[Book and Show Spoilers] Alternate Sansa/Winterfell Ideas

[Biglose]

And I just want to end by pleading that we do not turn this into a discussion about whether she was or wasn't raped, or the necessity of "the scene", or Sansa vs. Jeyne being raped. Please be respectful to each other and stay on topic. The threads keep getting shut down for these reasons.

This is a thread I'm hoping can be for a good discussion on other avenues they could have taken with Sansa's storyline, and by extension, the other people involved in these scenes.

But thats exactly what you are suggesting!

We get Littlefinger and Sansa outside of Winterfell explaining why they are setting up fake arya to give her to ramsay and then we get to see how fake arya is raped. Thats the change you are suggesting.

Not not mention the issues in general. Theon would recognise Sansa! Well, lets just not address that then and handwave it...(Or somebody else might!)

Look, I am sorry, but what you do is adding a lot of handwaving to the whole issue. This can be done in a book because most people do not really care what they actually read 500 pages ago and reading is for many hard enough on its own so they do not think much about inconsistencies but in a Show it is kind of burned into your brain if it was just 40 min ago and if you have the picture right in front of you, your brain will wander in this direction (or at least a lot of brains).

The problem is, that the whole fake arya thing is fucked up to begin with. It carries in its core the same issues you seem to have a problem with considering the show adaptation. And the Show NEEDs to merge story arcs.

The major issue with rewriting a story you do not know how she would continue is that you can't tell how the changes would effect the parts you do not know.

Or even how they could have handled the WF and Vale arcs this season in general, whether Sansa ends up in WF or not.

Basically, the idea is to show that this was not their only option, and to argue that it was, is not a valid argument.

And to basically do all of that while thinking of adaptational decisions they could have done, based on the books.

If discussing D&D's changes is not included in the fanfiction definition, then discussing how D&D could have done it differently should also not be considered fanfiction.

Sure you can handwave everything, strap an addition layer of plot armor to characters but hell, why do we not get legolas sliding down the stairs and shooting boltons and frys?

There are options:

The whole scences in the vail are a training montage. Thats nice for rocky, but what would you like the show to do? Play eye of the tiger and show Sansa scheming?

The other option they definitly had is to drop Sansa. Just leave her at the Veil and do not talk about her. End of Story.

Then you can go on with Littlefinger plotting and using any fake arya. Which would mean you would stay true to the book and you would solve the issues for the TV adaptation which have to be solved, reducing the amount of parallel plot lines. Just imagine the scenes you are claiming to want in front of your inner eye without handwaving "that would be awsome" real dialogues, real interaction. If you need to write down how long those scenes would take. Then look at it and ask yourself if it is feasible.

Once you make the call to keep Sansa in play for this season, there are very little options left. You can't add the Veil as just another theater for just ONE character. There are just too many characters at this point. Espacially not if all it offers in general would have been a training montage.

You can't put her undercover in Winterfell for the obvious reason of people there knowing her, you can't send her with Littlefinger to KL, well I guess the wall would have been an option but where to go from there, add her to Stannis maybe to enable him to rally the North?

The issue is, that a TV show can't really be treading water as a book can.

[Biglose]

Ok upon further thought how about this (sorry if I'm supposed to be focused on her being in Winterfell but I can't just do that yet lol).

I totally think there should have been a fArya on hand and that she was in play at WF. But first...

I would show Sansa in the Vale getting her mentoring from LF and have Harry the heir in play as well. Since D&D love to sex it up, instead of using sex against a female why don't they show how the roles can be reversed. Sansa had her fairy tale dreams obliterated by her experiences at KL. She should not be completely naive and helpless anymore. Joff always threatened her maidenhood and she could imagine that it would not be a pleasant experience with him. This should make her hate men using that type of power against her. Also her shunning her wifely "duty" with Tyrion, makes me think that she is beginning to think that there is more to life than just being a dutiful woman, there to please a man and make things pretty and a song. So show her seducing Harry and taking charge. Show her manipulating sweet little robin and charming the Vale lords to her whims. And then I like the idea of Brienne finding her, seeing she is all well/in control and then Sansa taking her into her service to avenge her family. Then they could have showed Brienne finding the Blackfish, rallying the riverlands, rescue Edmure, and take back Riverrun (if that was in store in grrms mind). (Honestly I don't really remember the status of the riverlands in the show so i don't remember where these characters are and such.) Alas you can show the riverlands and resolve that story arc. Also when word gets back to KL, Cersei can send Jaime to take care of the problems popping up in the riverlands and he and Brienne can have their reunion, and we do not have the dismal story playing out in Dorne.

