From Pawn to Player: Rethinking Sansa VI

[Pod The Impaler]

Hmm, you just made me realize that Brienne's fantasy is the same as Sansa's dream. They start out with Tyrion/Renly but someone else appears. Sansa resists naming Sandor while Brienne tries to bring back the safe image of Renly. Both aren't quite ready to confront what this means yet.

Actually, I've been thinking along these lines for quite a while as well.

Brienne and Sansa have a lot of inner similarities. Brienne is built like a brute, but in her POV's you see her longing for the kind of life that someone like Sansa seems to represent (I mean, the high-born romanticism and grace, the songs and stories notions; not the agonizing trauma of being a hostage whose family are murdered).

Is Brienne like Sansa inside (when she cannot be outside)? Is this why Catelyn warms to her and takes her in ?

If the Hound and Brienne should ever meet (that is, knowingly), I wonder if the Hound would see that side of her, or just another knight / foe?

[Kittykatknits]

Actually, I've been thinking along these lines for quite a while as well.

Brienne and Sansa have a lot of inner similarities. Brienne is built like a brute, but in her POV's you see her longing for the kind of life that someone like Sansa seems to represent (I mean, the high-born romanticism and grace, the songs and stories notions; not the agonizing trauma of being a hostage whose family are murdered).

Is Brienne like Sansa inside (when she cannot be outside)? Is this why Catelyn warms to her and takes her in ?

If the Hound and Brienne should ever meet (that is, knowingly), I wonder if the Hound would see that side of her, or just another knight / foe?

Brienne starts out just as a GOT Sansa. She's very idealistic, love the idea of chivarly, loves the same songs and stories that Sansa does. Remember her little speech about how winter would never come, that they would have stories made for them? I'm to lazy to go look up the exact speech right now.

In AFFC, we see that she is going through some of the same transformation that Sansa has. The most obvious similariy is that she doesn't trust easily. Actually, that's one of her final thoughts about Nimble Dick. She is deeply heart about the wager that was made, sounds a bit like Sansa's thought that no one will ever love her for herself.

Catelyn saved her because she knew Brienne was innocent. They grew to respect and care about each other.

As for the Hound, I've wondered about this. He seems comfortable with strength in women as he saw it in Sansa. I think, given a chance, he'd come to respect her. But, I don't think he'd trust her right away, that's not his style.

[A...]

I love the Brienne/Sansa comparison, I picked up on this too while reading. But I believe that Brienne's idealism is more deeply rooted than Sansa's. I think this is primarily due to the fact that Brienne has been able to defend her fantasies with a sword and Sansa has only been able to shield herself with courtesy (prior to AFFC that is). The thing to note here is the offensive vs defensive stance. Brienne can (for a time) make herself the active embodiment of her fantasies through becoming the honourable 'white knight' (the active role in the medieval heroic fairytale stereotype) while Sansa as the highborn lady needs to be on the receiving end of a gallant knight's courtesy and valour, therefore she requires someone else to be the initiating knight playing the leading role and cannot 'embody the fantasy herself'. Ultimately I think it would be lovely to see them both enact a knight/damsel scene together, but seeing where both character arcs are going, by the time they meet, both will be sufficiently disillusioned to have outgrown the fantasy.

(Sorry if all that sounded a bit jumbled, I'm new to the board, but having read some of the wonderful posts in this thread I really wanted to join in the discussion about one of my favourite characters in ASOIAF :-) )

[Winter's Knight]

Brienne starts out just as a GOT Sansa. She's very idealistic, love the idea of chivarly, loves the same songs and stories that Sansa does. Remember her little speech about how winter would never come, that they would have stories made for them? I'm to lazy to go look up the exact speech right now.

Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we die in battle, they will surely sing of us, and it’s always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining.

/from memory

[brashcandy]

I love the Brienne/Sansa comparison, I picked up on this too while reading. But I believe that Brienne's idealism is more deeply rooted than Sansa's. I think this is primarily due to the fact that Brienne has been able to defend her fantasies with a sword and Sansa has only been able to shield herself with courtesy (prior to AFFC that is). The thing to note here is the offensive vs defensive stance. Brienne can (for a time) make herself the active embodiment of her fantasies through becoming the honourable 'white knight' (the active role in the medieval heroic fairytale stereotype) while Sansa as the highborn lady needs to be on the receiving end of a gallant knight's courtesy and valour, therefore she requires someone else to be the initiating knight playing the leading role and cannot 'embody the fantasy herself'. Ultimately I think it would be lovely to see them both enact a knight/damsel scene together, but seeing where both character arcs are going, by the time they meet, both will be sufficiently disillusioned to have outgrown the fantasy.

