#Only Friends: Behind the Scenes Ep02

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Force Jiratchapong and Book Kasidet in Only Friends: Behind the Scenes Episode 2 (2023) [X]

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Winterfell’s Daughter. On Sansa Stark (part 9)

This is the 9th installment in my analysis of Sansa Stark’s narrative arc in Game of Thrones (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8). Season 2 is hard to watch because Sansa suffers so much abuse from the Lannisters. The most obvious is the physical abuse that Joffrey subjects her to. However, his mother Cersei is the architect behind the emotional abuse that Sansa suffers - she employs a more sophisticated approach but the wounds she inflicts are no less painful.

THE LITTLE DOVE AND THE LIONESS

As Joffrey’s betrothed, Sansa is the future daughter-in-law of Cersei - and Cersei pretty much embodies the mother-in-law from hell. In many respects, Cersei plays the part of the Wicked Stepmother in the twisted fairy tale that Sansa’s story has become. Cersei is subtle in her abuse of Sansa and we witness the first instance of this abuse at an uncomfortable dinner that Sansa has with Cersei and her two youngest children Tommen and Myrcella in ep02 where Cersei makes a point of reminding Sansa of her place as the hostage of a rebel king.

The scene starts with everyone dining in silence until Myrcella asks when Joffrey and Sansa are to be married. Myrcella beings to chatter about the new gowns she’s going to have for the wedding festivities and then she brings up Sansa’s wedding gown. 

Mycella is much like Sansa before her world shattered, innocent and without malice but she is also completely oblivious chatters to Sansa’s feelings. Sansa just sits in silence with an agonized expression on her face whilst her future wedding is discussed, an event that she most definitely doesn’t look forward to.

Cersei, of course, immediately notices Sansa’s akward silence and starts prodding her to enter into the conversation:

Cersei: The princess just spoke to you.

Once again Sansa has to deliver her dishonest little spiel about how she cannot wait to wed the boy who is responsible for her father’s death and who has his guards abuse her physically.

Both Tommen and Myrcella are aware of Sansa’s situation: that her father was executed and that her brother is a rebel. However, they don’t seem to consider that Sansa might be unhappy. They don’t seem to take Sansa’s feelings into account at all during this dinner party.  Their attitude doesn’t stem from malice but rather from thoughtlessness and a certain level of innocence (I don’t think they know that Joffrey has Sansa physically abused).

Cersei, however, is fully aware of Sansa’s grief and torment - and when Tommen asks an innocent question, Cersei uses this as an opportunity to remind Sansa of her status as the sister of a rebel king and as a political hostage:  

Tommen: Is Joffrey going to kill Sansa’s brother?

Cersei: He might. Would you like that?

(Sansa drinks deeply)

Tommen: No. I don’t think so.

Cersei: Even if he does, Sansa will do her duty. Won’t you, Little Dove?

Cersei is subtly needling Sansa, reminding her that she is powerless and taking a fair bit of pleasure in the poor girl’s misery as Sansa fights to keep back her tears. Sansa has to suppress her grief over her father’s death. She cannot speak her mind and she is forced to repeatedly denounce her beloved mother and brother as traitors. Cersei is very aware of this and she seems to take a kind of twisted pleasure in Sansa’s misery. Throughout this season Sansa is extremely subdued in her reactions and careful when she speaks. This sometimes makes it a bit difficult to write about her because she’s a very internal character during the time she’s a hostage in King’s Landing. It is a credit to Sophie Turner’s talent as an actress that she is able to silently convey Sansa’s feelings solely through her body language and her facial expressions. Watching this scene, you do not doubt that she’s miserable and that she has to exert an enormous will power not to cry in front of her captors.

AN UNLIKELY FRIEND

The dinner scene with Cersei transitions into a scene in Sansa’s chambers where she gazes sadly at her own face in a blurry mirror, accompanied by a melancholy piece of music. Her sad musings are interrupted by Shae, Tyrion’s lover, who presents herself as Sansa’s new chambermaid. 

Sansa is understandably suspicious - she has not been informed that she’ll get a new chambermaid and she also quickly deduces that Shae is not Westerosi. Furthermore, Shae obviously doesn’t know anything about the job and is kind of insolent. Sansa the berates Shae because Shae ought to know what her job entails. On the surface Sansa’s might appear a bit bratty but take a closer look at her face. Her eyes are wet. Her emotions are rubbed raw after that dinner, which was emotional torture for her with Cersei bringing up both the possibility of Robb’s death and the fact that Sansa has to marry Joffrey.

