Sansa Stark and the Stone Giant.

 

AGOT: Bran III

“There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash with the terrible face of a hound. another was armoured like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armour made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood. “

It has long been understood that these two shadows are Sandor Clegane: Aka The Hound and Jaime Lannister. These are both men who have in their own way watched over the Stark girls. Sandor literally in Kings Landing, watches over Sansa, and again in the River Lands he does so for Arya. Jaime does so through his promise to their mother, sending Brienne to find and protect the girls. I do think that by the end of the books he will also have bodily done so. 

Standing over them all however is a Giant clad in Stone, who is he?  Many have speculated that he is The Mountain; Gregor Clegane, but this makes no sense narratively. He is far from a main Antagonist in A Song of Ice & Fire. He is just a lackey, a tool. And he has no special interest in the Starks or either of their daughters. 

The  main antagonist when it comes to the downfall of House Stark is Little Finger.  It wasn’t Tywin, or Varys who poisoned Jon Arryn in order to bring Ned to Kings Landing, it was Baelish. He put Lysa up to it for the express purpose of bringing Ned to the royal court. Nor was it either of them who urged Joffrey to execute Ned. That too was Little Finger, as I shall explain in this post. I’d argue that prior to his being made Hand Tywin had no interest in Ned Stark at all. Certainly non in his daughters. Nor does Varys, he seeks to retain stability in the court at this point, it is too soon for his own plans. 

Little finger however has an interest as demonstrated by his actions framing the Lannisters for Jon’s death, and I would place money on him suggesting his old friend Ned to Robert as Hand too. He certainly now has an unhealthy interest in Sansa Stark, and his actions in Kings Landing placed both girls in grave danger. 

But why a Giant?

The author keeps House Baelish’s sigil under wraps for a while only revealing a little way into things that whilst Peytr uses a Mockingbird as his personal sigil, his House sigil is in fact the disembodied head of the Titan of Braavos.  The Titan being a gigantic statue made from stone which guards the harbour of Braavos. 

But why Stone?

As well as the Titan being made of stone there is further meaning in the stone armour. As the story unfolds we learn that Little Finger uses his humble status as the most lowly of Lords to hide his nefarious intent. How could such a lowly Lord as he possibly aspire to hold real power, he is but an up-jumped sell swords grandson.  He is using his low status as armour.  When we travel to his estate later in the story we see that his lands are so poor because of stone. It is but a Rocky outcrop, the soil is made thin due to the vast number of stones which litter it, no enrichment can be achieved so no crops grow. He can only use it graze sheep. His low status is in large defined by stone and  to ensure we pick up on this the author includes some japes. 

ASOS: Sansa VI

“ But not here, “ she said, dismayed. “ it looks so....”  

“...small and bleak and mean? It’s all that, and less. The Fingers are a lovely place, if you are a stone. But have no fear, we shan’t stay more than a fortnight. I expect your aunt is already riding to meet us.” He smiled.” 

ASOS: Sansa VI

“So silent, my Lady?” said Peytr. “ I was certain you would wish to give me your blessing. It is a rare thing for a boy born heir to stones and sheep pellets to wed the daughter of Hoster Tully and widow of Jon Arryn.”

And it is in this same chapter where Little Finger explains his origins, as Sansa spots the true sigil of House Baelish whilst in his Hall.

The source of his genteel poverty is the stones and the armour he wears to hide his ambitions is that same genteel poverty. Hence the Giant in Bran’s dream is armoured in stone.  

Additionally due to the Vale’s bastard name, when Sansa becomes his daughter she takes the name Stone, she is now the daughter of the Stone giant.

GRRM’s editor has previously said that George likes to foreshadow things three times. I believe Baelish’s fate has had three such foreshadowings. 

The first being when Joffrey takes Sansa onto the battlements to view her fathers hard.

 AGOT: Sansa VI

“ You haven’t said what you mean to give me for my name day. Maybe I’ll give you something instead, would you like that?”

“If it please you, my Lord,” Sansa said. 

When he smiled, she knew he was mocking her. “ Your brother is a traitor too, you know.” He turned Septa Mordane’s head back around. “I remember your brother from Winterfell. My dog called him the Lord of wooden swords. didn’t you, dog?”

“Did I?” the Hound replied. “I don’t recall.”

Joffrey gave a petulant shrug.  “Your brother defeated my uncle Jaime. My mother says it was treachery and deceit. She wept when she heard. Women are all weak, even her, though she pretends she isn’t. She says we need to stay in King’s Landing in case my other uncles attack, but I don’t care. After my name day feast, I’m going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That’s what I’ll give you Lady Sansa. Your brothers head.” 