Also, with a fArya at hand, Sansa can learn of this and be plotting to avenge her family, save her sister and take back her home. I think it would be good to show a female coming to the rescue of others and not always "men" being the dashing heroes. Sansa always dreamed of some valiant hero knight to save the damsel in distress, well she would never want to be a damsel in distress ever again and instead be the hero of which songs are made of (hehe). Also showing women (her and Brienne and possibly Myranda) working together in a positive way would be a novel idea on the show. I like the idea posed of her going to White Harbor, taking the place of Davos and also learning that Rickon is alive and devising a way to find and protect him. Then like others have mentioned, with the upcoming wedding in WF she could disguise herself as part of Manderly's party to attend the wedding. Then "the north remembers can play out", but since I don't know what Grrm has in store beyond that, not sure what to say. Taking out Ramsey would be awesome in my mind. Maybe she escapes the madness at WF and helps stannis rally/encourage the northern lords assembled in the fight for WF. Stannis wanted Jon, but having Sansa is actually a better option on his side. I don't think LF would like that, but I assume and so desperately want her to take him down at some point, so maybe her suspicion of him should be developing in some way too. With any of these scenerios it would truly show her becoming a player and empowered in her own right. No sexual assault needed for her to realize she should hate the Boltons and take back her home.

What you write would have been feasible if the show made the call to focus only on the Starks. What you practically suggest is giving Sansa twice or even tripple the treatment Arya is getting for her "training" with close to nothing for the story.

Sansa is not the main character, this show has many. Every second you take to build sansa you need to take form something else. Or you end up adding episodes which in general could have been skipped anyway. Could they do it? Actually thinking about it, they probably could do it to some degree and still get good raitings...But this does not mean that I think they should. I get where you are coming from, but this is not a quentin tarantino movie. And I do not really think, that in the end, going in this direction would make things better. As awesome as the thought might be on the first look...

[She-Ra Princess of Power]

What you write would have been feasible if the show made the call to focus only on the Starks. What you practically suggest is giving Sansa twice or even tripple the treatment Arya is getting for her "training" with close to nothing for the story.

Sansa is not the main character, this show has many. Every second you take to build sansa you need to take form something else. Or you end up adding episodes which in general could have been skipped anyway. Could they do it? Actually thinking about it, they probably could do it to some degree and still get good raitings...But this does not mean that I think they should. I get where you are coming from, but this is not a quentin tarantino movie. And I do not really think, that in the end, going in this direction would make things better. As awesome as the thought might be on the first look...

I get what you are saying, and don't disagree with you. First, why this show is still only 10 episodes boggles me. Even adding just a few more per season would make a big difference. They could budget their money better to add more episodes. Dany doesn't need a new handsown dress every episode, you don't need to make 600 individual faces in the vault of the FM, and I could do with less dragon scenes if they are not essential to the story, to free up money. Which in any case, I'm sure they are cashing it in anyways with how popular the show is. Also, there is so much story left, why are they in such a hurry to finish it? Tell a good story, and viewers will keep coming back. 8 seasons sounds more logical then 7.

Anyhow, these were just my musings in my mind that made sense. The point is they should have thought it through more, and the way they are handling women in the show is disappointing and shameful. Also the dorne scenes are just filler for jaimie and introducing the new characters. They add scenes and storylines unnecessarily. Just using my musings as an example, jamie's time already allotted in the show is now in the riverlands, Brienne's time following sansa is her time in the riverlands instead. Sansa's already allotted time would be used differently. No it is not about the Starks, but Sansa in my case would be propelling the stories of other characters as well. But the Starks are big characters and there are ways to free up and/or add more time to make a more complete and satisfying story.

ASOIAF is just a wonderful story, I wish they would do better justice to it even if they have to change things and especially not butcher the integrity of a character's arc. If this is what is in store for Sansa in the books I'd be shocked, but who knows

[RoamingRonin]

I cannot think of a single reason why Sansa would go north. Perhaps (f)Arya marries Ramsay and then LF reveals Sansa is alive. He takes her north to marry a Karstark since Ramsay is already wed. So it's a modification of Alys Karstark's story? IDK.

[Biglose]

I get what you are saying, and don't disagree with you. First, why this show is still only 10 episodes boggles me. Even adding just a few more per season would make a big difference. They could budget their money better to add more episodes. Dany doesn't need a new handsown dress every episode, you don't need to make 600 individual faces in the vault of the FM, and I could do with less dragon scenes if they are not essential to the story, to free up money. Which in any case, I'm sure they are cashing it in anyways with how popular the show is. Also, there is so much story left, why are they in such a hurry to finish it? Tell a good story, and viewers will keep coming back. 8 seasons sounds more logical then 7.

