It won’t be wrong to say that Game of Thrones has been a hit all over the world. The sensational fantasy series of HBO has been a hit among people. With the impressive graphics and a grasping story, fans wait anxiously for the episodes. People all over the internet have favourite characters from the series and they attach themselves quite seriously to the characters. Like, really seriously. People have even directly tweeted the author of the books ‘A song of Ice and Fire’, George R. R. Martin, and told him not to kill their favourite characters. The series has gained so much fame that people even started naming their babies after the famous characters. One of the characters that gained popularity is Sansa Stark. Sansa, from the beginning of the season, is shown as the ‘pretty one’. She swoons over the brat of the King named Joffrey but eventually becomes merciless to her enemies. Sansa is a character that evolved greatly during the seasons. From a pretty, love-sick lady to a strong woman who did not even blink at violence, Sansa is one extremely interesting character. Some people even disliked her character stating that she was boring and always a ‘damsel in distress’, but as the series progressed she proved everyone wrong and stepped up as a strong character. Below is the evolution of Sansa Stark from season 1 till season 7.

The Pretty Teenage Girl

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In season 1, Sansa Stark is shown as the eldest daughter of Ned Stark who is desperate to get married to Joffrey, son of the King. She is shown sewing and taking lessons on her family history to become a ‘queen’ one day. Her travel from the North to King’s Landing increases her desire to fit in the King’s family. She even watched her father getting beheaded but still could not do anything about it. Her style is shown to be extremely plain and seemed to be following the trend. Upon her arrival to King’s Landing she became fazed by the shining armour, the treatment like the VIPs and meeting new people. Even though her father and her dire wolf, Lady, is killed by the King, her dreams to become the Queen is alive.

Damsel In Distress

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In season 2, she is still the innocent, silly girl even after the death of her father. She still tries to impress her ‘beloved’ Joffrey. She is taught that her whole family is a traitor and she goes on with the lies to stay put with the Lannisters. Cersei Lannister, the Queen, keeps on brainwashing Sansa regarding how to be a Queen and how to treat Joffrey. She is treated extremely badly by the Lannisters. She simply becomes a pawn for the king. The dreams Sansa had all went to shambles as no one came to her rescue and she did not even become the Queen. Rather she lost her family and her dreams as well. Even after all this, she still manages to survive in that pit.

Powerless Hostage

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To her advantage, her silence played well with her character at that point. She was a hostage to the Lannisters and did not have any backing from her family so standing up for her would have been a disaster for her as Joffrey and Cersei would have killed her, just like her family. She gets her first period during this tense time and realizes that she is ready to bear Joffrey's offspring now. She makes the smart move to keep the secret to herself but it did not work since the Queen finds out. She then proceeds to brainwash Sansa regarding motherhood, but again the Stark family is side-lined when Cersei decides to remove Sansa as a suitor for the King.

Rise Of A New Sansa

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In season 3, Sansa develops a little confidence as Littlefinger urges her to flee from King’s Landing, but she hesitates as she is warned of Littlefinger’s intentions. Sansa always had her highs and lows in the show. With her gradual evolution in the season, she is still seen making some blunders. In season 3, Sansa is married off to, Tyrion Lannister, which is a huge blow to her dreams again. A major push to the strong Sansa was when her family in the North was murdered at the famous red wedding. This red wedding was also a major blow to the relationship between Tyrion and Sansa as it was quite evident who murdered her family. This major loss of almost her family members was a start to her new personality.

Wearing A Dragonfly Necklace

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In season 3, Sansa is seen repetitively wearing a delicate dragonfly necklace. The necklace became kind of a signature look of her. Well, the directors gave a signal to the viewers that Sansa is in fact going to evolve like a dragonfly. It is to be noted here is that dragonflies, like butterflies, go through the metamorphosis phase before become beautiful winged beings. It is also famous that dragonflies are extremely swift beings that have the ability to sense danger and have the quality of escaping from danger. This shows the signal of Sansa’s evolution that is expected in the coming seasons. It is beautiful how the directors give minor signals to the audience regarding a certain character. It was not long before the dragonfly actually grew its wings and showed it true potential.

Playing The Game Of Thrones

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In season 4, King Joffrey is poisoned on his wedding day. Everyone is immediately suspicious of Sansa and without delay she flees from King’s Landing, where Littlefinger takes her to her Aunt Lysa. There her aunt Lysa is killed in front of Sansa. Upon the death, different Lords gather to take Sansa’s verdict regarding her aunt’s death. Sansa, in front of the Lords, broke down in tears and states a different story. She tells them how she killed herself and the Lords believe her. Littlefinger gives her an acknowledging look as he realizes how Sansa is learning how to play the game of thrones. Upon asking, she tells Littlefinger that she knew she needed him and is well aware of what she wants now.

