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Sansa's Ultimate Fate


TyrionTLannister

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13 minutes ago, zandru said:

Thanks for the reminder of Cersei's dream! I'd forgotten that passage. Wasn't the vision in the House of the Undying meant to represent Westeros and the War of the 5 Kings?

 

Yeah, I think so too. Maybe no connection though - just feels the same - a massive attack on a woman.

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On 12/07/2017 at 7:00 PM, TyrionTLannister said:

The prophecy refers to Sweetrobin's doll, not Littlefinger.

    The Prophecy very probably refers to Petyr Baelish (LF). House Baelish's sigil is a Titan's head 'taken' from the Giant Statue of Bravos.

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Looking at the quotes again - I don't think a literal stabbing counts as foreshadowing for another literal stabbing, in the same way that one sunrise doesn't foreshadow the next one - it's just, these things happen.

However, the OP has convincingly shown an excess of belly stabbings, so we're meant to learn something from these. I've thought of a few angles:

1)        Information. Being stabbed in the belly is always fatal. A pointer to Jon's fate.

2)        Belly as metaphor. With your nose, you can smell out secrets and lies. So what does the belly do? My best guess is that the belly represents the appetite for life, the ability to process and digest what life throws at you. It's a form of courage.

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[villager to Sandor]   "... they say you lost your belly for fighting at the Blackwater...."


[Arya repeats this to Sandor]   For a moment she thought he was going to hit her....


[Sandor replies]   "There's nothing wrong with my belly"   (ASOS)

Additionally, someone kicked in the stomach has the wind knocked out them. Words are wind. The kicked one is silenced.

Sansa is often fearful and has a weak stomach. It fits, but there needs to be more to explain quotes like this:

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[Sansa's dream] The knife plunged into her belly and tore and tore and tore, until there was nothing left of her down there but shiny wet ribbons.

Wow. It need not foreshadow a physical attack, though. It reminds me of Dany's dream:

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She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce.  (AGOT)

There are similarities (flesh destroyed), and differences (pain, fear). For Dany it foreshadows transformation and the end of fearfulness. Sansa's dream is more of a nightmare. She's certainly not ready for transformation. Later, though, there's this famous quote:

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My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel. (ASOS)

Again, her flesh changes. Transformation is happening.

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Sansa is Snow White, which suggests that Littlefinger will kill her to get back into Cersei's graces

Sansa's storyline seems to have been heavily inspired (https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/18ba1u/spoilers_all_cersei_crackpot_theory/) by "Snow White." There are many parallels between Sansa and the title character. Both Sansa and Snow White are orphans and are said to be very beautiful. Both make friends with dwarves. Both like songs. Snow White’s stepmother tries to kill her, and two women who could be considered Sansa’s stepmother (Cersei and Lysa, whose sons Sansa was betrothed to) try to kill her or wish her dead. “Snow” is the name given to Northern bastards, and Sansa is now being passed off as a bastard. Snow White eats a poisoned apple, and Sansa is a type of apple in real life.

Cersei has a lot in common with the Evil Queen from the tale. The Evil Queen is described as the most beautiful woman of the time. She is incredibly proud, narcissistic and supercilious. That sounds exactly like Cersei. 

The Evil Queen has a mirror that she treasures, and Cersei has her own “mirror,” Jaime. The Evil Queen sends Snow White on a hunt to kill her, and Cersei has Robert killed in a hunt. The huntsman sent to kill Snow White returns with a boar’s organs which the Queen eats, and Cersei feasts on the boar that slew Robert. The Evil Queen attempts to kill Snow White even though she is only a child, and Cersei has never shied away from killing children. The Evil Queen’s plans are constantly thwarted by meddling dwarves, as are Cersei’s.

The Evil Queen attempts to kill Snow White via three methods: by poisoning her hair, by feeding her a poisoned apple and by strangulation from a lace. These methods are used in Joffrey’s Wedding: Sansa’s hairnet is the poison in the hair, Joffrey drinks poisoned wine, and strangulation is the way in which Joffrey dies (he is even poisoned with the strangler). The Evil Queen chokes to death, and Cersei is prophesied to be strangled to death.

The Evil Queen is told of a more beautiful queen, and Maggy the Frog warns Cersei of a younger and more beautiful queen. Snow White’s mother makes a wish to give birth to a daughter after her finger is pricked and drops of blood fall to the ground, and Maggy the Frog tells Cersei of a younger and more beautiful queen after her finger is pricked and drops of blood fall to the ground.

The obvious fact that Sansa was at least partially inspired by Snow White has some interesting implications for what would make Littlefinger kill Sansa. In the tale, the Evil Queen orders a huntsman to murder Snow White. As proof that Snow White is dead, the queen demands that he return with her lungs and liver. The huntsman raises his knife against Snow White but finds himself unable to kill her and spares her life.

So I think that after Littlefinger burns his bridges with Sansa, he will attempt to get back into Cersei’s graces, and she will promise to welcome him back if he kills Sansa for her. Unlike the huntsman, Littlefinger isn’t as likely to hesitate stabbing Sansa if he perceives he has no other choice. (I point out earlier in the thread that there’s evidence to suggest that Littlefinger might be slightly drunk when he stabs Sansa, so perhaps he will drink wine to give him courage to kill her.) After he stabs her, he will consider slitting her throat, but will not be able to bring himself to do so. 