I too would love more episodes or longer episodes, but that would not solve this particular issue. The problem is "too many parallel strings".

There are series which go for ages and they often do not have a fraction of the parallel plots GoT is having. Look even the books kind of went to far for books as you have on the forum people admiting that they just skip chapters. If this happens to a TV show... Well, it is toast. And the complexity people tolerate in a TV show is by far less. Simply because you can read the book at one rush, but the TV show needs you to tune in every week and get one hour!

It is the format! Adding half an hour to each episode might help a bit, but that would also be quite the limit for television. People do not tend to have the time to spend 90 min in Front of the TV at a specific time.

Also the dorne scenes are just filler for jaimie and introducing the new characters. They add scenes and storylines unnecessarily.

The problem with knowing things one would not know otherwise. Jamie is talking us to meet Dorn. Tyrion has already kind of shown us the vale (+littlefinger+Sanse+Catlyn).

Dorn is a major player. Drone will flow into the danny line. I am a prince of dorne? (What the fuck is a dorne?)

You read the book, but people who did not, do not know. We already know sansa, book and show. So I get what you say about

Show her manipulating sweet little robin and charming the Vale lords to her whims. And then I like the idea of Brienne finding her, seeing she is all well/in control and then Sansa taking her into her service to avenge her family. Then they could have showed Brienne finding the Blackfish, rallying the riverlands, rescue Edmure, and take back Riverrun (if that was in store in grrms mind).

I get it, and the benefits.

But just read it, thats the plot for a movie with Sansa as main character. The characters double as guides for important places and houses, because otherwise they would need to introduce even more characters. Why do you think the stoneman came across tyrion where they came across tyrion. Why do you think tyrion is with whom he is.

Even arya is showing us Bravos. (And introducing the many faced god. And in the expectation of a more high fantasy ending I guess gods will be becoming important)

Sansa would show us Sansa (and the vale really does not need any more introductions). Female empowerment, character groth and everything, but they just have too much to introduce and they can't open up more channels, because it is already a bit annoying. So she has to grow where the "action" is. Which will be at Winterfell. You can't take the show as a reread of the chapters you liked in the book, there are people who did not read the book.

[Alfie]

They could have had Sansa demand a long betrothal so she could mourn her family +have their statues built in the crypts. She uses the time to network with the northern lords, play Ramsey against Roose and send feelers out to Stannis. You could also have had a three month waiting period to ensure she's not carrying Tyrion's child.

Or she could be LF's daughter Alayne and Walda's lady in waiting. She teams up with Theon and goes Hooded Man on the Boltons.

I actually love this, buy some more time for her, that would be great ways to do it. Keep everything the same up to the wedding just shift the order of some events. I would have had the wedding in maybe episode 8.

Episodes 1-3 stay the same, maybe find out about her wedding in episode 2 and in 3 she just arrives at Winterfell and meets the Boltons and a small scene with Myranda, maybe even just a courtesy from Myranda to Sansa as she walks up to her room then the old lady welcomes home Lady Stark as the North Remembers. Littlefinger goes away to Kings landing here as well, reminds her of being "Wardeness of The North"

Episode 4 she has that crazy dinner with Ramsay and Roose, she has an actual talk with Roose (I really want some decent dialogue between Sophie and Micheal) demanding she the time to prove she's a virgin or mourn her family, play the mourning lady for a bit but still have hold her own against that household, specially the head of it and she learns more about Ramsay through Myranda and plays her like a proper fool. Sansa will be all nicey nicey to her and she'll just spill it all.

Episode 5, She meets Theon as well, she's repulsed by him. She learns more about the Northern Conspiracy. Visits the crypts, lights candles, maybe puts up her family statues or something to represent them if she can't get a tomb there (you would think she could being Lady Stark, but she might be careful about that, she might just put something to represent them, a fur pelt or something symbolic) and mourn for her family.

Episode 6, she's praying at the Goodswood tree, maybe has a heart to heart with Theon and she breaks him out, he might mention her other brothers are alive or we can save that for later. She's reminded she still has friends in the north, she's wearing more of her mom's clothes but keeps that black necklace and shows the dagger a bit more.

