Sansas ending

[LynnS]

In the end, I'm hoping Tyrion sets things right by Sansa and she marries her Prince of Dragonflies.... Aegon.

[Therae]

10 hours ago, Prof. Cecily said:

Lucy Steele=Shae?

Elinor Dashwood= Brienne?

I like! I'm not sure we have a true Lucy Steele--Margaery sort of does the standing in, but I think the actual machinations are Olenna's and Mace's. Maybe the elder Eliza Williams = Tysha?

I do wonder where Sansa is headed, though. Given that what she has learned from Cersei and continues to learn from Littlefinger is solidly grounded in manipulation, dissimulation, and self-interest, it's hard to see how becoming a skilled player in a corrupt game requiring fundamentally deceptive--if not downright treacherous--tactics is actually meant to be a good thing for her development as a person. She is much more empathetic and much less selfish than GOT Sansa, but I think if she's not careful, she's going to find herself wondering, a la Jaime, Arthur Dayne, and the Smiling Knight, how she set out to be Marianne but became Fanny Dashwood.

Also: Ned had quite a bit of the (unperverted) Colonel Brandon about him, no?

[Prof. Cecily]

1 hour ago, Therae said:

Maybe the elder Eliza Williams = Tysha

Nice!

 

1 hour ago, Therae said:

she's going to find herself wondering, a la Jaime, Arthur Dayne, and the Smiling Knight, how she set out to be Marianne but became Fanny Dashwood.

Ah, darling Fanny, having the ancient oak avenue cut down, to make way for her greenhouse.

 

1 hour ago, Therae said:

Ned had quite a bit of the (unperverted) Colonel Brandon about him, no?

Well spotted! The price of keeping a secret about a  dying woman. Brava!

Maragaret= Arya?

[Therae]

14 minutes ago, Prof. Cecily said:

Well spotted! The price of keeping a secret about a  dying woman. Brava!

Maragaret= Arya?

Thanks!

And YES! Especially Ang Lee/Emma Thompson's film!Margaret, who was more prone to swash and buckle than the original. 

And brava yourself! ASOIAF = the Wars of the Roses meets LOTR with dollop of Lovecraft and a few shakes of Austen.

[Morgana Lannister]

20 hours ago, chrisdaw said:

No you're right, it was the wrong sentence to follow with on my part. And I don't mean them as parallels, it's a standard big bad world cures person of their lovely notions arc, but Sansa and anything Anne is a thing. Anne Neville, Alexander's Roxanne, Alysanne.

Their romanticism was beaten out of them by different things, driving them to covet different things. Marianne burned by the volatility of passion finds value in the security constancy provides her.

Sansa's romanticism was a belief of inherent value and good in beauty and love. This romanticism made her a victim, the beautiful turned on her, controlled her, used her as a pawn and she was left powerless with no control. Next go around she won't value beauty, she'll value power, power over her partner and the power she can derive from him so that she'll never be put back in that powerless position again.

 

[Orphalesion]

5 hours ago, Therae said:

. She is much more empathetic and much less selfish than GOT Sansa, but I think if she's not careful, she's going to find herself wondering, a la Jaime, Arthur Dayne, and the Smiling Knight, how she set out to be Marianne but became Fanny Dashwood.

That's horrifically accurate and plausible...

I think, or like to think, that exactly that will be Sansa's final conflict. A climactic decision whether to embrace the Cersei/Littlefinger tactics, nurser her pain into bitterness and become a a miserable creature who hates everyone and everything, most of all herself or to come to terms with what happened to her and with the way the world, accept the pain and make herself strong enough to survive in Westeros without becoming cruel or bitter.

My inner fanboy would love to see that going on when the maid slays the titan/giant in the castle of snow... I'd squee so hard. Almost as hard as when I'm gonna squee if a happy Sansa/Arya reunion happens.So I won't be able to read that book on the train....

[Prof. Cecily]

7 hours ago, Therae said:

ASOIAF = the Wars of the Roses meets LOTR with dollop of Lovecraft and a few shakes of Austen.

