What if Sansa didn't tell Dontos?

[Fae Boleyn]

In ASoS, it's strongly implied that the Lannisters only found out about the Sansa/Willas plan because Dontos told Littlefinger.

So what if Sansa hadn't told Dontos? They weren't to leave for Highgarden till after the wedding, so it's likely Sansa would still wear the hairnet. Would she still be blamed for the murder along with Tyrion if she's not connected to him by their marriage? Or would she have ended up in Highgarden?

I believe the Tyrells did want the marriage to work out, for Sansa's claim if nothing else.

[juanml82]

Littlefinger should still find a way to implicate both Sansa and Tyrion, so he can have Sansa depending on him and make her useless for the Tyrells. How exactly would be a matter of speculation, specially since he'll need to personally link Sansa and Tyrion before the wedding without getting them married - otherwise, why are they working together? It may be doable - say, LF manages to manipulate events so Tyrion ends up comforting or protecting Sansa, which he had done to a degree before the Blackwater.

As for Sansa, at this point she's hedging her bets: if Dontos doesn't prove trustworthy enough, she will be planning on disregarding his help and going with the Tyrells. But the moment Joffrey dies she'll realize she has to leave right then, so she'll go with Dontos and right into Littlefinger's welcoming arms.

So, as with all things regarding Sansa's actions after Ned's death, nothing really changes too much. If anything, a continued friendship between Margery and Sansa might cause paranoid Cersei to (rightfully) believe the Tyrells were behind Joffrey's murder, but I don't think it will change a lot in the days after the PW. She did suspect the Tyrells were behind Tywin's murder after all and didn't do anything openly until she tried to have Margery executed.

[Victor227]

Littlefinger still has Dontos, which means he still has a chance of using him as a delivery mechanism for the poison hairnet. It's a ridiculous and stupid way to get poison into the wedding (really, no one was being searched, and the poison itself dissolves), and its only use was so that Sansa would have blood on her hands for being an unwitting accomplice. The objective wasn't to make her liable for the murder, or a suspect, it was part of Littlefinger's grooming project, he would have gone for it regardless of the Tyrells' plans.

What's more, in spite of the fact that it was Dontos who revealed it to Littlefinger, that the Tyrells were trying to court Sansa was an obvious observation to make. There's no other reason for any savvy player to be anywhere near her. Politically, she's dead weight, and Joffrey loves to torment her, which puts anyone acting friendly towards her in the crosshairs. Dontos may have confirmed it, but Littlefinger may have proposed that Sansa be married off regardless, if just to steal a march on the Tyrells and earn Tywin's favor.

[bent branch]

If Sansa had not been forced to marry Tyrion she would not have gone through with whatever was planned for the PW. ASOS-Chapter 16:

When she told Ser Dontos that she was going to Highgarden to marry Willas Tyrell, she thought he would be relieved and pleased for her. Instead he had grabbed her arm and said, "You cannot!" in a voice as thick with horror as with wine. "I tell you, these Tyrells are only Lannisters with flowers. I beg of you, forget this folly, give your Florian a kiss, and promise you'll go ahead as we have planned. The night of Joffrey's wedding, that's not so long, wear the silver hair net and do as I told you, and afterward we make our escape." He tried to plant a kiss on her cheek.

Sansa slipped from his grasp and stepped away from him. "I won't. I can't. Something would go wrong. When I wanted to escape you wouldn't take me, and now I don't need to."

[BRANDON GREYSTARK]

What if Dontos didn't tell Baelish about Sansa planned trip to Highgarden then It would be hail Sansa Queen in the north and the Reach .

[Colonel Green]

Littlefinger should still find a way to implicate both Sansa and Tyrion, so he can have Sansa depending on him and make her useless for the Tyrells. How exactly would be a matter of speculation, specially since he'll need to personally link Sansa and Tyrion before the wedding without getting them married - otherwise, why are they working together? It may be doable - say, LF manages to manipulate events so Tyrion ends up comforting or protecting Sansa, which he had done to a degree before the Blackwater.

Littlefinger would not have been able to do any of that, because if Sansa doesn't tell Dontos, he has no knowledge of the Tyrell plot, nor any reason to make alternative arrangements, and he's almost immediately after he tells Tywin gone for the Vale.

If Sansa doesn't tell Dontos, it kind of depends on what she does instead. If she played along with him and acted like she was still going to escape, probably the Tyrell plan would have gone off without a hitch -- Sansa is spirited off to Highgarden, marries Willas Tyrell, and is beyond Littlefinger's easy reach. If she did what she did before and cut off contact with him, then Dontos would probably be frantically trying to figure out what to do, without any real instruction from the higher-ups; a bit of a wildcard there.

[Good Guy Garlan]

I agree with the above poster, it depends on what Sansa would do when Dontos shows up to take her at the wedding.

I think she stays at KL. Cersei tries to blame her but Tywin knows Sansa is still the key to the North and she marries Willas

I do wonder if the Tyrells would be okay with the Boltons, Ironborn, Wildlings and Stannis fighting it out on their new turf. Maybe they prefer a more personal touch and send one of their own to oversee things in the North in Sansa's name

[Colonel Green]

I agree with the above poster, it depends on what Sansa would do when Dontos shows up to take her at the wedding.

Dontos didn't actually approach her at the wedding, from what we're told. They rendezvoused outside, after she had fled to meet him. If she doesn't do that on the night of the wedding, Dontos is left outside in the bushes waiting for her to show up, whilst she would presumably be taken to a secure location along with the rest of the nobles still in the hall. The key event is more what she does in the weeks between the hatching of the Tyrell plan and Joffrey's wedding.

If she continues to show up for meetings with Dontos, lets him believe that all things are going along as planned, then Dontos and Littlefinger are completely out of luck.

If, on the other hand, she just decides she's not going to speak to Dontos anymore, things become much more interesting. We don't know whether Dontos remains in communication wth Littlefinger after he leaves the city, but given that logistical difficulties of that, I would assume probably not. As such, if she stops showing up in the Godswood, does he just proceed with the plan and assume she just can't get away to meet him? Or does he panic, believing something has gone terribly awry, and do something unpredictable? Hard to say that would happen there.

[MyLittleFinger]

I agree with the above poster, it depends on what Sansa would do when Dontos shows up to take her at the wedding.

I think she stays at KL. Cersei tries to blame her but Tywin knows Sansa is still the key to the North and she marries Willas

I do wonder if the Tyrells would be okay with the Boltons, Ironborn, Wildlings and Stannis fighting it out on their new turf. Maybe they prefer a more personal touch and send one of their own to oversee things in the North in Sansa's name

Without the marriage to Tyrion I can't see Cersei blaming her. That's the catalyst for her believing the two did it together. It was always going to be Tyrion she blamed...even if he was in Volantis at the time or something. That Valoncar prophecy has basically messed her up to the point of...well...we've been in her head.

I'd imagine Mr. Tarly would have a few words for King Stannis Baratheon though...and a big "fuck off" greatsword.