Maybe skip her on episode 7 if needed to make room for other storylines or have a scene with Ramsay where she learns more about him, maybe outwits him a bit, a la Margeary with Joffrey and the crossbow scene. Jon learns about Sansa being at Winterfell, he might assign Sam or someone close to send a few forces down, heck maybe Pod reaches the wall on Brienne's orders and Jon sends him back to get get Sansa with a small troop.

Wedding on episode 8, has that bath scene with Myranda, reminds her who she is. Play the wedding like they did just at the end, ok Theon is still there, she's in her beautiful dress getting slowly undressed but has that dagger in her sleeve, Ramsay is growing impatient as he was made to wait longer, attacks her and uses force on her, he can't be civil anymore and she manages to stab him in the neck, her white wedding dress covered in blood, Theon still in shock not knowing what to do and in shock and Ramsay dies bleeding out over the bed, his huge blue eyes open and bloody lying over the wolf pelt that was there, maybe showing the face of the wolf pelt as well as the final scene. (Plus it would be a nice throwback to Shae showing her the dagger in "Blackwater" telling Sansa "No one is raping me" and Cersei telling her about the weapon between her legs, she would use both in this case to achieve her safety, plus no rape and it would actually be character development and shocking)

Episode 9, Sansa and Theon do escape, they know the castle better than anyone so I'm sure they know all the passageways and exits. Meet some friends, maybe that old Stark loyalist Brienne met, he houses/hides them and they could meet Brienne if she's still there. She gets a change of clothes and she learns about Jon snow and Stannis and Brienne takes her even North. Jon gets a letter from Roose since he found Pod and the small troop he sent.

Episode 10, Sansa finally meets Stannis, tells her why she escaped, they all march South towards Winterfell to regain her home, he promises to name her Wardeness of the North. We get a couple of scenes where Brienne and Stannis are tense but she really can't do anything since he has a huge army. Jon's "For The Wall" happens. It would still mix so many characters and set up for even more to meet next season so they don't really need to condense the story. The North would be a mix of Stannis, Sansa, Roose, Littlefinger, Brienne, Sam, Theon so all the scenes wouldn't just focus on one person like many people are bitching about.

This leads the next season for her helping Stannis gain her dad's banner men, then the Battle of Winterfell, Littlefinger coming back afterwards, he'll kill whoever won the battle, though Stannis might leave Sansa behind in case he looses and somewhere safe with his daughter (if she's still alive, a Sansa and Shireen scene would be adorable). If Stannis wins, she gets her home back but he has to fight Littlefinger next, he might loose that battle though since his army is weak and there will be some tension still with Brienne and she kills him in Battle, giving making Littlefinger the winner but Sansa eventually becomes his downfall somehow, she can talk with him better than she could with Roose and she's Queen of the North by the end of season 6 or at least an important figure with political influence in the North if she does find her brothers, she would still be Lady Stark for a while.

Maybe in the books she eventually comes back to Winterfell after Battle of Winterfell with Littlefinger, Harry and the Vale army and they defeat whoever wins, so in the show Stannis could win, in the Books Roose and live Ramsay could and it would be the Vale who takes them down, avenge her family that way and she's still the Lady of the Vale with Harry and deals with Littlefinger one on one, she kind of is his protégée... so having everyone beat everyone then her coming in at an opportune moment and giving Littlefinger a taste of his own medicine would be ironic, he would be the "giant" she kills in the snow castle, since a little man can cast a huge shadow.

Season 7 is waaay to deep in and we really don't have a clue of what happens in aDoS but what I describes for Season 6 is a possibility based on how the combination of show and books are going. I assume Danny would be in Westeros by now, the walkers are coming down and everything is tied up in that bittersweet and most likely bloody bow GRRM promised.

[protar]

I don't think Sansa needed to be in Winterfell at all. There is no logic to that plot line. For starters LF is committing open treason against The Crown, parading Sansa in broad daylight, but no one manages to get word back to KL about this? Makes no Sansa.

I think it's very indicative of the kind of show GoT has become, that of all the great material in The Winterfell plot in ADWD, this is all that D+D took away from it. No Northern Lords, no Frey Pies, no whodunnit mystery. Theon didn't even get a single line until E5 IIRC. They bent over backwards to include some equivalent of Jeyne and Ramsay's marriage but cut everything else.

If Jeyne truly could not have been on the show, they should have just cut that subplot entirely. Focus on Theon's development (maybe Fat Walda is the one being brutalised, motivating Theon to step up and rescue her), focus on the plotting of the Northern Lords. There's a tonne of good stuff there. Meanwhile, don't rush through all of Sansa's AFFC material in S4 and instead have the Lords Declarant and the aftermath of Lysa's death in S5.

