Game Of Thrones: 11 Characters Who've Changed Most Since Season 1

2. Sansa Stark

Then

The antithesis of her sister Arya, and everything that a young noble lady was supposed to be: she's courtly, well presented, and enjoys partaking in activities such s embroidery, sewing, and singing. She dreams of marrying a dashing prince and one day becoming Queen, but unfortunately for her she is incredibly naive. She joyously goes to King's Landing and is besotted with Joffrey, only to learn that's he's a monster when he orders the execution of her father, and later taunts her over it.

Now

There's perhaps no other character to living in Westeros to have had the misfortune and mistreatment that Sansa has suffered. After the death of her father she was forced to remain in King's Landing, first still betrothed to Joffrey, and later being made to marry Tyrion. She was given a chance to escape after Joff's death, but unfortunately it was into the grubby arms of Littlefinger, the mad home of her Aunt Lysa, and then eventually given over to the sadistic Ramsay Bolton.

Many would've just given up, but Sansa has shown more growth than anyone else on the series. She grew hardened at King's Landing, and started to learn how the game was played. The become much more pronounced under Petyr Baelish, as - no matter hoe awful he might truly be - she has developed into a formidable political operator in her time with him and at Winterfell. To suffer all she has and still be going shows just how much stronger and intelligent she's become since those naive lemon cake eating days, from which - appearances aside - she is almost unrecognisable.