Going back to Lady’s death, it was Cersei who doomed Lady in retaliation for a perceived wrong done against Joffrey, and history may well repeat itself here (with Cersei, Sansa, Littlefinger, and Arya taking on Cersei, Lady, Ilyn Payne, and Ned’s roles this time around).

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When he dies I will find someone else. Perhaps she would recall Littlefinger. The queen could not imagine that Petyr Baelish would be allowed to remain Lord Protector of the Vale for very long, with Lysa Arryn dead. The Vale lords were already stirring, if what Pycelle said was true. Once they take that wretched boy away from him, Lord Petyr will come crawling back. (AFFC Cersei II)

Strangely enough, Cersei was actually right for once when she predicted that Littlefinger would come crawling back, though under different circumstances to what she imagined.

Littlefinger will cut a lock of hair off Sansa after he stabs her to present to Cersei as proof that he killed Sansa

The Evil Queen from “Snow White” demands that the huntsman return with Snow White’s lungs and liver as proof that he really killed her, so perhaps Cersei will demand proof from Litttlefinger that he killed Sansa. What proof could he provide, then? Well, what’s Sansa’s most distinctive feature? Her hair, right? She has a very unique hair color and just dying her hair a different color was enough to keep people who had previously met her from recognizing her. So it would make sense for Littlefinger to cut a lock of her hair to present to Cersei as proof that he killed Sansa. 

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"Your mother was my queen of beauty once," the man said quietly. His breath smelled of mint. "You have her hair." His fingers brushed against her cheek as he stroked one auburn lock. Quite abruptly he turned and walked away. (AGOT Sansa II)

Littlefinger strokes one of Sansa’s locks in their first meeting, which could foreshadow him cutting one of her locks off.

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Six of the young cupbearers were playing some child's game as he entered, sitting in a circle on the floor as they took turns spinning a dagger. When it wobbled to a stop they cut a lock of hair off whichever of them the blade was pointing at. Ser Barristan had played a similar game with his cousins when he was just a boy at Harvest Hall … though in Westeros, as he recalled, kissing had been involved as well. (ADWD The Queen's Hand)

Here, Barristan describes a game that some cupbearers are playing which involves spinning a dagger until it wobbles to a stop and points at someone, which evokes this scene from AGOT:

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“Ah, but when the queen proclaims one king and the Hand another, whose peace do they protect?” Lord Petyr flicked at the dagger with his finger, setting it spinning in place. Round and round it went, wobbling as it turned. When at last it slowed to a stop, the blade pointed at Littlefinger. (AGOT Eddard XIII)

In AGOT, Littlefinger spins the dagger as it wobbles until it slows to a stop and points to himself, which is too similar to the game Barristan describes for it to be a coincidence. So it’s likely that the game Barristan describes is providing us with a hint about Littlefinger. In the game, they cut a lock of hair off whichever one of them the dagger points at, which could foreshadow Littlefinger cutting a lock of hair off Sansa. Barristan also recalls that in Westeros, kissing was involved, which could foreshadow Littlefinger kissing Sansa after he stabs her, which brings us to the next part of the theory:

Littlefinger will kiss Sansa after he stabs her

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Dunk grabbed her braid and pulled her face to his. It was awkward with the crutch and the difference in their heights. He almost fell before he got his lips on hers. He kissed her hard. One of her hands went around his neck, and one around his back. He learned more about kissing in a moment than he had ever known from watching. But when they finally broke apart, he drew his dagger. "I know what I want to remember you by, m’lady."

"Even highborn ladies don't get all they want," Dunk said, as they rode out across the drawbridge. "It wasn't a horse I wanted." The moat was so high it was threatening to overflow its banks. ”I took something else to remember her by instead. A lock of that red hair.” He reached under his cloak, brought out the braid, and smiled. (The Sworn Sword)

Dunk kisses Rohanne Webber (who shares some similarities with Sansa) and cuts a lock of her red hair. This could foreshadow Littlefinger kissing Sansa and cutting a lock of her red hair.

This brings to mind another instance in which Littlefinger forcibly kisses Sansa:

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Sansa tried to step back, but he pulled her into his arms and suddenly he was kissing her. Feebly, she tried to squirm, but only succeeded in pressing herself more tightly against him. His mouth was on hers, swallowing her words.

“I won’t.” He sounded almost like Marillion, the night he’d gotten so drunk at the wedding. Only this time Lothor Brune would not appear to save her; Ser Lothor was Petyr’s man. “You shouldn’t kiss me. I might have been your own daughter . . . ”

“Might have been,” he admitted, with a rueful smile. “But you’re not, are you? You are Eddard Stark’s daughter, and Cat’s. But I think you might be even more beautiful than your mother was, when she was your age.”

“Petyr, please.” Her voice sounded so weak. “Please . . . ”  (ASOS Sansa VII)

Sansa thinks that Littlefinger sounds like Marillion, when he got drunk and entered her room, which could foreshadow Littlefinger getting drunk and entering her room as well. She pleads with him, and I think she will plead with him in a similar way when he puts the knife to her throat. “Petyr, please. Please…” It sounds cheesy but it has the potential to be a very powerful moment if done well.

