Sansa Stark is one of the characters on Game of Thrones who went through the biggest changes throughout the series. She changed from the naive and selfish young girl into the brave and intelligent leader of House Stark. But while Sansa was one of the more admirable characters by the end of the series, she was difficult to cheer for at times.
Sansa's youthful ignorance got her into a lot of trouble as did her habit of trusting the wrong people. While we can be impressed with the strong person she became, some of those mistakes are hard to forget. Here are the worst things Sansa Stark did on Game of Thrones.
Lying About Lysa
After the death of Ned Stark, the only thing Sansa wanted was to be with her family. It is her own rotten luck that after escaping from King's Landing, the first family member she meets is Lysa Arryn.
We already knew Lysa was unhinged at this point, but Sansa got a full glimpse of her madness. So it's not such a tragedy that Littlefinger pushes Lysa to her death, but Sansa's covering for Littlefinger is less understandable. Lying about the death of her aunt is a pretty dark step for Sansa to take. And it's hard not to think that if she hadn't lied for Littlefinger she would have been done with him a long time ago.
Lying About Arya
Loyalty is a very important thing in the Stark family, and Sansa didn't seem to value that importance in the early episodes. While traveling to King's Landing, Arya and Joffrey get into a fight after he attacks Arya's friend. When the children are brought before the king, we see how different Sansa and Arya are.
Arya doesn't hesitate to call Joffrey a liar for his version of the events, and refuses to back down. When Sansa is brought in to determine who is telling the truth, she fails to back up her sister. That betrayal created a divide among the sisters for a long time.
Mistreatment Of Jon
Despite being a bastard, Jon seemed to be accepted by all the Stark children — except Sansa. We don't get to see them interact at all before they leave King's Landing on their separate journeys. However, when they reunite at Castle Black, Sansa admits to treating him terribly.
Though we never saw this behavior in the show, it's not too surprising given the kind of person Sansa was as a young child. Her cruelty to Jon was another example of how she needed time to develop many of the noble attributes the rest of the Starks had.
Turning Down Brienne
What Sansa needed for most of the series was a good protector. She was always surrounded by enemies and manipulators, but if she had someone looking out for her, she could have avoided many of her hardships. Unfortunately, Sansa had the opportunity to have such a protector but turned her down.
Brienne of Tarth was tasked with ensuring the safety of Catelyn Stark's daughters and even after Catelyn's death, she was determined to follow through. However, when Brienne first tracks Sansa down, Sansa lets Littlefinger convince her Brienne is an enemy — and refuses her services.
Antagonizing Daenerys
As soon as Daenerys arrived in Winterfell with Jon, Sansa was ready to make things as uncomfortable as possible. In some ways, it was nice to see the once-timid girl now willing to stand up to the Mother of Dragons, but her attitude was also not very helpful.
Sansa is wary of outsiders, which is understandable given what she's been through, and she was right to put her loyalty to the North above Daenerys. But given how valuable an ally Daenerys was, picking a fight with her at every opportunity was probably not a wise move.
Siding With The Lannisters
Of all the Starks, Sansa seemed to be the only one who was excited about moving to King's Landing. She loved the idea of becoming a Southern lady and being a part of all the excitement of the capital. So it's not hard to see how she became seduced by the Lannisters.
Very early on, it becomes clear Cersei is manipulating Sansa and following Ned Stark's arrest, she uses Sansa as a pawn. Even though they arrested her father and killed members of House Stark, Sansa still thinks the Lannisters are on her side and does what they ask of her.
Fighting With Jon
Given the fact that she played a big role in winning the Battle of the Bastards, Sansa was reasonable in wanting some recognition. It also makes sense that she would be a bit annoyed that Jon was named King in the North. However, once he was given that title, she should have shown more respect.
Jon is not always the smartest guy around, so he could certainly benefit Sansa's counsel, but she would constantly question him and argue with him in front of everyone. Not only did it hurt the Northern cause, but it made her seem immature.
Ramsay's Death
No one was sad to see Ramsay Bolton die and, in fact, it was very rewarding to see Sansa defeat him given the horrible things he did to her. But the method of his death was another dark moment for Sansa that leaves us a little uneasy.
Ramsay is eaten alive by his hounds as Sansa looks on. It's a karmic death, as he killed many people the same way, but it feels a little like Sansa is just going down to his level rather than having a victory. It feels strange to be expected to cheer for such a horrific act of revenge.
Falling For Joffrey
Romance in Game of Thrones usually doesn't end well, and Sansa was one of the first characters to discover that. She sees Joffrey as the picture-perfect Prince Charming and dreams of becoming his queen. We quickly see that Joffrey is a spoiled and sadistic young man, but Sansa refuses to give up her fairy-tale dream.
Seeing Sansa swoon over such an awful person even after she's seen how horrible he was made her a very frustrating character. It proved to be one of the many hard lessons she had to learn.
Secret Battle Tactics
Sansa and Jon's reunion in Season 6 is a heartwarming moment even if they didn't always get along. But even as they decide to join forces to take back Winterfell, Sansa still isn't ready to trust him.
With their army outnumbered by the Boltons, Sansa decided to call upon Littlefinger and the Knights of the Vale to even the odds. Foolishly, she decides to keep this information from Jon, who is leading the army. If he had known such reinforcements were coming, he likely would have had a new strategy that could have spared many lives.