(Sorry if all that sounded a bit jumbled, I'm new to the board, but having read some of the wonderful posts in this thread I really wanted to join in the discussion about one of my favourite characters in ASOIAF :-) )

Welcome A.... ! This was a really nice post. Concerning Sansa's courtesy armour, you know the saying: the best offence is a good defence ;) Now that she's in AFFC we're seeing her play with the whole damsel in distress trope when it comes to Sweetrobin. Her identification with Alayne Stone is giving her the confidence to be able to play to the traditional expectations of masculinity vs. femininity and manipulate SR into thinking that she's dependent on him for help. Later on she flirts with the hedge knights and jokingly tells them she thought they were all gallant. Sansa's courtesy armour isn't static. As she gets older, it's developing along with her, stretching and becoming more effective as she learns the game and has more revealing experiences concerning human nature, sexuality and other issues.

[brashcandy]

I also really liked your point about Brienne being able to embody the white knight of her stories, whilst for the majority of her time in KL this option was not open to Sansa. However, I do think Sansa has to be credited with being able to transform/influence fools (Dontos) and dogs (Sandor) to want to become the heroes in her songs. These men who have been looked down upon by society, and with specific reference to Sandor, do not espouse the values of knighthood, are compelled to assist Sansa and prevent her suffering. She might not be able to embody her fantasies, but she can influence others to help her, as well as making a difference in their own lives. Also, when she's fleeing KL with Dontos she thinks that she has to be brave like a lady in the songs, which tells us that she's not closed off from the embodiment aspect.

Related to all this is the symbolism of the white cloaks which we see Sansa using on two three occasions to protect/shield herself. There are the two best known ones with Sandor's cloak, and also when she kneels on Barristan's discarded cloak in AGOT.

[A...]

I do think Sansa has to be credited with being able to transform/influence fools (Dontos) and dogs (Sandor) to want to become the heroes in her songs. These men who have been looked down upon by society, and with specific reference to Sandor, do not espouse the values of knighthood, are compelled to assist Sansa and prevent her suffering.

Definitely agree with this (although I'm still somewhat conflicted when it comes to Dontos - how many of his actions were manipulated by LF and how much was his own gratitude? I think the scene where he hits her over the head with a melon was sweet in a pathetic kind of way and purely Dontos, but in all the godswood scenes I can't help but see LF's scheming... ).

But back to the main point: this 'bringing out the best in people' has always been on some subconscious level. Now if she could learn to manipulate that in some small way - as I (perhaps mistakenly) think she might be beginning to do as Alayne with regard to Littlefinger/Petyr then Sansa would be perhaps the most powerful player of them all - because she would not only be able to make people do things for her, but actually make them WANT to do them on some level for themselves. (Kind of in the way that yes, you feel good when you get a present, but you feel even better if you give one, supposedly, because giving makes you feel better about yourself.) This could possible lead to a LF/Petyr takedown in future, although his case is particularly tricky, since Sansa seems to bring out the worst in him as herself and the best as Alayne. And alternately, LF (who teaches her the game and grooms her as a player) seems to bring out a good side of Sansa while Petyr (rejected by Cat and desperately needing emotional closure from somebody who looks like her) brings out the worst in her. (Yes, I do know this is the exact opposite of what has been said in the books, where if I recall correctly it was stated that Petyr was the Jekyll aspect of the character while LF was Hyde, but considering the the above facts I have reached a somewhat different interpretation...)

[brashcandy]

Definitely agree with this (although I'm still somewhat conflicted when it comes to Dontos - how many of his actions were manipulated by LF and how much was his own gratitude? I think the scene where he hits her over the head with a melon was sweet in a pathetic kind of way and purely Dontos, but in all the godswood scenes I can't help but see LF's scheming... ).

I do think at heart Dontos wanted to help her. The money was a nice incentive, but he truly felt badly about what she had endured, and was grateful that she had saved his life from Joffrey. On the night of their escape, he dresses up as a knight because she's inspired that sense of respect and dignity in him again.

