“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

I know that this is a very over-used quote, but it remains incredibly relevant to Sansa’s presence in this episode. Sansa’s strength does not lie in battle or war. Just as Jon’s strength does not lie in politics, and Dany’s strength does not lie in diplomacy.

And Sansa does not ever claim to be well-versed in battle or war. In fact, she makes it extremely clear in this episode that she is aware of her lack of experience in this area, and that she will not pretend that it is one of her strengths. She is more self-aware than most of the other characters on the show. So, if both her fans and Sansa herself have acknowledged this, then why do people still hold her to that standard? (Hint: It’s misogyny.)

Where other characters may thrive in physical fights, both Sansa and Tyrion are thinkers. They are political strategists. And Sansa is one of, if not THE best political navigator in the entire show. She’s survived all this time with her wits alone. (And let me remind you that she’s survived Cersei, Littlefinger, Joffrey, and Ramsay.) “The Long Night” is not meant to showcase Sansa’s strengths. It is meant to showcase her humanity and her courage in the face of her weaknesses.

These next few episodes are what people should really be paying attention to in terms of Sansa’s character arc. This next war is not one of pure violence and force like the war with the Night King was. This will be a war of strategy, justice, and intellect.

Sansa is perceptive where Jon is naive. She is empathetic where Dany is ruthless. She is diplomatic where Arya is blunt. Her strengths are not the same as the other characters, and they shouldn’t be. That’s called diverse representation. If you want every female character to be the same, then you’re looking for a story with cookie-cutter writing, which means Game of Thrones is probably the wrong show for you.