Manipulated By Littlefinger

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In season 5, Sansa is seen having her worst moments. She is taken advantage off by Littlefinger as he keeps on deceiving her by using the innocent Sansa for his own games. He assures her that he is doing it to save her from the evil Queen. He receives a raven message but even after Sansa’s indirect questioning he is successful in bypassing the query. With the passage of the seasons it is evident that Sansa is getting smart but still not smart enough. Her love-sick mind has finally come out of the fantasies she started questioning her surroundings. Season 5 showed many faces of Sansa where she is still in a phase of growing into a mature woman.

Ramsay’s Curse

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Littlefinger takes Sansa to Winterfell in order to get her married to Ramsay Bolton who is the legitimized son of Roose Bolton and also the Warden of the North. Sansa is again manipulated by Baelish into marrying Ramsay as he convinces her that this way she will get the perfect opportunity to avenge her family. Upon her marriage to Ramsay, she is brutally treated on her wedding night and even after days she suffers bruises from the hands of Ramsay. She is like a prisoner there, even though her cousin who betrayed the Stark family, Theon Greyjoy (who is called Reek by the Boltons) later tried approaching her in order to help. Greyjoy tells Sansa to stay quiet, warning her that Ramsay can make her stay even worse.

Sansa’s Escape

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Season 5 shows how Sansa attempts to escape by carefully picking the lock to her door. This escape is made by her during the battle between the Boltons and Stannis Baratheon. During her escape she runs into Myranda and Theon. Myranda aims a bow at her and tells her to get back in her chambers. Theon tries convincing Sansa to get back in her chamber but she refuses. Due to the torture she faces at the hands of Ramsay, she makes a choice of dying rather than getting back to the chamber. She categorically tells Myranda and Theon that , "If I'm going to die, let it happen while there's still some of me left." Theon immediately attacks Myranda and she dies on the spot. They both then escape Winterfell by jumping off the side of Winterfell's walls. Well, it was refreshing to see Sansa stand up for herself.

Reclaiming North From The Boltons

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Upon meeting Jon Snow, Sansa convinces her half-brother to reclaim Winterfell from the Boltons and she is ready for a war if that is what it takes. Now this season showed a different Sansa who is ready to fight for her house and family. In the previous seasons she was shown as a disinterested Sansa who was more concerned with her love life and fantasies rather than saving the honour of her House and family. The tragic death of her family and her torture makes her realize the things that actually matter and she becomes all pumped up to take revenge of her family. She is the one who convinces Jon Snow of fighting the Boltons. It was surely a delight to see Sansa finally be the strong woman we all wanted to see.

Saving Winterfell

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Sansa plays a smart game by partnering with Lord Baelish aka Littlefinger for the war with the Boltons. Perhaps, if we realize, she is the one who saves Jon Snow and his army from being completely destroyed. Had she not partnered with Baelish, Jon Snow would have died. At the battlefield, she openly faced Ramsay along with Baelish. She enters the field when almost all hope was lost and Jon Snow and his people were about to lose the battle. She becomes the saviour and with the help of Baelish reclaims her land, Winterfell. This was the point in the season where a completely new Sansa emerged. She came out as a warrior, a saviour and a planner. Most of all, she came out to be a master at playing the great game of thrones.

Does Not Even Blink At Ramsay's Passing

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After getting Winterfell back, Sansa watches Jon defeat Ramsay in a single combat but spares him. Sansa then looks for Ramsay and finds him all bruised and bloodied in the kennels. He still tries to be smart and tells her that she will never get rid of him since he is ‘a part of her now’. She keeps a death stare and tells him how she will always remember him. She, very calmly, tells him how the name of his House is going to go extinct and even the memory of him will disappear from the world. He still passes her his famous evil smile and just then he hears growling of dogs behind him. He, though afraid, assures Sansa that his dogs are loyal to him but Sansa tells him how hungry they are right now. In the spur of the moment, his ‘loyal’ dogs attack him. Sansa, the new strong and ruthless woman, stays there and watches  before walking away with a smile.

Sansa: Lady Of Winterfell

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Since she is the only present heir of the Stark family, the charge of Winterfell is on Sansa’s shoulders. She tries to convince Jon that he deserves to rule North but he refuses on accounts of not being a Stark. Upon a meeting of the Lords with Sansa and Jon Snow, Lyanna Mormont stands up for Jon Snow and claims him as the King of the North and Sansa, being the mature woman she has become, agreed with Lady Lyanna. This shows how mature she has become and knows what is best for her family. She knows how important it is for the survival of the name of House Stark and that Jon Snow would be able to do that.

