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Is Sansa Stark the real hero of 'Game of Thrones'?

This might be a tad controversial.

Favorite character on "Game of Thrones." GO!

This guy?

(Oh, Ned. Sweet, dour, dopey Ned.)

Or maybe this guy?


(Yeah, that's probably more like it.)

Or perhaps this badass stabby teen ninja?

(That's, uh, ketchup.)

No, wait. I know! I know who it is. There's only one right answer.

(Uggggh no! Whhhyyyyyy?)

Wait a minute. Hold up there.

Don't go playing that. Sansa is the best. Seriously.

And kind of the real hero of the show.

"THE REAL HERO OF THE SHOW?! BUT SHE'S SO BLAH."

Nope.

"BUT SHE'S SO IRRITATING."

Stop it.

"BUT SHE'S JUST ... I DON'T KNOW. I JUST ... CAN'T WITH HER."

No. You can. You can with her. I'll show you.

And ... honestly? Not to go overboard here, but if Sansa Stark is not your favorite character on "Game of Thrones," there's something actually, deeply, fundamentally wrong with you.*

* JK. You're allowed to disagree. Seriously. No judgment. Mostly.

***MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASONS 1-4 COMING UP. IF YOU'RE STILL CATCHING UP AND DON'T WANT TO HAVE YOUR WHOLE LIFE RUINED, STOP READING NOW.***

OK, I'll give you this: In Season 1, Sansa is kind of a huge pain.

(OK, really annoying.)

She spends most of her time being a gigantic jerkweed to Septa Mordane and writing in her dream journal about lemon cakes and the glamor of King's Landing and how smitten she is with the obviously awful Prince Joffrey.

And you want to be like, "Girl, no. Just no. No."

(Just no.)

But listen. Real talk. How realistic were you about love when you were 13?

(Your boyfriends.)

Right. That's what I thought.

And of course, everything changes when she watches her dad get straight-up axe-murdered by her boyfriend's goons.

That's the kind of thing that makes a kid grow up fast.

Unlike her sister Arya, who gets whisked far, far away from King's Landing almost immediately, Sansa becomes a prisoner of the Lannisters.

She doesn't get to run off into the forest with a sword and a posse and vow revenge against her enemies. Because she has to sleep, like, two doors down from them every night. And yet, not only does she manage to survive, she thrives.

She's unfailingly polite to Cersei, a woman she despises. She's guarded with the Tyrells, and only dispenses information to them that she knows will benefit her. She even convinces Joffrey to be less of a monster ... occasionally. All the while looking for an angle and plotting her escape.

While the more traditional heroes of the show are out tramping merrily through the forest, fighting to avenge this relative or that, and riding their horses for valor and glory and whatnot, Sansa comes to sees the world of Westeros for the nightmarish funhouse horror clown show it really is.



And while we're at it, let's take a look at how those other so-called heroes have fared, shall we?

Big, manly, shouty warlord Khal Drogo?

(Dead from a paper cut.)

Proud emo King of the North Robb Stark?

(Stabbed to death at a wedding.)

Badass lady commando Ygritte?

(Arrowed!!!)

Unremarkable, soft-spoken Sansa Stark?

Still freaking alive and kicking it.


She even manages to get in some of the best passive-aggressive digs at King Joffrey while she's at it, seen here trolling him for being too much of a coward to fight in the Battle of King's Landing.

For three seasons now, Sansa has managed to outwit and outplay her enemies, all while toeing the line, pretending to follow their lead and do what they want her to do.

By playing the game so darn well, she's finally managed to get herself out of King's Landing to freedom.

(Well, freedom-ish.)

But don't take it from me. Take it from HBO. They're all aboard the Sansa train.

So much so that the dudes from "Silicon Valley" made a video to express their fervent hope that this season...

Because she's earned it.

Watch the rest of their commentary here.

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