I know a lot of us are ready to throw in the towel after last week's episode of Game of Thrones. It's almost too upsetting to talk about, but there are still four episodes left in the season and it's time to start looking to the future. Mainly, will Reek help Sansa on Game of Thrones?
Sansa's wedding night with Ramsay was horrific and a major letdown to fans of her journey on the show. However, the framing of the scene around Reek/Theon's involvement and his reaction was interesting to me. Let me be clear — I do not think that makes the scene any less problematic. It's bad enough that Sansa's marital rape could be considered a kind of character growth for her, much less someone else. The treatment of sexual assault on television is not getting any better, unfortunately.
How will they move forward from this? As fans of the books (and fans of fans of the books) know, Sansa Stark's storyline is replacing the fate of her childhood friend Jeyne Poole on the HBO series. In A Dance With Dragons, Jeyne Poole is passed off as Arya Stark and married to Ramsay Bolton for the similar purpose of holding claim to the North. Reek gives her away, just like he did on the show. Reek is "involved" in their sexual encounters, while I'll leave at that. It is also heavily implied that "Arya" is beaten regularly, and her echoing cries dampen the morale of the remaining Houses in the North who were loyal to the Starks.
What happens next? Light a candle in the window if you want the major book spoilers coming up!
Eventually, Theon and Jeyne do manage to escape Winterfell. It's not quite happily ever after, though. According to a chapter from The Winds of Winter that was released online, the two are captured and taken to Stannis' army camp. Under Theon's advice, Jeyne keeps up her "Arya" disguise and is sent to the Wall to be with her half-brother.
I'm going to give us a moment to have some feels over the implications of this. Could Season 4 end with Sansa en route to the Wall to be with Jon? Could two of the Starks finally be reunited? Jon and Sansa, Sansa and Jon? Of course I want Sansa to kill Ramsay Bolton first (or at least Roose) but this would be the best!
This season on Game of Thrones, Stannis is ready to attack Winterfell. The promo for next Sunday's episode "The Gift" showed Sansa attempting to talk to Theon/Reek about their Northern allies. Everything is falling into place. Theon Greyjoy is likely to be executed by Stannis in The Winds of Winter, and if this happens on the series it would be nice if he had been able to regain and redeem himself first by helping Sansa. Of course, Petyr Baelish's ever-changing loyalties could throw a wrench into this plan. However, if the show is going to replace the tragedy with Jeyne Poole with the already often tragic Sansa Stark, let us hope that they at least give us one Stark victory.
Images: Helen Sloan/HBO (2); Giphy