Sansa is close to tears at this point and she lashes out at the only available target – Shae, who not only acts suspiciously (from Sansa’s POV) but who also is a social inferior. However, the scene takes a surprising turn after this. 

Shae: Do you want me to leave?

Minutes earlier Sansa said she didn’t want her hair brushed – but she is so lonely that a insolent stranger brushing her hair is better than being alone. In this context, it is worth emphasizing that having her hair brushed has special meaning for Sansa. It was something that her mother used to do for her as an act of affection and intimacy - and Sansa misses her mother desperately. 

Sansa’s hair doesn’t really need brushing but she’s sad, alone and tired – and having her hair brushed is soothing. This act also marks the beginning of Sansa and Shae’s relationship, a relationship that deepens into genuine affection. This may not be the most auspicious beginning to their relationship but Sansa and Shae develop a friendship to the extent that Sansa trusts Shae enough to express her opinions freely, which I noted in my previous post.

However, it is in ep07 that we see how much Shae actually has come to care for Sansa. The scene in question is the one where Sansa gets her first period. This is a deeply traumatic experience for Sansa, especially since it comes right after a nightmare about the sexual assault she suffered during the Bread Riot. I have previously criticized the fact that the show didn’t bring up Sansa’s assault during her conversation with Shae in the aftermath of the violent events in King’s Landing. However, by including Sansa’s nightmare, the show does hint that Sansa has an unprocessed trauma regarding the assault she suffered. The fact that Sansa discovers that she’s gotten her period right after this nightmare links the onset of her physical maturation with the sexual trauma that she’s been subjected to.

Sansa reacts with despair and absolute panic - and Sophie really delivers a wonderful performance in this scene. Sansa is in a state of panic because she knows that she’s now eligible for marriage to Joffrey by Lannister standards. Theoretically, she is not able to become pregnant and a royal consort’s first duty is to produce heirs to the throne. However, the prospect of marriage to Joffrey has become a nightmare for Sansa. That is why she desperately tries to conceal the evidence by attempting to cut away the bloodied portion from her bed sheet. 

When Shae enters the room and sees what has happened, she immediately goes to help Sansa - suggesting that they flip the mattress to hide the evidence of her period.

Sadly, their attempt is foiled when another chambermaid arrives, sees what they’re doing and then immediately leaves to inform Cersei what has happened. This is where we get to see exactly how fierce Shae can be in her defense of Sansa. Shae follows the other chambermaid, puts knife to her throat and threatens her into silence.

Sadly, Shae’s efforts are in vain because when she returns to Sansa’s chamber, she’s confronted by the fact that Sansa has been found out - by Sandor Clegane of all people! The presence of the Hound is rather odd - and we never get any explanation of how exactly he came to be in Sansa’s chambers.

However, the end result is that Cersei is informed that Sansa is now a woman, physiologically at least, which is all that the Lannisters really care about: that she has become fertile.

A PIECE OF WOMANLY “WISDOM”

The following scene takes place in Cersei’s chambers where she takes on a maternal role, educating Sansa about the messy realities of a woman’s life when it comes to childbirth. Interestingly, Cersei appears somewhat sympathetic to Sansa here, which is a stark contrast to how she acted towards Sansa in the previous dinner scene.

Cersei actually does what Catelyn would have done if the situation had been normal, which the show actually alludes to in the dialogue:

Cersei: Your mother might have prepared you. You flowered, my dear. Nothing more.

Sansa: My mother told me, but I thought it would be different.

Cersei: In what way?

Sansa: I thought it would be less… less messy.

Cersei: Wait until you birth a child. You’re a woman now. Do you have any idea of what that means?

Sansa: I’m fit to bear children for the king.

Cersei: A prospect that once delighted you, bringing little princes and princesses into the world, the greatest honour for a queen.

