handsome.” She squeezed his arm. “If we ran away, I could be your wife, or your …

your whore … whatever you wanted. You could be my man.”

 

Theon wrenched his arm away from her. “I’m no … I’m no one’s man.” A man would help her.

“Just … just be Arya, be his wife. Please him, or … just please him, and stop this talk about being

someone else.” Jeyne, her name is Jeyne, it rhymes with pain. The music was growing more insistent. “It

is time. Wipe those tears from your eyes.” Brown eyes. They should be grey. Someone will see. Someone

will remember. “Good. Now smile.”

 

She is a helpless girl who's been repeatedly sexually abused and has had no one to turn to and cannot hope that anyone will help her, and has been used to trying to meekly submit to her captors' wishes as the only survival strategy (they did their best to whip any resistance out of her), but she still realized quickly that her future husband is worse even than anything she experienced in LF's brothel as a sex slave, and that she needs to escape before the wedding and bedding. Just having common sense is enough to make one look smarter than the show versions of Littlefinger and Sansa.

 

She was completely broken - after Ramsay had finished with her.

 

Of course, I expect Jeynsa to get over it all in no time, with no signs of psychological trauma at all. I sure don't expect to see her struggling to overcome trauma for the rest of the show,. As I posted in my predictions for season 6 several weeks ago, she will be plugged into her own story and will behave like nothing happened, like it was no more than breaking a toenail, and her rape will be completely forgotten, except as an extra reason for her to hate the Boltons (because betraying and murdering her family members was not enough). And we'll be told it's because she's "strong" and "empowered".

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "submitting to Ramsay"? Are you saying that the show's version of Sansa did, or did not? She was the one who was portrayed as having a choice to not marry Ramsay, and decided to do so anyway, just because Littlefinger told her it was a good idea for some unexplained reason, and walked into Winterfell like lamb to the slaughter. That was neither smart nor strong, now that you're asking. I'm really not sure what you are referring to "not submitting to Ramsay". Her taunting Ramsay about his bastardy? Was hat supposed to a great sign of spirit and strength? 

 

 

 

Would it make more sense for Sansa to completely resemble Jeyne? 

 

It would make more sense for Sansa to resemble Sansa. But that's a crazy thing to expect, I know.

[The Amun Ra]

 

I know what Jeyne was thinking because of what she did and said. Amazingly, we can actually get an idea about non-POV characters based on dialogue and action - just like we're supposed to do on a TV show, where there's no voice over.

 

 

The hearth was caked with cold black ash, the room unheated but for candles. Every time a door opened their flames would sway and shiver. The bride was shivering too. They had dressed her in white

lambs-wool trimmed with lace. Her sleeves and bodice were sewn with freshwater pearls, and on her

feet were white doeskin slippers—pretty, but not warm. Her face was pale, bloodless.

 

A face carved of ice, Theon Greyjoy thought as he draped a fur-trimmed cloak about her

shoulders. A corpse buried in the snow. “My lady. It is time.” Beyond the door, the music called them,

lute and pipes and drum.

 

The bride raised her eyes. Brown eyes, shining in the candlelight. “I will be a good wife to him,

and t-true. I … I will please him and give him sons. I will be a better wife than the real Arya could have

been, he’ll see.”

 

Talk like that will get you killed, or worse. That lesson he had learned as Reek. “You are the real

Arya, my lady. Arya of House Stark, Lord Eddard’s daughter, heir to Winterfell.” Her name, she had to

know her name. “Arya Underfoot. Your sister used to call you Arya Horseface.”

 

“It was me made up that name. Her face was long and horsey. Mine isn’t. I was pretty.” Tears

spilled from her eyes at last. “I was never beautiful like Sansa, but they all said I was pretty. Does Lord

Ramsay think I am pretty?”

 

“Yes,” he lied. “He’s told me so.”

 

“He knows who I am, though. Who I really am. I see it when he looks at me. He looks so angry,

even when he smiles, but it’s not my fault. They say he likes to hurt people.”

 

“My lady should not listen to such … lies.”

 

“They say that he hurt you. Your hands, and …”

 

His mouth was dry. “I … I deserved it. I made him angry. You must not make him angry. Lord

Ramsay is a … a sweet man, and kindly. Please him, and he will be good to you. Be a good wife.”

 

 

 

Of course, I expect Jeynsa to get over it all in no time, with no signs of psychological trauma at all. I sure don't expect to see her struggling to overcome trauma for the rest of the show,. As I posted in my predictions for season 6 several weeks ago, she will be plugged into her own story and will behave like nothing happened, like it was no more than breaking a toenail, and her rape will be completely forgotten, except as an extra reason for her to hate the Boltons (because betraying and murdering her family members was not enough). And we'll be told it's because she's "strong" and "empowered".

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "submitting to Ramsay"? Are you saying that the show's version of Sansa did, or did not? She was the one who was portrayed as having a choice to not marry Ramsay, and decided to do so anyway, just because Littlefinger told her it was a good idea for some unexplained reason, and walked into Winterfell like lamb to the slaughter. That was neither smart nor strong, now that you're asking. I'm really not sure what you are referring to "not submitting to Ramsay". Her taunting Ramsay about his bastardy? Was hat supposed to a great sign of spirit and strength? 

 

 

What psychological trauma? Sansa was not nearly as tormented and desperate as Jeyne. Do you remember her second confrontation with Theon? Did she look broken? Or when Myranda cornered her? She doesn't need to overcome trauma because she already did and that (possibly) happened between episode 7 and 8. And the actress herself has stated that Sansa did not lose her internal strength. What was the purpose of her taunting Ramsay? Well let's say that way: If she had completely submitted to him, it would have been King's Landing all over again and the show watchers would have be even more annoyed. Maybe it was an indication that she didn't lose her internal strength.... Maybe she wanted to find Ramsay's weakness.... Maybe she just wanted to annoy him. Remember, TV Ramsay is not so well known psychopath as his book  counterpart.

 

And since when is the wedding consumation in medieval times considered rape? If that is true then more than half of westerosi women are raped on their wedding nights because marriages are usually political and not consensual