Can Arya and Sansa be reconciled?

[Oberyn Sand]

Guys, how could Arya & Sansa not be reconciled? I mean, granted, Arya is being brainwashed by a death cult, and Sansa is being brainwashed by Littlefinger, but should they overcome all of that, what are they going to do? Ignore all character growth and bitch about their direwolf being killed because the other's bit the heir apparent to the Iron Throne? Of course they can reconcile. @.@

[Verboten]

I think that their reunion will be awkward and joyful and melancholy all at once. I don't really know how to describe it. I don't think that either of them will ever truly recover from what they've been forced to go through. Arya will never smile at the sight of a sword and Sansa will never spend half of the night gossiping with Jeyne as they share half a strawberry pie. I can Sansa especially being massively over protective of Arya and I can see Arya starting arguments for no reason but I can never really see them return to a state where they are both capable of trusting the other.

[LadyoftheNorth72]

Verboten, I agree with you. I don't think they will necessarily want or try to kill each other, but I don't see them hugging and crying and becoming BFFs either.

[goosarino'sevens]

But remember what their old pa always said about the wolf pack in winter...

[eyeheartsansa]

What stableboy? The one she killed to escape? Or do you mean the butcher's son Sandor killed?

the one Sandor killed, Micah.

[Alexia]

I can never really see them return to a state where they are both capable of trusting the other.

Are either of them really capable of trust now? It doesn't come easily anymore. The only person that Sansa really trusts right now is Sandor Clegane, for better or for worse. And Arya... does Arya trust anybody anymore? These are two very damaged girls. I can see them trusting each other in a dispassionate way of "she won't hurt me" but in the sense of pouring out all their deepest secrets to each other? I don't see that.

[Cydal]

the one Sandor killed, Micah.

But he was never a stable boy!! was he?

[ARYa_Nym]

The butcher's boy was butchered.

I'm not sure if he was an apprentice to his father or not.

[Pomp & Happenstance]

Really good posts so far... here's my thoughts:

I don't have any solid predictions on whether or not Sansa and Arya will get along or what will happen when they meet or what events will lead to their reunion.... but my interpretation of their relationship is that they represent a classic dichotomy of (wo)man.

Let's use their childhood for example: They are the only girls; they are the 2nd and 3rd born (excluding Jon); Sansa represents Catelyn's side - Southron, princess with beauty, grace, and songs (like a little bird) ; Arya represents the classic Stark side - Northern, harder tomboy with vigor, determination, and edge. [The two POV's provide the classic contrasting archtypes for little girls in stories.] Both are raised to experience the same things, though Sansa adapts better to the routine as it befits her personality better.

So far this covers the backstory of what we would know during aGoT, or what GRRM would want us to think of them.... anyway, none of those items individually carries enough weight to determine what would or wouldn't happen upon a future meeting between the two.

Onto and past aGot: The girls head south to KL and sh*t hits the fan... Lady is executed/Nymeria sent away, Mycah ran down, both girls spend time on their preferred tasks - Arya with Needlework, Sansa with "Ladyship" (though admittedly she has less POV chapters during this moment in time so it's harder to gauge her actions "verbatim"). . .

Then. . they separate. It is from this point on that Arya and Sansa experience their own events for themselves.

Arya- Goes through a long, dangerous, dirty, deadly journey with peril at every turn, not knowing which day may be her last. Eventually crosses the narrow sea to Braavos and surpasses expectations and is excelling in training as a FM. She has been the sole reason of her own survival (besides the initial help from Yoren to get out of KL). She has shown connection to being a skinchanger/warg.

Sansa- Becomes basically a prisoner to the most notoriously manipulative family in all of Westeros. For the most part she's like a puppy quivering in a herd of Wildebeests.... somehow managing by luck not to be trampled by the Lannisters ferocity/backfired plans. She does "open her eyes" (or have them forcefully opened, rather) when she starts getting beat by Joffrey; however, unfortunately still maintains her unperturbed level of naivety for when she flees into littlefinger's hands. She doesn't truly grow-up until after her brush with death in the Eerie with Lysa/LF. She has been a pawn since parting with her family, her survival based on the actions/whims of other peoples plans and motives. (Some say she has lost her wolf)

Overall, with the combination of their experiences with death, their acquired knowledge of the political events of Westeros, and the development of their polar opposite personalities both are being set-up for roles in end-game content. The differences between the two allow for a realistic spread in abilities/fate; with Arya seemingly better suited for the ensuing battle and Sansa apparently being bred for intelligence and intrigue.

[Caro99]

Possible spoliers, but i'm not sure..