Indeed. We've amused ourselves,  broadened our appreciation of two remarkable literary works and we're that much closer to the the day TWOW is published.

 

4 hours ago, Orphalesion said:

 

9 hours ago, Therae said:

. She is much more empathetic and much less selfish than GOT Sansa, but I think if she's not careful, she's going to find herself wondering, a la Jaime, Arthur Dayne, and the Smiling Knight, how she set out to be Marianne but became Fanny Dashwood.

That's horrifically accurate and plausible...

I think, or like to think, that exactly that will be Sansa's final conflict. A climactic decision whether to embrace the Cersei/Littlefinger tactics, nurser her pain into bitterness and become a a miserable creature who hates everyone and everything, most of all herself or to come to terms with what happened to her and with the way the world, accept the pain and make herself strong enough to survive in Westeros without becoming cruel or bitter.

My inner fanboy would love to see that going on when the maid slays the titan/giant in the castle of snow... I'd squee so hard. Almost as hard as when I'm gonna squee if a happy Sansa/Arya reunion happens.So I won't be able to read that book on the train....

 

I reckon @Therae really hit the nail on the head there.

However, Sansa is no longer a maid, is she. (Hmm. TV vs books) I wonder how that prophecy will play out. Now that winter is here, there may yet other possible scenarios for giants and snow castles, or castles of Snow. 

A happy Sansa/Arya meeting?

I'd like to think so, yet, as the Hound pointed out, Arya wants Sansa dead. Two books to go. What will GRRM do with the Stark sisters? And Lady SH? How are the Stark children going to react to Lady SH?

 

 

[Morgana Lannister]

16 hours ago, Prof. Cecily said:

Indeed. We've amused ourselves,  broadened our appreciation of two remarkable literary works and we're that much closer to the the day TWOW is published.

 

I reckon @Therae really hit the nail on the head there.

However, Sansa is no longer a maid, is she. (Hmm. TV vs books) I wonder how that prophecy will play out. Now that winter is here, there may yet other possible scenarios for giants and snow castles, or castles of Snow. 

A happy Sansa/Arya meeting?

I'd like to think so, yet, as the Hound pointed out, Arya wants Sansa dead. Two books to go. What will GRRM do with the Stark sisters? And Lady SH? How are the Stark children going to react to Lady SH?

 

 

I personally think that she is not going to go complete evil manipulator even if she does something morally questionable, which my bet is that will involve LF.  I reckon she will have enough skills to further her own ambition and to protect herself but I cannot see her going all mad.  One thing we appear to be seeing is that she is becoming more pragmatic.  I also think she is learning to have patience and wait for the right moment.  I don't believe she is still taken in by Petyr, although sometimes she seems to be in two minds about him however she is aware that for the moment there is nothing she can do but I would be surprise if we don't learn in TWOW that she has some strategy already at least semi-prepared.  In Kings landing, I understand that she sought the opportunity to leave the Lannisters and took it but she did not give it enough thought in terms of why someone was "helping" her.  I guess ser Dontos had reasons to do so but still there was some mysterious other party involved.  I don't think she will act out of desperation without giving things a further thought in the future though.

I definitely see her as ambitious though and perhaps she always was, that is one of the reasons I believe she will end up with a powerful husband.  The show seems to hint at possible conflict of interest between her claim to WF and Jon's.  I reckon this will be there too but I don't see her as someone capable of murder for instance for ambition alone.  I reckon there will be tensions between the siblings but nothing that cannot be sorted out.  Arya and Sansa will be happy to be reunited but I don't expect them to get alone terribly well.  Sansa is darker than she was but nothing compared to Arya.  However, just like with Tyrion I am convinced that Arya will become more "humanised" that she is at present, that she will heal a bit and bear more towards the middle of grey.  I certainly don't believe that Arya ever wanted Sansa dead.  I find that a lot of the time posters quote things that characters say when really, really angry or terribly depressed and take this as a statement of intention.  In real life most people do say terrible things in temper which they never intend to carry out.  Arya was in my opinion a bit too mean to Sandor but I don't think his assessment of her re Sansa is reliable on this.  Also although some rivalry and perhaps even open opposition re who gets WF is likely, the emphasis in the last book is going to have to be fighting the Others so any squibbles are IMHO unlikely to be long lasting.

