Sansa the Warg

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

George has said that all the Stark children are wargs, but we have never seen Sansa use this ability. Or have we? One passage in particular always bugged me as being too vague:

Alayne took Robert's gloved hand in her own to stop his shaking. "Sweetrobin," she said, "I'm scared. Hold my hand and help me get across. I know you're not afraid."

He looked at her, his pupils small dark pinpricks in eyes as big and white as eggs. "I'm not?"

"Not you. You're my winged knight, Ser Sweetrobin."

"The Winged Knight could fly," Robert whispered.

"Higher than the mountains." She gave his hand a squeeze.

Lady Myranda had joined them by the spire. "He could," she echoed, when she saw what was happening.

"Ser Sweetrobin," Lord Robert said, and Alayne knew that she dare not wait for Mya to return. She helped the boy dismount, and hand in hand they walked out onto the bare stone saddle, their cloaks snapping and flapping behind them. All around was empty sky and air, the ground falling away sharply to either side. There was ice underfoot, and broken stones just waiting to turn an ankle, and the wind was blowing fiercely. It sounds like a wolf, thought Sansa. A ghost wolf, big as mountains.

And then they were on the other side, and Mya Stone was laughing and lifting Robert for a hug.

There are several clues that Sansa is warging Robert here. Robert calls out Sansa's nickname for him, Sweetrobin. The wolf references are hinting at Sansa's warging ability. But the most convincing clue (for me) is the style. While they are actually crossing, the language becomes vague and passive, and the reader can't even tell they're making progress until suddenly they're on the other side. Sansa herself isn't sure what's going on, and her POV reflects that.

Deprived of her wolf, Sansa is learning to warg through Robert Arryn. At first she will use this power for good to calm or prevent his shaking spells, but as time goes on she will hone her ability to warg people.

<Crackpot Time!>

Jaime will finally find Sansa, but instead of wanting to go to her mother, Sansa will demand that Jaime takes her back to King's Landing to face the charges against her. She is adamant, so Jaime takes her.

In Cercei's final chapter she will look out the window to see Jaime returning to the Red Keep at last. Suddenly a force will take control of her body and she will watch helplessly as her hands reach out to strangle Tommen and Myrcela. As Jaime enters the chamber and sees Cercei standing over their dead children, Sansa relinquishes control of Cercei's mind so that Cercei may fully experience the Valonqar prophecy.

[Consigliere]

I just dont buy it ...sorry. Sansa's warging abilities has most likely been hindered as Lady was killed so early on. I dont believe that her ability has developed to an extent where she can skinchange a human being. If she is to skinchange any animals, the text hints that it could be birds.

[Aderyn the Sly]

It's an interesting theory, but I don't agree.

For one, Sansa up until this point has shown no skinchanging abilities so her sudden ability to skinchange a human seems far fetched. When Bran skinchanges into Hodor (even while Hodor is unconscious) it's a struggle. I think what Sansa did was simple manipulation on her part playing on Robert's own dominant personality. I'm not sure if there are "degrees of skinchanging" where only a little part of Robert was being controlled versus his mind completely Sansa's, but I suppose it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility, although far fetched.

Also, the wind blowing sounding like a wolf isn't out of the ordinary, especially on cliffs like that (at least in my experience). The wolf reference I also saw as Sansa trying to cling onto her identity as a Stark of Winterfell while hiding as Alayne Stone.

As for Cersei, that I could not see. Cersei would fight hard to regain control if her children are in danger more so than any other character we've seen skinchanged so far.Sansa would never be able to control it. In the prologue chapter in Dance with Sixskins dying we see how mad humans go while being skinchanged.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

Erm nope. I have no doubt she is a Warg and will use that power but no way is she skinchanging a human or killing children, not a chance.

[TyrionsFlagon]

Sansa's come a long way, and some would even say she's 'training' under Littlefinger, but I don't see her capable of killing Tommen and Myrcella.

[Mladen]

I just dont buy it ...sorry. Sansa's warging abilities has most likely been hindered as Lady was killed so early on. I dont believe that her ability has developed to an extent where she can skinchange a human being. If she is to skinchange any animals, the text hints that it could be birds.

Well, she is a warg, we can't doubt in that. And there is that simple fact about intentional difference between Sansa's and Sandor's version of events... Some say that she has already warged someone, and given Robert's interesting line in AGoT "find her a dog, she'll be happier", we almost can say that in the night of Blackwater battle, something did happen...

As for Sansa killing Cersei's children, it's fanfiction

[Blutraven]

I don't buy it. Bran's the most powerful warg/skinchanger out of the Stark kids and he finds it hard to warg Hodor, at least at first. Sansa has no warging experience at all, we haven't evens een her slip into something's skin whilst she's sleeping, so it's extremely doubtful that she could warg someone with a sound mind, even if they are sickly.

I also can't see Sansa doing something as cold as forcing Cersei to strangle Tommen and Myrcella, they haven't done anything to her.

[Consigliere]

Well, she is a warg, we can't doubt in that. And there is that simple fact about intentional difference between Sansa's and Sandor's version of events... Some say that she has already warged someone, and given Robert's interesting line in AGoT "find her a dog, she'll be happier", we almost can say that in the night of Blackwater battle, something did happen...