I believe they would be very happy to see each other again. it wouldn't matter if this happened before or after they find out bran & rickon are still alive, the girls would still probably cry a little bit and hug each other and all that. sure they would both be very diffrent persons from the last time they saw each other, but they are still sisters and starks- and tully combined. they love the family and after such hard trying years of separation, to see that the other girl is still alive would be wonderful to arya and sansa both. maybe they would bever be the greatest of friends or confidants, but they would not fight any more in my opinion, and would learn to accept the changes in the other girl far more easily than they could've done if their characters hadn't evolved at all. sansa may not tell arya everything that happened to her (hopefully by this point Sansa has helped bring both LF and Cersei's permanent downfalls), and arya may not wish sansa to learn she is a FM (kind of hard, but stilll...) and it would be heartbreaking to see sansa telling arya that she forgave her a very long time ago for what happened to Lady and that she knew all along that arya was not the one to blame. ((And this is my San/San devotion coming out, but it would also be priceless to read the scene where arya finds out that the hound and her big sister are in love!!)) hopefully she'd have no problems with it in the long run.

[Errant Bard]

Possible spoliers, but i'm not sure..

It's only spoilers if you are sure, because you read it in the books or GRRM told you. Until then it's called speculation, and 90% of the posts in the book forums are made of this.

[ThinMintMafia]

Can they be reconciled? I think its possible that they could go back to what they were before everything happened, two sisters who had little in common and so spent very little time together. I like to think that in the end they will let go of the past and at least have a cordial relationship. I do not think they will ever be best friends though. I would love to see them have a sort of reversal of rolls in the end, with Arya marrying Gendry who is somehow legitimized and inherits Storms End making Arya the Lady, while Sansa marries Sandor and they move into the Queenscrown and repopulate the village with the pups they make together.

[Arkash]

I dont get all the Gendry fuzz, ok, he's cool, but I really dont want see him ending with Arya... actually, I want nobody ending with her, for me she's independant and fierce, and I dont think Gendry will ever really have an important part in the story again.

[1234567]

I dont think Gendry will ever really have an important part in the story again.

I think he may reforge what is left of Ice into a different non-Lannister sword.

As for Arya and Sansa, I am not sure that when they meet again they will even know each other. If the 5 year gap had still been in place, it would have been 7 years since they had seen each other. Add to this Arya's FM training and it is even speculative that she would have the same face. However as te Gap has been shelved, it is more likely, if they do meet up, that they will not have seen each other for 3-4 years. They will be very different people.

Oddly I can see Arya trusting Sansa, but not Sansa trusting Arya: Sansa's last brush with a family member nearly ended with her being thrown out the Moondoor. She has become highly suspicious of people since then. Although she was isolated in KL, she is now isolating herself from others and not letting them see her actual thoughts and feelings. The only exception is LF and she doesn't really trust him either. Arya on the other hand is developing into a non-questioning pawn of the FM. She doesn't seem to look at their motivations for why they would take her in. I don't know if Syrio Forell was an FM (I think not mainly), but I doubt the FM just wait for potential trainees to appear, I think it highly probable that they send out talent scouts as it were to look for new apprentices and I think they have had Arya in their cross hairs since the first book.

[Ice Turtle]

"Don't tell Sansa."

Arya never really trusted Sansa and maybe with good reason. Sansa wouldn't even want to know much of Arya's secrets. Look at what happened when Tyrion tried to tell her about how her mother died. But i would really like to see some grass/snake cooperation like Doran and Oberyn.

[ARYa_Nym]

LOL! I remember Jon saying not to tell her about the practicing of swords.

"Run and ride, make yourself strong. And whatever you do..." Arya knew what was coming next. They said it together. "...don't...tell...Sansa!"

Bran had a vision of Arya:

"...he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart."

"...And her lady mother, what would she say? Would she still want her back after all the things she'd done?..."

"Jon will want me, even if no one else does..."

^ I could see her becoming worse when she finds out that he's "dead." I don't see her trusting her siblings. The Ghost of High Heart called her dark heart.

[Elaena Targaryen]

I can see the sisters being very happy to see eachother alive. If anyone thinks for one second that Sansa would not freak knowing Arya is ok then I just don't know what to tell you. This I think would be the one time that Sansa could lose her composure, if only for a split second. I'm not saying that it will be all rainbows and kittens but for Sansa to see her after everything would be big for her. Arya I think would be so happy she might actualy sit down and chit chat with her sister, which I hope we don't see to much of. There wont be rainbows shooting out of their butts, but to not be alone after all of the shit that has happened of course they will be happy to see eacother. They may not end up BFF's but they will sit down and have a drink to talk shit about the people and the BS they have been through.

