Sansa Stark is a House Stark member and is the first-born daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Stark. She takes after her mother’s looks and is more feminine than her unruly sister Arya. Sansa has three blood brothers, Robb Stark, Bran Stark, and Rickon Stark. She also has a half-brother Jon Snow, the bastard son of Ned Stark. When Waymar Royce stops at Winterfell on his way to Castle Black, Sansa falls in love with him. She gets betrothed to Joffrey as a symbol of the bond between the Baratheons and Starks. On getting to the capital, Sansa grows close to Queen Cersei Lannister. She gives the Queen crucial information on Ned Stark’s plans leading to his arrest.
Sansa Stark Details
- Name: Sansa Stark.
- Year of Birth: 286 AC at Winterfell.
- Allegiances: House Stark, House Lannister, House Arryn, House Baelish.
- Parents: Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Tully.
- Siblings: Robb Stark, Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark.
- Title: Princess.
- Culture: Northmen.
- Religion: Old Gods of the Forest and Faith of the Seven.
- Aliases: Wolf Girl, Little Bird, Jonquil, Alayne Stone, Lady Lannister.
- Hair Color: Red.
- Eye Color: Blue.
Appearance and Personality
Sansa is a beautiful maiden with soft red hair and deep blue eyes. She takes after her mother in appearance, as she has high cheekbones and a womanly figure. She smells sweet and is a soft-spoken girl with a graceful presence. Having exquisite feminine conduct, Sansa enjoys music, embroidery, and dancing and loves romance songs and stories about knights and men of valor. She and her younger sister Arya have a strained relationship because of their contrasting personalities.
Biography
Sansa was born in Winterfell with the help of Maester Luwin. She got trained by Septa Mordane in how to act feminine. Though she was close to her older brother Robb and her younger siblings, she and Jon Snow, her half-brother, were not close.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Game of Thrones
After Lord Eddard Stark, his children, and Theon Greyjoy discover six direwolves, Sansa gets one and calls her Lady. King Robert Baratheon arrives at Winterfell and asks Ned to become the Hand of the King. On accepting the offer, Robert suggests that Joffrey and Sansa get married.
On their way to King’s Landing, Sansa meets Ser Ilyn Payne and gets frightened of him. At the advice of Cersei, Joffrey takes Sansa on a walk, and they meet Arya with her friend Mycah. Joffrey taunts Mycah, and Arya steps in to help him; this lead to a confrontation, and Joff gets injured by Nymeria, Arya’s direwolf.
Arya and Mycah flee the scene, and on reaching court, Sansa refuses to say anything about what happened to be on Joffrey’s good side. Cersei asks for her direwolf to get killed, and Eddard kills Lady. Sandor Clegane gets sent after Mycah, and after he kills the boy, Arya develops a hatred for her sister. On getting to King’s Landing, Robert hosts the Hand’s Tourney, and during the event, Sansa falls for Ser Loras Tyrell when he hands her a red rose. She later meets Sandor Clegane, who narrates how he got burnt by his brother Ser Gregor Clegane.
When Ned discovers the truth behind Cersei’s children, he confronts her and plans to send his daughters to Winterfell. On learning she will not be marrying Joffrey again, Sansa tells Cersei her father’s plans; this leads to Cersei arresting Ned and killing the Starks. Sansa’s friend Jeyne gets taken by Lord Petyr Baelish. On learning of what happened, Sansa pleads for her father’s life. However, he gets killed on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor. Cersei still agrees to the proposed marriage. Robb Stark gets crowned King in the North.
A Clash of Kings
As a hostage at the Red Keep, King Joffrey orders his Kingsguard to beat Sansa for the actions of her brother Robb. At Joffrey’s name day tourney, she saves Ser Dontos Hollard from getting killed. Tyrion Lannister arrives in King’s Landing on orders of his father, Lord Tywin Lannister. He stops Sansa’s humiliation and beatings but secretly mocks her for her naivety. To gain allies, Tyrion gives Myrcella to Dorne. On the way from her send forth, a riot occurs. Sandor rescues a wounded Sansa from the mob and returns her to the Red Keep.