 

[Prof. Cecily]

2 hours ago, Morgana Lannister said:

I personally think that she is not going to go complete evil manipulator even if she does something morally questionable, which my bet is that will involve LF.  I reckon she will have enough skills to further her own ambition and to protect herself but I cannot see her going all mad.  One thing we appear to be seeing is that she is becoming more pragmatic.  I also think she is learning to have patience and wait for the right moment.  I don't believe she is still taken in by Petyr, although sometimes she seems to be in two minds about him however she is aware that for the moment there is nothing she can do but I would be surprise if we don't learn in TWOW that she has some strategy already at least semi-prepared.  In Kings landing, I understand that she sought the opportunity to leave the Lannisters and took it but she did not give it enough thought in terms of why someone was "helping" her.  I guess ser Dontos had reasons to do so but still there was some mysterious other party involved.  I don't think she will act out of desperation without giving things a further thought in the future though.

I definitely see her as ambitious though and perhaps she always was, that is one of the reasons I believe she will end up with a powerful husband.  The show seems to hint at possible conflict of interest between her claim to WF and Jon's.  I reckon this will be there too but I don't see her as someone capable of murder for instance for ambition alone.  I reckon there will be tensions between the siblings but nothing that cannot be sorted out.  Arya and Sansa will be happy to be reunited but I don't expect them to get alone terribly well.  Sansa is darker than she was but nothing compared to Arya.  However, just like with Tyrion I am convinced that Arya will become more "humanised" that she is at present, that she will heal a bit and bear more towards the middle of grey.  I certainly don't believe that Arya ever wanted Sansa dead.  I find that a lot of the time posters quote things that character say when really, really angry or terribly depress and take this as a statement of intention.  In real life most people do say terrible things in temper which they never intend to carry out.  Arya was in my opinion a bit too mean to Sandor but I don't think his assessment of her re Sansa is reliable on this.  Also although some rivalry and perhaps even open opposition re who gets WF is likely the emphasis in the last book is going to have to be fighting the Others so any squibbles are IMHO unlikely to be long lasting.

 

Indeed, I'm sure you're right to think the Hound is scarcely the best analyst of Arya- I just finished ASOS and I'm amazed at how much I've forgotten,  juxtaposed and generally mashed up from my first reading.

Well, that's what the forum is for: learning.

One odd little thought of Sansa's caught my attention this time around. 

She's aboard The Merling King, on the morning she and LF desembark on everyone's favourite holiday site and Lothar Brune helps her up to the foredeck

Quote

" Ser Lothar, she had to remind herself; the man had been knighted for his valour in the Battle of the Blackwater, Though no proper knight would wear those patched brown breeches and scuffed boots, nor that cracked and water-stained leather jerkin."

Oh, Sansa, Sansa.

[Therae]

19 hours ago, Orphalesion said:

My inner fanboy would love to see that going on when the maid slays the titan/giant in the castle of snow... I'd squee so hard. Almost as hard as when I'm gonna squee if a happy Sansa/Arya reunion happens.So I won't be able to read that book on the train....

I am now picturing your avatar going "Squeeeeeeee!" while pulling away from Bahnhof Zoo (I lived in Berlin for a while; this is what I think of when I think of reading on trains).

I think I agree about Sansa's major conflict. I see something like Option 1: hoist Littlefinger with his own petard, but basically become LF to destroy him, and ultimately end up with nothing. There are quite a lot of different possible options besides that one, though, including my crackpot favorite, that somehow (I have no idea how) she does end up married to a smith (yes, Gendry, even if he's never been in her storyline--because how many other hot smith-knights do we know?), getting fat, and making babies in happy obscurity, just like Jaime said she should. It's also possible that somehow Sandor engineers an opportunity to offer her an escape from whatever situation she will need to escape from and she does not refuse him this time.

