Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner explains why she would probably never return to play Sansa Stark in a spinoff. After a dominating decade-long run on HBO, Game of Thrones finally came to an end in May, and needless to say fans were split over whether the show’s finale gave the various characters the send offs they deserved.
When the smoke finally cleared on the final few episodes, which by and large emphasized spectacle and violence over the behind-the-scenes political machinations that filled the first few seasons, the dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen had been dispatched and something like peace had been restored to Westeros. In the final episode, Tyrion Lannister argued successfully for Bran Stark to be crowned king (though he wouldn’t get to sit on the Iron Throne after it was melted by Drogon) while Sansa Stark proclaimed herself Queen in the North, officially reducing the Seven Kingdoms to the Six Kingdoms. Meanwhile, Sansa’s sister Arya headed off for new adventures in the West while her “brother” Jon Snow returned to the snowy nether regions to rejoin the Night’s Watch.
With Game of Thrones set to receive at least one spinoff series on HBO, it’s a natural question to ask whether fans will ever get to see these and other favorite original series characters again. For her part, Sansa Stark actress Sophie Turner says she’s ready to put the Queen of the North behind her forever and move on to other things. Speaking to THR, Turner explained why she probably wouldn’t come back to the Game of Thrones universe to play Sansa:
“It’s time for me to say goodbye. She’s ended up in a place that I’m so happy with. I don’t know. It would be different if someone actually came and said, “We want to do a Sansa spinoff show,” but I’m pretty sure I’d say no. It’s been 10 years of watching this character grow, and she’s at her peak right now. I’m sure if she carried on and did a spinoff show, it would just be downhill from there. She’d have to go through some other terrible traumas or something, and I don’t want to do that.”
Trauma indeed was a huge part of Sansa Stark’s journey as Turner mentions. Throughout the series, the character was subjected to all manner of dehumanizing treatment, the low point coming when she was brutally raped by her husband Ramsay Bolton. Sansa of course was not alone among the show’s female characters in being horrifically abused, and indeed the series received tons of criticism over the years for using rape and torture of women as storytelling devices.
Ultimately, Sansa triumphed over all her abusers, and it seems Turner is glad to leave it there – though she does leave the door slightly open on the possibility of coming back for a spinoff. However, as of now it seems HBO will focus on Game of Thrones spinoff ideas that do not bring back original series characters. The upcoming first spinoff, which is going under the working title “Bloodmoon,” takes place thousands of years before the original.
A lot of fans might be sad to hear that Sansa Stark and the other original series characters won’t be coming back, but a strong argument can be made that HBO is doing the right thing by leaving them behind and focusing on other parts of Game of Thrones mythology. Then again, the way things were left at the end of Game of Thrones, perhaps there are a few characters out there who might warrant a revisit.
