Littlefinger

Thing is, though, without Dontos, would Sansa have even gone back to her room the night of BoBW? He is the one who convinces her to do so, and that is where she finds Sandor. What if she had never gone back? What would have happened to her? What would have happened to SANDOR? Knowing what we know now, that Tywin & the Tyrells deus-ex-machina'd the battle, would she have gone back to her room in the morning and found Sandor still sleeping there? Would he have been more lucid in his appeal to her? Would she still have gone with him knowing that the battle was won? Would HE still have gone? (I'm assuming he must have had no choice; no way Cersei, Joff, and Tywin would have been very forgiving if they learned that he walked off the battlefield...)

But let's say, for argument's sake, that (1) there was no Plan A with Dontos, and (2) she decided to go back to her room of her own accord, and she found Sandor there. Assuming the encounter plays out the same way, at what point, do you think, would Sansa even comprehend that Sandor wanted to take her with him out of King's Landing, and then even have an opportunity to say yes? The closest he comes to asking her to leave with him is when he says that he could keep her safe, but the only thing SHE is thinking about in that moment is not his words but how she thinks he's gonna kiss her! There was never really an opportunity for her to actually say yes or no to his offer. Which is why I always think it's so funny how, in ASOS, she says she has lain awake at night thinking of how she had refused to leave with him and wonders if she'd been wise not to go with him... Even though she never actually DID "refuse" him! She realizes after the fact what his true intention was that night, but there was never actually an opportunity in the moment for her to accept OR refuse him!

Oh Sansa, you strange little bird, you... ;-)

(Sorry, I think I went way off-topic! LOL)

ooh! I like that idea! Even if Sandor doesn't use his killing blow on Littlefinger, the parallel you noted is still supported by it. Brandon, Cat's fiance, almost cuts Littlefinger in half. Sandor is known for doing exactly that. Cat's act of mercy, asking Brandon to spare Petyr, ultimately is her and her family's downfall and she has become the merciless Crone.

But you make a good point about the Littlefinger being in the middle of it all. If it wasn't for Dontos, if it wasn't for Jon Arryn...But Littlfinger DOESN't get what he wants. He never had Cat and I cannot believe he'll ever have Sansa. GRRM wouldn't do that to us (he really wouldn't).

Sandor never did make clear what his offer was, though. It was only after the fact, after she was sober and things had calmed down that she had second thoughts, which tells me she WOULD have gone with him if she had been thinking clearly, if he'd been a bit more clear about his intentions. Drunk and terrified is no state to be in when you are making love confessions and/or planning to run away.

I still think that Sandor and Sansa are off to a better start than Ned and Cat, as weird as that may sound. They KNOW each other far better than Ned and Cat ever did. Sansa is well aware that her former betrothed was a psycho douche-bag. Cat still had fond memories of Bran though we know he was cheating on her up and down Westeros.

I'm thinking of another red-haired girl, grey-eyed man couple: Jon and Ygritte. They were also torn apart by Jon's secret. I think Sansa and Sandor may be the one version of the couple that gets it right. Secrets are everywhere, but Sansa's biggest secret is that she has the hots for Sandor (at least, that is her biggest secret from Petyr.  With everyone else, the whole Alayne thing is pretty big!). Little finger may have Sansa in his clutches for now, but her secret love for Sandor must play some role in freeing her from Littlefinger.

(Apologies if I'm babbling. I am SO TIRED and my brain no longer works. Please feel free to ban me from the boards if I continue to type repetitive rubbish ).

Yes, yes,yes to that. I love exchanging ideas,even if some are crazy. It's like a game,and we have found very interesting aspects this way.Anyway, I think than not many of the things we say are crazy because they are always based on something and we are used to reading between line without taking everything at face value. And above all, we can see a pattern in George's work which is also present in other storie he's written.

By the way, Littlfinge did separate Ned and Cat because if Arryn hadn't been murdered Robert wouldn't have asked Ned to become the Hand in his place.And whatever we may think of the Blackwater scene between Sansa and Sandor,Littlefinger managed to do what Sandor intended, he took Sansa away from KL and now she is hidden where our Hound can't find her.I'm sure he was roaming the Riverlands unable to take her off his head and would have followed any clues that lead to her,all he wanted was saving her and being by her side but he was helpless as usual.

Those who say there's an imbalance of power between Sansa and Sandor really surprise me because Sandor is so helpless it hurts. Such a man reduced to total helplessnes breaks my heart. When he said "enough" and only cotributed to Joff's cruelty towards Sansa that was really hard. And then a little man but one who held power managed to do what he, with all his strength and martial skill could not.Both Sansa and Sandor are helpless in KL, they are only toys in other people's hands. In fact, Sandor is very much like the puppet knight he took from Gregor because others play his strings and Sansa is a doll for Tyrion,Joff and Littlefinger to play with, at least they treat her as such but she never lets them break her the way they broke Sandor.

Calling a man "dog" is very demeaning even if he says he's happy with it. I see this as a sign of how broken he is when he doesn't even get angry when he's being treated like shit.But there is Sansa to remind him that he is a man,not an animal so that he eventually gets tired of being kicked.When people are abused for too long they don't even realize they are insulting them and abusing them as they consider this is normal and they deserve no better.Sansa also presents some signs of trauma when she starts believing she is stupid because Joff and Cersei tell her so but she isn't as damaged as Sandor in this respect because she has known a normal life with a loving family, who valued her, and she hasn't been abused for so long as Sandor has.