#ljem4x

[atopvisenyashill]

Ok so hiiii....I think some of the stuff you post is great although I'm not a believer in Sansa QiTn so...I would really like for you to convince...oh and Bran ruling from harrenhal makes the most sense I don't understand why people would say anything else....oh I so feel like House Martell is heading for extinction...2nd question why do you think Aegon the iii amd viserys II didn't have something done about Rhaenyra being recognised as queen in the history books...I mean I feel like it could literally been a raven to the citadel or to the 7k... although the citadel is on oldtown sooo....but anyway thanks I appreciate it .

POINT ONE: Sansa QITN

Well firstly…..and pls note I am be ribbing you a little but I mean it in a hee hee ha ha way not a mean way.....but if you believe that Bran will rule from Harrenhal.....why wouldn't Sansa rule the North? Obviously there's a lot that's up in the air about what's happening with Rickon but if it’s not likely Rickon is getting out of this whole thing alive….and if Bran is king in the south…..whomst is next in line? She's the next oldest, and if Bran is not the Stark in Winterfell, that means either Rickon needs a regent or Rickon is also not the Stark in Winterfell (either because he is in the South as Bran's heir or dead). Why wouldn't being The Stark In Winterfell fall to Sansa?

But beyond that. So much of Sansa’s story is involved with the politics of the series and so much of Sansa's story centers around her learning what not to do as a leader. There's lots about her having the temperament and skills of a Queen and parallels between her and other Queen characters.

“You,” Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, “will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon.” Arya screwed up her face. "No," she said, "that's Sansa."

"I've never seen an aurochs," Sansa said, feeding a piece of bacon to Lady under the table. The direwolf took it from her hand, as delicate as a queen. Septa Mordane sniffed in disapproval. "A noble lady does not feed dogs at her table," she said, breaking off another piece of comb and letting the honey drip down onto her bread. "She's not a dog, she's a direwolf," Sansa pointed out as Lady licked her fingers with a rough tongue.

She is good at this, he thought, as he watched her tell Lord Gyles that his cough was sounding better, compliment Elinor Tyrell on her gown, and question Jalabhar Xho about wedding customs in the Summer Isles. His cousin Ser Lancel had been brought down by Ser Kevan, the first time he’d left his sickbed since the battle. He looks ghastly. Lancel’s hair had turned white and brittle, and he was thin as a stick. Without his father beside him holding him up, he would surely have collapsed. Yet when Sansa praised his valor and said how good it was to see him getting strong again, both Lancel and Ser Kevan beamed. She would have made Joffrey a good queen and a better wife if he’d had the sense to love her. He wondered if his nephew was capable of loving anyone.

Ahead he glimpsed a pale white trunk that could only be a weirwood, crowned with a head of dark red leaves.

In their midst was a pale stranger; a slender young weirwood with a trunk as white as a cloistered maid. Dark red leaves sprouted from its reaching branches.

There's the Naerys-Sansa parallels, which I went into detail about here and here - not only does Joffrey compare himself to Aegon the Unworthy, and Tyrion compare himself to Viserys II, but Sansa compares Margaery and Loras to Bethany Bracken and the Toyne Brothers. So who is Naerys? Obviously it's Sansa. Then there's the fact that she's named for a Sansa Stark that was meant to inherit but ultimately has to marry her nephew and rule only as his wife rather than ruling lady herself. That part of the Stark family tree isn't just thrown in for giggles - in fact there are several changes and elaborations to the family trees in recent years that were added specifically to parallel and foreshadow the main plot (see also: little Daenerys dying of the shivering sickness after being denied the "princess of dragonstone" title by her father).

And there's plenty that shows she's clearly learning from the mistakes of the people around her-

"The night’s first traitors,” the queen said, “but not the last, I fear. Have Ser Ilyn see to them, and put their heads on pikes outside the stables as a warning.” As they left, she turned to Sansa. “Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. Be gentle on a night like this and you’ll have treasons popping up all about you like mushrooms after a hard rain. The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy.” “I will remember, Your Grace,” said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people’s loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I’ll make them love me.

She never knew why she got to her feet, but she did. “Don’t be afraid,” she told them loudly. “The queen has raised the drawbridge. This is the safest place in the city..." [...] Sansa raised her hands for quiet. “Joffrey’s come back to the castle. He’s not hurt. They’re still fighting, that’s all I know, they’re fighting bravely. The queen will be back soon.” The last was a lie, but she had to soothe them. She noticed the fools standing under the galley. “Moon Boy, make us laugh.”

Lancel was one of them, yet somehow she still could not bring herself to wish him dead. I am soft and weak and stupid, just as Joffrey says. I should be killing him, not helping him.

And of course there's plenty pointing to the idea that Petyr has some Queenly plans for her and that Sansa is trying to get out from under his thumb.

"You would not believe half of what is happening in King’s Landing, sweetling. Cersei stumbles from one idiocy to the next, helped along by her council of the deaf, the dim, and the blind. I always anticipated that she would beggar the realm and destroy herself, but I never expected she would do it quite so fast. It is quite vexing. I had hoped to have four or five quiet years to plant some seeds and allow some fruits to ripen, but now … it is a good thing that I thrive on chaos. What little peace and order the five kings left us will not long survive the three queens, I fear.” “Three queens?” She did not understand. Nor did Petyr choose to explain.

