Sansa felt that she ought to say something. What was it that Septa Mordane used to tell her? A lady’s armor is courtesy, that was it. She donned her armor.
—A Clash of Kings
Our second look at Game of Thrones season 8 follows right on the heels of our first, picking up after Jon Snow and Sansa Stark reunite and embrace in the Winterfell courtyard.
This time, we see that Daenerys Targaryen was just offscreen the whole time, having newly arrived at the Stark stronghold.
At first glance, this is a straightforward few seconds, the finalization of an alliance between the Starks and Targaryen armies, and the acceptance of Daenerys as queen. But to take anything in this series at face value is precisely how the showrunners so often pull the rug out from under the audience. So let’s take a closer look.
Since the Stark siblings started to reunite in season 6, they have all struggled to know who to trust. In season 6, Sansa went it alone, rather than trust Jon enough to tell him that Littlefinger had offered the help of the Knights of the Vale. In season 7, with Littlefinger stirring the pot, Sansa and Arya mistrusted each other. After seasons of suffering, Jon, Sansa and Arya have come to a point where they must learn to find faith in other people again; namely, in each other. They’re on their way, with Jon and Sansa connecting at the end of season 6 and Sansa and Arya reconciling in the season 7 finale.
What we’ve seen of season 8 thus far recalls the series premiere. Sansa tells Daenerys, “Winterfell is yours, Your Grace,” just as her father told Robert Baratheon, “[I’ve been] guarding the North for you, Your Grace. Winterfell is yours.”
The key difference here, of course, is that Ned and Robert were friends, whereas Sansa and Daenerys have never met. Where Ned and Robert fought together, there are many Northerners and nobility from the Vale who consider Daenerys an invader, the daughter of the man they fought to overthrow a generation ago. When Jon decides to go south and meet Daenerys, Yohn Royce, Robett Glover, and Lyanna Mormont all object, with many of their subjects shouting their agreement. Nevertheless, Jon left and Sansa has been holding the North ever since, ensuring that those subjects remain loyal to Jon so they don’t lose their armies on the brink of war.
This brings us back to the Starks’ trust issues. If the pack means to survive, the members need to remember what Jon told Sansa after they reclaimed Winterfell: “We need to trust each other. We can’t fight a war amongst ourselves. We have so many enemies now.”
Let’s return to the clips, stringing both together. Jon and Sansa hug, Sansa looks at Daenerys, and then Daenerys walks over and introduces herself. Dipping into speculation, we can ask if anything happens between these beats — does Jon whisper something to Sansa during their embrace, perhaps a reiteration of his declaration that they need to trust each other? If so, Sansa’s words to Daenerys suggest that she’s willing to play along.
We know that Sansa has gained the support of the North, and can guess she won’t be pleased to cede her home after all she and Jon did to take it back from the Boltons. Sansa and Daenerys will not be fast friends who braid each other’s hair. These women have conflicting goals, ideologies, and even a lingering blood feud between their families. To assume that they should get along based on their gender alone, strips them both of their agency as individuals.
Still, Sansa has had to placate all manner of rulers before. She knows how to play the game, and trusts Jon enough to believe that ceding the North is the necessary course of action for the time being. I suspect we’ll find out Sansa’s true feelings on the matter once Daenerys is out of earshot.