But back to the main point: this 'bringing out the best in people' has always been on some subconscious level. Now if she could learn to manipulate that in some small way - as I (perhaps mistakenly) think she might be beginning to do as Alayne with regard to Littlefinger/Petyr then Sansa would be perhaps the most powerful player of them all - because she would not only be able to make people do things for her, but actually make them WANT to do them on some level for themselves. (Kind of in the way that yes, you feel good when you get a present, but you feel even better if you give one, supposedly, because giving makes you feel better about yourself.

This is a salient point. If we look at what LF did with Dontos, he's able to thwart and exploit people's natural instincts (Dontos was genuinely grateful to Sansa and LF seizes the opportunity to turn it into a mercenary contract) - he corrupts essentially. Whereas with Sansa, she's a purifying force. She seems to be able to achieve the opposite - making people see that they can act in noble and courageous ways. When she was in KL, Tyrion noted how her comments to Lancel on his appearance had a positive effect on the sick man, and now that she's in the Vale she's doing so with SR and will I think have an influence on Lothor Brune as well.

[Lyanna Stark]

Since I had a really boring and slow day at work I copy pasted together by earlier Jaime/Brienne and Sandor/Sansa parallels with some new stuff and since I felt sorry for myself due to it being a. Monday and b. my birthday c. and songs have a prominent role in story, I made it into a pop quiz about songs. If you get all the songs and artists right, you get a virtual cookie.

Comfortably numb

Naivitee and honour vs cynicism and lack of moral compass. This is perhaps the first thing that stands out as a similarity. Jaime and Sandor are both pretty jaded and cynical and have adopted defence mechanisms to deal with the world as they see it: Jaime by being arrogant, selfish and flippant and Sandor by being nihilistic in his outlook of how the strong rule and the weak need to get out of the way. Sansa and Brienne are both younger, grew up with the ideals of knighthood and believes that there is good and bad, that the romantic songs are true and that goodness is naturally valued in the world.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Beauty vs the Beast. This one is also pretty striking, since Jaime is the goldenboy Lannister, perhaps one of the most good looking men in the realm at the start of the series, if not THE most good looking man. Sansa on the other hand is still very young, but said to be very pretty and as she's growing older, Cat is convinced she will be even better looking than her, and Cat herself is supposed to be amazingly beautiful, albeit perhaps not in the same fiery way as Cersei.

Brienne and Sandor are constantly described as hideous, ugly or in Brienne's case even freakish. Sandor's burned face adds a lot to this, but it's pretty clear from his description that even without them he would not be taking home any beauty contests.

Knowing me, knowing you

Seeing value and quality in the other. Sandor's and Sansa's relationship starts off with him telling her the story of his burns and she reaches out to him in empathy. This seems to be a milestone of sorts since one has to wonder if anyone has ever showed Sandor any empathy about what happened to him, or if anyone has taken a firm stand like Sansa did here and basically said "you were wronged". It's fairly obvious Sandor sees Sansa's capability for empathy and justice as good qualities. Sansa on the other hand gets the benefit of his advice in how to deal with Joffrey and even if she is still afraid of Sandor during her stay in Kings Landing, she comes to more and more see him as her protector and adviser. She also wishes Dontos had some of his ferocity.

Jaime and Brienne have a mutual "Woah" moment when they fight eachother. This is especially hilarious since we see it first from Jaime's POV and then from Brienne's, and both of them are surprised by how great a fighter the other one is. Jaime with two hands would certainly be better than Brienne, but he is still losing to her and after that he seems to very much appreciate her skills. Brienne on the other hand is almost in reverie in AFFC about Jaime's skills. This is the easy "connect" these two have.

However, Jaime also seems to come to value Brienne's determination, her bravery and her strict adherence to her moral compass, and also her empathy and understanding. Brienne in turn is more difficult, since she's less forthright with what she values in Jaime apart from his fighting skills, but I think her empathy is definitely at work here, both when it comes to his maiming but also from when she hears his story of Aerys. She is also clear with that he has trusted her with his honour and that she finds this very compelling.