A kind of madness took over her then, and she heard herself say, “Maybe my brother will bring me your head.”

This might seem like a bit of a stretch but it should hopefully make sense as I go on.  The reason Sansa says this to Joffrey is that she views him as the person responsible for her fathers execution. And he is, I don’t think we should absolve him entirely, but he is also a child. Children are easily manipulated and I don’t think it started out as his idea to kill Ned. Rather Little Finger played on Joffrey’s nature and persuaded him to show “strong leadership.” No doubt evoking his Grandfather Tywin, notorious for his unmerciful shows of strength. 

Let’s look at what he said about Cersei in that quote. He says All women are weak; now I do not deny that this is a pervading societal attitude which he undoubtedly will have absorbed. But the way he says it strikes me as him parroting what someone else has said because it sounds like a new thought by the use of the word- Even. 

  Even my mother, though she pretends she is not. He uses her crying over Jamie’s capture as further evidence of this; even though it is the most natural response from any sibling regardless of their sex.  Using the word Even implies he did not always think her weak.

Perhaps he has been told she is as weak as other all women, by who though? Joffrey couples this with saying she wants to remain in Kings Landing in case his other uncles attack, this is sound advice. Why would he see this as foolish or weakness, leaving the capitol and the royal palace would be stupidity. Who might encourage him to focus his anger on the Starks? and loose sight of the big picture.  Even Cersei; who we know is a fool, can see the importance of holding the capitol.  The main threats at this stage in the war are Renly who has the largest host, and Stannis who has experience and tactical nounce.

Everything Joffrey says here reads like it is coming from someone else. It’s focussed solely on the Starks over the real threat of the Baratheons. And his new found belief that his mother is nothing but a weak woman, means he has easily dismissed her sound council that they need to hold the royal residence. 

Someone’s has Joffrey’s ear. I’d suggest that someone is Little Finger, who has never got over Brandon’s humiliation of him as a boy and has lived decades with  envy over Ned marrying Cat, as well as his anger over being told he was not good enough for her by Hoster Tully.

We already know he had Lysa kill Jon Arryn in order to bring Ned to court, and that he betrayed Ned to Cersei, leading Ned’s arrest.

Let’s take a look at the moment Ned is beheaded. 

AGOT: Arya V

“My mother bids me let Lord Eddard take the black, and Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father.” He looked straight at Sansa then, and smiled, and for a moment Arya thought that the gods had heard her prayer, until Joffrey turned back to the crowd and said, “ But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your King, treason shall never go unpunished. Set Ilyn bring me his head!”

The crowd roared, and Arya felt the statue of Baelor rock as they surged against it. The High Septon clutched at the Kings cape, and Varys came rushing over waving his arms, and even the Queen was saying something to him, but Joffrey shook his head. Lords and knights moved aside as he stepped through, tall and fleshless, a skeleton in iron mail, the Kings Justice. Dimly, as if from far off, Arya heard her sister scream. Sansa had fallen to her knees, sobbing hysterically. Ser Ilyn Payne climbed the steps of the pulpit.

Here again Joffrey is parroting words about women’s soft hearts, and we hear him confirm Cersei wanted to spare Ned; which is politically wise they already have two rebelling Lords. But he goes ahead and we see the people on the Dias reacting: or not. Tellingly, though we know he is up there, Arya does not describe Little Finger as reacting in the way Cersei, Varys , and the High Septon do. Each of them attempt in some way to stop Joffrey. Conspicuous by his absence in this is Peytr Baelish, he does not rush forth, or implore  the young King to re- think his judgement. Because I suspect he is the man behind that choice. It is he who has persuaded Joffrey to ignore his mother’s advice to spare Ned and hopefully avoid a third regional rebellion. 

Back to the head viewing scene.

So, whilst Sansa thinks she wants her brother to bring her Joffrey’s head, what she is really desirous of is for him to bring her the head of her fathers killer; this being the motivation behind her words. She believes Joffrey solely responsible for what occurred that day on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor. But Baelish had as much influence if not more on the outcome.  Indeed he was the reason her father was thee in the first place, from manipulating Lysa into writing that note after killing the previous Hand, to stoking Ned’s animosity towards the Lannisters by lying about who owned the Valarian Steel dagger used in the attack on his wife, to betraying him with the Gold Cloaks in the throne room. 

Sansa is stood above the Gate House of the Red Keep, viewing heads on pikes, and she says she wants her brother to bring her the head of her fathers killer. Who we know to be Little Finger. 

Second in the three foreshadowings is the Ghost of High hearts dream. 

ASOS: Arya VIII

"I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief," the dwarf woman was saying. "I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." She turned her head sharply and smiled through the gloom, right at Arya. "You cannot hide from me, child. Come closer, now."

