Significance of Sansa's direwolf (Lady) being dead?

[AllOfTheHours]

No. I don't agree at all. All of your comparisons are way off mark.*

Lady was going to be killed no matter what at that point. There is nothing anyone could have done to change that once the decision was made. Ned was never ordered to kill Lady like the Hound and Mycah. Also zero comparison to be made with Sansa since Ned could not force a testimony that no one would believe at that point.

Ned stood up as Sansa's father to not let her cherished pet be killed by some butcher and to make sure Lady had a quick, clean death. The king ordered it, it was going to happen so what was Ned supposed to do? Just shrug, say oh well and go to bed?

*Yes there is a parallel with Ned and Lady's executions** but you've reached the wrong conclusion. Ned did not die out of some karmic justice for killing Lady, that's a silly argument and proven invalid by thousands of pages of text showing this is not that type of story.

Someone with more eloquent writing skills than I could explain the parallel better than I so I'll keep it short and generalized. It highlights the horrors of a feudalistic society - it does not matter who is innocent.

**I also do not agree that's it's a "perfect" parallel in any way.

You have the right to disagree, but what is your evidence? The idea that "thousands of pages of text showing this is not that type of story?" What kind of story is that? I see a story where people try to do the right thing and suffer the consequences. It's a story of innocence lost and honor tarnished. Of betrayal, defeat, and unfairness.

Ned killed Lady on the order of the King. However he killed her. He realized when he heard how Summer had saved Bran that he made a terrible mistake killing a messenger/protector from the Old Gods. If he knew what the direwolves truly meant, I think he would have taken a different tact/fought harder. Or forced Lady to escape like Jory and Arya did. We all know he would have gotten in trouble with Cersei, but Robert would forgive Ned as he did later about much more major issues like the Dany execution plot.

Also Ned could not force a testimony and it wouldn't be believed? Robert admitted, after Ned was stabbed in the leg, that he did believe Arya because he knew what kind of person his "son" was. Everyone there did (or should have) if they had spent time at court. Sansa knew the truth too and chose to suppress it. Arya was the only one brave enough to speak truth to power in the instance. Ned shows that courage in other places at other times (the Dany execution plot) but not during Lady's death sentencing.

I do agree that this a theory and my own personal reading of the text. It certainly can't be proven unless we know more about the true reason why the Starks found the Direwolves and have their magical connections to them. But it's pretty clear they're there for a reason (or were there in the case of Grey Wind and Lady) since GoT was intentionally bookmarked with the arrival of the Direwolves for the Starks and the arrival of the Dragons for the last Targ.

[Cavendish]

What did George mean by Sansa being "adrift"? That she is the only Stark who didn't have plot armor?

Basically by plot armor I meant if their wolf was alive, they would be too. But Sansa doesn't have one so people didn't know what to expect.

[Stargaryen]

I don't think anyone besides GRRM himself can make that conclusion.

Well, I said multiple times "I think". Never stated it as fact. Based on information released and on what GRRM has said I've made those assumptions. I kind of thought people were listing their conclusions from reading and from outside sources on here.

[BalerionTheCat]

In the beginning, after losing her wolf, I was sure she would die. Then she became less naive. And her arc with LF let me believe she will be his doom. He is the real culprit for the Starks downfall. Not Cersei, not the Freys, who are just pawns for LF. Arya with her list is all wrong. Even if those deserve to die too. I believe Sansa will be the Stark avenging her father and her family, more than Arya or her other siblings.

Will she live to the end? I don't know. But I don't think GRRM will kill any more of the Starks if there is no absolute necessity for the story.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Cersei is to blame for Lady's death, but Sansa lost her wolf when she betrayed her sister.

[SnowShark]

I appreciate the posts here that connect the killing of Lady with Ned's story first and foremost and then with the overall narrative. Ned's face changed when Jon pointed out the significance of the pups. His eyes burned when he had to kill Lady. He did it. What happened to the Starks was inevitable from this point (the antler in the wolf to my mind told them a choice was coming...). Ned lost everything and it goes back to this point. I think the scene shows that Robert's love for Lyanna was also... restrained. "For the love you bore my sister" and Robert still walks away. Some great love. Robert's awfulness is underlined here.

