The final season of Game of Thrones aired already 8 months ago but it remains one of the most loved and talked about series of the decade. Amid the stories of ruling kingdoms, raising dragons and battling an army of the dead, the show is also very much about family. The Starks, especially, are all characterized by their relentless determination to find their way back to one another.
Despite the strong family bond, there was rivalry, especially between the only two sisters. Before they emerged as an iconic duo of the show, Sansa and Arya were far from being the closest Stark siblings. They argued and provoked each other, and even threw false accusations at each other. Here we take a look at the 5 worst things Sansa did to Arya and vice versa.
Sansa: Worried About Joffrey Instead Of Arya
So many viewers started off the show by loving Arya and hating Sansa. Bu the more the series progressed, the less we could what fueled this hatred for the character. Well, a good way of being reminded is to go back to the first season and observe how many times Sansa sided with Joffrey over Arya.
When Joffrey attacked Arya and swung his sword at her, she could have been seriously hurt. And yet, Sansa seemed more worried about Joffrey, rushing to check up on him after Nymeria (Arya's direwolf) bit him. For some reason, there was something about Joffrey that made Sansa so blind to his atrocities that she let him mistreat her younger sister.
Arya: Ruined Sansa's Dress
If the first episode of Game of Thrones told us anything about the Stark sisters it's that, despite being the only two female children, they were complete opposites. Whereas Sansa was lady-like and delicate, Arya was interested in archy and sword-fighting. In fact, the latter often made fun of Sansa for liking feminine things such as knitting and wearing pretty dresses.
At the feast during King Robert's visit to Winterfell, Sansa was wearing a dress she had made herself and Arya ruined it by throwing food right on Sansa's face and clothes. It was a harmless joke and everyone at the table laughed, but Sansa, humiliated, didn't.
Sansa: Lied About Joffrey Attacking Arya
One of the most frustrating and heartbreaking moments from Season 1 is Cersei arguing with King Robert to get Arya punished for supposedly attacking Joffrey. At first, it was a typical 'he said she said' situation between Arya and Joffrey until Sansa ed the discussion. She didn't just lie to the King, she also protected Joffrey, someone she barely, instead of her own sister.
Although a bit violent, Arya's outburst after that was understandable. Cersei was clearly the bad guy here, and Sansa was just a child, but it was nonetheless irritating to watch Sansa pretend not to have seen Joffrey attack Arya and her sparring friend, Mycah. Especially since this prompted Cersei to ask for a wolf to be killed as punishment, and tragically, it ended up being Sansa's innocent wolf.
Arya: Hit and Yelled At Sansa
The argument regarding the incident between Arya and Joffrey would have gone down very differently had Sansa told the truth. Instead of exposing Joffrey's cruel behavior, Sansa claimed everything had happened too fast for her to correctly.
As we all know, Arya was always rather prone to violence, and this was just one of her lighter outbursts. She hit Sansa, pulled her hair and called her a liar in front of everyone. To Arya's credit, Sansa was indeed a liar in that instant. However, throwing a fit and trying to hurt her sister was never going to do any good.
Sansa: Acted Insensitive Towards Arya's Loss
Despite her soft voice and impeccable manners, Sansa could get snappy at times. Even though Arya never seemed affected much, Sansa would often snap at her little sister and ask her to shut up. This was no exception during the tense meal that followed the killing of Mycah. Clearly out of immaturity, the girls were not in solidarity at all.
Sansa may have been mourning her wolf, but Arya had lost her friend, who was an innocent butcher's boy. And nothing could excuse the lack of empathy on Sansa's part when she called Arya an idiot for hating on Joffrey after what he did to her friend.
Arya: Blamed Sansa For Mycah's Death
Sansa, ever the victim, could never catch a break from being blamed for things that were not actually her fault. This happened with Joffrey, who was irrationally mad at her for what Arya's wolf did, and it happened with Arya.
Getting angry at Sansa for lying was still reasonable, but yelling that if she hadn't lied, her friend would still be alive seems quite harsh. It even made Sansa lose her appetite that night. With how easily Joffrey got his way, Mycah would have ended up dead no matter what happened.
Sansa: Believed Arya Would Betray Her
Sansa had her fair share of reasons for growing mistrusting over the seasons, but believing that Arya would betray her own sister after they had just reunited was just crazy. Even more so because Littlefinger--the man who sold her to Ramsay Bolton and the least trustworthy character on the show--was the one to suggest it to Sansa.
The only reassuring part about this is that looking back, Sansa was probably deceiving Littlefinger and pretending to fall into his trap of pitting the sisters against each other. In this case, it was all worth it, as not many moments in the series were more satisfying than watching Sansa and Arya kill Littlefinger together.
Arya: Menaced Sansa
Arya may be the most liked of the sisters, but we cannot argue that her actions weren't sometimes pretty heartless. Even with their history of not getting along, it was shocking to see such a cold side to Arya when Sansa looked through her bag and found her faces.
Because, yes, Arya kept the faces of the people she killed inside of a bag and, as one would, Sansa was freaked out. It only got worse as Arya grabbed a dagger and talked about how she could easily become Sansa just by cutting off her face. Watching Arya terrify her sister that way was as unsettling as it was confusing.
Sansa: Criticized Arya And Her Training
On average, Sansa's worst treatment of Arya didn't compare to the awful things Arya did to her, but Sansa complaining that Arya did nothing while Sansa took back the North came pretty close. There was something about the way Sansa looked Arya in the eyes and told her she would have never survived what she survived that gave us chills.
Obviously, the sisters eventually resolved the tension between them and became the allies they were meant to be. But Arya trained for months, temporarily lost her eyesight and took a knife to the stomach to be able to avenge their family, and Sansa belittled all of that work in a single sentence.
Arya: Accused Sansa Of Betraying Their Family
Perhaps the worst thing Arya ever did to Sansa was accusing her of having betrayed their entire family, and of being one of the reasons why Ned was executed. The rivalry between the sisters reached its peak in season 7 when Arya found a letter that Sansa sent to Robb. Of course, we know that Littlefinger meticulously left that letter for Arya to find and misinterpret, which she sure did.
Sansa was just a child threatened by the Lannisters when she wrote the letter. But if there was anything the series proved, it was that Sansa was always stronger than she seemed, and she did not fail to defend herself this time. Thankfully, this marked the last time anything or anyone came between the sisters, and after getting Littlefinger out of the picture, they became inseparable.