Before the season even started, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss warned fans that Game of Thrones would stray from the books in significants ways this year, and last Sunday's episode proved that they were so not lying. In what is arguably the most significant departure from the books to date, Sansa is now engaged to marry Ramsay Bolton (formerly Ramsay Snow) in an attempt to reclaim her homeland in Winterfell. I mean, first of all — poor Sansa. Like that girl hasn't already been married to enough psychopaths to last a lifetime (looking at you Joffrey). Second of all, what does this even mean?!?! Those of you familiar with George R.R. Martin's novels know that while a marriage is supposed to happen for Ramsay in the very near future, it was not originally intended to be with an actual Stark girl.
In A Song of Ice and Fire, Ramsay ends up marrying Jeyne Poole, Sansa's best friend from Winterfell, after she begins posing as Arya Stark. So to have the showrunners make such a massive shift to the story — by allowing Ramsay to become engaged to someone in the actual Stark bloodline — proved to be an understandable shock for the GoT book readers to swallow. I'm not necessarily upset that this change is happening, especially since my girl Sansa deserves a pivotal storyline like this. But it does leave me with a bevy of emotions that I'm not quite sure what to do with. Such as…
Shock
I mean, is this even real life right now? Everything I thought I knew has just been thrown out the Moon Door. (Too soon?)
Confusion
What does this mean moving forward? Will Sansa kill Ramsay? Will Ramsay kill Sansa? Will they actually FALL IN LOVE?!?! I just have no idea what to think anymore.
Annoyance
The books are so amazing. Why are we straying from them in such significant ways?!?!
Disgust
Ramsay's father is responsible for the horrific events that transpired throughout the Red Wedding. How is Sansa expected to even be in the same room with him, let alone bind herself to him forever? And I don't even want to think about their wedding night.
Vengefulness
On second thought, maybe she'll treat his manhood to the same fate as poor Theon Greyjoy's. What goes around, comes around, right?
Relief
Now that she's betrothed to Ramsay, at least we can worry less about seeing her in extremely awkward/sexually charged scenes with Petyr Baelish… right?
Terror
Sansa has the worst luck with relationships ever. There's no way this isn't going to all end in bloodshed. (Hold me.)
Optimism
No need to panic. Sansa will be fine. Everything's fine. It's all going to be FINE, guys.
Indecisiveness
Who am I kidding? I have no idea what's going to happen next. But at least I'm 100 percent confident in my ignorance. So there's that. I just pray to the old and new gods that things will all work out for the best in the end. The Starks could really use a win.
Images: Helen Sloan/HBO; Giphy (9)
