When Game of Thrones returns for its eighth and final season in 2019, Sansa Stark will have a new set of challenges, including sharing power with her brother/cousin Jon Snow and new arrival Daenerys Targaryen, and the fact that there’s an army of genocidal zombies marching for Winterfell.
How will she handle these challenges? Star Sophie Turner talked about it to awards site GoldDerby, saying that season 8 would involve a “coming together of people.”
"Everyone is coming together to fight the impending doom. There’s a lot of tension between these little groups, battling for what they think is right. It’s Game of Thrones, so it’s going to be bloodier and more death and more emotionally torturous than all the years before."
Great, because if there’s one thing Game of Thrones needs, it’s more death. We also note that part about “tension between these little groups” — as always in this story, just because death is coming for everyone doesn’t mean people will stop jockeying for advantage.
In season 7, Sansa ruled the North while Jon Snow sought help from Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. She also grappled with the return of her brother Bran and sister Arya, both of them much changed since she saw them last, to the fold, and executed Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, one of the most dangerous men in the Seven Kingdoms, for crimes against her family. Turner thinks season 7 is when Sansa really came into her own:
"I always saw something of a warrior in Sansa that I don’t think other people really saw. I always had the feeling that she was learning and adapting and at some point or another it was going to manifest itself somehow, and she manifested it into being a warrior. It felt really satisfying when it happened, and I’m really happy where this storyline for her has ended up."
Turner also praised the female characters on the show, paying special attention to the diversity of their stories. “We have really powerful women on this show, all in their own right and in their own ways,” she said. “They all emulate different strengths and the different ways that women can be strong, and that’s one thing I really love about this show. They’ve not all risen to power in the same ways.”
Since Turner gave this interview, indications are that she’s finished filming all of her scenes for Game of Thrones. This Instagram post from yesterday about “new beginnings” is yet more evidence:
Anyway, you can watch the full GoldDerby interview below:
What do you guys think the future holds for Sansa Stark? Debate until new episodes air in 2019.
Next: Kristian Nairn toys with fans, teases Hodor’s return to Game of Thrones: “You never know”
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