Arya vs. Sansa Is Everything That Is Wrong With ‘Game of Thrones’
Opinion
The penultimate episode of each Game of Thrones season is always a highly anticipated, action packed crowd pleaser, but Sunday night’s episode, “Beyond the Wall,” wasn’t exactly the resounding success that “Battle of the Bastards” or “Blackwater” were.
Most critics have focused on the unnecessary, improbable lunacy of Jon Snow (née Targaryen) and company’s zombie hunting mission, but the Arya Stark vs. Sansa Stark subplot is getting its share of backlash as well. As Sarah Mesle argues in the LA Review of Books, the Stark sisters’ rapidly escalating hostility makes sense in the context of their grim, misogynist fantasy world. And that’s just the problem: Sansa and Arya’s enmity makes sense in a narrative in which characters are constantly behaving in counterproductively myopic ways. It’s just one of Game of Thrones’ many problems that are perfectly embodied in the Arya-Sansa feud.
Tension between the sisters has been brewing since Arya showed up at Winterfell to find Sansa leading in Jon’s place, with the duplicitous Littlefinger at her side. Even before life kicked both of their asses, the Stark girls never saw eye to eye.
Arya has always looked down on Sansa for being all about that King’s Landing life, and Sansa couldn’t understand her younger sister’s penchant for swords and shields instead of dresses and needlework. After their initial reunion, in becomes clear that the divide has only deepened. Littlefinger sees this and attempts to exploit it, further isolating Sansa to maintain his influence.
In “Beyond the Wall,” the tension between the sisters turns openly hostile, with Arya all but threatening to kill her sister, and Sansa sending away Brienne, who would presumably stand between the two of them in a grudge match.
It’s a dismaying development for both characters. After all they’ve been through and with enemies to the north and south, both Arya and Sansa should know better than to turn on each other. But here, they have something very much in common with their mother.
In Season 1, Catelyn Stark, believing him responsible for Bran Stark’s attempted murder, took Tyrion Lannister hostage with almost no thought about the consequences. It seemed inevitable, as they traveled to the Vale together, that at some point it would dawn on Catelyn that her prisoner had neither the capacity nor the motivation to murder her crippled, comatose son. She may have had her doubts, but she was too blinded by vengeance, and that moment never really came. That’s just one example of a larger pattern on the show of characters not being able to see the bigger picture, only fighting the battles immediately in front of them.
Now we have Arya and Sansa seemingly oblivious to Littlefinger’s machinations, letting their youthful resentments resurface and distract them from what is really going on. It’s a disappointing turn not just because they seem to be repeating their parents’ mistakes—Sansa in particular has been adamant that she wouldn’t fall into the same traps as her father Ned and brother Robb—but because it does such a disservice to the characters’ journeys.
Both Sansa and Arya’s stories have been about claiming agency. After being brutalized by both Cersei Lannister and Ramsey Bolton, Sansa has finally come into her own as player rather than a pawn in the game of thrones. Meanwhile, Arya has lived through horrors of her own and managed to become the skilled fighter she always dreamed of being. At the beginning of Season 7, it seemed like the Stark sisters had finally become the formidable women we all want to see work together on screen.
And yet, neither seems to be able to see through Littlefinger’s manipulations. The fact that they’re playing right into his hands—and I’m not convinced that they’re just faking him out—robs them of much of their hard won agency. That’s even more dismaying considering the show’s problematic track record with female characters. Is it too much to ask that the show not re-victimize Arya and Sansa by once again making them pawns in the some man’s schemes?
And then there’s the bizarre character assassination the show seems to be engaged in on Arya’s part. When she left the House of Black and White in Season 6, it seemed like she had turned a corner. In reclaiming her identity and returning to Westeros, turning her back on her murder list to return home to Winterfell, it seemed like this season would humanize her, that she would use her combat skills to fight for her family and for humanity. Instead, she seems to have become more of a creepy murder machine than ever.
Sansa, on the other hand, could easily have gone full Cersei after feeding Ramsey Bolton to his own dogs last season. She could have given herself over to the same single-minded vengeance as her mother, Catelyn. Instead, she has become a competent, practical leader in Jon’s absence. Even before her half-brother left her in charge, she’d proved herself a pragmatic strategist, bringing Littlefinger and his forces into the fold not because she liked or trusted him, but because it was what was necessary to take back Winterfell. Sansa is doing the hard, grown-up work of leading, while Arya is just interested in being hard.
Both characters are unquestionably traumatized by what they’ve been through. But Sansa has grown. Arya, on the other hand, has calcified. If she continues down this road, I’m not sure we should be rooting for her anymore.
Part of what makes Game of Thrones so thrilling is its willingness to subvert the fantasy genre. Beloved characters are constantly being killed off and for the most part the show resists fan service. But at a certain point satisfaction has to count for something.
We’ve come a long way with Arya. We’ve spent years assuming that she’s going to become a hero, not a cold blooded assassin. To have her become just another ruthless killer in a world of ruthless killers feels like a betrayal.
For Game of Thrones to be more than just puerile—if riveting—entertainment, it needs to show us that its characters can move beyond the endless cycle of vengeance and intrigue. It needs to show us they can grow.
Between next week’s finale and the six-episode final season, there are roughly seven hours of television left for one of these people to invent democracy. As Tyrion tells Dany, her plan to “break the wheel” probably won’t be achievable in her lifetime, which means Westeros is in all likelihood in for plenty more turmoil even after the final credits roll.