Despite her sympathetic attitude Cersei can’t help to make a little jab at Sansa, mocking her for her youthful infatuation with Joffrey before he had her father killed. At this point Sansa lowers her gaze, not giving Cersei the opportunity to read her face - and when Cersei mentions that birthing children is the greatest honour for a queen, Sansa quietly nods whilst she visibly swallows. As the previous scene showed us, the thought of having to sleep with and give Joffrey children has now become a nightmare.

After a short silence where the camera switches between medium close-ups of Cersei and Sansa, Cersei is surprisingly honest with Sansa about Joffrey:

Cersei: Joffrey has always been difficult. Even his birth, I labored a day and a half to bring him into this world. You cannot imagine the pain. 

Cersei reminisces about how her husband would flee to the Kingswood whenever she was in labour whilst Jaime wouldn’t be kept away from her birthing bed - and then she warns Sansa:

Cersei: Joffrey will show you no such devotion. You may never love the king, but you will love his children.

Sansa: I love His Grace with all my heart.

Cersei: That’s so very touching to hear.

Once again we see Sansa delivering her little spiel about how much she loves Joffrey. She doesn’t let down her guard, even if Cersei appears somewhat sympathetic. This is also the reason why Sansa is so subdued in this scene. She doesn’t trust Cersei, she knows that just a slip of the tongue can get her into trouble because even though Cersei is no Joffrey, she is still one of Sansa’s tormentors.

Cersei: Permit me to share some womanly wisdom with you on this very special day. The more people you love, the weaker you are. You’ll do things for them that you know you shouldn’t do. You’ll act the fool to make them happy, to keep them safe. Love no one but your children. On that front, a mother has no choice.

Sansa: Shouldn’t I love Joffrey, Your Grace?

Cersei: You can try, Little Dove.

That last exchange is different from the rest of the scene. So far Sansa has been very subdued, she doesn’t trust Cersei but I think that she’s confused and unsure how to respond to this “womanly wisdom” that Cersei shares with her. Cersei’s acknowlegding that Joffrey is “difficult” (an understatement!) throws Sansa because she never expected Cersei admitting that her precious son is not a perfect prince.

I find this scene rather interesting because, unlike the dinner scene, Cersei doesn’t torment Sansa here. Rather she thinks that she giving out sound advice to her future daughter-in-law. However, Cersei’s advice about not loving anyone but your children reflects her toxic world view. Loving people is not a weakness, it is the repudiation of love and compassion that is the weakness. 

IN THE ABSENCE OF HER MOTHER

An interesting thing about Sansa’s season 2 arc is the fact that the show places her scenes with Cersei and Shae in close proximity to each other. In fact, her scenes with both women always directly follow one another. This narrative structure invites the audience to compare and contrast how the two women interact with Sansa and this is incredibly important since these are the only women that Sansa has significant relationships with in season 2.

Cersei is a source of torment for Sansa but also a kind of toxic mentor who “educates” Sansa about the reality of a woman’s life in the patriarchal order of Westeros. Shae is a woman who becomes an ally, a source of comfort but also someone who educates Sansa about aspects of life that Sansa has been blind to: mainly the plight of the common folk (after the bread riot in ep06). Cersei plays the role of an evil step-mother in Sansa’s life whereas Shae becomes a confidante and a friend.

However, I also think that there’s a maternal subtext to Shae’s relationship with Sansa. This maternal aspect to Shae’s interactions with Sansa begins with her brushing Sansa’s hair - something that the show (and the books) explicitly connects to Sansa’s relationship with her mother Catelyn. Furthermore, the fierceness with which Shae tries to protect Sansa also subtly evokes Catelyn’s fierceness when it comes to the safety of her children.

On the show Shae is very different from her book incarnation, where she’s portrayed as petty and avaricious. Personally, I rather like this change. GRRM has a couple of blindspots and one of those is the complete lack of positive female relationships! I cannot think of a single relationship between two women that is depicted in positive terms in the entire series - so I am perfectly fine with the showrunners creating a positive and caring relationship between Sansa and Shae. Sansa may be Shae’s social superior but Shae provides Sansa with emotional comfort and a kind of maternal care that she sorely lacks. As previously said, the narrative structuring of Sansa’s scenes with both Cersei and Shae highlights how the two women acts as stand-ins for Sansa’s absent mother Catelyn. Cersei takes the role of the evil step-mother whereas Shae provides some of the emotional comfort that Sansa so desperately needs.

To be continued...

(GIFs not mine)