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"I could keep you safe," he rasped. "They're all afraid of me. No one would hurt you again, or I'd kill them." He yanked her closer, and for a moment she thought he meant to kiss her. He was too strong to fight. She closed her eyes, wanting it to be over, but nothing happened. "Still can't bear to look, can you?" she heard him say. He gave her arm a hard wrench, pulling her around and shoving her down onto the bed. "I'll have that song. Florian and Jonquil, you said." His dagger was out, poised at her throat. "Sing, little bird. Sing for your little life.” (ACOK Sansa VII) 

In the scene where the Hound hides in Sansa’s room, Sansa momentarily thinks that he means to kiss her, and she eventually comes to remember him kissing her, even though it never happened. GRRM has stated that this would mean something later. This theory provides an explanation for the repeated emphasis on this moment: it foreshadows Littlefinger kissing Sansa after he stabs her. (And, as I’ve discussed earlier in the thread, the rest of this scene seems to heavily foreshadow the circumstances surrounding Sansa’s death. For example, the Hound puts a knife to Sansa’s throat shortly after she thinks that he means to kiss her, which could foreshadow Littlefinger putting a knife to Sansa’s throat shortly after he kisses her.)

This would give a whole new meaning to Littlefinger’s statement about steel kisses:

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Littlefinger was the last. As Ned looked to him, Lord Petyr stifled a yawn. ”When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, the best thing to do is close your eyes and get on with it," he declared. "Waiting won't make the maid any prettier. Kiss her and be done with it.”

”Kiss her?” Ser Barristan repeated, aghast.

”A steel kiss,” said Littlefinger. (AGOT Eddard VIII)

The irony here is that Sansa is about as far from an ugly maid as you can get. And this isn’t the only instance in which kissing someone is associated with killing someone with steel:

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"And you are truly a fool, Lady Stark. Littlefinger has never loved anyone but Littlefinger, and I promise you that it is not your hand that he boasts of, it's those ripe breasts of yours, and that sweet mouth, and the heat between your legs.”

Kurleket grabbed a handful of hair and yanked his head back in a hard jerk, baring his throat. Tyrion felt the cold kiss of steel beneath his chin. "Shall I bleed him, my lady?” (AGOT Tyrion IV) 

As Tyrion is discussing Littlefinger, someone grabs a handful of his hair and puts a blade to his throat (which Littlefinger will do to Sansa), the feeling of which he compares to a steel kiss. 

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”Bless my steel with a kiss." He extended the blade down to her. "Go on, kiss it.”

He had never sounded more like a stupid little boy. Sansa touched her lips to the metal, thinking that she would kiss any number of swords sooner than Joffrey. The gesture seemed to please him, though. He sheathed the blade with a flourish. "You'll kiss it again when I return, and taste my uncle's blood.” (ACOK Sansa V)

Steel kisses are associated with Sansa in this scene. 

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"The way before us is perilous enough, lad," said Squire Dalbridge. "One shout when we need silence, and every man of us is doomed.”

Ebben drew his dagger. "A steel kiss will keep her quiet.” (ACOK Jon VI)

Ebben is talking about Ygritte in this scene, who is also red-headed, curiously enough. 

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"Prince Aemon the Dragonknight cried the day Princess Naerys wed his brother Aegon," Sansa Stark said, "and the twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk died with tears on their cheeks after each had given the other a mortal wound.”

”Be quiet, or I'll have Ser Meryn give you a mortal wound,” Joffrey told his betrothed. (ACOK Tyrion IX) 

This could foreshadow Sansa being mortally wounded.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It would be natural to assume that some kind of physical struggle will take place between Littlefinger and Sansa before he stabs her. For one thing, I don’t think Sansa would let her guard down around Littlefinger and just let Littlefinger pull her knife out of her cloak and stab her. It’s more likely that Littlefinger stabbing Sansa will be the end-result of a physical struggle between the two. So I’m reminded of another incident involving a physical struggle in a bedchamber with which Littlefinger is heavily connected: the catspaw attempting to kill Bran. The scene where this happens seems to foreshadow what will go down between Littlefinger and Sansa before he stabs her. Interestingly enough, the chapter that follows this is the first Sansa chapter.

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Robb did not seem to hear her. “The library tower’s on fire,” he said.

Catelyn could see the flickering reddish light through the open window now. She sagged with relief. Bran was safe. The library was across the bailey, there was no way the fire would reach them here. “Thank the gods,” she whispered.

Robb looked at her as if she’d gone mad. “Mother, stay here. I’ll come back as soon as the fire’s out.” He ran then. She heard him shout to the guards outside the room, heard them descending together in a wild rush, taking the stairs two and three at a time.

Outside, there were shouts of “Fire!” in the yard, screams, running footsteps, the whinny of frightened horses, and the frantic barking of the castle dogs. The howling was gone, she realized as she listened to the cacophony. The direwolves had fallen silent. (AGOT Catelyn III)

First we must look at how the catspaw was able to enter Bran’s bedchamber without being accosted. The catspaw set fire to the library tower and this created the distraction he needed to kill Bran. One would naturally assume that Sansa would have guards at all times who would protect her from Littlefinger. But if Littlefinger arranges for a fire to engulf one of the structures at Winterfell, this would force many of Winterfell’s inhabitants to go and try to extinguish the fire, which would give Littlefinger the opening to kill Sansa.

I will set aside the Catelyn scene for now to explore this idea further.