I do hope she and Arya have a reunion. If they do, it should absolutely be happy, at least at first. Sansa had finally started to recall Arya with more sisterly warmth when she got to the Vale, and Arya really did take Ned's words about family to heart (she said "No," when Sandor was taunting her about wanting to kill her sister, and I think she meant it--she was aghast that Sandor wanted to kill his brother, and when she escaped KL and she was thinking she would like the whole place flooded and everyone drowned, but then she recalled that Sansa was there, so that wouldn't do; she can still get mad about some of the things that Sansa has done, but she hasn't rejected her as a sister and certainly doesn't want her dead). I don't know how happy it would stay; it would really depend on the choices they will have to make at that point (as in, game of thrones or war for the dawn or what--and I have a feeling they may have very different priorities).

15 hours ago, Prof. Cecily said:

Indeed. We've amused ourselves,  broadened our appreciation of two remarkable literary works and we're that much closer to the the day TWOW is published.

Cheers, sister! May that day be soon!

[Orphalesion]

17 hours ago, Prof. Cecily said:

 

However, Sansa is no longer a maid, is she. (Hmm. TV vs books) I wonder how that prophecy will play out. Now that winter is here, there may yet other possible scenarios for giants and snow castles, or castles of Snow. 

A happy Sansa/Arya meeting?

I'd like to think so, yet, as the Hound pointed out, Arya wants Sansa dead.

 

 

1) Maid can also describe a young woman who is not yet fully adult.

2) You took that at absolute face value? First of all, Arya and Sansa are still very much children, especially at the point where Arya travells with the hound. And a child might quickly think "Well I wish you were dead, stupidhead!" particularly towards a sibling with whom they share a rivalry and whom they envy. But that doesn't mean they'd actually kill them if given the chance.

Look at the incident with Joffrey and Arya in the riverlands. After Sansa had refused to come to Arya's defense or bring justice for Micah, after she had given Arya all the reason in the world to be against her.....who is, right after that the first one to defend Sansa when Cersei asks for Lady's head? Arya! 

Sure she had smacked Sansa right before that, but frankly in that situation Sansa had deserved it. But she wouldn't murder her.

Arya can be severe and hard when dealing what she believes to be justice. That's the wolf part in her, but the wolf is also loyal to her pack. So the only situation I can picture her murdering Sansa (or Sansa murdering Arya) is if either Arya loses the very core of her being to the FM or Sansa takes a complete heel turn and starts murdering Starks.
 

2 hours ago, Therae said:

 

I do hope she and Arya have a reunion. If they do, it should absolutely be happy, at least at first. Sansa had finally started to recall Arya with more sisterly warmth when she got to the Vale, and Arya really did take Ned's words about family to heart (she said "No," when Sandor was taunting her about wanting to kill her sister, and I think she meant it--she was aghast that Sandor wanted to kill his brother, and when she escaped KL and she was thinking she would like the whole place flooded and everyone drowned, but then she recalled that Sansa was there, so that wouldn't do; she can still get mad about some of the things that Sansa has done, but she hasn't rejected her as a sister and certainly doesn't want her dead). I don't know how happy it would stay; it would really depend on the choices they will have to make at that point (as in, game of thrones or war for the dawn or what--and I have a feeling they may have very different priorities).

 

Exactly, the only real danger to their reunion is Little Finger. That being said, it would be glorious to see the Stark Girls teaming up to take him down. 

 

[Prof. Cecily]

7 hours ago, Orphalesion said:

1) Maid can also describe a young woman who is not yet fully adult.

2) You took that at absolute face value? First of all, Arya and Sansa are still very much children, especially at the point where Arya travells with the hound. And a child might quickly think "Well I wish you were dead, stupidhead!" particularly towards a sibling with whom they share a rivalry and whom they envy. But that doesn't mean they'd actually kill them if given the chance.