This dream is all symbolism and mystery, it is only later we can interpret the Ghosts words as pertaining to Sansa; after the Purple Wedding, where we discover the Strangler hidden in her hairnet is used to poison Joffrey.  From this point we know the maid is Sansa, and that she will later kill a giant, this giant is of course the Stone Giant of Bran’ s dream, Little Finger. 

The rest of the dream, the part about a castle made of snow is explained by the third foreshadowing which is of course the Snowcastle scene. 

This is his most explicit of the three, following that pattern explained by his editor. Sansa comes out into the Gods Garden at the Eyrie and begins to fashion a model of Winterfell from the snow, Little Finger joins her and comes up with ingenious ways to overcome the various challenges she faces in building it. This represents Little Finger helping Sansa to re-build the castle, he will use his own money and resources to restore the castle, and do so willingly for he is infatuated with Sansa to an unhealthy degree. She has learned how to move him just as he told her to do with others.  But along comes the Giant in the form of Robert Arryn’s dolly. And when that Giant seeks entrance into Sansa’s castle by means of force Sansa is enraged and she rips its head from its body and smashes it violently down onto a spiked twig, mounting it above the gate house. 

We can take the Giants arrival as a play on how later Sansa comes to view Little Finger, as two men in one, Peytr who is funny and helpful and looks to keep her safe from Cersei; that’s him helping to restore the castle, and Little Finger whom she knows she can not trust, who she reminds herself is a bad person who has done wicked things; that’s him coming to break through her portcullis. 

The symbolism of this act should be obvious the Giant has tried to come into her castle against her will, it’s sexual assault.  I would prefer it if this was not the reason for Sansa to arrest Baelish. I even think there is a viable alternative in that Jeyne Poole is headed to the Wall, and Jon.

 Jeyne could know much and more about Little Fingers involvement in Ned’s execution from her time in his brothel. She could tell all to Jon, who would then convey this all to Sansa, either in a visit to Winterfell or via Raven, but I will not deny the foreshadowing you can’t make accurate theories by ignoring what is on the page and so I admit it’s likely Sansa will be attacked by Little Finger.  This is what leads to her having him arrested and tried. 

Ironically Little Finger jests about the dolls head not being the first giants head to adorn the walls of Winterfell. And there is even further foreshadowing for it here too. 

ASOS: Sansa VII

Twigs are your answer. Peel them and cross them and use bark to tie them together into frames. I'll show you." He moved through the garden, gathering up twigs and sticks and shaking the snow from them. When he had enough, hestepped over both walls with a single long stride and squatted on his heels in the middle of the yard. Sansa came closer to watch what he was doing. His hands were deft and sure, and before long he had a crisscrossing latticework of twigs, very like the one that roofed the glass gardens of Winterfell. "We will need to imagine the glass, to be sure," he said when he gave it to her.

AFFC Arya I

stains and speckles on the Titan's arms and shoulders where the seabirds nested. Her neck craned upward. Baelor the Blessed would not reach his knee. He could step right over the walls of Winterfell.

Here Arya directly mirrors Sansa’s earlier description of Little Finger striding over the walls of the Snow Winterfell, but is referring to the actual Titan of Braavos, as she passes beneath it. This is no coincidence through the wording and imagery GRRM evokes a very deliberate parallel.

So what will happen, well we know that Little Finger will take Sansa north. Probably at her request following a power vacuum opening up once Stannis is no longer in play. I predict he dies from festering wounds following his defeat of the Bolton’s, but that is another post. 

Baelish won’t be able to resist the idea of living in Ned’s own castle, and having Sansa at his side. So he will do her bidding and take her north, he will also spend his money restoring the castle as shown in the snow castle scene. But he will push things too far and assault Sansa attempting to take her virginity. At which point she will have him arrested; after all once in Winterfell their entire power dynamic flips and it is she who has the power, and she will put him on trial. Once found guilty I believe that Jon will indeed bring her his head, making her wish come true. 

As much as I love the idea of her cutting his head off herself I’m not going to pretend she would be likely to do so, the Stark rules of doing the deed yourself I think would realistically be bent for a Lady. The north is slightly less sexist than the south but I don’t know that it would be acceptable for her to carry out executions herself. 

Or if even with a Valarian Steel sword she would have the upper body strength to do it.

Besides which the symmetry of wishing her brother would bring her Joffrey’s head and her other “brother” bringing her Little Fingers head is just too perfect to ignore. 

We already know two of Sansa’s other wishes have come true. Jon did throw Janos Slynt down and cut of his head and Sandor Clegane is on the Quiet Isle having his heart gentled by the Seven. 

Two out of three wishes granted! Third ones a charm.