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The smoke blotted out the stars and the thin crescent of moon, so the roof was dark and thick with shadows. Yet from here she could see everything: the Red Keep’s tall towers and great cornerforts, the maze of city streets beyond, to south and west the river running black, the bay to the east, the columns of smoke and cinders, and fires, fires everywhere. Soldiers crawled over the city walls like ants with torches, and crowded the hoardings that had sprouted from the ramparts. Down by the Mud Gate, outlined against the drifting smoke, she could make out the vague shape of the three huge catapults, the biggest anyone had ever seen, overtopping the walls by a good twenty feet. Yet none of it made her feel less fearful. A stab went through her, so sharp that Sansa sobbed and clutched at her belly. She might have fallen, but a shadow moved suddenly, and strong fingers grabbed her arm and steadied her. (ACOK Sansa IV)

Before Sansa imagines that she is stabbed in the belly, she sees fires everywhere around the castle. This could foreshadow her seeing a fire from her window before being stabbed by Littlefinger.

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Much later, after he had taken the girls back through the city and seen them both safe in bed, Sansa with her dreams and Arya with her bruises, Ned ascended to his own chambers atop the Tower of the Hand. The day had been warm and the room was close and stuffy. Ned went to the window and unfastened the heavy shutters to let in the cool night air. Across the Great Yard, he noticed the flickering glow of candlelight from Littlefinger's windows. The hour was well past midnight. Down by the river, the revels were only now beginning to dwindle and die.

He took out the dagger and studied it. Littlefinger's blade, won by Tyrion Lannister in a tourney wager, sent to slay Bran in his sleep. Why would the dwarf want Bran dead? Why would anyone want Bran dead? (AGOT Eddard VII)

After seeing Sansa and Arya to bed and entering his bedchamber, Ned goes to the window and sees the flickering glow of candlelight from Littlefinger’s windows, which is yet another instance of a Stark seeing a fire of some sort from their bedchamber window (there are many more such instances, of course, but they usually aren't paired with further clues about how Sansa will die). It is Littlefinger who is responsible for the fire, which could foreshadow Littlefinger being responsible for the fire that Sansa sees from her window. Ned shortly recalls how the catspaw tried to kill Bran, which he was only able to get close to doing by setting fire to the library tower. This creates a link between the two scenes and suggests that Littlefinger, like the catspaw, will also set a fire at Winterfell to kill a Stark. (And that's not the only parallel between the two of them. For example, the catspaw was sent by Joffrey, and Littlefinger would be acting on behalf of Cersei, another Lannister.)

The following quote suggests that Littlefinger will have the Winterfell godswood burned:

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The southern sky was black with smoke. It rose swirling off a hundred distant fires, its sooty fingers smudging out the stars. Across the Blackwater Rush, a line of flame burned nightly from horizon to horizon, while on this side the Imp had fired the whole riverfront: docks and warehouses, homes and brothels, everything outside the city walls.

Even in the Red Keep, the air tasted of ashes. When Sansa found Ser Dontos in the quiet of the godswood, he asked if she'd been crying. "It's only from the smoke," she lied. ”It looks as though half the kingswood is burning.”

He is drunk again. My poor Florian he names himself, and so he is. But he is all I have. “Is it true Lord Stannis burned the godswood at Storm’s End?” (ACOK Sansa IV)

Sansa sees many fires from her vantage point, which could foreshadow her seeing a fire from her window. It would make sense for the scene to contain clues about which structure Littlefinger will have burned, and that does seem to be the case here. When she meets with Dontos, she mentions that the kingswood is burning, and she asks him if Stannis had indeed burned the godswood at Storm’s End. This suggests that Littlefinger will burn the Winterfell godswood of all places.

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"The godswood." Meera Reed ran after the direwolf, her shield and frog spear to hand. The rest of them trailed after, threading their way through smoke and fallen stones. The air was sweeter under the trees. A few pines along the edge of the wood had been scorched, but deeper in the damp soil and green wood had defeated the flames. "There is a power in living wood," said Jojen Reed, almost as if he knew what Bran was thinking, "a power strong as fire." (ACOK Bran VII)

The Boltons already tried to burn the Winterfell godswood, but the flames are defeated by the soil and green wood. This evokes a scene from the beginning of one of Arya's ACOK chapters:

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Someone’s there. Arya chewed her lip. All the other places they’d come upon had been empty and desolate. Farms, villages, castles, septs, barns, it made no matter. if it could burn, the Lannisters had burned it; if it could die, they’d killed it. They had even set the woods ablaze where they could, though the leaves were still green and wet from recent rains, and the fires had not spread. (ACOK Arya V)

Arya mentions that the Lannisters had burned the woods, but that the fires had not spread. These two quotes could point to the fire that Littlefinger starts failing to spread across much of the godswood. This chapter happens to immediately follow a Sansa chapter that heavily foreshadows how she will die, which strengthens the connection. Of course, even if the fire fails to spread, it would still cause the distraction that Littlefinger needs to kill Sansa.

This raises the question, who will start the godswood fire for Littlefinger? Well, the only one of his men who has received any focus from the writer or played a semi-prominent role in the story is Lothor Brune, and there may be a reason for that. In fact, I believe he was actually created for this very purpose, which would explain his first appearing as early as Sansa's second AGOT chapter. His starting the fire that will cost Sansa her life would make more sense than any alternative scenarios. (Note that the letters of his last name can be rearranged to give the word "burn", which is probably just a fun coincidence but is still worth drawing attention to.)