That's not my name

What is in a name? Both Sandor and Jaime operate under sobriquets who are perhaps less than flattering and have become part of their official personas. "Kingslayer" and "The Hound" are both infamous. Further, we see Jaime disdainfully calling Brienne "Wench" and at the same time keep getting put off when she refers to him as "Kingslayer" right back. It marks the real transition in their relationship that Jaime thinks of her as "Brienne" and she in turn of him as "Jaime". This never gets more obvious than when Jaime punches Red Ronnet Connington for speaking to her improperly.

Sansa in turn struggles with naming Sandor, since calling him by his first name would be far too familiar, and he won't accept "Ser" nor "My Lord" so instead she settles for "The Hound" with the occasional "Sandor Clegane" thrown in (and speaking directly to him she seems to stick with "you" and no title or name), and in her fantasies he remains nameless. Sandor on the other hand invents his own nickname for Sansa: "Little Bird", which starts out as a bit of a mockery, but ends up seeming endearing, and quite apt for her situation as a caged little bird in Kings Landing.

Maladjusted

The Not Ser. "I am no Ser". We know that The Hound is fond of saying this, but Brienne says the same. I almost bounced when checking some AFFC details that she comes right out and uses those exact words. Interestingly, Jaime at one point thinks that she is "The Hound with teats" and he seems to mean this both by way of looks, but also that she is strong and efficient and gets things done. At first glance only a negative thing, but in some ways also a backhanded compliment. Pod also seems to struggle a bit with naming Brienne in the same way as Sansa does with Sandor. "Ser, My Lady, Ser?"

I hurt myself today

Of Wounds and Injuries. Jaime gets maimed by the loss of his hand and Brienne when she gets bitten by Rorge. Sandor on the other hand starts out with half his face burnt off, then gets a part of his arm burnt off at the BWB fight and then as if that was not enough he suffers a really bad thigh wound from the Tickler/Polliver fight. The poor guy can't catch a break and soon he will be one big mess of scar tissue. Sansa is the only one who escapes mostly unharmed, except from the beatings in Kings Landing where she has to dress to hide the bruises covering her body. On the other hand she has arguably sustained a lot of pretty bad emotional wounds in a very short period of time, starting from when her wolf was killed and her father beheaded, and onwards through a forced marriage and almost murder by Lysa.

Brothers in Arms

Keeping it in the family? Jaime has in many ways been shaped by the relationship with his older sister. He’s only ever existed in relation to her, in many ways. The same goes for Sandor, who was forever shaped by his older brother. Both siblings suffer from a lack of empathy for other human beings and even if Sandor’s psychopath brother is the more obvious case, Cersei also has a huge knack for cruelty. Even more bizarrely, Gregor and Cersei seem to have some sort of odd rapport, in that he rushes to Kings Landing when Cersei writes to fight the Mountain. Later on, he’s also the one who whisks Cersei away after her walk of shame. Just a sidenote really, but I found it odd that the dastardly siblings of Jaime and Sandor are in cahoots, of sorts.

This charming man

On the issue of rudeness and mocking. Sandor is often crude, sometimes mocking and even occasionally descends into being hurtful and threatening to Sansa. Jaime in the beginning makes a point of mocking Brienne and trying to make jibes at every possible opportunity. As he gets to know her, he stops doing it, and once he finds out hor Red Ronnet Connington hurt Brienne (in a rather similar fashion to what he did himself) he gets so angry he punches Red Ronnet in the face. We see later that Brienne found Jaime’s comments very hurtful, but it also seems clear that she was more upset with Red Ronnet and his group.

Keep the Faith

Religious imagery. Knighthood is connected to the faith of the seven, and Jaime/Brienne and Sansa/Sandor are also to a degree surrounded by religious imagery. When Jaime loses his hand, he realises that he is praying. Then later on he stands vigil in the Sept of Baelor and thinks back to the vigil when he became a knight. He also “defiles” the altar of the Mother when he screws Cersei on it. Next to his dead son. Brienne prays to the Warrior and the Crone, she swears a very impressive oath by all the seven, tags along with Septon Meribald and finally “confesses” of sorts to the Elder Brother. Sansa prays to the Seven and asks them to save a large number of people and to gentle the Hound’s rage. Sandor in turn denies the existence of Gods initially, but ends up “pardoned” by Rh’llor and then saved by the Elder Brother and seems to be living a life of penitence among the monks who worship the Seven, in an ironic twist of fate (faith? ;) ) for an atheist.

