What would a Sansa/Arya redemption arc look like?

[golden_eyes]

While the two sisters were together they never got along, always bickering and such. Neither seemed to care for who the other one was in the slightest bit. Though after they are separated they seem to regret this, and care much more for each other. I predict a redemption arc, in which Arya finds Sansa in order to reconcile with her, and from there the two sisters go on to work together to restore houses Stark and Tully. This will probably happen after Sansa gets the power of the Vale from a marriage and her identity is revealed, making it easy for Arya to find her.

Any other ideas on the completion of the redemption of the two sisters?

[Red Wedding Cake]

I'm not sure Sansa would reconcile with Arya, and Arya is still trading identities.

[cocoalover1956]

I agree that they didn't appreciate each other as much as much as they should of, but Sansa and Arya did show that they cared for each other. IIRC, the worst of the bickering didn't start until after the Trident incident, which was a traumatic event for both of them.

[Contemplative Brother]

They had a bad falling out, but they're still sisters and being separated from their family has been HORRIBLE for both of them. So, I don't think it would take much of anything to reconcile them. If their paths cross again, I think they'll be ecstatic to see each other. They are both Starks after all.

Personally, I'm rooting for Arya to lauch a one-woman 'Barristan-Selmy-in-the-Defiance-of-Duskendale' style assault on the Gates of the Moon and spirit Sansa back North so they can try to find Rickon. Probably won't happen though.

[Mycah Bluth]

At this point I think Sansa would move heaven and earth if she knew Arya was close by, so I'm not sure if she needs a redemption arc, per se. She seems to know that she was a jerk to Arya and misses her. Arya, I'm really not sure and the very real possibility that she'd have a non-reaction or even attack Sansa disturbs the hell out of me.

I get really weirded out by people who are violently pro-Arya and anti-Sansa. That dynamic seems to bring out very immature, reactionary sentiments that valorize Arya and demonize Sansa, almost exactly as they did to each other in more innocent times. There are people who are rooting for Arya to kill "Alayne Stone," and, what's truly creepy is how much that is a reflection of Arya's arrested psychological development and what she might be capable of if she continues to retreat from her own identity. The nature and timing of their separation has turned a typical sibling rivalry into a potentially horrifying catalyst.

[joffrey fan]

Arya is beyond damaged. I don't see her ever being happy. She has seen and done (murder etc..) too much, and she is only like 9 years old.

[Warrewal Halfaxe]

Does everyone need a redemption arc?

[juanml82]

I think they will reconcile somehow and their experiences might make them rationalize the others behavior (specially Arya, since her performance in the Mercy chapter seems to draw from AGOT Sansa). That said, they will not get along. If they meet, reconcile and survive, I think they'll be more understanding for each other, they will not have another fight like the one they had after the Trident, but they will continue to bicker with each other forever. They are simply too different - which doesn't mean they don't love each other.

[Roose on the Loose]

The last time they were together, Arya and Sansa were going through age-appropriate phases that made them seem very different. But in the interim, they've learned to commit to whatever character they're playing. Arya could play the proper little lady if it got her closer to her mark, and Sansa, if need be, could be a bastard girl who hangs out with bakers, blacksmiths and and butcher's boys.

Arya is much better at regulating her temper. Sansa has been disabused of her romantic notions of knights, chivalry and true love. They've both had crushes, lived as desperate orphans and learned to get by on their wits.

[David Selig]

Wait, they need redemption arcs because they didn't like each other as kids? Seriously?

[The Wolf Lord's Daughter]

At this point I think Sansa would move heaven and earth if she knew Arya was close by, so I'm not sure if she needs a redemption arc, per se. She seems to know that she was a jerk to Arya and misses her. Arya, I'm really not sure and the very real possibility that she'd have a non-reaction or even attack Sansa disturbs the hell out of me.

