Can Arya and Sansa be reconciled?

[taurunum dire cat]

I gues(and hope) that bouth of them will grow up before they meat again.

Arya will be a litlle les Arya and Sansa litlle les Sansa as they remember each other.

And for all they know they are the last of Stark children

I dont think that Arya would be like "Here is Sansa,she is the last of my fammily but I cant forgive her that she is stuped "

And Sansa wouldnt be like "There is Arya my only liven fammily but she is sooo not a lady that Im just gona ignore her"

[LittleDragon]

I think they both have changed a lot physically and mentally also, many time has passed since they haven't seen each other. It will not be an easy task to recognize each other f. ex. Sansa's hair is brown actually instead of auborn, just to mention one change. I think if they successfully recognize each other, they have a good chance to reconciliate. They both were suffering a lot, and certainly they have recognized that trust and family are important, not only empty words, they need each other to survive the winter.

[The Sleeper]

I have an inkling that Sansa will not survive the meeting. Arya's been trained to read faces; she's going to spot the guilt in Sansa's over betraying their father and cut her throat before she can stop herself. Killing has become her first instinct.

[Roose Seal]

It's the one reunion I'm looking forward to the most and by the looks of it, it's the one Stark reunion we can be sure is going to happen. How and when it's going to happen, that is another question, but I have no doubt it'll happen.

They have both been thinking of each other a lot and they have a lot of unresolved tension.

GRRM said the ending would be bitter-sweet and I really hope the Arya-Sansa reunion falls in the "sweet" category, as I'd be heartbroken if either of them died without having apologized.

[shensation]

I really need to see this reunion happen. they are as different as night and day but they believe they are the last family the other has, and I think they would be overjoyed to see each other. In truth, i see a lot of me and my sister in those two (I'd be sansa lol) and it breaks my heart to have them so far apart and thinking the other is probably dead. I think after everything they've been through, no matter how different they are now from their old selves and from each other, they'd forgive each other for the sake of family.

[The Girl in Winterfell]

Arya and Sansa are as different as two people can be but I don't think that after believing each other dead for years, they will hold stupid childish grudges over things long gone.

I expect Arya to break down at the sight of her sister. While being abused and terrified for most of the books, Sansa's life has been easier than Arya's.

Sansa has managed to retain some kind of identity, she lives in castles and has ways of remembering what her life was like, who she was. Arya has lost herself in the violence, the rage, the pain. I expect her to finally break at the sight of her sister (or whatever sibling she gets to see first) and remember who she is, who she was and what she has lost.

People! I would recognize my brothers if they had plastic surgery, I think Arya can see through hair colour.

[Der Anarch]

Everyone seems to be assuming Arya won't be a soulless shell by the time the Faceless Men send her back to Westeros.

[The Girl in Winterfell]

Everyone seems to be assuming Arya won't be a soulless shell by the time the Faceless Men send her back to Westeros.

I'm assuming she will be breaking free before becoming a soulless shell. And she's got too much stuff inside of her, most of those things cannot be trained out.

[Der Anarch]

I'm assuming she will be breaking free before becoming a soulless shell. And she's got too much stuff inside of her, most of those things cannot be trained out.

I wish your right.

[kephv]

I have an inkling that Sansa will not survive the meeting. Arya's been trained to read faces; she's going to spot the guilt in Sansa's over betraying their father and cut her throat before she can stop herself. Killing has become her first instinct.

Not her sister though. She thinks of killing people she doesn't know and that could possibly cause her harm. Sansa, whatever she may have been, is still her sister.

[ipsuel]

I don't doubt for a moment that they can reconcile. In fact, I've never even considered it.

Maybe it's because irl, my sister and I are complete opposites, (and yes, when we were young, we coulda killed each other) -- but after living through what they have both lived through -- if they meet up again, I believe they will champion each other.

They may fight and call each other names, etc -- but God help anyone else who tries to hurt one cuz the other will take serious action.

[LuisDantas]

I'm only midway through ASoS, but I'll pitch in anyway.

Assuming that they both survive and eventually meet in person, and leaving aside the possibility of some external factor tampering with their behavior, I'm sure they will be glad to find some surviving family at long last.

Hostility towards each other is not a possibility that I can see. Sansa, particularly, has been putting up with the likes of Petyr Baelish and dealing with challenges that she might literally not have dreamt possible as of the last time she met Arya. She went, rather quickly, from dreaming of being Queen and mother of the heirs to the throne to dreaming of vengeance for her dead father and then to hoping for a rescue by the fool in motley that owes his very life to her own previous action. She has grown up a lot, far more than Arya even, and has left the capability for caring for such petty things as Arya's tomboyishness a long, long time ago. She will do anything in her power to reconnect with familiar, respectful people - Arya, Jon, Bran, Rickon, Jeyne Poole, you name it - heck, at this point I half expect her to become Theon Greyjoy's best friend in life, despite having a hunch that they hardly ever spoke to each other before. She has earned a healthy degree of appreciation for people who are not using her for their selfish ends.

Arya is a different matter. If anything, she is even more hard-edged than ever before. But she clearly misses her family, and she can't possibly feel troubled by Sansa's ways at this point. If nothing else, she gained the opportunity to do as she pleases without interference from Sansa.

They will feel awkward around each other, but neither will want to press the issue. They have both lost too much already, and left the past well enough behind.

Too bad Catelyn will not be around to witness that.

[The Bloody Boar]

I'm sure it will take at least 3 books for Arya to make it across the Narrow Sea then to wherever Sansa is at that point anyway. I look forward to reading all about her problems finding a boat, all the meals she eats and the fish she sees on the way too.