I stand in front of I'll take the force of the blow

The Protector. Jaime acts like this for Brienne, both when the Brave Companions are about to rape her and then again later on when he returns and jumps down the bear pit with her. The Hound likewise acts as Sansa’s protector when he saves her from the riot and carries her back to safety and also later he prevents her falling. Brienne also motivates Jaime to keep on living and not giving up on life (interesting to note: she calls him “Jaime” in this conversation), while Sandor subtly blocks Sansa’s attempt to throw Joffrey off the battlements.

Bright eyes burning like fire

Eyes are the windows to the soul? Jaime thinks Brienne’s eyes are beautiful. They’re blue like sapphires. Sansa’s eyes are commented on by Tyrion to be a deep Tully blue, while Sansa is not so put off by the Hound’s scars as she is by the rage in his eyes. Incidentally, Jaime reflects while standing vigil over Tywin that he can cry no tears, but also that he feels no rage, and he finds the former totally normal, but the latter strange since he thinks Jaime Lannister always felt rage. Another thing he seems to share with the Hound, together perhaps with “feeling truly alive” while fighting.

Changes

On change and character growth. Jaime thinks to himself that he wanted to become Ser Arthur Dayne, but he turned into the Smiling Knight instead. Sandor played with Gregor's toy knight which tends to indicate he once wanted to be a gallant knight with of what that entails, but instead he's been forced to live in a world of monsters and made himself hard and brutal to survive. During his gradual breaking down and his final breakdown scene with Arya, it's obvious he hates what he became.

Brienne realises of course that everything is not so black and white and that in some situations there is not a good or honourable way out. Sometimes, oaths will conflict and when they do, which one do you follow?

Sansa has learnt the hard way not to trust anyone and to read people carefully and always asses their motives.

In Dust We Trust

On developing trust in an at first unlikely person. When it comes to trust this stands out the most in Jaime’s storyline that he seems to trust Brienne implicitly and without question or hesitation. Brienne in turn seems to still sometimes question certain things, as if she doesn’t quite dare put her trust in Jaime, but she still ends up doing it. She doesn’t think he has sent her out on a fool’s errand. Sansa on the other hand shares Brienne’s initial doubts as she feels she cannot put her trust in the Hound, but gradually she seems to be won over and even after the Blackwater incident she seems convinced, perhaps more than ever, that he would never hurt her. The hardest one to judge is Sandor since we don’t get to see inside his head, but despite the first death threat, he seems to realize she is keeping his trust and not telling anyone about the secret of his burns.

Touch Me

The physical dimension. Both relationships are characterized with a parallel more platonic and chaste type of love, with Brienne for Renly and Sansa for Loras, yet between Brienne/Jaime and Sansa/Sandor we see an awful lot of physical contact going on. Not always of the positive kind either, but surprisingly often it is. Jaime describes Brienne as warm against him and at the famous scene in the Harrenhall bathhouse he describes her as strong and her touch as “gentle, gentler than Cersei ever was”. Sansa often describes Sandor’s touch and actions as “surprisingly gentle” or “not ungently”. So both “the beasts” here are described using very similar vocabulary.

I dreamed a dream

Dreaming and fantasising. Jaime has a dream where he is naked in a cave under Casterly Rock where he has Brienne alongside with him and they are both naked and like in the baths at Harrenhal he reflects that she is warm and also that she looks more womanly than he remembers.

Brienne thinks of Renly while in the bath and how he died, but his face keeps turning into Jaime and she tries to get it back to Renly.

Sansa dreams first that she’s back in her marriage bed with Tyrion and that he morphs into Sandor, and then later on when Sweetrobin kisses her she tries to picture Loras, but he turns into Sandor, too.

Good luck and may the best theory quizzer reign supreme!

[mythsandstuff]

Comfortably numb Pink Floyd

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Knowing me, knowing you ABBA

That's not my name the TingTings

Maladjusted

I hurt myself today

Brothers in Arms Dire Straits?

This charming man The Smiths

Keep the Faith

I stand in front of I'll take the force of the blow

Bright eyes burning like fire

Changes Bowie

In Dust We Trust

Touch Me Samantha Fox? Or the Doors?

I dreamed a dream

Good luck and may the best theory quizzer reign supreme!

That's all I got. This really makes me look like I listened to very little past 1990.

[Kittykatknits]

Comfortably numb Pink Floyd

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Knowing me, knowing you ABBA

That's not my name the TingTings

Maladjusted

I hurt myself today

Brothers in Arms Dire Straits? I thought that was just the album name.