I can see them being much more mature and being able to appreciate their differences. Arya hasn't even flowered yet and that will change her along with all of the training and she may like more delicate things like her sister. I think she always liked her and maybe only had a hard time because Arya wasn't good at girl things like Sansa was. Arya just didn't fit in and now she knows that it's ok that she dosen't. Sansa will be able to like more harsh things like her sister. How many times would Sansa have loved to be able to defend herself and not have to dance to some one else's tune. Sansa can see this as a good thing in Arya now that she is finding a way to protect herself. Heck they may even learn certain arts from eachother.

What I really want to see is Sansa and Arya team up for something, anything. They could be like Doran and the Viper...hopefully much better than them. They could be very close this way, you know truely understanding and appreciating eachothers strengths and differences. It would be the best "team up" in the whole story. Sansa being a player, moving the peices, and hiding her Viper. Arya being a fighter, useing stealth, attacking when her Doran needs it. I would love it! The sisters together will be a force to be reckoned with.

[Light a wight tonight]

Sharing DNA does not automatically mean liking, loving or even being able to stand another person. Look at the Lannister children, Asha and Theon, the Florent brothers, the Baratheon brothers, all the remaining Greyjoy brothers, Dany and Viserys, a bunch of the Freys, Gregor and Sandor, Lysa and Cat, Hoster and the Blackfish. There are excellent reasons for many if not most of these families to put aside their personal strifes and join forces toward a single purpose, but it ain't happenin'. In some instances it is because one of the siblimgs is a total nutcase, but Arya and Sansa have thought each other more or less nuts and irredeemably ridiculous practically from birth. At this point, Arya is likely to see Sansa as a total sellout, and Sansa to see Arya as at best an embarrassment, at worst a dangerous killer.

Also, their disagreements have involved FAR more than "you're stupid" / "no you are" arguments. Arya lost a friend who was butchered, and she holds Sansa partly responsible for lying about what really happened with mycah. Sansa lost Lady and definitely blames Arya partly for that. There is actual blood between this sibling feud, however misguided they may each be in blaming the other.

Not really convincing comparisons. With Gregor/Sandor burning off half your little brother's face is not a childish spat. Asha and Theon had no childhood history of dislike; Theon just acted like a putz upon meeting a pretty girl. The Florent family are all yucky. Cat didn't dislike Lysa; Lysa was jealous of Petyr's crush on Cat, not a childish thing. And on down the line.

Arya seems to have forgiven Sandor for the Mycah incident, or toned down her hatred to the extent that she had dropped him from the "death prayer". And it wasn't Sansa who chopped Mycah nearly in half. Not much evidence that Sansa has really missed Lady all that much. All the resentment between them is over things like Septa Mordane favoring Sansa for being ladylike and doing nice needlework, which Arya considers stultifying.

[Mister Rayder]

I believe that if they meet again, big sis' involvment in their father's capture and death is going to come up at some point, and someone is going to add a new name to her list, right between dunser and raff the sweetling.

[jarl the climber]

Here is my impression of there feelings towards each other post-seperatiom. I can remember Arya thinking that if she ever saw Sansa again she would give her a proper and ladylike greeting. Sansa, when fantasizing about her life with Wilas Tyrell says that she will name her children after her dead brothers and father and sometimes there is even a girl there that looks like Arya. They will probaly outgrow their childish arguements but they are like night and day. Sansa is more of the conventional, proper lady, who we hope will be capable of showing some bravery and resourcefulness in the story going forward. Up til now she has allowed herself to play the part that other people have chosen for her. Arya too has also fallen into this pattern, admitedly with a lot more resistance and has displayed courage, tenacity, and resourcefulnes. Arya has either been a high born captive, played the role of servant, and faked being a boy in reaction to her situation, like Sansa she has had to adapt to other peoples wishes, in the middle of this and going forward she is being manipulated by the Faceless Men.

They seem to think of each other less as the story moves forward, it will be interesting to know Sansas reaction when she hears about the marriage between Ramsey and Arya, she had just heard about Jon at the end of AFFC. Real curious to know how Littlefinger will try to spin that to her. I do see the real Arya making her return to Westeros in the Vale. They will reunite there but eventually take diverging arcs, Sansa will head to the Riverlands, possibly Harrenhal and Arya will go South and East towards Dorne and Volantis, the land of Nymeria..

I believe that if they meet again, big sis' involvment in their father's capture and death is going to come up at some point, and someone is going to add a new name to her list, right between dunser and raff the sweetling.

I think this will come up eventually but we have to keep in mind that Sansa didn't do this with the intention of killing anyone. It was a shameful episode but it reflects badly on Ned and Cat for sending Sansa to Kings Landing knowing the danger they were putting her in, which she was woefuly unprepared for. It would be monsterous if her family did not forgive her. You have to remember her Fathers entire household was killed except for Sansa, Arya, and Jeyne Poole.

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