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Sober, he was a quiet man, but a strong one. And Petyr says he's loyal. He trusts him as much as he trusts anyone. (AFFC Alayne II)

Sansa mentions that Littlefinger trusts Lothor as much as he trusts anybody, which could be GRRM's way of setting up Littlefinger trusting Lothor enough to enlist his help in killing Sansa.

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She knew the voice. But he's in the Vale, she thought. Ser Lothor Brune stood beside him with a torch. (ASOS Sansa V)

When Littlefinger reveals himself as Sansa's benefactor, Lothor Brune is said to stand beside him with a torch, which would naturally be used to light the fire. This suggests he'll be the one to light the godswood fire. Of course, merely holding a torch doesn't signify anything, but keep in mind that this is the most significant moment in Littlefinger and Sansa's relationship, and that Lothor is being put forward here as Littlefinger's right-hand man.

Back to the Catelyn scene:

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Catelyn said a silent prayer of thanks to the seven faces of god as she went to the window. Across the bailey, long tongues of flame shot from the windows of the library. She watched the smoke rise into the sky and thought sadly of all the books the Starks had gathered over the centuries. Then she closed the shutters.

When she turned away from the window, the man was in the room with her. (AGOT Catelyn III)

Catelyn goes to the window and watches as the fire consumes the library tower, then closes the shutters and turns to find the catspaw in the room. Without quoting anything, this evokes the scene where the Hound hides in Sansa’s room during the Battle of the Blackwater: Sansa goes to the window and watches as the wildfire consumes the river, then finds the Hound in her room as she moves towards her bed. Something like this could play out with Sansa and Littlefinger before he stabs her. Sansa will take in the sight of the fire that Littlefinger starts from her window, close the shutters, and turn around to find Littlefinger in her room.

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She spun back toward the window to scream for help, but the man moved faster than she would have believed. One hand clamped down over her mouth and yanked back her head, the other brought the dagger up to her windpipe. The stench of him was overwhelming. (AGOT Catelyn III) 

Catelyn tries to scream for help, but the catspaw clamps a hand down over her mouth to keep her quiet. Something similar happens when the Hound hides in Sansa’s room:

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Then something stirred behind her, and a hand reached out of the dark and grabbed her wrist.

Sansa opened her mouth to scream, but another hand clamped down over her face, smothering her. His fingers were rough and callused, and sticky with blood. "Little bird. I knew you'd come." The voice was a drunken rasp. (ACOK Sansa VII)

After Sansa finds the Hound in her room, she tries to scream but the Hound clamps a hand down over her face to prevent her from doing so. This could point to Littlefinger clamping a hand down over Sansa's mouth when she tries to scream upon finding him in her room, after which a physical struggle will ensue.

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She reached up with both hands and grabbed the blade with all her strength, pulling it away from her throat. She heard him cursing into her ear. Her fingers were slippery with blood, but she would not let go of the dagger. The hand over her mouth clenched more tightly, shutting off her air. Catelyn twisted her head to the side and managed to get a piece of his flesh between her teeth. She bit down hard into his palm. The man grunted in pain. She ground her teeth together and tore at him, and all of a sudden he let go. The taste of his blood filled her mouth. (AGOT Catelyn III)

Catelyn bites the catspaw’s hand as he tries to kill her, which could point to Sansa biting Littlefinger’s hand in the struggle. Littlefinger happens to make a reference to biting hands later in AGOT:

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"Even hungry dogs know better than to bite the hand that feeds them," Littlefinger called dryly. (AGOT Eddard VII)

This further suggests that Sansa will bite Littlefinger's hand.

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She sucked in air and screamed, and he grabbed her hair and pulled her away from him, and she stumbled and went down, and then he was standing over her, breathing hard, shaking. The dagger was still clutched tightly in his right hand, slick with blood. “You weren’t s’posed to be here,” he repeated stupidly.

Catelyn saw the shadow slip through the open door behind him. There was a low rumble, less than a snarl, the merest whisper of a threat, but he must have heard something, because he started to turn just as the wolf made its leap. They went down together, half sprawled over Catelyn where she’d fallen. The wolf had him under the jaw. The man’s shriek lasted less than a second before the beast wrenched back its head, taking out half his throat. (AGOT Catelyn III)

The catspaw manages to overpower Catelyn, but before the catspaw can stab her, Summer pounces on him and tears out his throat. Unfortunately, Sansa’s direwolf is long dead, so there won’t be anyone to stop Littlefinger from stabbing Sansa. Eddard himself realizes that he might have doomed Sansa when Catelyn tells him about how Summer saved Bran’s life.

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She put a finger to his lips. "Let me tell it all, my love. It will go faster that way. Listen.”

So he listened, and she told it all, from the fire in the library tower to Varys and the guardsmen and Littlefinger. And when she was done, Eddard Stark sat dazed beside the table, the dagger in his hand. Bran’s wolf had saved the boy's life, he thought dully. What was it that Jon had said when they found the pups in the snow? Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord. And he had killed Sansa's, and for what? Was it guilt he was feeling? Or fear? If the gods had sent these wolves, what folly had he done? (AGOT Eddard IV)

Moreover, Summer running behind the catspaw and tearing out his throat could foreshadow Arya running behind Littlefinger and slitting his throat (with the Valyrian steel dagger, and in the godswood). I think he will try to make an escape after he stabs Sansa, but Arya will chase him down and kill him (this is before she finds Sansa in a bed of blood). There is more evidence to support this, but as it isn't really relevant to this theory, I won't delve any further into this topic. 