This charming man The Smiths

Keep the Faith Billy Joel?

I stand in front of I'll take the force of the blow

Bright eyes burning like fire

Changes Bowie

In Dust We Trust

Touch Me Samantha Fox? Or the Doors? Samantha Fox is a name I have not heard in years, many many years.

I dreamed a dream Les Miserables

That's all I got. This really makes me look like I listened to very little past 1990.

For the sake of simplicity, I'm just adding on to what mythsandstuff added.

And don't feel bad, I don't know anything past the early 90s. Couldn't name a top hit right now if my life depended on it.

And Happy Birthday Lyanna Stark. I'll be joining you in a few months.

Insightful and thought-provoking post to come later.

[Natalie_S]

Comfortably numb

Pink Floyd

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Aerosmith

Knowing me, knowing you

Abba

That's not my name

The Ting Tings

Maladjusted

Morrissey

I hurt myself today

hurt by Johnny Cash (i prefer NIN's version)

Brothers in Arms

Dire Straits

This charming man

The Smiths

Keep the Faith

Bon Jovi

I stand in front of I'll take the force of the blow

Protection by Massive Attack?

Bright eyes burning like fire

no idea, sorry!

Changes

David Bowie

In Dust We Trust

Chemical Brothers

Touch Me

Samantha fox

I dreamed a dream

No idea, sorry!

You mentioned some of my favourite bands! :)

[Lyanna Stark]

Now I feel bad for derailing the thread! :lol:

Feel free to comment on the parallels as well should you wish it :P

[A wilding]

The last one:

Bright eyes (burning like fire)

Art Garfunkel (theme tune of the film of Watership Down).

[Lyanna Stark]

OK so as to avoid completely ruining this lovely thread, correct answers under spoiler tags!

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

Drop Dead Gorgeous - Republica

Knowing me knowing you - ABBA

That's not my name - The Ting Tings

Maladjusted - Morrissey

Hurt - Nine Inch Nails or Johnny Cash, either works tbh

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

This Charming Man - The Smiths

Keep the Faith - Bon Jovi

Protection - Massive Attack

Bright Eyes - Art Garfunkel

Changes - David Bowie

In Dust We Trust - Chemical Brothers

Touch Me - Samantha Fox

I dreamed a dream - from Les Miserables

[Christina Ceriddwynn]

Brienne for Renly and Sansa for Loras,

<--------

funny as Renly and Loras were lovers......

[Christina Ceriddwynn]

*Completely Off Topic*

I am currently in Limerick, Ireland and crying my wee eyeballs out as I don't have the money to go up to Belfast and hang out in the pubs in hopes of finding Rory McCann (or anyone else for that matter)

*OK Back On Topic*

[Lady Sansa Stark]

*Completely Off Topic*

I am currently in Limerick, Ireland and crying my wee eyeballs out as I don't have the money to go up to Belfast and hang out in the pubs in hopes of finding Rory McCann (or anyone else for that matter)

*OK Back On Topic*

I am very sorry for you. I probably would shriek like an annoying fangirl if I ever saw him or any other character from Game of Thrones, despite them looking way different.

Or, perhaps I would pretend not to see and be very angry with myself afterwards.

*Back ontopic*

[brashcandy]

Lyannaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Stark! Amazing, amazing post! Thanks so much for putting it together, and happy birthday darling :)

[brashcandy]

<--------

funny as Renly and Loras were lovers......

Ha! :)

Lyanna Stark:

The hardest one to judge is Sandor since we don’t get to see inside his head, but despite the first death threat, he seems to realize she is keeping his trust and not telling anyone about the secret of his burns.

Now that you mentioned this, I realised that Sandor tells Sansa that story very early on in AGOT, but she truly tells no one, not even her best friend Jeyne, whom she enjoys gossiping with. At that age how many of us wouldn't have been tempted to share such a sensational, albeit gruesome tale, with our closest friends. I agree that this early exchange of trust and confidence - I can tell you a secret and you can keep it, really cemented their bond. I don't his threat had anything to do with it either. Somehow, even back then, Sansa never appears unduly worried about Sandor hurting her. We don't get her reaction to his threat then, but the very next day she is "moist-eyed" watching him joust, which I think is very telling.