‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 4 Spoilers: Find Out How The Sansa Storyline Will Seriously Deviate From Book 'A Storm Of Swords'

Sansa Stark's story will change drastically in Season 4, after a vital character to her plot was seemingly eliminated in Season 1 at the hands of King Joffrey. gameofthrones.wikia.com/

“Game of Thrones” isn’t returning until spring of 2014, but when fans settle in for Season 4 of HBO’s hit show, the series will have a different direction than what they were expecting. For amateurs that don’t know, “Game of Thrones” is based on George R.R. Martin’s series of epic fantasy novels “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Season 1 of the TV show chronicled the first book “A Game of Thrones” which was originally published in 1991, so after 20 years of inspiring and amassing an incredibly devoted and loyal fan base, audiences were thrilled with the TV adaptation. But after 3 seasons of success, the critically acclaimed series may have taken its first misstep.

Well to be completely accurate the first misstep was way back in season 1, the initial egregious error in regards to story as told by GRRM came in episode 4, “Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things.” Now I’m not sure if “Game of Thrones” show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss just hadn’t read up to “A Storm of Swords” yet or simply didn’t realize the implications of their plot change, but now in Season 4 the story deviates dramatically from that in the book. In Season 4 the story of Sansa Stark does not take place solely in King’s Landing, the heir to Winterfell becomes a major character in the second half of “A Storm of Swords” and thus the forthcoming “Game of Thrones” series. So what exactly happens with Sansa? Well, she unknowingly kills Joffrey at his wedding feast, Joffrey is poisoned and chokes to death almost immediately after marrying Margaery Tyrell. But what Sansa assumes to be too much pie, ends up being poison, which she unknowingly administered to the reigning King of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa then plans her escape from Kings Landing to occur on the day of the wedding feats but because of the commotion following Joff’s death, Sansa flees the capital seemingly guilty, but what the audience soon finds out is that Sana was only a pawn in a much bigger player’s game. Sansa believed she had lost her change of escape when she saw Littlefinger’s boat leaving the shore, but we soon discover that the scheming lord is responsible not only for Joffrey’s death, but Sansa’s escape and her involvement in the poisoning.

The young wolf is clearly shocked, but now she is stuck between two enemies, and considering Littlefinger is sailing to the Vale to marry her aunt, Lysa Arryn, Sansa goes along with Littlefinger’s schemes. Once aboard his ship, Sansa soon realizes she may have given up even more of her freedom, instead of presenting Sansa to his new fiancée, and reuniting niece and aunt, Littlefinger insists that Sansa take a new identity. So get used to Sansa answering to the name of Alayne Stone, along with her new and less dignified title, Littlefinger’s bastard daughter. Upon arrival to Vale, Littlefinger marries Lysa, and she is thrilled, but the new Protector of the Vale has wandering eyes and they find Sansa. Littlefinger’s undying love for Catelyn Stark did not die with her at the Red Wedding they just transferred to her beautiful and vulnerable 14 year old daughter. So now that Littlefinger’s real motives are revealed, the façade of family starts to crack, and Lysa catches her new husband kissing his bastard daughter in the snow.

Instead of asking her husband what is going on, Lysa Arryn does what’s rational, the loving aunt simply hangs Sansa out of the moon door, and threatens to drop her. Before the interrogation can come to a terrifying close, Littlefinger rescues Sansa. He plays the part of devoted husband well, cooing his new wife and assures her that he “only ever loved one women,” but with Lysa firmly in his grasp and Sansa safely out of harms way, Littlefinger pushes his new wife out the moon door, revealing the one woman he ever loved was “Cat.” Obviously, Lord and Protector of the Vale can’t take the fall for Lysa Arryn’s murder, and the cunning Littlefinger blames Lysa’s beloved singer, Marillion, for her murder. Marillion’s role doesn’t end there, he is arrested and tortured until he confesses to killing Lysa, and he is allowed to keep his life but loses his eyes and a few fingers. In an attempt to keep his title as Lord Protector of the Vale and ensure the other ruling lords of the Vale remain loyal to his cause, Petyr has Marillion repeat his confession in front of Nestor Royce, Keeper of the Gate of the Moon, and then confines the “murdered” to the sky cells where he later dies.

If you don’t remember Marillion, well you should, he appeared briefly in episode 4 of season 1. But his story is much different in “Game of Thrones” then it is in GRRM’s “A Song of Ice and Fire.” The audience initially meets the singer at the Crossroads Inn, when Cat and Ser Rodrik attempt to arrive. He attempts to the sing for the pair, but is refused, then Tyrion Lannister enters, and after another refused offer, Marillion witnesses the showdown between the two powerful houses of Westeros. Cat takes Tyrion prisoner, under the assumption that he pushed Bran from the tower, she decides to bring him to the Eyrie for a trial. Marillion is a scheming singer, so he decides to accompany Cat’s party on their journey, after he returns back to King’s Landing and is brought before King Joffrey. Marillion is accused of treason for his mocking joust about the late King Robert and the Queen Regent Cersei, Joff provides the singer with a choice for his punishment, he asks, “What do you prefer to keep your hands or your tongue?” After the horrified Marillion objects, Joffrey orders Ser Ilyn Payne, his executioner, to remove Marillion’s tongue. The guards seize him, and Payne rips out his tongue in front of the entire, horrified court.

So with Marillion lacking his tongue, we are doubting his ability to travel to the Vale and became Lysa Arryn’s favored singer. And even more doubtful of his ability to confess to killing her, so how exactly will Littlefinger weasel his way out of murdering his wife in Season 4? We are not yet sure, and honestly a bit confused why exactly Benioff and Weiss altered the story so drastically. Marillion plays a large role of Sansa’s story in the Vale, he also provides Littlefinger with the perfect scapegoat, without him, the scheming lord may not be able to convince the Vale he should stay. What do you think of the changes in Season 4 of “Game of Thrones” comment below and let us know!