I hate kidnap plot but imagine Cersei and Sansa together. Lena and Sophie grace our screen with their presence. It would be glorious. But I don't want Jon in this scenario. I want Sansa outsmart Cersei on her own without princess in the tower/damsel in distress and her knight in shining armor plot. I want these two ladys playing mind games.
I get what you’re saying, anon. And for the most part, I agree.
But as someone on here pointed out, the kidnap plot and reuniting with Cersei gives Sansa her own storyline in the show separate from the WW, which she isn’t directly connected to, like Jon. And like you said, it gives Sansa an opportunity to confront her final boss, and Cersei to come to terms with the fact that it might be Sansa, who is the YMBQ, and not Dany. Cersei will realize just how far Sansa has come, and that she is not the same person she was before. I’m excited for Lena and Sophie to act together. They do such phenomenal work.
We need Jon in this scenario, anon. We do,
I’m not saying it needs to be Jon who saves her in the end, I still agree with the fact that she should outsmart Cersei and save herself, but Jon needs to be there as well. The whole driving force behind Cersei kidnapping Sansa is for revenge and to have leverage against Jon. If you recall, this was very much the same situation that Sansa was in during the war of the five kings, as a ward of the crown. But Robb Stark never sued for peace. He never exchanged Jaime for Sansa. As much as she was praying for him to, counting on him to be her knight in shining armor, Robb never saved her. Now older and more seasoned in politics, Sansa probably understands that as king, he couldn’t afford to. Her second time around in this situation, she’s not going to expect Jon to try to save her either. Maybe she doesn’t even want him to, as it’s giving Cersei what she wants. There’s just one thing that Sansa isn’t counting on:
He promised to protect her. He will. He choked out the man who sold her to the Boltons, got his hackles up over every single man who dared to mention her name. He helped her fight an entire war to get their home back. He doesn’t give one fuck about politics when there’s an army of dead ice zombies marching their way, but he’s definitely not going to give a fuck when he learns that someone he loves is in danger. Jon promised to protect her. If Cersei takes her, Jon broke that promise. He will not be able to live with himself if he doesn’t do everything possible to get her back. Jon is king yes, but he’s also Jon. He’ll never stop fighting for her. I need this to happen narratively, because Sansa needs to know that someone cares about her. That she is worth saving.
Sansa doesn’t get that yet.
She knows that Jon cares for her, deeply, and she cares for him too, as we saw in s7, when every other episode, Sansa was wondering out loud when he would come home.
She truly underestimates the depth of Jon’s feelings for her, and so does the audience. Jon’s reaction will be crucial in how the audience watches jonsa play out. They’ll see that this isn’t just a man who lost his sister (a la Robb) but a man who lost the woman that he loves. We need to see the things he’s willing to do to get her back. Betray Dany by kneeling to Cersei? Marrying Cersei? Steal one of Dany’s dragons? Leaving the entire North vulnerable after they’re still healing from the WW threat? The crazier, the more dangerous the shit that he’s willing to do to get her back becomes, the better we understand the extent of his feelings for her.
I need Sansa realizing that unlike Robb, he came. That he’s willing to throw away an entire kingdom for her safety. Maybe he doesn’t need to do that, because by the time he shows up, Sansa has already saved herself, but I need her to know that Jon will always come for her. That he will always do his best to keep his promise to her.
I need Sansa to realize that true heroes are still real, and that not all the songs are lies. She can be her own hero, but at least she knows that Jon did everything in his power to be hers.