Catelyn's next chapter seems to contain further hints about the circumstances surrounding Sansa's death:

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Catelyn touched his arm. “We are here, Ser Rodrik, and safely. That is all that truly matters.” Her hand groped beneath her cloak, her fingers stiff and fumbling. The dagger was still at her side. She found she had to touch it now and then, to reassure herself. “Now we must reach the king’s master-at-arms, and pray that he can be trusted.”

Outside the window, the rooftops of King’s Landing were red in the light of the setting sun. She had slept longer than she intended. A fist hammered at her door again, and a voice called out, “Open, in the name of the king.”

“A moment,” she called out. She wrapped herself in her cloak. The dagger was on the bedside table. She snatched it up before she unlatched the heavy wooden door. (AGOT Catelyn IV)

Catelyn hides the blade under her cloak, which could point to Sansa hiding the blade that'll be used to stab her under her cloak. Later in the chapter, Catelyn sees that the rooftops of King's Landing are red in the light of the setting sun outside the window, which could point to Sansa seeing a fire outside her window. Catelyn then picks up the blade from her table in case she meets with danger, which could point to Sansa doing likewise (she would presumably do this before she enters her bedchamber and bars the door).

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Littlefinger was lost. “I feel rather like the knight who arrives at the battle without his lance. What dagger are we talking about? (AGOT Catelyn IV)

In the same chapter, Littlefinger compares himself to a knight who arrives at the battle without a lance. This could foreshadow that Littlefinger wouldn't have a weapon of his own when he confronts Sansa, or that, if he does (which is much more likely), he would lose it in the struggle and would have resort to using Sansa's own blade to stab her. There is a theme in this series of characters getting killed with their own weapons. Ned was killed with Ice, Catelyn was killed with her knife, Tywin was killed with his crossbow, and so on. I'm sure we can expect to see a lot more of this in the next two books.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 16/07/2017 at 9:17 PM, Springwatch said:

... However, the OP has convincingly shown an excess of belly stabbings, so we're meant to learn something from these. I've thought of a few angles:

1)        Information. Being stabbed in the belly is always fatal. A pointer to Jon's fate.

2)        Belly as metaphor. With your nose, you can smell out secrets and lies. So what does the belly do? My best guess is that the belly represents the appetite for life, the ability to process and digest what life throws at you. It's a form of courage....

I've come across a lovely quote that touches on point 2; it's from the Prologue - AGOT, just before the arrival of the Others:

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[Will] Fear filled his gut like a meal he could not digest.

 

I'm still looking for a way to explain Sansa's weird nightmare: The knife plunged into her belly and tore and tore and tore, until there was nothing left of her down there but shiny wet ribbons.

Ribbons in the books are used to describe:

  • Long, thin things (duh) - roads, rivers, the Wall, the blades of the Iron Throne etc.
  • Things/people being 'cut to ribbons'.
  • Actual ribbons, including the ribbon on an official seal.
  • And this, which is genuinely interesting:
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[Sandor to BwB] "A knight's a sword with a horse. The rest, the vows and the sacred oils and the lady's favors, they're silk ribbons tied round the sword. Maybe the sword's prettier with ribbons hanging off it, but it will kill you just as dead. Well, bugger your ribbons, and shove your swords up your arses. I'm the same as you. The only difference is, I don't lie about what I am...."

[Sandor/Lord Beric duel] The flaming sword leapt up to meet the cold one, long streamers of fire trailing in its wake like the ribbons the Hound had spoken of....

ASOS - ARYA VI

The first quote above reminds me of a lady's armour of courtesy - which is no defense at all unless there is a code of honour preventing physical attack. (Sandor is wrong here - honour is the difference between a good man like Beric (he has the ribbons!), and a bad one like Gregor.) Still doesn't explain Sansa's dream, though.

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On 25/07/2017 at 1:47 PM, TyrionTLannister said:

Sansa is Snow White, which suggests that Littlefinger will kill her to get back into Cersei's graces

<snip>

The obvious fact that Sansa was at least partially inspired by Snow White has some interesting implications for what would make Littlefinger kill Sansa. In the tale, the Evil Queen orders a huntsman to murder Snow White. As proof that Snow White is dead, the queen demands that he return with her lungs and liver. The huntsman raises his knife against Snow White but finds himself unable to kill her and spares her life.

<snip>

This could foreshadow Sansa being mortally wounded.

Very interesting.

The other main feature of the fairytale is that Snow White is believed dead (in a crystal coffin), and she comes back to life.

This lines up with images we have for Jon (lying in a cell with his flesh going cold and hard), and Arya (frozen at the end of Winter). So it's possible.

I'm not convinced every 'death' means death - but at the very least, there's going to be a lot of suspended animation and spirit-walking going on.

Another quote: take this scene as foreshadowing of the Long Night - it suggests both sisters either die, or lose consciousness, before the Dawn. Possibly Ned's unburied/unquiet spirit protects them.

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The night the bird had come from Winterfell, Eddard Stark had taken the girls to the castle godswood ... Sansa drifted to sleep as the moon rose, Arya several hours later, curling up in the grass under Ned's cloak. All through the dark hours he kept his vigil alone. When dawn broke over the city, the dark red blooms of dragon's breath surrounded the girls where they lay...

