The 50 Best Game of Thrones Characters, Ranked
4. Lady Sansa Stark
Lady Sansa goes through several transformations during her time in Westeros, but ultimately returns to her Northern roots. Once a naive little girl desperate to marry her dream man, she soon experiences the dangerous realities of life outside Winterfell. Her suffering shapes her into the strong woman we see today.
Sansa grew up thinking she was meant to be a proper lady who manages a social calendar, raises children, and eats lemon cakes. She assumed that’s what life in King’s Landing would be like, but instead she became a pawn in the game of thrones, subjected to psychological torture by her Mad Boy King fiancé. During her exposure to characters from Tyrion to Littlefinger to Cersei to Margaery, she learned how to manipulate people, and that helped her survive until Littlefinger engaged her to Ramsay Bolton. We couldn’t help but feel for Sansa during her initial return to Winterfell, but Sophie Turner knocked the material out of the park, portraying a woman who was growing harder and stronger by the day.
We knew all bets were off at the parley before the Battle of the Bastards. Staring her husband right in the eye, Sansa states, “You’re going to die tomorrow, Lord Bolton. Sleep well.” That wasn’t a threat, it was a promise. And it came true. Don’t mess with the Stark ladies.