I get really weirded out by people who are violently pro-Arya and anti-Sansa. That dynamic seems to bring out very immature, reactionary sentiments that valorize Arya and demonize Sansa, almost exactly as they did to each other in more innocent times. There are people who are rooting for Arya to kill "Alayne Stone," and, what's truly creepy is how much that is a reflection of Arya's arrested psychological development and what she might be capable of if she continues to retreat from her own identity. The nature and timing of their separation has turned a typical sibling rivalry into a potentially horrifying catalyst.

What? :bang: Arya isn't a freaking psychopath, for God's sake, she still experiences empathy and pain and sorrow. And Arya loves her sister.

Arya never looked back. She wished the Rush would rise and wash the whole city away, Flea Bottom and the Red Keep and the Great Sept and everything, and everyone too, especially Prince Joffrey and his mother. But she knew it wouldn’t, and anyhow Sansa was still in the city and would wash away too. When she remembered that, Arya decided to wish for Winterfell instead.

When she thought of seeing Robb’s face again Arya had to bite her lip. And I want to see Jon too, and Bran and Rickon, and Mother. Even Sansa . . . I’ll kiss her and beg her pardons like a proper lady, she’ll like that.

When you smell our candles burning, what docs it make you think of, my child?"

Winterfell, she might have said. I smell snow and smoke and pine needles. I smell the stables. I smell Hodor laughing, and fon and Robb battling in the

yard, and Sansa singing about some stupid lady fair. I smell the crypts where the stone kings sit. I smell hot bread baking. I smell the godswood. I smell my wolf. I smell her fur, almost as if she were still beside me.

Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon. her mother and her father, even Sansa. Needle was Winterfell's grev walls, and the laughter of its people. Needle was the summer snows. Old Nan's stories, the heart tree with its red leaves and scarred face, the warm earthy smell of the glass gardens, the sound of the north wind rattling the shutters of her room. Needle was Jon Snow's smile. He used to mess my hair and call me "little sister,'' she remembered, and suddenly there were tears in her eyes.

And this is only what I could think of right now.

[ARYa_Nym]

Yeah, the fandom loves calling her a psychopath but if she was they don't have empathy for anyone. It wouldn't just be for people on her list who pissed her off but for her family members too. GRRM also told Rolling Stone that Cersei had an almost sociopathic view of the world and questioned if her love for her children was genuine. They're both outdated terms but the psychopath was the worse of the two. That one was believed to be unable to love. So no she would not love her siblings or her parents. She may care about them in terms of how can they be of use to her and discard them when they're not.

I don't thinks she's capable of kinslaying. That actually shows that she's not a real child soldier even though it was the inspiration. The FM are not a paramilitary group that would have her kill off her family so she can sever the connection to her old life. That does happen IRL although not in every case obviously.

Anyways, I would not be surprised if she does not work with her family. Because you know many think she will die but if she does that means Ned's warning to her comes true. He told her to work with her family and that the lone wolf dies. If she dies she is the lone wolf as it was a speech to her. She also becomes Cat of the Canals in Braavos and cats are solitary animals who prefer to hunt alone and it's also when she called herself the lone wolf. She is also turning into or is already a serial killer by TWoW (I don't think she was applicable before Braavos as she didn't murder before) and they prefer to work alone. They might have one or two partners but it's not uncommon for one of them to turn on the other. I suppose Ramsay turning on Reek can be an example. However, I doubt she'd join up with someone else in her killings. Bran also saw Arya holding secrets so she won't be dumb like Ramsay and expose herself.

There are people who are rooting for Arya to kill "Alayne Stone," and, what's truly creepy is how much that is a reflection of Arya's arrested psychological development and what she might be capable of if she continues to retreat from her own identity. The nature and timing of their separation has turned a typical sibling rivalry into a potentially horrifying catalyst.

Except Arya being sent to kill Jon Snow is just as popular and so is Jon killing Arya so she can be his Nissa Nissa. Sansa is not singled out.

[ARYa_Nym]

Oh, and Arya said that SPOILER: Mercy was empty headed. I wouldn't say Mercy gives her more appreciation. I've heard arguments that she was basing herself off of Jeyne not Sansa. As Jeyne is the one who was like isn't Beric attractive and Sansa was in Daena's place. Yet Arya also behaved in certain ways that unlike both Jeyne and Sansa.

