Sansa and Arya

[Blackfish Tully]

2 hours ago, delspark said:

Sansa trusts all the other things LF says like how she can become Harry's wife and his liege to Lord of Vale.

Sansa does not trust Littlefinger she just has no choice but to follow his plans at this point , Littlefinger is the only one who has helped her since it all went to hell in Kings Landing but that does not mean she trusts him. 

. . . and sometimes it seemed to her that the Lord Protector was two people as well. He was Petyr, her protector, warm and funny and gentle . . . but he was also Littlefinger, the lord she'd known at King's Landing, smiling slyly and stroking his beard as he whispered in Queen Cersei's ear. And Littlefinger was no friend of hers. When Joff had her beaten, the Imp defended her, notLittlefinger. When the mob sought to rape her, the Hound carried her to safety, not Littlefinger. When the Lannisters wed her to Tyrion against her will, Ser Garlan the Gallant gave her comfort, not Littlefinger. Littlefinger never lifted so much as his little finger for her.

Except to get me out. He did that for me. I thought it was Ser Dontos, my poor old drunken Florian, but it was Petyr all the while. Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear. Only sometimes Sansa found it hard to tell where the man ended and the mask began. Littlefinger and Lord Petyr looked so very much alike. She would have fled them both, perhaps, but there was nowhere for her to go. Winterfell was burned and desolate, Bran and Rickon dead and cold. Robb had been betrayed and murdered at the Twins, along with their lady mother. Tyrion had been put to death for killing Joffrey, and if she ever returned to King's Landing the queen would have her head as well. The aunt she'd hoped would keep her safe had tried to murder her instead. Her uncle Edmure was a captive of the Freys, while her great-uncle the Blackfish was under siege at Riverrun. I have no place but here, Sansa thought miserably, and no true friend but Petyr.

 

[Winter's Cold]

4 minutes ago, Blackfish Tully said:

Sansa does not trust Littlefinger she just has no choice but to follow his plans at this point , Littlefinger is the only one who has helped her since it all went to hell in Kings Landing but that does not mean she trusts him. 

. . . and sometimes it seemed to her that the Lord Protector was two people as well. He was Petyr, her protector, warm and funny and gentle . . . but he was also Littlefinger, the lord she'd known at King's Landing, smiling slyly and stroking his beard as he whispered in Queen Cersei's ear. And Littlefinger was no friend of hers. When Joff had her beaten, the Imp defended her, notLittlefinger. When the mob sought to rape her, the Hound carried her to safety, not Littlefinger. When the Lannisters wed her to Tyrion against her will, Ser Garlan the Gallant gave her comfort, not Littlefinger. Littlefinger never lifted so much as his little finger for her.

Except to get me out. He did that for me. I thought it was Ser Dontos, my poor old drunken Florian, but it was Petyr all the while. Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear. Only sometimes Sansa found it hard to tell where the man ended and the mask began. Littlefinger and Lord Petyr looked so very much alike. She would have fled them both, perhaps, but there was nowhere for her to go. Winterfell was burned and desolate, Bran and Rickon dead and cold. Robb had been betrayed and murdered at the Twins, along with their lady mother. Tyrion had been put to death for killing Joffrey, and if she ever returned to King's Landing the queen would have her head as well. The aunt she'd hoped would keep her safe had tried to murder her instead. Her uncle Edmure was a captive of the Freys, while her great-uncle the Blackfish was under siege at Riverrun. I have no place but here, Sansa thought miserably, and no true friend but Petyr.

 

This quote actually infers the opposite of your statement. Sansa apparently believes that the real person is Petyr and that "Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear". She then ends her statement by saying that she has "no true friend but Petyr". That's nothing something who distrusts Littlefinger would think. She does have a momentary moment where she wants to flee because she doesn't know "where the man ended and the mask began" but since she has no where else to go, she decides to believe that Petyr is a true friend. Sansa in particular is very adept at altering her perception of reality. Since she needs to rely on Littlefinger, she imagines him as a true friend named Petyr. It's similar to how she reacted to Cersei ordering the death of her direwolf by placing the blame on Arya and trusting Cersei. Sansa alters her perception of reality to fit with what she believes. 