AGOT - EDDARD V

 

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I don't think Sansa will die. She will come close to death, but not die. The only way I see her dying, is in the Epilogue of ADoS a century later. I don't think Arya will kill her, given her killings are done out of a sense of justice, or at the very least related to those who wronged her friends and family. The exceptions were her assignment for the insurance guy in the FM, and the Bolton guard so she could escape.  Littlefinger won't kill Sansa, because as evidenced by asking Cersei to have Sansa as his bride, his creepy fixation on her makes him unlikely to dispose of. She is also too valuable a piece politically as well as personally. 

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2 hours ago, Fire Eater said:

I don't think Sansa will die. She will come close to death, but not die. The only way I see her dying, is in the Epilogue of ADoS a century later. I don't think Arya will kill her, given her killings are done out of a sense of justice, or at the very least related to those who wronged her friends and family. The exceptions were her assignment for the insurance guy in the FM, and the Bolton guard so she could escape.  Littlefinger won't kill Sansa, because as evidenced by asking Cersei to have Sansa as his bride, his creepy fixation on her makes him unlikely to dispose of. She is also too valuable a piece politically as well as personally. 

Arya might kill Littlefinger, though. All she needs is a tip that Petyr betrayed her father. 

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2 hours ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

Arya might kill Littlefinger, though. All she needs is a tip that Petyr betrayed her father. 

I think it is more fitting that Sansa is the one who does the deed. She is with LF, and there is the reference to daggers he makes to her a number of times. 

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On Dragonstone, Queen Rhaenyra collapsed when told of Luke’s death. Luke’s young brother Joffrey (Jace was still away on his mission north) swore a terrible oath of vengeance against Prince Aemond and Lord Borros. Only the intervention of the Sea Snake and Princess Rhaenys kept the boy from mounting his own dragon at once. As the black council sat to consider how to strike back, a raven arrived from Harrenhal. “An eye for an eye, a son for a son,” Prince Daemon wrote. “Lucerys shall be avenged.”

In his youth, Daemon Targaryen’s face and laugh were familiar to every cut-purse, whore, and gambler in Flea Bottom. The prince still had friends in the low places of King’s Landing, and followers amongst the gold cloaks. Unbeknownest to King Aegon, the Hand, or the Queen Dowager, he had allies at court as well, even on the green council … and one other go-between, a special friend he trusted utterly, who knew the wine sinks and rat pits that festered in the shadow of the Red Keep as well as Daemon himself once had, and moved easily through the shadows of the city. To this pale stranger he reached out now, by secret ways, to set a terrible vengeance into motion.

Amidst the stews of Flea Bottom, Prince Daemon’s go-between found suitable instruments. One had been a serjeant in the City Watch; big and brutal, he had lost his gold cloak for beating a whore to death whilst in a drunken rage. The other was a rat-catcher in the Red Keep. Their true names are lost to history. They are remembered as Blood and Cheese.

The Tower of the Hand was less secure. The two men crept up through the walls, bypassing the spearmen posted at the tower doors. Ser Otto’s rooms were of no interest to them. Instead they slipped into his daughter’s chambers, one floor below. Queen Alicent had taken up residence there after the death of King Viserys, when her son Aegon moved into Maegor’s Holdfast with his own queen. Once inside, Cheese bound and gagged the Dowager Queen whilst Blood strangled her bedmaid. Then they settled down to wait, for they knew it was the custom of Queen Helaena to bring her children to see their grandmother every evening before bed.

Blind to her danger, the queen appeared as dusk was settling over the castle, accompanied by her three children. Jaehaerys and Jaehaera were six, Maelor two. As they entered the apartments, Helaena was holding his little hand and calling out her mother’s name. Blood barred the door and slew the queen’s guardsman, whilst Cheese appeared to snatch up Maelor. “Scream and you all die,” Blood told Her Grace. 

Then he gave Blood a grin, and the hulking swordsman slew Prince Jaehaerys, striking off the boy’s head with a single blow. The queen began to scream. (The Princess and the Queen)

As revenge for the loss of his wife’s son Lucerys Velaryon, Daemon Targaryen sent two men remembered as Blood and Cheese to kill one of King Aegon’s sons. They slipped into a bedchamber and settled down to wait for the arrival of Queen Helaena and her children. When they entered the bedchamber, Blood and Cheese barred the door, attacked Queen Helaena and company, and killed Prince Jaehaerys. 

History could well repeat itself here. Cersei believes Sansa killed Joffrey, so she will promise to restore Littlefinger to his previous positions if he kills Sansa for her. Littlefinger will enter Sansa’s bedchamber and wait for her arrival. When Sansa enters her bedchamber and bars the door, Littlefinger will attack her and manage to mortally wound her after a physical struggle. 