As for Sansa killing Cersei's children, it's fanfiction

I am in no doubt that Sansa is a warg, however, I do have a hard time believing that she has skinchanged a human being.

[Dornish Whine]

I cannot see Sansa warging a person... and I cannot see her killing Tommen and Myrcella without some sort of further provocation. If you want to look for evidence of her being a Warging I would suggest looking at her early relationship with Lady and perhaps at the dog she befriends at the Eyrie. I am not confident you will find anything ... but that is where I'd look.

[Petyr Patter]

I always felt Sansa would reemerge as a skin changer eventually. Possibly into a trained bird. She did seem to share a connection to the blind dog at Littlefinger's holdings.

Maybe she has indeed learned to warg a weak minded person like Robert Arryn.

Yet, murder two innocents in order to get a really dramatic revenge on Cersei? No. That isn't in personality. That isn't what Littlefinger is teaching her. Plus, Cersei is already finished in King's Landing. It is going to take Deus Ex Machina to see her get to stick around. Whoever is left holding the Tommen reigns is going to insist she return to Casterly Rock.

[Mladen]

I am in no doubt that Sansa is a warg, however, I do have a hard time believing that she has skinchanged a human being.

Consciously warging a human is one thing, what Sansa might have done with Sandor is completely another. GRRM specifically pointed out that the difference between their versions is important. Also, I don't recall that warging a human exerts some great skill. It is abomination, but it's not like no one can do it...

[spinelladude]

Just throwing it out there, but perhaps Sansa has a subtle warg ability, where she is present in the subconscious of those that she wargs, kind of like Jon being subtly linked to Ghost throughout the day, perhaps it gets stronger the closer they are, including contact, like what happen with Varamyr Sixskins in his prologue. He waited until she was close enough to touch because that is when warging is the strongest. When the Hound touched Sansa, and when Sansa held Robert's hand, that could've allowed her to exert an influence on them mentally or physically.

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

We know that Sansa is a warg. The other Stark kids had direwolves to practice on, but Sansa didn't. Sansa has Sweetrobin. Sure warging a person is hard, but Sansa is learning with an easy target, and she is a member of the strongest warg family in existence. This idea that Sansa is and will remain too weak to warg people is unfounded.

Are you guys actually criticizing the part of the OP labeled 'crackpot?' You do know what 'crackpot' means, don't you?

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

I think Sansa had warged Lady just like all the other Stark kids warged their direwolves (which is why Lady is very similar to Sansa). Due to Lady's death, Sansa has been unable to develop her gift the way the other Stark kids have and that's why she sometimes dreams of Lady.

I suspect that we will see her warg again since GRRM went out of his way to say that all Stark kids are wargs, but when and how, I don't know.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I also don't see her warging a human being. I think she's meant for birds.

[Petyr Patter]

I also don't see her warging a human being. I think she's meant for birds.

Birds, eh? How about a robin? One with a sweet tooth... a "Sweetrobin," if you will.

We know 'warging' people is possible. We also know Sansa is a warg. It really is that far fetched right now.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Birds, eh? How about a robin? One with a sweet tooth... a "Sweetrobin," if you will.

We know 'warging' people is possible. We also know Sansa is a warg. It really is that far fetched right now.

Warging people is extremely difficult. Bran's a greenseer and even he has a hard time warging Hodor, who's very simple-minded. No doubt Sansa has the warging gift, but her doing it with human beings is far-fetched, to say the least.

[LadyMary]

Warging is the ability to skin-change a wolf, specifically - I think. Assuming GRRM meant it literally, then Sansa may have had some moments with Lady but it didn't get a chance to develop because Lady was murdered.

That being said, a domestic dog is of the same genus (Canis) as wolves and I wondered if Sansa's ability to connect with the blind old dog was an expression of this gift. If she had more time there, perhaps it would have developed further.

It should be said that Bran and Arya seem to have the gift most strongly, not only wargs - but able to naturally skin-change into cats (Arya), bird and people (Bran) without any apparent training. Jon probably can do it too but he seems somewhat unwilling.

[juanml82]

I am in no doubt that Sansa is a warg, however, I do have a hard time believing that she has skinchanged a human being.

Well, she was drunk, Sandor was drunker and, if she did commanded him to kiss her, it's unlikely Sandor's drunk mind put a lot of effort to avoid it. It's a magical explanation to the unkiss - the alternative being that Sansa is clinically wacko.

Consciously warging a human is one thing, what Sansa might have done with Sandor is completely another. GRRM specifically pointed out that the difference between their versions is important. Also, I don't recall that warging a human exerts some great skill. It is abomination, but it's not like no one can do it...

Varamyr, a rather accomplished skinchanger, fails at it.

In any event, I don't think she warged SR. She grabbed him, and hurried to the other side before she couldn't hold him any longer.

[Blueberry Stark]

Sansa is not tough enough to handle being inside Cersei's mind!

Seriously, I don't think Sansa is powerful enough as a warg to manage something this huge - a lioness will never murder her cubs. The only way that I'd ever see Cersei killing her children is if she thinks that her enemies are going to get them, and she would only do it then in order to prevent them from suffering a terrible death (yes, like on the Blackwater episode season two when she almost kills Tommen before reinforcments arrive, which doesn't happen in the books, so it's not "canon").