[Blackfish Tully]

3 hours ago, delspark said:

52 minutes ago, Winter's Cold said:

This quote actually infers the opposite of your statement. Sansa apparently believes that the real person is Petyr and that "Littlefinger was only a mask he had to wear". She then ends her statement by saying that she has "no true friend but Petyr". That's nothing something who distrusts Littlefinger would think. She does have a momentary moment where she wants to flee because she doesn't know "where the man ended and the mask began" but since she has no where else to go, she decides to believe that Petyr is a true friend. Sansa in particular is very adept at altering her perception of reality. Since she needs to rely on Littlefinger, she imagines him as a true friend named Petyr. It's similar to how she reacted to Cersei ordering the death of her direwolf by placing the blame on Arya and trusting Cersei. Sansa alters her perception of reality to fit with what she believes. 

 

when she says that she has no " true friend but Petyr." she is not saying it as a positive thing but implying that things are so bad for her that her only"true friend" is someone who she has no idea if she can trust or not and wears a mask of Littlefinger that is no friend of hers and never helped her. She is stuck with Petyr because he's the only one that ever helped her and as far as she knows the rest of the world is against her . She's trapped in Littlefinger's plans and see's no way out. She does not trust Petyr but really what are her options at this point? 

[delspark]

8 minutes ago, Blackfish Tully said:

when she says that she has no " true friend but Petyr." she is not saying it as a positive thing but implying that things are so bad for her that her only"true friend" is someone who she has no idea if she can trust or not and wears a mask of Littlefinger that is no friend of hers and never helped her. She is stuck with Petyr because he's the only one that ever helped her and as far as she knows the rest of the world is against her . She's trapped in Littlefinger's plans and see's no way out. She does not trust Petyr but really what are her options at this point? 

Even Arya had no friend when they killed Syrio and her dad and all his men. Din't she still flee instead of trusting someone just because it was her only choice?

[Blackfish Tully]

1 hour ago, delspark said:

Even Arya had no friend when they killed Syrio and her dad and all his men. Din't she still flee instead of trusting someone just because it was her only choice?

She had Yoren , without him she would have had little chance . When was there any chance for Sansa to flee that would not have resulted in instant capture or death ? They each survived in their own way . Arya did not have to deal with someone like Littlefinger who is a master of playing people and circumstances. 

[Ice Turtle]

2 minutes ago, Blackfish Tully said:

She had Yoren , without him she would have had little chance . When was there any chance for Sansa to flee that would not have resulted in instant capture or death ? They each survived in their own way . Arya did not have to deal with someone like Littlefinger who is a master of playing people and circumstances. 

Arya was entirely on her own for some time between Ned's arrest and his execution. She was more or less on her own while fleeing Harrenhell because it was her who planned the escape and her who had to make most of the choices. She was on her own again between abandoning Sandor and reaching Braavos.

Sansa had two chances to flee KL aside of Littlefinger. One was Sandor the other Tyrells. Usually when I bring this up it is objected that Sandor was drunk and did not had a chance to get her out safely, but he managed to flee himself and later proven to be rather  competent in this regard with Arya. I would certainly consider him at least as good choice as betting on a man like Dontos. As for Tyrells Sansa herself sabotaged her chance because she did not keep quiet.

Littlefinger is one of the most dangerous men around, still few people ever trusted him as much as Sansa and aside of Lysa he did not let them see even glimpses of his true nature. Sansa saw more that enough not to trust him, still she chooses to ignore a lot of it. So while LF is dangerous Sansa is not dealing with him, not yet in any case, she is willingly going along with his schemes.

 

[Blackfish Tully]

1 hour ago, Ice Turtle said:

Arya was entirely on her own for some time between Ned's arrest and his execution. She was more or less on her own while fleeing Harrenhell because it was her who planned the escape and her who had to make most of the choices. She was on her own again between abandoning Sandor and reaching Braavos.

Sansa had two chances to flee KL aside of Littlefinger. One was Sandor the other Tyrells. Usually when I bring this up it is objected that Sandor was drunk and did not had a chance to get her out safely, but he managed to flee himself and later proven to be rather  competent in this regard with Arya. I would certainly consider him at least as good choice as betting on a man like Dontos. As for Tyrells Sansa herself sabotaged her chance because she did not keep quiet.