Look at the incident with Joffrey and Arya in the riverlands. After Sansa had refused to come to Arya's defense or bring justice for Micah, after she had given Arya all the reason in the world to be against her.....who is, right after that the first one to defend Sansa when Cersei asks for Lady's head? Arya! 

Sure she had smacked Sansa right before that, but frankly in that situation Sansa had deserved it. But she wouldn't murder her.

Arya can be severe and hard when dealing what she believes to be justice. That's the wolf part in her, but the wolf is also loyal to her pack. So the only situation I can picture her murdering Sansa (or Sansa murdering Arya) is if either Arya loses the very core of her being to the FM or Sansa takes a complete heel turn and starts murdering Starks. ...
 

 

Thanks for reminding me of that entire scene with Joffrey in AGOT, @Orphalesion. I'm going to reread it now as part of a chapter by chapter analysis I'm following with Secrets of the Citadel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiNKdz7SDL62u8K027f15-yWXa_ljd6hw

 

Quote

So the only situation I can picture her murdering Sansa (or Sansa murdering Arya) is if either Arya loses the very core of her being to the FM or Sansa takes a complete heel turn and starts murdering Starks.

Or if Arya learns of how Sansa confided her father's plans to escape KL to Cersei?

If I recall correctly, Arya does not react well,  when, in ASOS, which I've just finished on a second reread, she learns Sansa has married Tyrion.

And on a slightly more gruesome note, how would the sister respond to LSH?

Anyway, again, thanks for pointing me in the direction of the text!

 

 

[Traverys]

Sometimes I wonder if many people operate on the false assumption that there will still be an Iron Throne and/or that there will be seven kingdoms subservient to it. Do I see Sansa on the Iron Throne? No. But that wouldn't prevent her from being Queen in the North.

I read a rather convincing analysis of Sansa. One of the premier arguments was that she and Jon had, in many ways, parallel storylines thematically. For example, they both arrive in places they dreamed of being and are quickly disenchanted by the reality. There's also a lot of textual evidence that her prejudices against Jon's bastard status erode away, especially after she becomes Alayne. It's somewhere on http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com

There is also, of course,

On 4/2/2017 at 8:27 PM, Moiraine Sedai said:

George wants to surprise his readers but he's obsessive with plot set up and logical cause-effect.  Sansa becoming queen makes no sense.  I do not see it happening.  I do not want it to happen.  I am ok with Sansa becoming lady of winterfell but that's as far as I would like to see her get.  I don't like Sansa.  She is one of the more annoying people in this story.  Sansa is far too incompetent to even wait on tables at Denny's much less rule anything.

No less incompetent than Daenerys if you really want to be that harsh. Give Sansa (or any other "weak" character) three dragons and you'll see how much more effective she'd becomes at getting her way.

[Mladen]

I think that the most analysis here regarding Sansa and the Game are inherently taking that Sansa has to become another Cersei in order to play the Game successfully. The thing is Game is not inherently bad and can be played in many different ways. We see how Tyrells use their humanitarianism to gain support, or how Tyrion remains one of the "heroes" of the saga while being completely surrounded by vicious people. The thing about Sansa is that although she won't remain the delicate flower she has been, the mere idea we will see some femme fatale is rather strange for me. 

