The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards will air tonight on TNT and TBS at 8:00 pm EST, and some of the attendees were stepping out at Entertainment Weekly’s pre-show party on Friday. Among those attendees was Sophie Turner, who turned the Game of Thrones hype meter up to 11 as she teased what’s to come this year.
On the one hand, Turner talked about the season generally, and echoed the “It’s gonna be huge” sentiments of costars like Emilia Clarke. “I mean this season there’s like so many shocks, it’s massive,” Turner said. “It’s the biggest season yet. And just like in terms of character development, so many people’s storylines, I’m so excited for. I’m so excited to see Alfie’s one this season. It’s going to be good.”
WARNING: SPOILERS FORTHCOMING
“Alfie” would be Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy, or Reek, depending on his headspace. Last we saw Sansa, she and Theon had leapt from the walls of Winterfell. Since both Turner and Allen have been spotted filming scenes for Season 6, it’s clear that they survive the jump. While it’s likely they’ll travel together for at least a little while, spoilers have it that they’ll split up eventually. Theon will head home to the Iron Islands, but Sansa’s destination has been less clear.
Wherever Sansa ends up, Turner is very excited about this leg of her journey. Here’s how she described it:
"I mean this season is a really, really big one for Sansa. It’s probably her best season yet. It’s her really coming into her own. She, this season, really commands the respect that she deserves and she grabs hold of it and she runs with it and it’s really good."
Sansa spent the first half of Season 5 getting jerked around by Littlefinger, who let her believe she was in control of her own destiny, and the latter half locked away in a tower by her psychotic husband, Ramsay Bolton. It was a rough year for the character that inspired a lot of heated fan reaction, particularly after Ramsay raped Sansa on their wedding night. In Season 6, it sounds like Sansa is finally pushing back. According to Turner, fans are “finally getting that storyline that you’ve been craving for the past five seasons.”
"It was amazing because the past five seasons, it feels like it’s been building up and up to that. You can only suffer so much before she finally gets her, the respect that she deserves."
Around a month ago, Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa said that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were “responsive” to the discussion regarding Sansa’s Season 5 rape and changed “a couple of things” about Season 6 as a result. There’s no guarantee that any of those changes had to do with Sansa, but one wonders if they tinkered with Sansa’s storyline to make it more palatable for fans.
In any case, it’ll be good to see Sansa in fighting shape in Season 6. Lord knows she’s earned a break.