Littlefinger is one of the most dangerous men around, still few people ever trusted him as much as Sansa and aside of Lysa he did not let them see even glimpses of his true nature. Sansa saw more that enough not to trust him, still she chooses to ignore a lot of it. So while LF is dangerous Sansa is not dealing with him, not yet in any case, she is willingly going along with his schemes.

 

How did Sansa sabotage her chances with the Tyrells ? wasn't it Littlefinger who sabotaged her chances?

Where do you get the idea few people trust Littlefinger ? it's actually the opposite , too many people trusted Littlefinger . Jon Arryn trusted him , Ned trusted him as did Lysa., Cersei , Robert and Jamie all trusted Littlefinger . Frankly Littlefinger was trusted by pretty much everybody except Varys and Tyrion. Sansa clearly does not trust Littlefinger but so far he's the only one who has actually helped her so she going along with his plans because she really has no other option. 

 

 

[Ice Turtle]

8 minutes ago, Blackfish Tully said:

How did Sansa sabotage her chances with the Tyrells ? wasn't it Littlefinger who sabotaged her chances?

Where do you get the idea few people trust Littlefinger ? it's actually the opposite , too many people trusted Littlefinger . Jon Arryn trusted him , Ned trusted him as did Lysa., Cersei , Robert and Jamie all trusted Littlefinger . Frankly Littlefinger was trusted by pretty much everybody except Varys and Tyrion. Sansa clearly does not trust Littlefinger but so far he's the only one who has actually helped her so she going along with his plans because she really has no other option. 

 

 

It was Sansa who told Dontos about the betrothal. Dontos reported to Littlefinger and Littlefinger to Lannisters and they promptly stopped the scheme. The way to keep secret plans working is not to speak about them.

I did not say that no one trusted him, but Sansa sees him as a guy who fixes all her trouble.

[LongRider]

3 hours ago, Ice Turtle said:

It was Sansa who told Dontos about the betrothal. Dontos reported to Littlefinger and Littlefinger to Lannisters and they promptly stopped the scheme. The way to keep secret plans working is not to speak about them.

I did not say that no one trusted him, but Sansa sees him as a guy who fixes all her trouble.

The way to keep plans secret is to keep them to yourself, true, but Sansa did not know that Dontos was working for LF.  Remember, she was telling Dontos that she wouldn't be leaving KL after all and gave the betrothal to Wylas (or what ever his name was) as the reason. 

[Ice Turtle]

6 hours ago, LongRider said:

The way to keep plans secret is to keep them to yourself, true, but Sansa did not know that Dontos was working for LF.  Remember, she was telling Dontos that she wouldn't be leaving KL after all and gave the betrothal to Wylas (or what ever his name was) as the reason. 

It still stands that she didn't have to do that. Even if she wanted to keep Dontos from the unnecessary bother she could have at least  tried to give another reason. She could not know he was working for Littlefinger but she also knew that he was a drunk. He could have easily slipped while he was drinking somewhere.

[Lyanna Stark]

2 hours ago, Ice Turtle said:

It still stands that she didn't have to do that. Even if she wanted to keep Dontos from the unnecessary bother she could have at least  tried to give another reason. She could not know he was working for Littlefinger but she also knew that he was a drunk. He could have easily slipped while he was drinking somewhere.

Which, I might add, is another one of her Lessons Learned. If you compare that Sansa, to the Sansa at the end of AFFC who thinks "Lies and Arbor Gold" and then the Alayne in the TWOW spoiler chapter, there is tremendous character growth. Sansa has constantly learnt from her mistakes, and it seems to me she won't make them again. She's gone from inadvertently trusting Dontos, to mistrusting LF, to even second guessing the loyalties of people even LF is sure of.

You can always compare her pretty straight development from naive to dawning understanding to clever to in the future, probably masterful, with someone like Tyrion, who five novels down the line still hasn't learnt to keep his mouth shut, and he is one of the cleverest characters in the novels.

 

[Wilnova]

14 hours ago, Blackfish Tully said:

Where do you get the idea few people trust Littlefinger ? it's actually the opposite , too many people trusted Littlefinger . Jon Arryn trusted him , Ned trusted him as did Lysa., Cersei , Robert and Jamie all trusted Littlefinger . Frankly Littlefinger was trusted by pretty much everybody except Varys and Tyrion. Sansa clearly does not trust Littlefinger but so far he's the only one who has actually helped her so she going along with his plans because she really has no other option. 