There are several aspects that we must consider. The first one is the richness of the Vale and Sansa's role in it. We already know that Jon Snow had plans of asking Lysa for the help and we know how Sansa understood the power of happy and well-fed subjects. The other one is certainly Winterfell. We can recall Jon's famous line that different roads lead to the same place and I do believe that Stark kids, Jon included, are taking different roads to Winterfell. What will happen once they all unite? Well, Martin did say that Stark girls have a lot of issues to sort out, but, for example, in comparison with Jamie and Tyrion, those issues sound childish. But, they will certainly play a role in their relationship. The last one is marriage with Tyrion. Given that I don't see Tyrion dying any time soon, I suppose marriage to Harry will have to wait. Is divorce probable solution? Well, GRRM has left enough space to wiggle both Tyrion and Sansa out of that marriage. But, the time of the change is coming. Great Houses are falling like flies. Tullys, Arryns, Greyjoys and Martells are seriously endangered. Lannisters and Baratheons too. How will Tyrells survive the Dance of Dragons and War for Dawn is a huge question. Jon and Dany, most likely the heroes of the saga, can realistically die. So, it is this marriage that actually can serve to solidify some sort of centralized power (if that actually happens at the end and the Westerosi still need someone to sit and rule them all). Overall, while Sansa being the ruling Queen is out of reach, her marriage to Tyrion may provide enough political power to make that happen. After all, even Tyrion admitted that Robert Baratheon's best idea was to make peace between Lannisters and Starks through marriage. 

Sansa's story is the story of agency, the story of an innocent, naive child growing up into a confident woman. For better or worse, her fate will be determined by her own choices and her own moves in the great Game. 

[chrisdaw]

3 hours ago, Prof. Cecily said:

Or if Arya learns of how Sansa confided her father's plans to escape KL to Cersei?

It's the correct line of thinking that Sansa is going to go down this road, seduced by the trappings of power, losing her true self to her player façade, and that it will come to a head and a decision from which there's no turning back. And before it comes to a head she has to be brought to the brink, she must go a long way down this road before being brought back. Perhaps among others there are two things signalled which will do it.

Firstly there's Arya. When they first reunite Arya will fall in line behind Sansa, Arya wants her wolfpack and will be overjoyed to return to her sister. Arya will be the boots, eyes and ears on the ground, the source of information and the carefully placed dagger in the back, all on Sansa's say so until they do the deed and Sansa becomes queen. But the methods are not going to sit well with Arya, Arya will have thought she's helping make a wolf queen, but the wolf queen is going to look an awful lot like the lion queen. Eventually Arya will abandon Sansa, she's not going to kill her, she's just going to leave her and end up with Jon. Something for Sansa to think about.

Secondly there's Sandor. It's not just a convenience that Sandor has split his time between protecting the two Stark girls, it's design. Sandor is being set up as a bullshit detector, to sniff out the worthy queen between the sisters.

Quote

The Yunkai'i had sealed the broken gates to keep the dead and dying inside the city, but the sights that he had seen riding down those red brick streets would haunt Quentyn Martell forever. A river choked with corpses. The priestess in her torn robes, impaled upon a stake and attended by a cloud of glistening green flies. Dying men staggering through the streets, bloody and befouled. Children fighting over half-cooked puppies.

Sandor wanted to take Sansa away, but he was too angry a man and scared her. He didn't deserve her. Sansa prays to the Seven to soothe his anger and so she'll have her way, the new Sandor will be one Sansa would have gone with. But on the flipside, new Sansa isn't going to be one new Sandor will have. She's becoming what he loved her for not being. Especially cruel as it was Sandor who told her to become a better liar. But he also told her a dog can smell a lie and that he hates liars. For Sandor it's going to come down to a choice between following Sansa's (Tyrion's) orders and fight against Jon (Arya) or abandon them, and Arya's going win, she's going to turn him in the field. And for Sansa the abandonment of the man who loved her and whom she loved will shake her to her soul.

Same as Jaime to Cersei, but that's when Sansa will prove she's not a Cersei, she'll self assess and conclude that if the remade Sandor would abandon her then the fault must be on her side. Which will mean poison wine for king Tyrion and the gates of KL thrown open to Jon.

[Prof. Cecily]

Very very interesting ideas in this thread!

Still, I'm reminded of two things that damp my hopes for  Arya's future.

The first is that odd 'prophecy' of Jon to Arya in AGOT:

Quote

A Game of Thrones Arya I

"...The longer you hide, the sterner the penance. You'll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers."

I'm finding all sorts of references to needles and the harshness of winter, especially the clacking of Old Nan's knitting needles (Norn imagry?) and even the naming of Arya's sword and later, how she retrieves it in ASOS.