I take issue with the notion that Jeyne could not be on the show though. Theon had two seasons with barely any plot. She could have been introduced then as a fellow prisoner of the Dreadfort.

[Mithras]

I cannot think of a single reason why Sansa would go north. Perhaps (f)Arya marries Ramsay and then LF reveals Sansa is alive. He takes her north to marry a Karstark since Ramsay is already wed. So it's a modification of Alys Karstark's story? IDK.

In the books, going North is her ultimate endgame. HtH marriage is about getting the swords of the Vale to claim her birthright.

In the show, it is plainly stated that she came to North willingly in order to take her home back and avenge the treacherous Boltons. Her alternative was to stay in LF's pocket and do nothing.

[Joe Pesci]

And the Show NEEDs to merge story arcs.

I get where everyone is coming from here and I'm not going to try and shit on anyones' ideas either on whether Sansa should be in WF or not and what should have been done instead. I think the biggest problem (and probably the most overlooked) for the show is that it already has the biggest cast on TV. And in comparison, the books dwarf the show as far as the quantity of characters. I'd love to see the stuff from the Riverlands and all the plots from the North on the show, but the amount of time these things would take away from the main characters would cripple the show and we would all be bitching about Edmure Tully or Barbrey Dustin are on screen as much as Tyrion or Jaime. And merging/changing plots is necessary to keep the main characters on the forefront of things. In a book, it is easier to introduce more characters and flesh them out a bit story-wise, but on TV, it just really isn't possible. Do I agree on all of the decisions D&D have made? Hell no, but I accept the fact that they have to pick and choose and at the end of the day, there's not a chance in hell that everyone is gonna be pleased with the results.

[jet199]

In the books, going North is her ultimate endgame. HtH marriage is about getting the swords of the Vale to claim her birthright.

In the show, it is plainly stated that she came to North willingly in order to take her home back and avenge the treacherous Boltons. Her alternative was to stay in LF's pocket and do nothing.

I agree. The Vale is just a holding pen for her before she goes to Winterfell in the books. If the 5 year gap had been in place we may not have had the Vale storyline at all.

[straits]

They could have had Sansa demand a long betrothal so she could mourn her family +have their statues built in the crypts. She uses the time to network with the northern lords, play Ramsey against Roose and send feelers out to Stannis. You could also have had a three month waiting period to ensure she's not carrying Tyrion's child.

Or she could be LF's daughter Alayne and Walda's lady in waiting. She teams up with Theon and goes Hooded Man on the Boltons.

I agree with most of this, but I don't think Sansa could have delayed a marriage with Ramsay, if she wanted (or was forced to, as was the case) to go down the path of seeking Bolton support. Her demand for a longer betrothal would be perfectly reasonable, but that move would be very obvious stalling. Roose knows how much he needs a Stark name to secure his position, preferably before Stannis comes marching down and northerners in the vicinity are forced to pick a side.

/unrelated to the quote

As far as the show was concerned, Littlefinger's insistence on pushing Sansa into Bolton hands at this stage is predictably disastrous, and a bit short-sighted given that he knew there was an upcoming conflict between Stannis and the Boltons. I think his actions show a strong assumption that Stannis will soon be a non-issue for him, which is pretty stupid given Stannis' track record.

[Gogossos]

I get where everyone is coming from here and I'm not going to try and shit on anyones' ideas either on whether Sansa should be in WF or not and what should have been done instead. I think the biggest problem (and probably the most overlooked) for the show is that it already has the biggest cast on TV. And in comparison, the books dwarf the show as far as the quantity of characters. I'd love to see the stuff from the Riverlands and all the plots from the North on the show, but the amount of time these things would take away from the main characters would cripple the show and we would all be bitching about Edmure Tully or Barbrey Dustin are on screen as much as Tyrion or Jaime. And merging/changing plots is necessary to keep the main characters on the forefront of things. In a book, it is easier to introduce more characters and flesh them out a bit story-wise, but on TV, it just really isn't possible. Do I agree on all of the decisions D&D have made? Hell no, but I accept the fact that they have to pick and choose and at the end of the day, there's not a chance in hell that everyone is gonna be pleased with the results.

I really can't look past Littlefinger plot holes when I discuss this topic. Everything is framed by the initial decision to get Sansa raped, it doesn't develop naturally at all. Sansa in WF with only 8 bodyguards, who all leave promptly with LF. Lothor Brune, the lone sword that could've been left behind to protect her, conveniently doesn't exit. If the initial decision had been to merge Sansa with the wider Winterfell storyline, they would've written it better without the restriction to get Sansa betrothed, married and abused pronto.