This morning her eye was caught by a parti-colored gown of Tully red and blue, lined with vair... “And you’d best change as well.” Alayne looked down at her dress, the deep blue and rich dark red of Riverrun. “Is it too—” “It is too Tully. The Lords Declarant will not be pleased by the sight of my bastard daughter prancing about in my dead wife’s clothes. Choose something else. Need I remind you to avoid sky blue and cream?” “No.” Sky blue and cream were the colors of House Arryn. “Eight, you said … Bronze Yohn is one of them?” “The only one who matters.” “Bronze Yohn knows me,” she reminded him. “He was a guest at Winterfell when his son rode north to take the black.” She had fallen wildly in love with Ser Waymar, she remembered dimly, but that was a lifetime ago, when she was a stupid little girl. “And that was not the only time. Lord Royce saw … he saw Sansa Stark again at King’s Landing, during the Hand’s tourney.”

"I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow."

no, this isn't about her ripping the dolls head off. The castle made of snow is clearly Winterfell, and the savage giant is clearly Littlefinger (his sigil is literally a Titan). All of this to say - she's going home and she's going to be instrumental in rebuilding Winterfell.

Then there's all this stuff about her claim. No one will ever love her for her claim, everyone wants her for her claim - it's important, it's integral to her story that she must be aware of who she is marrying because of her claim. That's not about to go away any time soon! And why does it echo so often in her story specifically?

And for all the "well she watches politics but she's not involved in them" arguments (not accusing you of this, just bringing it up). a) that's stupid don't pmo, and b) she's the only character with an arc like this. an arc that is completely predicated on her seeing and learning rather than doing. She is the only character to come into contact with basically every great house (Tyrell, Lannister, Baratheon, Tully, Stark, Martell, Greyjoy, and Arryn) and so many of the lesser but still noble and highly regarded houses such as Redwyne, Royce, Dondarrion, etc. She is the protege (however unwilling) of not one but two of the biggest political players in Littlefinger and Cersei. She is on friendly terms with several Tyrells, several Royces, arguably Tyrion & Lancel Lannister, arguably Myrcella Baratheon, and is acting as a surrogate mother to the current Lord of the Eyrie, Sweetrobin. She has all of these connections from her mother's house and allies in the Riverlands, she's currently building up a host of knights who are both untested and eager for battle and loyal only to her and Sweetrobin (the Winged Knights), and she has Jon arguing for her right to rule Winterfell all the way at the Wall.

Do you know what I call that? I call that setup!

POINT TWO: MARTELLS

Ya that’s a common thought that the Martells are fucked and I’m not saying it’s not a fear I have but I think it really sucks, in a decidedly racist way, to introduce a family motivated by the brutal rape and murder of a woman in their family, destroyed by grief & clawing their way back onto the stage, only to get summarily wiped out with a finger wagging aesop's fable esque moral about how revenge is always wrong. Beyond the optics of it (which I cannot stress enough, the optics are racist) that, to me, doesn't really fit with the much more nuanced discussions of revenge throughout the story. Even in similarly orientalist storylines like Meereen, there is a lot of discussion of violence, when violence is necessary, when violence is unnecessary, when violence is necessary but people are using it as an excuse because they just really like killing, and the effect of violence on everyone from the top of the pyramid to the bottom. The idea that all the Martells are going to wiped out because "revenge is bad" is just silly.

It’s also like. I mean but HOW are ALL of them dying? They’re not like the Baratheons, or Targaryens, where there’s only 2 or 3 and they're in deep shit. I think things look bleak for for some of the Sand Snakes and the Lyanna parallelism with Elia makes me nervous, and also Doran is just old and sick, but like. Arianne? Trystane? Sarella? They all feel fine to me! I think people forget how many Martells there are, frankly, and how scattered about they are. It's not like you can take out the entire family tree with one hit!

POINT THREE: Aegon & Rhaenyra

I think acknowledging Rhaenyra as queen was something Aegon felt was impossible politically and Viserys felt was unnecessary. I think we’ll see, not dissimilar from Corlys, that Viserys sees getting Rhaenyra’s blood on the throne as “good enough” because he’s missing The Point.

For the beginning of Aegon’s reign, he doesn’t have a lot of real power & very few clear allies, and I think that gives him pause when he first comes of age. I think by the time he dies, he doesn’t really have the political goodwill to acknowledge her. His mother is not fondly remembered, the dragons are all dead, and Aegon himself is a very withdrawn, little seen and little loved ruler. I’m fairly positive it occurs to him, but what can he do, even as king, when he himself is not popular and doesn’t seem to do much to make himself so? IMO this is part of why daeron & baelor are so insane - they watched their father board himself up in the red keep and drown in his misery, and he never accomplished anything except living and dying with that crown forced on his head. He didn’t feel like he COULD do anything, and he probably didn’t try because of his despair.