#quorarepeatmaybe

[kylandara]

What are things you would praise Sansa Stark for? Do you think it matters that some of her accomplishments were achievable only due to the help she received from other characters?

Kelsey...

As to the first question, there are two qualities of hers that stand out:

She learns from her mistakes. She might screw up, and she might screw up badly. But generally she seems to reflect on where she went wrong and at least make a considered, self-aware attempt to better herself. She shows actual growth as a person. She’s shown herself to be highly adaptable, mentally resilient and, eventually, shrewd. I think at this point she has a survivor’s mentality, and it will serve her well going forward. She’s also one of the very few characters left who has not had any sort of direct, first-hand brush with the supernatural (beyond, in the books, being a latent warg herself, of course) — no dragons, fire zealot priests, ice monsters, sorcerer-assassins, greenseers and so on. If the story will end with magic being stamped out or sent back into an ebb, she seems the best-positioned to deal with the “real” world.

She’s the best kind of sieve. She’s able to process experiences and relationships with people and filter out the bad while keeping the good or the useful. Her relationship with Cersei is a good example of this: Sansa is able to filter out Cersei’s bad qualities (cruelty, lack of care for people in her charge, being power-hungry) while retaining what it is about Cersei that can improve her (namely, giving as good as you get and not taking anyone’s shit). She does it with Littlefinger, too — she learns how to schmooze and glad-hand and persuade people without going too far and while having some higher purpose than herself in mind. This is related to the first point, but not quite the same.

As to the second question:

Tyrion is alive now only because Jaime and Varys bailed him out before he could be executed — on top of Podrick saving him at the Blackwater and Bronn volunteering to fight for him at the Eyrie.

Dany is where she is because three dragon eggs were given to her because she’s a Targaryen and for absolutely no other reason. This is on top of characters like Jorah and Barristan backing her up continuously; she also has people left in Meereen to clean up after her when she leaves.

Arya had Yoren to get her out of King’s Landing, Jaqen to help her escape Harrenhal and Sandor to keep her alive until she could get to Braavos.

Jon got a priceless Valyrian sword because his dog overheard the ice zombies in time and Jeor Mormont was feeling generous. He also had Yrgitte to help him assimilate into wildling society and Sam’s bottomless well of historical knowledge.

Bran had Jojen, Meera and Hodor to get him to Bloodraven’s cave, and had Bloodraven communicate important information to him.

Jaime had Brienne to get him back to King’s Landing when his hand was hacked off.

Brienne in turn had Catelyn to help her escape Renly’s camp and then Jaime to give her a priceless Valyrian sword.

Davos was knighted for smuggling onions.

Sam had Jon to protect him from bullies at the Wall.

In other words, who exactly in this story hasn’t had help from other characters? If Sansa’s character arc is “compromised” because she received assistance, what are we to make of characters like Tyrion and Arya who always manage to have someone to whisk them out of a jam, or someone like Dany who can keep failing upward ad nauseam? Sansa’s not the beneficiary of anything that anyone else isn’t, and then some.