Stannis Baratheon marches on King’s Landing, and the Battle of Blackwater begins. During the conflict, Cersei tells Sansa how Ilyn Payne will kill them if the battle is lost. Sandor meets Sansa secretly after fleeing the battleground and asks her to leave King’s Landing with him. However, she refuses. The Lannister successfully defeat Stannis with the help of the Tyrells. After the battle, Joffrey swears to marry Margaery Tyrell.
A Storm of Swords
Upon learning of her sons’ deaths, Catelyn tasks Brienne of Tarth with taking Ser Jaime Lannister back to King’s Landing in exchange for Sansa and her sister Arya. Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, Margaery prepares for her wedding. She invites Sansa for lunch, and Lady Olenna Tyrell asks about Joffrey. Olenna then reveals to Sansa of her plans to marry her to Willas Tyrell.
However, when Sansa tells Dontos about the arrangement, he tells Petyr, who informs Lord Tywin Lannister, who weds Sansa to Tyrion. Robb and his mother get killed in the Red Wedding. Joffrey gets poisoned at his wedding feast and dies. During the commotion, Sansa flees with Dontos and meets Petyr, who reveals Olenna collected the poison used on Joffrey from her hairnet.
Tyrion gets arrested for Joffrey’s murder, and rumors spread about Sansa poisoning him. Meanwhile, she gets taken to meet Petyr at the Fingers in the Vale. Petyr gives Sansa the name Alayne Stone and takes her to the Eyrie. While at the Eyrie, Lysa Arryn reveals she knows Sansa is her niece. Lysa gets married to Petyr, but after seeing him make sexual advances on Sansa, she tries to kill her. Lysa reveals how she killed her husband, and Petyr throws her through the Moon Door. Marillion then gets framed.
A Feast for Crows
After Lysa’s death, Sansa becomes the Lady of the Eyrie. Young Robert becomes clingy with her and refers to her as his mother. Petyr tutors her in matters of politics. She lies to Lord Nestor Royce, claiming that Marillion killed Lysa. With winter coming, the Arryn court departs for the Gates of the Moon. Sansa learns that Petyr plans on wedding her to Ser Harrold Hardyng and revealing her true identity so she can become the Lady of Winterfell. Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, Tommen climbs the Iron Throne as King and Cersei get angry that Sansa, whom she tutored, betrayed her.
Appearance in Adaptation
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Sophie Turner portrayed Sansa Stark. She appeared in seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and starred in 59 episodes. After her father’s death, Sansa gets tortured by Joffrey Baratheon. However, with help from Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), her suffering gets eased. During the Battle of the Blackwater, Shae tells Sansa to return to her chambers, where she meets Sandor. He tells her to follow him, but she refuses.
With help from Petyr, Sansa escapes from King’s Landing. However, she becomes Ramsay Bolton’s wife in Winterfell. With Theon’s help, she escapes and reunites with her brother Jon. Later, she and Jon reclaim Winterfell with the Battle of the Bastards. After winning the castle, Sansa becomes its Queen and refuses to be a part of the Seven Kingdoms after Cersei and Daenerys Targaryen’s death.
Sansa Stark: The Naive Girl
Sansa Stark was an incredibly naive girl who allowed the world to trample her. She saw the world in black and white, and her unwillingness to accept the world was not always rosy led to severe hardship and sadness. However, her experiences enlightened her, and she learned how to play the Game of Thrones from Petyr Baelish.
FAQs
Why is Sansa so naive?
Sansa is naive because she is a young girl who believes in romance and tales of knights. She loves being womanly and tries to be as ladylike as possible. Because of her shielded view on life, she got played by people who saw through her.
Did Sansa get married in the books?
Yes. In the novel, Sansa gets married to Tyrion Lannister. When she met Lady Olenna, she learned she would be getting married to Willas Tyrell and told Ser Dontos Hollard. However, she did not know Dontos worked for Petyr, and when littlefinger learned of Olenna’s plan, he informed Tywin Lannister as he had plans for Sansa.
Why did Sansa betray her father?
She never knew her actions would lead to his arrest. Sansa was a young girl who did not want to leave King’s Landing and miss her chance of marrying an actual prince. So she told Cersei Lannister of Ned’s plans, hoping the Queen would convince her father to stay.
Who did Sansa hate the most?
Of everyone that maltreated her, Sansa never hated anyone like Joffrey. She loved him and even inadvertently caused her father’s death because of him. However, he did nothing but humiliate her.