But what Game of Thrones can realistically give us before the series ends is a satisfying conclusion for the characters in whom we’ve invested so much. If Arya and Sansa’s arch this season is any indication, however, I’m not confident that that’s something the show is either interested in or capable of doing.
Game of Thrones, Season 7 Finale, Sunday, 9/8c, HBO
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B
This would be what you would read into this situation if you ignored the last scene between Sansa and Arya.
Arya pulls out the dagger that Bran gave her and hands it to Sansa.
What that means, literally, is command me. My blade is yours. I think she is saying, "let me kill Littlefinger-- please!!"
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G
Agree.
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O
The pure stupidity of this article is beyond words. The Arya-Sansa feud
has been a plot device/arc since the first season, when Sansa
double-crossed Arya in order to secure the crown; a betrayal that left
Arya's friend dead and cost Arya her dire-wolf. Claiming that the
Arya-Sansa began this season to in order to contrive some sort of weird
misogynist fantasy shows you are not nearly as familiar with the source
material that you claim to be. Or did you forget that Sansa was on
Arya's kill list? Never fear, as this will soon be mended. BTW, in the
context used by the article writer the word is "arc", not "arch".Ser Clegane will make his way back to Winterfell from the wall. Once there, the
Hound will see Baelish, and then tell Arya what he witnessed at Kings Landing; that Littlefinger betrayed Ned Stark, insuring Stark's execution. Arya will then gleefully filet Baelish using the very dagger he held to Ned's throat, thus acquiring a new face; the face that will lead the Knights of the Vale. Whether or not Sansa will be privy to this killing is really all that remains to be seen. I suspect she will be, as she has seen Arya's "faces", a plot contrivance that sets the stage for Sansa's complicity. So please, save your misandrist rhetoric for the real world, where real oppressive patriarchy exists.3
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C
Well done (and said) Fred. Kickin' ass and takin' names (and faces...)
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O
Sansa didn't double-crossed Arya in order to secure the crown. Arya sent Nymeria away after she attacked Joffrey and Cercei sent the Hound to kill Micah before the "trial", it has nothing to do with Sansa.
Sansa first told the truth to her father but then she was dragged before the king to testify. She tried to say that she didn't remember because she was torn between her loyalty to her old family and the new one she was given to. Ned himself said that she had to follow Joffrey even if he was wrong, that's what her parents taught her to do. She never betray her family in the show. It's her parents who betroth her to Joffrey, it's not as if she had seduced him and endangered her family. She's the one who was unfairly punished with the death of Lady
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C
"...Arya and Sansa SEEMINGLY oblivious to Littlefinger's machinations..." You're choosing to tear down Arya for all these perceived faults while choosing to ignore the fact that she may be the smartest one in the room. You have no idea whether she's doing a double reverse on Littlefinger and letting him THINK she's fallen for his bait, THINK she's gone cold with her sister (who she clearly wouldn't take into her confidence if she has a plan to take out Littlefinger as she doesn't know what THEIR exact relationship is - since every time she turns around - Sansa is with him - and seemingly unable to show much sisterly love or respect), THINK she's fallen into his trap. She may very well be setting one of her own. You only have to think back to her agonizing chase through the streets and into the DARKNESS - where she sprung a trap of her own. Anya knows exactly what she's doing. She's learned hard lessons. Apparently - you have not.
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O
Yeah, that Time story we link to above makes the case for the Stark women working together pretty convincingly, but if that's the case, I'm not sure it makes this storyline any more satisfying. How do Arya and Sansa benefit from this charade? What's the point of such an elaborate scheme? To me, it feel like too much of a MacGuffin.
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C
Never said Arya and Sansa are working together. If Arya's looking to double back and take Littlefinger out of the picture, she's not letting Sansa in on her scheme. She'd keep her in the dark and make her sweat - so it plays that way to Littlefinger who thinks he's got it all going on. Then wheh the trap is sprung - he's gone - permanently - and Sansa and Arya grow closer - with big sister knowing that little sister had her back. Think about it - you really think Arya's going to leave her masks lying around for Sansa to find - if she didn't want her to?
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G
YES! Exactly.
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R
You're not supposed to root for Arya. This was the show's early mistake. Arya's story is one of giving to violent passion. She becomes a psychopath, not a plucky hero. They're just trying to get her on the right path again.
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O
Sounds like you want a happy ending. That's not George R.R. Martin's style. He does meticulous research to base his works on historical realities. That's why the shocking twist and turns are so believable, they have their basis in history. I think it's hilarious with all that's going on, with everything Sansa and Arya have seen, they still revert back to sibling rivalry so easily. That's human nature, that's truth. Martin also writes each chapter in the books from the vantage point of all the main characters, so you're forced to relate to the characters that might be considered villains. Moral ambiguity pervades the work. I hope it continues to do so throughout. The storytellers do not owe us any heroes, just truth.
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O
Arya is the Waif
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C
That's what I'm thinking!
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O
She's certainly acting like it, but it doesn't hold up. Why would the Waif bother murdering all the Freys? Why would she be on her way to King's Landing instead of heading directly to Winterfell? How would she know who Hot Pie even was?
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R
Neither Ned, Caitlyn nor Rob turned out to be the sharpest tools in the shed. Pretty to think that Sansa and/or Ayra would turn out to be more clever than their parents, but the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.
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