[Winter's Knight]

I agree with most of this, but I don't think Sansa could have delayed a marriage with Ramsay, if she wanted (or was forced to, as was the case) to go down the path of seeking Bolton support. Her demand for a longer betrothal would be perfectly reasonable, but that move would be very obvious stalling. Roose knows how much he needs a Stark name to secure his position, preferably before Stannis comes marching down and northerners in the vicinity are forced to pick a side.

.

The need is all on the Boltons' side though. Sansa simply had to say "Either a long engagement or I go back to the Vale and marry my cousin and use his knights to attack you."

It would even serve as a sign of her playing the game.

[Lord Damian]

The need is all on the Boltons' side though. Sansa simply had to say "Either a long engagement or I go back to the Vale and marry my cousin and use his knights to attack you."

It would even serve as a sign of her playing the game.

I agree. No matter how the show tries to explain this mudpie, it was designed to get show Sansa in Ramsay's hands because they thought the angst among the viewers would be a plus while forsaking the characters' and general show continuity for the first 4 years but then they had to have him rape her and that is where it went completely to hell. Almost any other scenario could have been better without getting the "fair maiden" of the entire series viciously raped.

[voodooqueen126]

Here's a simple way to do it. Have Sansa accept her fate. Have her not be afraid, and take this awful moment as something she has to do to survive. Focus on her resisting and surviving the pain rather than Reek being horrified by it. A very simple way of actually showing that she has become a stronger character, rathen than have her become the victim again.

Although, as someone else above stated, it's better to wait and see how this storyline plays out.

Rape is horrifying.

Would you tell a starving child that there desire for food is what causes them misery, and that if they gave up desire their hunger wouldn't bother them?

[The King Of Cooked Steak]

Rape is horrifying.

Would you tell a starving child that there desire for food is what causes them misery, and that if they gave up desire their hunger wouldn't bother them?

That analogy is completely unrelated to what is being discussed here.

Yes, rape is horrifying, nobody ever said otherwise. I am not saying that anyone that is being subjected to it needs to forcefully consent to it just so they cannot be hurt by it.

In this situation it's way different. Sansa is marrying a psychotic sadist who essentially "breaks" people emotionally and physically because he enjoys it. Plus, he is the son of the man who betrayed and personally stabbed her brother in the heart. Baelish specifically advised her to avenge her family and make Ramsay hers, withstand him until something happens, and gets her out of this situation. Sansa wants to become a player in the game. Sure, she is still technically seen as a pawn by LF, but all in all, her arc is that she's becoming smarter and tougher, more active and manipulative so she can succesfully pull through and get vengeance. So far she has been protected by her father, Sandor, Tyrion, to a certain extent Cersei, and of course Littlefinger. Now it's time for her to fend for herself. She knows what will happen to her by marrying this maniac, and her life will be a living hell because of it. SHE IS AWARE OF THIS. Instead though of the writers showing us that Sansa has actually progressed as a character, after saving LF's ass in the Vale from execution, and her not being touched by Myranda's efforts to intimidate her, and showing us clearly that she's becoming stronger and less of a victim. But no. Instead of making something out of this god forsaken scene, they put it in for shock value, and focused on Reek's pain rather than Sansa's survival of it. She's reduced to being a victim again. A "bystander" as LF said earlier in the season.

[Young Nan]

I was hoping that since Sansa was there to "avenge her family" they would have figured out a way for her to use her intelligence to stall or prevaricate in some way, maintaining both her virginity and her agency. An obvious way would be an extended engagement. She is in mourning.

[The Eunuch]

I have an alternate Sansa/Winterfell idea:

- In Winterfell, Sansa is forced to marry Ramsay the evil guy.

- Quasimodo Theon comes to her rescue just before the wedding. He fights evil Ramsay and his evil father, and as Sansa watches, all three of them fall from the highest tower.

- Sansa mourns her savior Theon.

- Then she joins her evil oncle Littlefinger and kill him with a crossbow and say to him "I know you betrayed my father, I've seen it in last episode's recap!".

- And then the knight in shining armor, Loras Tyrell, comes and marries Sansa. They have a lot of babies, they cook lemoncakes and they live happily ever after.

I think that would please the Sansa fans, it's the perfect ending they all dreamed of. It's not really GOT but that's what Disney would do.