[Nymeria_Stark]

I think Sansa' s physical death is too obvious. If you think about it, parts of her have already "died" wroth the deaths of Ned, Catelyn and Robb, and with the loss of Winterfell to the Boltons.

[Rattleshirt's Ghost]

I'm sure, by the ultimate conclusion of the series, virtually all of the characters will have died of old age if not unnatural causes, so saying that "she's going to die" isn't saying much.

I think Lady's death, especially given the circumstances, simply signifies that Sansa's dream of living happily ever after as a proud noble of Westeros won't come to fruition.

[Marcel]

There is a very specific reason why Lady represents the sweetness and innocence among the Stark's wolves, but I do not intend to discuss it here. In any case, note that Arya is being shaped by the nature of Nymeria, while Sansa, losing Lady, begins to be shaped by those who surround her. Moreover, it's significant that among the POVs with direwolves, Sansa is the only one who does not experience wolf dreams. There are those who assume that Lady died because she would not have space in the King's Landing plot involving Sansa. I do not agree with this assumption because it assumes that Lady would grow to become an aggressive direwolf but it's also possible to argue that it could grow docile and behaved.

[deja vu]

... i adore Sansa, i think she's too good for this book.....

I can't remember ever hearing such a thing - a character "too good" for the book that brings the character to life!

[Nutellaeron]

Could be foreshadowing that just like Lady died in Nymerias place, Sansa gets executed in another Starks place. Possibly Aryas for the sake of symmetry

[Annara Snow]

What did George mean by Sansa being "adrift"? That she is the only Stark who didn't have plot armor?

Basically by plot armor I meant if their wolf was alive, they would be too. But Sansa doesn't have one so people didn't know what to expect.

Any major character who has survived so far, especially after having been in peril so many times, has had plot armor.

[Tharvot]

I always thought the importance of Sansa's wolf dieing was foreshadowing that she would die and I thought Arya losing Nymeria would mean that she would be lost for some time. Maybe that originally was GRRM's plan, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. Arya is still lost, but Sansa doesn't seem to be dieing any time soon. Robb kept his wolf and they both died, so my theory kinda went out the window with the Red Wedding.

Sansa is the only Stark where there aren't at least hints that she has warging ability, so I think her losing Lady so early kinda gimped her abilities...and that may prove significant later on or maybe she will develop powers later on like Arya did. Hard to say.

[Mish Windage]

Would be cool if she, in some moment of dispair, "became" a little bird (warged one) and flew and delivered a message to someone. Well, to me it'd be pretty cool.

[Lost Melnibonean]

She went to the window seat and sat there, sniffling, hating them all, and herself most of all. It was all her fault, everything bad that had happened. Sansa said so, and Jeyne too.

Arya II, Game 22

Up to this point, everything bad that had happened in Arya's world was the fault of Joffrey who, unprovoked, had begun to inflict bodily harm on Arya's innocent friend, and the queen, who took advantage of the situation and had Lady executed, driving a wedge into Eddard's family. Yet Sansa adored Joffrey and idolized Cersei.

[Lyanna Stark]

Arya II, Game 22

Up to this point, everything bad that had happened in Arya's world was the fault of Joffrey who, unprovoked, had begun to inflict bodily harm on Arya's innocent friend, and the queen, who took advantage of the situation and had Lady executed, driving a wedge into Eddard's family. Yet Sansa adored Joffrey and idolized Cersei.

Yes, Sansa did in early AGOT.

Oh wait, the story has moved on and already in late AGOT she changed her mind about Joffrey and Cersei completely. Guess we should just skip ACOK, ASOS and AFFC then, ok thanks.

[Marcel]

The direwolves are not meant to predict the Starks' fate. They are guides, not omens.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Yes, Sansa did in early AGOT.

Oh wait, the story has moved on and already in late AGOT she changed her mind about Joffrey and Cersei completely. Guess we should just skip ACOK, ASOS and AFFC then, ok thanks.

I was just commenting on that moment in time. She chose Joffrey over her sister shortly before at Castle Darry and Cersei took Lady for it.

[juggbigt]

I just feel as if Sansa never being a "lady" will lead her down the path of vengence that Arya is on. I think Sansa will be the "nisa-nisa" sacrifice that Jon does. He'll have to, mush like Ned and Rob had to kill some ppl.

[magic713]

I think Lady's death was suppose to be a way of showing that the Starks were in danger now that they have traveled south.