Game Of Thrones Ending: Predicting What The Books Will (& Won't) Change

5. Queen In The North

Sansa Stark's storyline in the books is already very different to the show, for the simple but crucial reason that she isn't married to Ramsay Bolton in the novels. That harrowing fate instead befalls her old friend Jeyne Poole, who is being presented to the North as Arya Stark, while Sansa is still residing in the Vale with Littlefinger.

Although Sansa, like many of the main characters, is a good few years younger in the books, she's still very much on the trajectory of turning from a little bird into a woman of strength, independence, and political cunning. She's still learning from Littlefinger, and that has to be setting up some kind of position of power for her, but will it be Queen in the North?

It's definitely possible: Rickon is likely going to die, Bran is destined for bigger things, and Jon has a different path too, leaving Sansa as the heir to Winterfell. Meanwhile, the Northern quest for independence has been a part of the books since the first book when Robb was declared King in the North. The major sticking point is Bran.

If Bran becomes King - and it seems likely he will - then would Martin really write it so that a Stark ends up ruling Westeros but another Stark still breaks the North away from that? Again, it's not impossible, because there's the long-term future to think of: Bran is King now, but it won't always be a Stark, so Sansa is securing the North's independence for good. But it might also be a better bet that she ends up ruling both the North and the Vale as a Wardeness and Lady, rather than being crowned Queen in the North, although you can see why the show would want to have that moment.