Season 6 was the best season of Game of Thrones for the Starks since the first, back when daddy Ned was still alive and his children were unspoiled, un-murdered, un-abused, un-orphaned kids. Since then, Eddard, Catelyn, Robb, and Rickon have all been killed, Jon has been killed and resurrected, Sansa has been betrothed to not one but two psychopaths, Arya has become a cold-blooded assassin, Bran has become a paraplegic seer … and none of them are out of the woods yet. If the Game of Thrones Season 6 finale is any indication, there's more Stark heartbreak ahead. Specifically, we should be worried that Sansa will betray Jon.
You'd be forgiven if you thought for a moment that the tide was finally turning for everyone's favorite family of Northerners. In the past 10 episodes, Jon was brought back from the dead, he reunited with Sansa, Benjen was revealed to be alive, Arya completed her training at the House of Black and White and began crossing names off her list, and Bran tapped into his full magical potential. But if watching Game of Thrones has taught us anything, it's that good things usually happen right before really, really, really terrible things.
Just to underline the fact that we should be worried about the Starks next year, their Season 6 storyline ended in a direct echo of Robb's final scene in the Season 1 finale: with a room full of Northern lords raising their swords and proclaiming Jon "King in the North." Of course, we all know what happened next. Two seasons later, Robb was dead, slaughtered alongside his mother, wife, and unborn baby at the Red Wedding. Will something similar happen to Jon? It's possible — although this time, his biggest threat doesn't lie somewhere outside his family, but rather within it.
Rewatch the "King in the North" scene and take a look at Sansa's face. Notice the way her expression falls, ever so slightly. Notice the way she looks at Petyr Baelish smirking in the corner. There is conflict brewing between the half-siblings (or cousins, rather, as the Tower of Joy flashback revealed). Littlefinger was right: While Jon Snow is a southern-born bastard, as far as everyone knows, Sansa is the last remaining true Stark. In fact, Littlefinger is even more right than he knows. Jon isn't Eddard Stark's son at all, which makes his claim to Winterfell even more tenuous. By rights, the castle should have gone to Sansa. Instead, it's the dour-faced man sitting next to her who gets all the glory — and only because he's a man.
Sansa may have blocked Petyr's kiss and brushed off his offer to rule Westeros with him, but the seeds have been planted. After all she's been through and all the growth we've seen in her this season, is she really going to be content to sit back and smile like a lady while Jon reluctantly rules from a castle that belongs to her? (Remember, Jon's not even particularly interested in ruling after the brutal way his tenure as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch ended.)
Now, I'm not saying that Sansa is going to personally murder Jon herself or anything so blatant. But don't be surprised if the rift between them begins to grow, until she eventually undermines him at a crucial moment. Sansa has already proven that she's not 100 percent reliable. Whether she didn't tell Jon about the Knights of the Vale because she didn't trust Littlefinger or because she didn't trust Jon, the fact remains that she withheld crucial information which could have saved lives. I mean, true, Jon did basically tell her to stay out of things, so I can't blame her for still doing what was best. And Jon sort of forced her to keep it secret, since he didn't trust her judgement. Her experiences with a succession of sadistic men have made Sansa understandably wary of putting her confidence in anyone but herself. Unfortunately, that may include her fellow Starks.
Unless, of course, the exact opposite happens. A fan theory that has been gaining steam over the past few weeks claims that Jon and Sansa are harboring secret romantic feelings for each other. Preposterous, right? Maybe. But maybe not. In George R.R. Martin's original outline for his book series, Sansa was barely a character at all, while Arya's storyline had the girl fleeing north after the sack of Winterfell and seeking refuge at Castle Black … where she and Jon Snow quickly fell in love. (Gross.)
Obviously, Arya ultimately fled to Braavos instead, but in the show, her sister sought refuge at Castle Black after escaping Winterfell. If Sansa is taking over Martin's original plans for Arya's character, it's possible that romance is in the cards for her and Jon — especially once Bran tells them they're not actually half-siblings, but simply cousins. (Because that's so much better.)
So will Sansa betray Jon? Or will she fall in love with him? Or will she fall in love with him and then betray him? Sadly, we'll have to wait 10 months to find out …
Images: Helen Sloan/HBO (3); Giphy
