Did Sansa play Jon? (Season 6 Eps 9 Spoiler)

Question

In Episode 9 of Season 6:

Littlefinger commanding the knights of Vale comes to the rescue for Jon Snow and his army.

Sansa had sent crow to Littlefinger asking help from him, surely she would have gotten a reply of confirmation from Littlefinger.

It would be understandable that Sansa would want to hide from Jon that LittleFinger might be able to help them as she wasn't sure about whether LittleFinger will help her.

But why would she hide that the Vale's Army is coming to join their army from Jon? Knowing LittleFinger, he might have planned to let Jon's and Bolton's army destroy each other before sending his army to finish off the battle, just to reduce his loss. But why would Sansa? Did she play Jon?

She knew Ramsay well, she knew Ramsay would play a game with Jon before the battle start, she warned Jon, she knew Rickon is as good as dead, she knew that to beat Ramsay she have to play a bigger game.

She has started showing that she could play the politics of Game of Thrones well, Did she outplay Ramsay and Jon in the Game?

Answer 1

There is no confirmation, we also don't know where Sansa was during the battle.
The fact that she rides next to Baelish is just to confirm to the viewer that it was her doing that made the knights of the Vale come to their aid.

We see her writing a letter in one of the previous episodes after Brienne has already left, so we assume that letter was sent to Baelish. It seems a lot is left to the imagination of the viewer this season, a lot of small details that are not really explained but only implied to have happened. One could assume that Sansa gave Baelish the location to their base camp and that is where he first went instead of going straight for Winterfell.

Sansa most likely asked for help in the hopes that the army of the Vale would have arrived before the battle started.
If the army of the Vale would have arrived after Jon and his forces left for battle, then they would only find Sansa and Lady Melissandra at the camp.

As to the question: Did Sansa outplay Jon?
I don't believe Sansa is playing people at this moment.

• She could have taken the knights of the Vale when Baelish first offered them, but she refused because she does not trust him anymore.
• Jon is her only true family that she has seen in years but besides being a good fighter, he holds no real power in any political play. Even as Lord Commander he only held power at Castle Black, which would never fight a war or side with any political party.

Conclusion: At this time, she and Jon only tried to save Rickon and get Winterfell back, for Jon this was also something he was seeking because:

• He did not get to avenge his fathers (Ned) death
• He did not get to fight with Robb or avenge Robb's death
• He was betrayed by the Watch and that only enforces the previous 2 reasons.
• Winterfell is still his home as much as it is Sansa's

-Edit- After episode 10, its safe to say Sansa did not play Jon. If anything, she played Littlefinger.

Answer 2

My answer will be dependent on the assumption that Sansa did know that LF was coming with the Vale.

Sansa did try to convince Jon to wait, to not attack yet. But, assuming that she knew LF was coming, she didn't tell him why because of the peculiarities of her struggles. She has no trust left in her, or very little at least. She has learned much from LF, whether she likes that or not, and what he has to teach is intrigue and how to win, no matter the cost. Basically, she knew that keeping the Vale participation secret would be a massive advantage and she didn't trust Jon to use it correctly. Their conversation the night prior to the battle is a small hint of this.

As for how it all was executed, it was brilliant tactically, while at the same time ruthless and cold. Let Jon wear down Ramsey's army and then, whether Jon won or lost, the Vale sweeps in all but guaranteeing the outcome. She said it herself, she knows Ramsey better than anyone alive at that point (after Ramsey's paramour was killed) and she knew that he'd commit everything once it became clear that he would win against Jon. She also knew that when he did that she would crush him.

So, to answer your question, that depends on your perspective. She let Jon do whatever he wanted to do, even though she did subtly try to get him to wait. From that perspective, no, she didn't play him.

But from the perspective of knowingly letting Jon go in at a major disadvantage and using that to her own advantage, then yeah, she played him a little bit.

Answer 3

First of all, who stays rational as the deliberate slaughter of a brother is committed basically in their face?
Once that had happened, Ramsey had the upper hand. (Which is why Sansa was trying to subtly tell Jon that Rikon was "gone" already.) And Sansa had sent a raven, yes, but everything else was in play...nobody was stopping to wait for Petyr and his troops-was Jon supposed to just call a timeout, or,"Raincheck!" The timing was what it was because...life.

Answer 4

I'm calling yes, she played him.

Before going to Kings Landing Sansa never had any time for her bastard brother, taking her lead on that from her mother.

She was genuinely glad to see Jon, but then he was her only hope of escaping Ramsay.