Giving Her Opinion Strongly

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In season 7, Jon Snow is shown planning the defense for Winterfell against the imminent threat, the White Walkers. Jon delegates Tormund and his people to guard the Wall and also discusses the matter of belonging to the Umbers and Karstarks. Jon and Sansa get into a difference of opinion when Sansa maintains her opinion that the castles and lands should be given to new families who fought with House Stark against the Boltons. Jon disagrees with this opinion. He says that people who are not directly involved should not be held accountable for other’s mistakes but Sansa disputes Jon’s decision in front of everyone. She musters up the courage to tell him what she wants, a side everyone wanted to see from season 1.

‘Be Careful From Cersei’

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A raven is sent to Winterfell where Cersei demands Jon Snow to bend the knee. Sansa advises and urges Jon Snow about Cersei that she is a dangerous woman and he should deal with her at first. Surprisingly, she tells Jon that she has learnt a lot about Cersei when she was at King’s Landing. Well, we can’t disagree on that since she suffered a lot at the hands of that evil Queen. Now that was a wise advise from Sansa. She actually proved how sensible she is. Knowing that the threat of the White Walkers is pending, she makes the quick and sane judgement to deal with Cersei first. She is well aware of how unpredictable and dangerous she is.

Being An Actual Leader

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In season 7, Jon Snow leaves for Dragonstone leaving Sansa in charge of Winterfell. She becomes concerned about the food and shelter of the people at Winterfell. Maester Wolkan informs Sansa that they have about 4,000 bushels of wheat. She then realizes that this much won’t be enough for the upcoming winters and is worried for her clan like a good leader should be. She then tells people that store rooms should be built and the food should be stockpiled for a famine. For the warmth and shelter, she orders Yohn Royce that the armour of the army should be fitted with leather so that they are warm enough. She realizes that the wellbeing of the army is important concerning the war the Stark family is about to face.

Understanding Baelish’s Intentions

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Now this is something where we can all agree that Sansa was phenomenal! The way she understood Baelish and his intentions and the way she confronted him was just wow! Baelish believest he is successful in turning Sansa and Arya against each other. He plants the idea (that is what he thought) to Sansa that Arya wants to hurt her. Sansa knew that the best person to know the actual truth about Baelish would be Bran, the three eyed raven. She gets a much clear idea of Baelish’s intentions. The scene is absolutely strong when everyone at Winterfell is called at the Great Hall where Sansa reads the charges of murder and treason. She chillingly turns over to Baelish and asks him how HE would defend these charges. She leaves everyone in the hall in shock by revealing that the trial is actually for him.

Strengthening Ties With Her Siblings

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From season 1, Sansa was shown to be not emotionally attached to her siblings. Even with her sister, Arya, she is shown as being distant and in a world of her own. Her attitude is the same with the rest of the siblings. With every passing season and especially season 7, she is seen developing a caring and responsible attitude towards her siblings. She is seen developing a bond with Arya as she returns to Winterfell. With Bran, she seems a bit unsettled with his new found identity as the three eyed raven but goes to him seeking help regarding Lord Baelish. She even starts relying on her half-brother Jon Snow to take charge of Winterfell. She has shown to grow immensely during the whole season.

A True Survivor

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Despite being surrounded with vicious enemies, she manages to survive in the season. The phase of living in King’s Landing made her a new person and set foundation of her new found personality. Even though she had her highs and lows in the seasons but she soon proved herself to be a strong and mature person. What is appreciating about her is how she did not lose her grace. She maintained her well-mannered, civilized, courteous, and skilful personality all through the season 7. With her education she got from the King’s Landing, she learnt all the tricks of the trade, kept her ace card ready and also learnt how to think and plan two steps ahead. Sansa is definitely the under-dog of the season.

Strong Quotes Depicting Her Strong Personality

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In season 7, Sansa even starts talking like a strong and sensible woman. Gone are the days where she asked if ‘she is looking pretty enough’. There are a bunch of very inspirational quotes from season 7 by Sansa. Like when she clears Baelish’s doubts by saying, “No need to seize the last word, Lord Baelish. I’ll assume it was something clever.” When she gives Arya a good lesson on killing by saying, “I’m sure cutting off heads is very satisfying, but that’s not the way you get people to work together.” It was refreshing to know that she realized her flaws when she said, “I’m a slow learner, it’s true. But I learn. Thank you for all your many lessons, Lord Baelish. I will never forget them.” How she sealed the act by telling Arya that “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”