Everything turned out very nicely for Sansa on the HBO adaptation. But her position in the books so far is very different and has diverged a lot from the TV show. Thankfully, it looks like she will avoid the horrifying Ramsay Bolton plotline altogether. However, Petyr Baelish has something almost as skin-crawlingly awful lined up for her in Winds of Winter.

Littlefinger’s interest in the eldest Stark girl is equally twisted and opportunistic in the books.

He clearly finds her to be a substitute for his obsession with her mother, Catelyn Stark. But he also has a clear eye on where he can position her – and himself through her.

In the books, Sanda is currently disguised as Alayne Stone, Baelish’s bastard. In A Feast For Crows her tells he plans to have her marry Ser Harry Hardying, the heir to the Vale after Jon Arryn, after he has revealed she is actually the Stark heir to Winterfell with Bran and Rickon both reported dead.

READ MORE: Game of Thrones shock: Sansa responsible for TWO Stark deaths not one

A strong new theory explains Petyr’s plans for Sansa.

It says: “I think his plan after Lysa’s death is to marry Sansa to Robin as soon as Robin hits puberty and can consummate the marriage. Then Robin can die of an “illness” or an “unfortunate accident”, and Petyr can marry Sansa himself as soon as she’s a widow.

“That gives him control of Robin’s lands, control of Winterfell and the North, and his Catelyn substitute, all in one tidy package.”

Poor Sansa’s third and fourth husbands look particularly dismal for here.

The one problem with this theory is why Petry is pushing Sansa so hard at Hardyng if he also has plans in place for Robin.

Unless he is playing an even longer game and will pass her from Hardying to Robin and then, finally, take her for himself.

Hopefully, Sansa will start displaying some of that political ruthlessness and skill she deployed in the last few seasons of the HBO show…

ORIGINAL THEORY ON QUORA