[Queen Regent]

I think they'd be so happy to see each other. Think about it, both girls have lost everyone they've ever lost... all of their family is gone (or they think they are at least). They both have been through so much, I think it would be a bittersweet reunion and they be glad to be reunited.

[LadyoftheNorth72]

Gee, so many optimistic people. Am I the only one on the board who grew up in a dysfunctional family, where grudges are held for 20 years and every Thanksgiving dinner is an ordeal?

No. In fact, if you will bear with me for a moment of personal history, I think I can tell you what SHOULD happen ... Not necessarily what WILL.

I am one of seven children, four boys, three girls. I also have three cousins on my dad's side. When my paternal grandfather died (after my dad already had), one of my brothers was supposed to be executor. He was too "busy" and handed the task over to one of my sisters. After all business was settled, taxes and bills paid, there was about $77,000 cash to be distributed evenly among the ten grandchildren. My sister went through every penny of it in less than six months, and the rest of us never got a dime. Needless to say, this caused hugr family rifts, not least of which was between me and my sister. We had been extremely close all our lives (she helped deliver two of my kids, for God's sake). The betrayal was extremely painful and never truly healed. Two years later,she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Although all of us tried very hard to mend fences and let things go for the sake of her short remaining time, nothing was ever the same because we simply knew too much about who she really was now. We mourned her when she passed two years later, but nothing like we would have if this had not happened.

In terms of reality, Sansa and Arya might get together for special occasions and holidays, and they would be civil and sometimes almost affectionate. But deeply loving or trusting? No. Not going to happen. Too much hurt and resentment on both sides.

GRRM has never been a sister, so whether he will get the dynamics of this right, I cannot say. I think a scene where they kill each other (Sansa has always seemed fascinated by that story of the twins who gave each other mortal wounds) or whether they fall into each others' arms sobbing in relief, or something in between, I can't predict. But I can promise that something in the middle is what would most likely happen in reality.

[Hound's She-wolf]

I think they'll be happy to see each other, they may fight later but if they've matured they can hopefully work it out before it comes to bloodshed.

And Sansa didn't betray her father-Ned did that himself by telling Cersei what he planned on doing, Sansa told Cersei what she already knew.

I think they'll reconcile, they're never going to be the type to braid each other's hair while talking about cute little lordlings and what so and so is wearing, but that doesn't mean that they won't be close.

[kephv]

And Sansa didn't betray her father-Ned did that himself by telling Cersei what he planned on doing, Sansa told Cersei what she already knew.

Actually, she told her about the ship which she didn't know about, and because of that, she was able to use Sansa in her favor (and Arya too had she caught her). But yes, Ned did screw himself over by telling her he knew her secret, so he would've died either way.

[headtrip_honey]

Actually, she told her about the ship which she didn't know about, and because of that, she was able to use Sansa in her favor (and Arya too had she caught her). But yes, Ned did screw himself over by telling her he knew her secret, so he would've died either way.

Really, Sansa running to Cersei only negatively affected Sansa (speaking specifically of the Stark family - clearly others were affected). Cersei otherwise (maybe) wouldn't have been able to use her as a hostage.

But we will never know, and ultimately, Ned's fate would have been the same. Without Sansa as a hostage, he would have refused to confess, and would have died anyway.

[Cydal]

We know the wolves will come again, but will they make a happy pack?

The sisters were already on totally different paths and squabbling while Ned was alive. Now they're about as far apart, in terms of life experience and temperament, as two family members can be. They hardly think of each other (do they think of each other without external prompting?) Each has a reason or reasons to be angry at the other. Arya would be furious if she learned that Sansa revealed Ned's plans to Cersei, and Sansa would be appalled if she learned that Arya left her man Sandor to die in pain. (In fact, Sansa might learn something about Arya's travels with Sandor if Brienne ever catches up with her.) What would Sansa think about Arya's adventures with the Faceless Men? What would Arya think of Sansa's crush on Sandor, her tolerance of Tyrion, or her sympathy for the dying Joffrey.

Imagine their first meeting: Sansa, still the lady and dressed to the nines, coldly courteous, Arya wearing clothes taken off a corpse, with knives hidden in her boots, belt and sleeve, ready for a fight. The catfight of the century is only seconds away.

The only way I see them being civil to each other is (1) if they meet at a funeral, or (2) they're together in a battle to the death with a common foe.

Huh, maybe Dany has a function after all. (I jest!)

Anyway, if GRRM sets up a fortuitous meeting of the two at that Inn of the Miraculous and Convenient Meetings, and they fall into each other's arms frothing at the mouth with joy, I – just won't buy it.

How do you envision the reunion of the Opposite Sisters?

Let me get this straight. You think 2 blood sisters who have lost almost everybody else in their family would have a cat fight upon meeting focusing on the little problems they had like Arya not liking Joffrey and Sansa liking him. That they would ignore that shared link and bond and the fact that they are both alive over squabbles that I'm sure they won't even remember. They would rather fight each other rather than console one another over the death of their father (Which they both witnessed), Mother, Brother(s) and all they'll focus on is... what exactly? Ofcourse they will be over-joyed and would run into each other's arms.

[Roose Seal]

Sansa and Arya never hated each other. They were kids when the story begins and they bickered like kids. Their arguments consisted of "I love Joffrey !" "I hate Joffrey he's stupid!" "Shut up !" "No you shut up !". It never went deeper than that. Kids' arguments seldom do.

The arguments they had were not arguments of people who hated each other, they were arguments siblings have constantly, even siblings who love one another. They may have not been the closest of the stark bunch, but I'm pretty sure their time apart will have made them rethink their priorities, a lot.

They both witnessed their father getting his head chopped off. Surely that's more significant to their relationship than the fact that Sansa thinks swordfight is silly and Arya thinks knitting is stupid.