 

Littlefinger gets by on Plot Armor in the books. Ned clearly disliked and distrusted him, but had no choice but go to him for help. The other options were Varys and Pycelle, both of whom would have backstabbed him as well. Janos Slynt would have betrayed him as well. The problem for Ned was that he was supremely isolated with no allies. He though LF was the lesser of two evils, which was a mistake. But he did not have a good opinion of LF

Look at Tyrion. Who was framed by LF, came to KL and did nothing at all about the fact that Littlefinger was attempting to collude with the Starks to kill him off. Not a word to Tywin about LF telling Catelyn Stark about Tyrion owning the assassination dagger. That's the definition of plot armor. Why did Tyrion do nothing at all about LF? Who knows.

Lysa and Cersei are portrayed as fools in the books. Robert has no head for business and Jon Arryn was useless as hand seeing as he allowed the Lannisters to accrue so much power while he was in charge.

As for Sansa, we get absolutely no introspection from her about LF, so it's hard to understand her motives with regards to LF.  At one point she wonders where Jeyne Poole is and yet never ponders on the fact that LF is the last person to have hold of her. She hears Lysa's confession about Jon Arryn and never thinks back to that conversation and LF's role in what happened.

Look at the book chapter quoted above:

Quote

and sometimes it seemed to her that the Lord Protector was two people as well. He was Petyr, her protector, warm and funny and gentle . . . but he was also Littlefinger, the lord she'd known at King's Landing, smiling slyly and stroking his beard as he whispered in Queen Cersei's ear. And Littlefinger was no friend of hers. When Joff had her beaten, the Imp defended her, not Littlefinger. When the mob sought to rape her, the Hound carried her to safety, not Littlefinger. When the Lannisters wed her to Tyrion against her will, Ser Garlan the Gallant gave her comfort, not Littlefinger. Littlefinger never lifted so much as his little finger for her.

I mean why is she thinking about LF smiling slyly in KL or not being around to help her when Joff beat her? Is that the worst thing LF has done in front of her?  Why not think about:

Quote

Queen Cersei looked at each of the councillors in turn. “I won’t have Sansa fretting needlessly. What shall we do with this little friend of hers, my lords?” Lord Petyr leaned forward. “I’ll find a place for her.”

 “Ser Boros, escort this girl to Lord Petyr’s apartments and instruct his people to keep her there until he comes for her. Tell her that Littlefinger will be taking her to see her father, that ought to calm her down. I want her gone before Sansa returns to her chamber.”

“She’s upset you,” the queen said gently. “We can’t be having that. Not another word, now. Lord Baelish will see that Jeyne’s well taken care of, I promise you.” She patted the chair beside her. “Sit down, Sansa. I want to talk to you.”

 

Or

Quote

 “No need for tears . . . but that’s not what you said in King’s Landing. You told me to put the tears in Jon’s wine, and I did. For Robert, and for us! And I wrote Catelyn and told her the Lannisters had killed my lord husband, just as you said. That was so clever . . . you were always clever, I told Father that, I said Petyr’s so clever, he’ll rise high, he will, he will, and he’s sweet and gentle and I have his little baby in my belly . .

 

Littlefinger let Lysa sob against his chest for a moment, then put his hands on her arms and kissed her lightly. “My sweet silly jealous wife,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve only loved one woman, I promise you.” Lysa Arryn smiled tremulously. “Only one? Oh, Petyr, do you swear it? Only one?” “Only Cat.” He gave her a short, sharp shove.

Or LF having Marrillion tortured and executed for a crime he did not commit.

Or even connecting the dots after LF explains his plans.

Quote

Her eyes widened. “He is not Lady Waynwood’s heir. He’s Robert’s heir. If Robert were to die . . .”

Petyr arched an eyebrow. “When Robert dies. Our poor brave Sweetrobin is such a sickly boy, it is only a matter of time. When Robert dies, Harry the Heir becomes Lord Harrold, Defender of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie. Jon Arryn’s bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon . .

I mean, LF has just assured her that SR is going to die and make way for her to marry Harry the Heir and the maester has warned her of the poisoning effects of Sweet Sleep and when we see her next there is no cognizance on her part that SR is in danger. She is too busy flirting with Harry the Heir.  No ability to connect the dots at all. Unless she is willingly going along with the plans to kill SR.
 

