A sizable portion of the GOT fandom seem to believe that Sansa will die and that Jon/Dany will rule the seven kingdoms. A lot of these “Sansa will die” theorists have trouble separating speculation from feelings of dislike for the character. It would make zero sense to kill her off given what her arc is about - Sansa is going to become Queen.
On Narrative Arcs, or a case for why Jon and Dany won’t make it.
Every character serves a purpose to the story, and GRRM doesn’t kill off characters at random. He kills a character when A) they’ve served their purpose and B) death makes sense as an end result.
Jon Snow’s purpose is clear; he’s there to save the world from the White Walker threat. He has the perfect skillset needed to accomplish this, mainly he’s a great warrior whose leadership style brings warring factions together. He’s the conventional fantasy hero: brave, heroic, loyal, kinda bland. Once he’s served his purpose of defeating the walkers, will the narrative still need him in peacetime? Jon’s a wartime hero, but not necessarily a peacetime ruler. Personality wise, Jon Snow is very close to Ned Stark. Ned wasn’t able to adapt to the Game and it got him killed. In season 7, Jon refused to lie to Cersei, to the detriment of his own cause. Jon has the qualities to defeat the walker threat, but he doesn’t have the qualities to survive the cutthroat world of King's Landing politics.
“Only death can pay for life.” Melisandre says these words and then goes on to resurrect Jon. Jon Snow owes a life debt to the ASOIAF universe. Would it make sense for that debt to go unpaid by the end of the series?
Daenerys’ purpose is as a conquerer and a mother of dragons. She’s there to bring massive weapons to the white walker war. She brings fire to fight ice. "You're a conquerer," Daario tells Dany. Not a ruler, a conquerer. Dany was able to conquer Meereen, but she never really learned how to effectively rule it. And when she wasn't able to keep hold of the city, she abandoned it to pursue Westeros. Not a great sign if Dany's narrative purpose is to become the permanent queen of Westeros. Dany’s own visions tell her that she isn’t destined for the throne. She reaches for it, but never touches it.
“She has a good heart,” Jon says about Dany. Curious choice of words, given that the prophesized Azor Ahai needs a sacrificed lover’s heart to defeat the enemy. Mother roles are known for sacrifice for the children. Dany's good heart compelled her to put off Westeros to free the Essosi slaves. She wants to pursue power and restore her family’s legacy, but her compassion will compell her to save the realm and even die for it. Dany giving up her ambition to save the world fits in perfectly with GRRM’s intended message of the series - people should push aside their petty wars to fight the real enemy, death.
Alternatively, Dany could die by childbirth to complete the Azor Ahai prophecy. I’m not a fan of this outcome, but it’s definitely a possibility, given the Dany pregnancy foreshadowing.
So what’s Sansa’s purpose? Sansa’s arc has nothing to do with fantasy; it’s all about building her up from pawn to player. Her arc revolves around surviving vicious Westerosi politics. Tyrion literally tells her, “you may survive us all.” And that’s exactly what’s she’s going to do. What would be the point of showing her character growth from naive, prince obsessed girl to adept player, only to kill her off in the end? Sansa has been groomed to survive the political world, and she’s been mentored by some of the biggest players (Littlefinger, Margaery, Cersei).
The show also goes out of its way to depict Sansa as a competent ruler, organizing grain stores and offering Jon sound advice. Sansa warns Jon that Ramsey likes to play mind games, and then Ramsey sets a trap that Jon falls for on the battlefield. Sansa warns Jon that he will lose support if he leaves the North; later we see a Northern lord telling Sansa that they should’ve chosen her instead. Interesting how people in their world already want her as queen.
She isn’t perfect, but she’s learning. ”I’m a slow learner, that’s true. But I learn.” All of this is leading somewhere - at the very least, she’ll end up in a powerful position. She’s the most likely to succeed if both Jon and Dany die. She could potentially end up queen regent, raising the child of Jonerys.
The series became infamous for subverting the expectations that we came to expect in a typical fantasy. The series killed Ned Stark, the hero and apparent lead of season 1. It then went on to kill Robb Stark, the next hero in line. If we go by this pattern, Dany and Jon will not come out unscathed. Sansa is the dark horse candidate for the iron throne: she’s not the conventional hero, nobody expects her to win, but she would make for an effective peacetime ruler, rebuilding society in the aftermath.
Tormund: “How many queens are there now?" He isn’t just asking Jon this, he’s asking the audience. Cersei, Dany, and the one who has the least likelihood of dying - Sansa.
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