 

Secondly, Nymeria.

Nymeria is a pack leader. I wonder how Arya, so accustomed to her relation to this alpha wolf, would take to a secondary role to Sansa.

And also, how will the sisters react to Lady Stoneheart? Will Arya ever learn the role Nymeria had in the creation of LS?

 

Good points about Sandor, @chrisdaw. Divided between the two sisters, indeed. 

 

 

 

 

[chrisdaw]

Lady Stoneheart represents merciless revenge, blanket and mob vengeance free from the constraints of law, and she is loveless, the end destination of Arya's current dark path. Thus she is for Arya to defeat, and in the doing reject those concepts on her arc to becoming a worthy queen.

Frozen fingers I dealt with here.

Nymeria will die, she has to die, she hunts and kills men. The direwolves are beasts and have no place in a just and civilised society. Her death will be symbolic of Arya foregoing her wildness and freedom to turn to civility, duty, law and order. Jaime will kill Nymeria and Arya will learn to live with it, foregoing revenge, eventually, perhaps after a failed attempt.
 

[Prof. Cecily]

Thank you so much, @chrisdaw. I have to leave for work and I'm looking forward to reading and thinking about your replies and links after I return.

I'm grateful for your patience and generosity!

[a black swan]

I always enjoy @chrisdaw posts.

[Morgana Lannister]

On 4/18/2017 at 11:15 AM, Prof. Cecily said:

Still, I'm reminded of two things that damp my hopes for  Arya's future.

The first is that odd 'prophecy' of Jon to Arya in AGOT:

I'm finding all sorts of references to needles and the harshness of winter, especially the clacking of Old Nan's knitting needles (Norn imagry?) and even the naming of Arya's sword and later, how she retrieves it in ASOS.

Secondly, Nymeria.

Nymeria is a pack leader. I wonder how Arya, so accustomed to her relation to this alpha wolf, would take to a secondary role to Sansa.

And also, how will the sisters react to Lady Stoneheart? Will Arya ever learn the role Nymeria had in the creation of LS?

This got me worried for Arya too, however, again like with Sansa, her training has to pay dividends somehow, although okay it is possible that her role will be finalised by the end of the last book and that George kills her off.  I believe she is his wife's favourite character so maybe not if he wants a quiet life lol  Tyrion is his so I think both these characters are probably safe although he could be luring us into a false sense of security as always.

Now, what could make sense is something on the lines of what chrisdaw has said, i.e. that this is metaphorical and that Arya, although I believe she will always be wild and dislike the game, will come back to the fold and live her life in a lawful way, which could represent in a way that her work with needle would have come to an end, or at least in the way she was "sewing through winter" but that could imply though the physical death of Nymeria.

As for LSH she cannot stay undead for ever.  Yes, she is now an instrument of revenge and has lost if not all most of her humanity and not in a way that appears at all recoverable.  Also I find it a bit "convenient" that Arya's training involves giving people the "gift" and I think it would fit very well if either her or her warging Nymeria who finished her off.  Of course the books are now on a cliffhanger with Jaime and Brienne and I wonder if the fact that Brienne's sword was forged from Ice ties with the ending for LSH.

As per Arya being a secondary role to Sansa I doubt it very much.  Either both will be part of the rebuilding team in different capacities as they have different skills and one won't be directly under the other or both will be in charge of different lands regardless of who gets WF.

As for Arya being mad at Sansa for revealing to Cersei's Ned's plans, yes, but it won't be long lived.  Just as Sansa is maturing so will Arya and this incident, regrettable as it was, happened when Sansa was a naive child.  I see the more mature Arya being able to put this into context.  I have had a feeling all along that various characters but mainly Tyrion and Arya will finally realise that "revenge is overrated."  I think George planted that notion into our minds quite well with the Oberyn scene.  I am not suggesting that these characters will never have feelings of revenge or that someone will not give LF and or Ramsay their dues but I think revenge would not only be their sole purpose so I think Arya will mellow and become less impulsive.