‘Game of Thrones’ season 5, episode 3 reaction: Show bosses on key Sansa change

As someone who is not a reader of A Song of Ice and Fire, it takes us a little bit of time watching “Game of Thrones” for us to get a sense of what is actually a massive change from the source material. As it turns out, one of those big changes came courtesy of the decision to pair off Sansa Stark with Ramsay Bolton. Ramsay was paired with a different character (who is not in the show) in the book series, and this was a big change to shift Sophie Turner’s character away from the Eyrie.

So why make this big move? Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunner David Benioff made it clear that much of this decision came down to wanting Turner and the Sansa character involved:

“We really wanted Sansa to play a major part this season … If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was as subplot we loved from the books, but it used a character that’s not in the show.” 

Bringing her back to Winterfell at this time is a full-circle moment, given that so much of the first season in particular was set there, and this allows us to see this world now from a completely different set of eyes. It is still a land known to the Starks, who are loved and respected here. While it is easy to feel for Sansa given her present circumstances (we certainly do), you also have to remember here simultaneously that she did at least have the self-reliance to choose potentially marrying Ramsay for herself. She is not becoming a victim all over again.

Were you surprised about the events of tonight’s new episode of “Game of Thrones”? Let us know your thoughts on the subject with a comment, and head over here to get our full review of tonight’s installment. Also, you can sign up to score some other TV updates on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter: (Photo: HBO.)