We don’t have to tell you that this article contains spoilers, do we? Because it does. Lots and lots of spoilers for the seventh season of Game of Thrones – and for the finale, in particular. You’ve been warned…
In the season finale of Game of Thrones, Arya (Maisie Williams) quietly informed her sister, Sansa that “I never could’ve survived what you survived”. And, in these seven words, Arya paid tribute to Sansa’s incredible reserves of strength: the eldest of Ned Stark’s daughters has survived an abusive relationship with Joffrey Lannister, and has been raped and tortured by the psychopathic Ramsey Bolton.
Now the woman behind Sansa, Sophie Turner, has schooled some GoT fans in just why her character has absolutely nothing to apologise for when it comes to Littlefinger.
At a first glance, Sansa’s friendship with Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish (Aidan Gillen) seemed to be far less destructive than the relationships mentioned above. But, as fans of the series will know all too well, Littlefinger has been dubbed “the most dangerous man in Westeros” – and for good reason.
One of Game of Thrones’ power players since the very beginning of the show, Littlefinger lurked quietly in the shadows, pulled the strings on his many unwitting puppets, and sowed, watered and nurtured the seeds of dissent. He openly admitted that he wanted “everything” and was desperate for power, yet he insisted that he felt nothing but love for Sansa.
He helped her to escape from King’s Landing after Joffrey’s murder, and he restored her to her family seat in Winterfell. He rescued her from her murderous Aunt Lysa, and came to her aid in the Battle of the Bastards.
Yet, despite all of this, Littlefinger is undoubtedly Sansa’s abuser. He kissed her without her consent, which triggered a jealous and mentally unstable Lysa to attack her own niece. He monitors her at all times. He drove a wedge between her and those who love her most (Jon Snow, Brienne of Tarth and Arya Stark), in order to isolate her and render her completely dependent upon his friendship.
And, above all else, he was the one who forced her into marrying Ramsay Bolton – a man renowned for his viciousness, cruelty and sadistic nature.
No wonder, then, that so many Game of Thrones fans were cheering when Sansa sentenced Littlefinger to death for his crimes, and Arya all too willingly carried out the sentence.
However there were some viewers who failed to acknowledge exactly how evil, twisted, and emotionally abusive Littlefinger had been.
It all kicked off when one diehard fan, tweeting under the account @sophieturntits, praised Sansa for doing what nobody else could do: get Littlefinger on his knees and beg.
“Is this what you've interpreted from that heart-breaking scene where a broken man confessed his feelings?” replied one of the #TeamLittlefinger camp.
“Everyone knows it was fan service.”
The back and forth between the fans became increasingly irate.
It was then that Sophie Turner – aka the real-life Sansa Stark – decided to intervene with her own opinions on the storyline.
“Just willingly sold her to the Boltons.... Who killed her family... who ended up torturing her.... but ur right.. no harm done,” she tweeted.
And the actor didn’t stop there: instead, she worked hard to undermine every single attempt that same fan made to defend Littlefinger’s actions.
Using, y’know, plot points, details and other things that actually happened through the course of the series to back up her argument.
And, naturally, Game of Thrones fans were beyond thrilled.
A win for Turner and for Stark – no wonder she’s the Lady of Winterfell, eh?
Images: Rex Features
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