The only way she and Jon have of escaping Ramsay is to kill him first. When it was apparent they didn't have the forces she PM'd Little Finger.
Why didn't she tell Jon about Little Finger?

She didn't believe in Jon enough to think he could win the battle, even with the force from the Vale. She couldn't afford a winter siege, and Jons un-augmented force was enough to pull Ramsay out into a toe-to-toe battle. She believed Ramsay would gain the upper hand, and knowing he was completely without mercy, guessed he would encircle Jons forces and finish them.

So, the Vale arrives in time to rout Ramsays forces, attacking unprotected flanks, Ramsay flees, but is quickly captured and killed.

So obviously Sansas primary goal is achieved, Ramsay is dead.
It's the secondary outcomes that are most interesting, as they leave Sansa in an excellent position.

1. She is the legitimate warden of the north.
2. She can "forgive" her vassal lords that declared for Ramsay, but demand tribute of money and men for the favour, quickly building her resources to a point where she's somewhat safe.
3. The wildling army on her doorstep has been decimated.
4. The only force of opposition left near the north are the Freys, and they're far enough away, and committed to the south, that they're unlikely to be an immediate problem.

The fifth beneficial secondary outcome, that could easily have happened but didn't, would have been Jons death in battle.
With Jon gone Sansa is the eldest (she believes only) living child of Ned Stark. As a member of the Nights Watch Jon wasn't a threat, but now that his watch has ended, the North is as likely to legitimise Neds bastard and declare for him as they are for "a slip of a girl".
It'll be interesting to see what happens there, does she actively want him dead? Or just out of the way?

Did she think all those things through, I don't know, but she knew she'd be better off not giving Jon the forces from the Vale.
It's been a long time since she's been the empty headed girl that left Winterfell. She's learned a lot dealing with Joffery, Tyrion, Little Finger and not least Ramsay.

Answer 5

Yes, but only because the script made her do it.

While what we've seen in S06E09 is likely due to incredibly poor writing, editing and oversight by Benioff and Weiss, if you consider it at face value it is actually even worse than just "playing" Jon:

• Sansa let her younger brother, Rickon, die - by not threatening Ramsay Bolton with the Vale Army if he doesn't surrender her brother (she was in a position to negotiate terms for his surrender, and pretended to not have the upper hand militarily). She admitted herself she knew that, in case of a battle, Ramsay would not let Rickon live. Bargaining using the information she had, or using that information to delay the battle, would have increased the chances of Rickon staying alive.
• Sansa let the armed forces loyal to house Stark (directly or via Jon) be decimated by fighting a superior force instead of waiting for reinforcements.
• Sansa let Jon, her half-brother, enter a battle in which he was much more likely than not to perish (as she could not know exactly when the Vale army would arrive; a half-day later and Jon's forces would have been slaughtered to the last).
• In fact, Sansa had deceitfully orchestrated the entire attack on Winterfell - she convinced Jon to do it (although, ok, there was the pink letter, but without Sansa's enthusiasm Jon might not have tried to mount his attack). And remember: Sansa called on him to mount such an attack to save Rickon (whom she later claimed she knew cannot be saved).

So, if it were not for the fact she suggested they delay the attack, you could say Sansa has made a play for the entire North, hoping to rule it with no military forces available to challenge the external influence of Littlefinger/the Vale.

By this point in the story, Sansa Stark is a person who is willing to execute people by feeding them to dogs, and stand watching (for a while) while they tear off a man's flesh and he screams in agony, blood spurting from his unfolding entrails; then walk away smiling, not at all troubled by the sight. She also does not trust anyone, essentially, saying that "No-one can protect anyone", feeling she is always at mortal threat from people surrounding her and that intimacy and trust are either impossible or just a prelude to being betrayed and victimized. So, if written correctly, this could have been a very interesting plot line, especially with Ramsay saying "You can't kill me. I'm a part of you now."

However, no such luck. The writers are simply terrible at their jobs and make character - and the physical reality - behave inconsistently and incoherently. This is just like what we saw with Arya in Braavos.

PS - Ramsay would obviously have known about the Vale army. For which reason he would never be as stupid as leaving Winterfell to fight Jon's forces in the field like that, keeping himself completely open to an attack he not only knew was coming, but was likely aware of its timing almost exactly, due to his scouts and other travellers along the Vale's route of advance. But who cares, right? We got an awesome battle scene.

PS - Credit goes to Preston Jacobs' lampooning video for some of these observations.