And the parallels between these two situations go deeper. Lucerys Velaryon seems to be an obvious reference to Joffrey Baratheon and his siblings, seeing as Lucerys’s features matched that of Princess Rhaenyra’s alleged lover Harwin Strong and not of his supposed father Laenor Velaryon. And, of course, Rhaenyra shares many parallels with Cersei, which are pointed out in this thread

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A few points:

  • This theory would explain the design of the Moon Door:
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Lady Lysa pulled at Sansa's arm. It was either walk or be dragged, so she chose to walk, halfway down the hall and between a pair of pillars, to a white weirwood door set in the marble wall. The door was firmly closed, with three heavy bronze bars to hold it in place, but Sansa could hear the wind outside worrying at its edges. When she saw the crescent moon carved in the wood, she planted her feet. "The Moon Door." She tried to yank free. "Why are you showing me the Moon Door?" (ASOS Sansa VII)

One would naturally expect such a door to be a hatch built in the floor instead of a barred door set in a wall, but Sansa being mortally wounded behind a barred door would explain how GRRM came up with the design. The Vale is heavily associated with Sansa, and her eventually coming to hide at the Vale is something that has been foreshadowed since early in AGOT, so it is likely that GRRM developed various aspects of the Vale with Sansa in mind. The Moon Door represents death, and so it is no coincidence that it takes the form of a barred door set in the wall, as this is merely setting up Sansa's fate, which is to meet her death behind a barred door. 

  • The following quotes further suggest that Sansa will consider throwing herself to her death after she is stabbed:
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She was racing headlong down the serpentine steps when a man lurched out of a hidden doorway. Sansa caromed into him and lost her balance. Iron fingers caught her by the wrist before she could fall, and a deep voice rasped at her. "It's a long roll down the serpentine, little bird. Want to kill us both?" His laughter was rough as a saw on stone. "Maybe you do." (ACOK Sansa II)

In ACOK, Sansa almost falls down the stairs, which is yet another instance of Sansa almost falling to her death, but the Hound manages to save her. He then asks her if she wants to kill them both, which could point to Sansa wanting to kill herself after she is stabbed. 

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Sansa threw a plain grey cloak over her shoulders and picked up the knife she used to cut her meat. If it is some trap, better that I die than let them hurt me more, she told herself. (ACOK Sansa II)

This has got be the third time that Sansa has considered committing suicide, so it would definitely be in-character for her to consider committing suicide after she is fatally stabbed.

  • Earlier in the thread, I suggested that the color of the cloak Sansa will wear when she is mortally wounded will be blue. I see now that it's more likely that the cloak will be white, as the following quotes suggest:
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Cersei Lannister ignored the question. "The cloak," she commanded, and the women brought it out: a long cloak of white velvet heavy with pearls. A fierce direwolf was embroidered upon it in silver thread. Sansa looked at it with sudden dread. "Your father's colors," said Cersei, as they fastened it about her neck with a slender silver chain.

A maiden's cloak. Sansa's hand went to her throat. She would have torn the thing away if she had dared. (ASOS Sansa III)

The color of the cloak that Sansa considers tearing away in this scene is white, which could foreshadow that the color of the cloak that Sansa will tear away before her death will be white.

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“Careful with those,” warned the dwarf’s sellsword. “You don’t want to get blood all over those pretty white cloaks.”

“Someone give the girl something to cover herself with,” the Imp said.

Sandor Clegane unfastened his cloak and tossed it at her. (ACOK Sansa III)

Tyrion makes a reference to white cloaks becoming stained with blood, and Sandor unfastens and throws his white cloak. This could point to Sansa throwing a white cloak away after it becomes stained with blood.

The color of the dress that gets stained after Arya throws a blood orange at Sansa and that subsequently gets thrown into the hearth was also white. This could point to the color of the cloak that'll get bloodstained and subsequently thrown into the hearth being white as well.

In the scene where the Hound hides in Sansa's bedchamber, the Hound leaves a bloody white cloak with Sansa which she then curls up on the floor in, and seeing as how the rest of the scene heavily foreshadows how Sansa will die, it's likely that the cloak Sansa will wear when she is stabbed will also be white.

Sansa even wears a white cloak in the fateful chapter where Littlefinger kills Lysa: 

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Two pairs of hose for her legs, boots that laced up to her knees, heavy leather gloves, and finally a hooded cloak of soft white fox fur. (ASOS Sansa VII)

All this points very strongly to Sansa wearing a white cloak when is stabbed.

  • I've pointed out earlier in this thread that there are some indications that Littlefinger will be drunk when he confronts Sansa prior to her stabbing. The following quote seems to support this idea:
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"You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Only one cup of wine, to help my courage. If they catch me now, they'll strip the skin off my back." (ACOK Sansa II)

In this scene, Sansa is speaking to Dontos, who works for Littlefinger. Without getting into the details, Dontos seems to function as a symbolic stand-in for Littlefinger in this scene, and the rest of this chapter happens to heavily foreshadow the events surrounding Sansa's death. So Dontos drinking a cup of wine to give him courage before meeting with Sansa could point to Littlefinger drinking a cup of wine to give him courage before confronting Sansa, not only because it would mean his head if he were caught, but also because he loves Sansa and is only doing this because he feels he has no other choice.

Littlefinger getting slightly drunk before stabbing Sansa would present an interesting bit of symbolism to the story. Almost every description we get of Littlefinger mentions how his breath smells like mint. These descriptions will ultimately serve to highlight the discrepancy between Littlefinger as he is now and Littlefinger when he stabs Sansa. I expect there'll be a description of how Littlefinger's breath stinks of wine in the chapter where he stabs Sansa, and this would make a stark contrast to the minty breath Littlefinger has become known for. This would be the perfect representation of how far Littlefinger will have fallen, to be reduced to assassinating a teenage girl on behalf of a mad queen.

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