[Wilnova]

1 hour ago, Lyanna Stark said:

You can always compare her pretty straight development from naive to dawning understanding to clever to in the future, probably masterful, with someone like Tyrion, who five novels down the line still hasn't learnt to keep his mouth shut, and he is one of the cleverest characters in the novels.

 

Sansa's character growth can be easily traced:

Book one: Everything is very similar to fairy tales. Even my younger siblings know better than to trust the Lannisters and my aunty was kidnapped and raped by a prince but I think knights are cool and real life is just like the books.

Book two: My dad is dead and woe is me. My life sucks. I should not trust anyone. Except maybe this Dontos guy. He drinks and all, but he sounds trustworthy

Book 3: Woe is me, my life sucks. I should not trust anyone. Except maybe for the Tyrells since they seem so nice.

Book 4: Woe is me, my life sucks and there is no one I can approach for help. Not even my half brother on the wall who I completely forgot existed. I should not trust anyone. Except for this shady guy who smiled slyly in KL and likes to kiss. I once was able to guess that Lyn Corbray was LF's man and am currently able to manipulate Sweet Robin and make him eat his dinner.

I am not really seeing this great character development over 5 books or how she is demonstrating this cleverness. And to compare her to Tyrion? Tyrion makes his share of mistakes. But he offsets them by achieving small victories as well. Sansa is just...well...I am not sure. Currently she is LF's minion in the Vale, carrying out his orders. Until we see her actually use her head and draw a line connecting event a to event b or even come up with her own plan or just take some action, any action using her own cognizance, we really cannot make a judgement on her level of cleverness.

And then becoming masterful...GRRM would probably need 10 books to build her up to that considering where she is at this point.

Look at Dany's character development:

Book one, she is powerless, forced into marriage, raped. She gets Drogo to love her, makes him agree to invade Westeros for her. She stands up for the slaves, loses her husband and child and gains three dragons

Book two : She goes from powerless to being the mother of dragons, but lacks an army. She goes to Qarth, has some adventures, sees some visions and gains some allies in the form of Barristan

Book three: She gains an army and is now Queen

Book five: She learns that ruling sucks and that negotiation is hard and manages to gain some sort of a peace before everything goes to hell.

From powerless victim to a queen learning to rule.

Just comparing them, Sansa is where Dany was in book one. GRRM has to do some kind of time jump to make Sansa masterful. As it is, I felt that the Alayne in TWoW was jarringly different to the Alayne at the end of AFfC. I think we will see more of that discontinuity if Sansa is supposed to become some master player in two books.

[delspark]

2 hours ago, Lyanna Stark said:

 

You can always compare her pretty straight development from naive to dawning understanding to clever to in the future, probably masterful, with someone like Tyrion, who five novels down the line still hasn't learnt to keep his mouth shut, and he is one of the cleverest characters in the novels.

 

Spoiler

 “If it please you, I will show you to your chambers myself.” This time her eyes met Harry’s.  She smiled just for him, and said a silent prayer to the Maiden. Please, he doesn’t need to love me, just make him like me, just a little, that would be enough for now.

 

     Ser Harrold looked down at her coldly. “Why should it please me to be escorted anywhere by Littlefinger’s bastard?”

 

     All three Waynwoods looked at him askance. “You are a guest here, Harry,” Lady Anya reminded him, in a frosty voice. “See that you remember that.”

 

     A lady’s armor is her courtesy. Alayne could feel the blood rushing to her face. No tears, she prayed.Please, please, I must not cry. “As you wish, ser. And now if you will excuse me, Littlefinger’s bastard must find her lord father and let him know that you have come, so we can begin the tourney on the morrow.”  And may your horse stumble, Harry the Heir, so you fall on your stupid head in your first tilt.She showed the Waynwoods a stone face as they blurted out awkward apologies for their companion. When they were done she turned and fled.

 

Is that what you call good development? First Sansa hopes that Harry will like her, later she is being childish by wishing he falls of his horse just because Harry was rude with her.

She whines to LF about Harry and LF had to make her understand that he was suspicious of LF, hence naturally suspicious of LF's bastard.