[LordStoneheart]

Wait, they need redemption arcs because they didn't like each other as kids? Seriously?

Duh. Worst crime ever, being... completely normal siblings. :D

Reconciliation arc is the words I think OP is looking for. No doubt in my mind that Sansa and Arya would just fall apart in sadness and happiness upon meeting each other. They've gone through too much to really care about their previous bickering.

[Red Tiger]

I absolutely despise redemption arcs, UNLESS the person was in some seriously deep conflict with his past self (Jaime for instance).

[ARYa_Nym]

“

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 also wonder if the longer you hide the sterner the penance means her identity will be hidden all through winter while she's off killing.

[Mycah Bluth]

Yeah, the fandom loves calling her a psychopath but if she was they don't have empathy for anyone. It wouldn't just be for people on her list who pissed her off but for her family members too. GRRM also told Rolling Stone that Cersei had an almost sociopathic view of the world and questioned if her love for her children was genuine. They're both outdated terms but the psychopath was the worse of the two. That one was believed to be unable to love. So no she would not love her siblings or her parents. She may care about them in terms of how can they be of use to her and discard them when they're not.

I don't thinks she's capable of kinslaying. That actually shows that she's not a real child soldier even though it was the inspiration. The FM are not a paramilitary group that would have her kill off her family so she can sever the connection to her old life. That does happen IRL although not in every case obviously.

Anyways, I would not be surprised if she does not work with her family. Because you know many think she will die but if she does that means Ned's warning to her comes true. He told her to work with her family and that the lone wolf dies. If she dies she is the lone wolf as it was a speech to her. She also becomes Cat of the Canals in Braavos and cats are solitary animals who prefer to hunt alone and it's also when she called herself the lone wolf. She is also turning into or is already a serial killer by TWoW (I don't think she was applicable before Braavos as she didn't murder before) and they prefer to work alone. They might have one or two partners but it's not uncommon for one of them to turn on the other. I suppose Ramsay turning on Reek can be an example. However, I doubt she'd join up with someone else in her killings. Bran also saw Arya holding secrets so she won't be dumb like Ramsay and expose herself.

Except Arya being sent to kill Jon Snow is just as popular and so is Jon killing Arya so she can be his Nissa Nissa. Sansa is not singled out.

I personally don't believe Arya is a psychopath. I do think she is profoundly damaged in a way that will deepen over time, but I definitely do think she experiences normal empathy and understanding. What is worrisome about her relationship with Sansa at this point is that whenever she does think of her, as in the examples you outlined, it always comes across as begrudging and only after all her other family members, and then the subject changes. Working with the Faceless Men (even with her lapses out of being "No One") doesn't seem conducive to evolving a greater, more appropriate sense of empathy for her sister. And I'm not saying I think Arya will try to kill Sansa, but she could re-open the old scars from the Trident incident, Ned's death and the forced marriage to Tyrion in a very hurtful way because that's what she's still stuck on.

The idea of Arya being sent to kill Jon Snow is also a thing (guhh), but I believe it's coming from a different place than the folks who want to see her kill Sansa.

[Lord Lannister]

Something like this?

Sansa: So it's been awhile, sis.

Arya: Yeah...

Sansa: I hear you're a sociopath killer, with the blood of many on your hands now?

Arya: Yeah, Valar morgulis. So I hear you married the Imp and are Littlefinger's whore now?

Sansa: Yeah... well nice talking to you.

Arya: We'll have to do this again in a few years.

[Blow My Horn]

Arya a serial killer? The things people come up with. This would mean she has a particular preference in victim AND method. Arya is an opportunistic killer which is far different and less towards mental disorder. I believe the case of Dareon was her upbringing (NW deserters are sentenced to death). The other kills have ranged from revenge to survival to her job. Maybe I'm missing some.

[Queen.Sansa.Lannister]

Wait, they need redemption arcs because they didn't like each other as kids? Seriously?

This pretty much sums up my feelings about this topic.