There were a lot of deaths in the Game of Thrones season finale, and I probably don't have to tell you that it's "questionable" how many of them will stick when the HBO series returns in 2016. However, one (almost literal) cliffhanger is pretty easy to determine — did Sansa and Theon survive their fall on Game of Thrones ? I'm confident that we haven't lost either of those characters so easily. While it wouldn't be the worst way for Theon to go, of his own volition and after having somewhat redeemed himself to the Stark family, I don't think his story is over just yet.
First of all, I would like to make it official that yes — we're calling him Theon now! Reek may not be gone forever, but he's at least starting to fade from Theon Greyjoy's psyche. The former prince of the Iron Islands triumphantly murdered Ramsay Bolton's lover Myranda. He and Sansa then escaped Winterfell and were last seen making a pretty big jump off the wall. We didn't see them land, or even what kind of surface they were falling onto.
The fact that we didn't see the ground is key, in my opinion. Winterfell is landlocked, so this isn't a The Fugitive situation, but there are more options. Presumably Sansa and Theon, who both grew up in Winterfell, know where to jump safely even though neither of them is old enough to really know winter (seasons are so weird in Westeros). Since the snowfall has begun in earnest that far North, I think it's safe to guess that the two of them were jumping into either a snowbank or a snow depository. I think Frozen put it best. There's so much powder, it'll be like falling on a pillow.
No, I am not implying that we should all ship these two like Anna and Kristoff. While Sansa would delight, even after all she's been through, in being compared to a Disney princess, Theon Greyjoy still has a long way to go. He's just barely earned her trust, and that is not easy to come by with Sansa Stark. Anyway, if they jumped onto snow I'm sure they're fine save for some potential minor injuries.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, Reek and Jeyne Poole escape Winterfell in a similar way. As we know by now, Jeyne's has been replaced with Sansa in the HBO series. They make it far enough that Ramsay has to ask for his wife and his Reek back via raven, so I have a feeling that Sansa and Theon at the very least survived their fall.
Where will they go next? It wouldn't be a new season of Game of Thrones without a few new pairs of characters going off on a journey. I presume that Sansa would want to start searching for her younger brothers, Bran and Rickon. She's more likely to find Rickon, who is hiding somewhere with Osha and Shaggydog, his direwolf. The problem is, there are a lot of people that could find them first. Podrick and Brienne will surely be looking for the young Lady Stark. They could run into whatever is left of Stannis Baratheon's army camp. Even Littlefinger could be approaching Winterfell at this point with the Knights of the Vale. The worst case scenario would be that Ramsay himself finds his two prisoners — though considering what goes down in the books, I think that's unlikely to happen.
Images: Helen Sloan/HBO