[delspark]

1 hour ago, Wilnova said:

 

I mean, LF has just assured her that SR is going to die and make way for her to marry Harry the Heir and the maester has warned her of the poisoning effects of Sweet Sleep and when we see her next there is no cognizance on her part that SR is in danger. She is too busy flirting with Harry the Heir.  No ability to connect the dots at all. Unless she is willingly going along with the plans to kill SR.
 

Wow! This is what I have been telling yet people keep portraying Sansa as player-to-be .

[Blackfish Tully]

1 hour ago, Wilnova said:

 

Look at Tyrion. Who was framed by LF, came to KL and did nothing at all about the fact that Littlefinger was attempting to collude with the Starks to kill him off. Not a word to Tywin about LF telling Catelyn Stark about Tyrion owning the assassination dagger. That's the definition of plot armor. Why did Tyrion do nothing at all about LF? Who knows.

 

Tyrion did have a lot on his plate when he came to Kings Landing . There was a war going on and an army heading for Kings Landing and he had a psycho king and power mad queen to deal with . He was working on getting rid of Littlefinger but he never really had the chance and then Littlefinger set him up . It was not plot armor but instead Littlefinger was just several steps ahead of him. 

[Blackfish Tully]

42 minutes ago, delspark said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 “If it please you, I will show you to your chambers myself.” This time her eyes met Harry’s.  She smiled just for him, and said a silent prayer to the Maiden. Please, he doesn’t need to love me, just make him like me, just a little, that would be enough for now.

 

     Ser Harrold looked down at her coldly. “Why should it please me to be escorted anywhere by Littlefinger’s bastard?”

 

     All three Waynwoods looked at him askance. “You are a guest here, Harry,” Lady Anya reminded him, in a frosty voice. “See that you remember that.”

 

     A lady’s armor is her courtesy. Alayne could feel the blood rushing to her face. No tears, she prayed.Please, please, I must not cry. “As you wish, ser. And now if you will excuse me, Littlefinger’s bastard must find her lord father and let him know that you have come, so we can begin the tourney on the morrow.”  And may your horse stumble, Harry the Heir, so you fall on your stupid head in your first tilt.She showed the Waynwoods a stone face as they blurted out awkward apologies for their companion. When they were done she turned and fled.

 

Is that what you call good development? First Sansa hopes that Harry will like her, later she is being childish by wishing he falls of his horse just because Harry was rude with her.

She whines to LF about Harry and LF had to make her understand that he was suspicious of LF, hence naturally suspicious of LF's bastard.

 

If you can't see the huge difference from the naive little girl (who has no idea what's going on around her) from Game of Thrones to the self confident actor and manipulator from the excerpt  of WOW then you are just not paying attention. She's learning how to control people from Littlefinger and with her beauty and her name plus her natural intelligence she can be a powerful game player . 

 

[delspark]

17 minutes ago, Blackfish Tully said:

Tyrion did have a lot on his plate when he came to Kings Landing . There was a war going on and an army heading for Kings Landing and he had a psycho king and power mad queen to deal with . He was working on getting rid of Littlefinger but he never really had the chance and then Littlefinger set him up . It was not plot armor but instead Littlefinger was just several steps ahead of him. 

He was kept in the sky cells. Due you think he could forget his torture at Eyrie and false accusations that easily?

[delspark]

5 minutes ago, Blackfish Tully said:

She's learning how to control people from Littlefinger and with her beauty and her name plus her natural intelligence she can be a powerful game player . 

 

Learning??? She is doing whatever LF bid her to do. She knows she is pretty yet she is clueless when LF says charm him.

Spoiler

 Petyr put his arm around her.  “So he is, but he is Robert’s heir as well.  Bringing Harry here was the first step in our plan, but now we need to keep him, and only you can do that.  He has a weakness for a pretty face, and whose face is prettier than yours?  Charm him.  Entrance him.  Bewitch him.”

 

     “I don’t know how,”  she said miserably.

 

 

[kissdbyfire]

On 10 March 2016 at 11:38 AM, chrisdaw said:

It's an assumption that she wants to find her daughters. She believes both are lost to her. In the event one does turn up that she has the capacity to recognise and accept they still live is very questionable. She gave Brienne a choice, to either die or lure her a bigger fish. She didn't set Brienne free to find her daughters, she set Brienne free to lure to her the man who sent Brienne to find her daughters.

She did recognise Brienne, someone Catelyn had known for a little while only. Why on earth wouldn't she recognise one of her own daughters?