Can ‘Changed’ Stark Kids Properly Reunite On ‘Game Of Thrones?’

The last remaining member of the Stark family is set to return home in Season 7, Episode 4 of “Game of Thrones.” However, following the other reunions amongst her siblings, is it really possible for the Stark kids to get back any of the camaraderie they had in the past?

Fans have been hopeful for a reunion amongst Stark siblings ever since they were all separated in the first season of “Game of Thrones.” Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Arya (Maisie Williams) were sent to King’s Landing with their father, Ned (Sean Bean), while bastard brother Jon Snow (Kit Harington) went to serve as a member of the Night’s Watch at the Wall. After Ned’s execution, Arya fled King’s Landing, where Sansa remained until she was given an escape after Joffrey’s (Jack Gleeson) murder. Their father’s murder led to Robb (Richard Madden) marching South to his own eventual murder, and Theon’s (Alfie Allen) rebellion to take Winterfell led to Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and Rickon (Art Parkinson) fleeing as well. The brothers also split up when Bran headed beyond the Wall to find the Three-Eyed Raven.

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While Jon and Sansa reunited in Season 6 of the show and have mostly managed to work well together by defeating Ramsay Bolton and reclaiming Winterfell (but not without some clashes), Sansa’s recent reunion with Bran was far from perfect, and somewhat cringeworthy, with Bran recalling Sansa’s wedding night to Ramsay, when she was raped, and telling her she looked beautiful. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly after the episode aired, Hempstead-Wright acknowledged the encounter and admitted that as the new Three-Eyed Raven, Bran is incapable of experiencing the same emotions as his older sister.

“I think it’s a major shock for Sansa,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s lost her brother once before when he fell out of that tower, and now Bran’s back but she loses him all over again.”

“All the Starks have changed so much,” he continued. “Arya is like this ninja assassin. Sansa has been held captive by these tyrannical men and had to become politically cunning herself. But Bran is now this tree-raven-magic thing.”

Hempstead-Wright has a point, as none of the Stark siblings are the same as they were when they left Winterfell.

When he left, Jon was a quiet illegitimate son who knew he wasn’t a member of the true family. He’s since risen to become a powerful man, who was Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and brought Wildings across the Wall after seeing the Night King and what he was capable of with his massive Army of the Dead. After being murdered by his own brothers of the Watch and resurrected by Melisandre (Carice Van Houten), he went on to now become the King of the North.

Bran was forced from Winterfell after it was taken by the Greyjoys, and after a series of visions, he set out for the Three-Eyed Raven. While under his tutelage, Bran also saw the Night King and his army, and caused the deaths of both his teacher and Hodor (Kristian Nairn), before officially assuming the role for himself. He has also since learned the truth about Jon’s parentage, realizing he isn’t his half-brother at all, but is in fact his cousin, and the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.

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Sansa meanwhile was stranded in King’s Landing for years after her father’s death, first imprisoned by her engagement to Joffrey, before she was then married off to Tyrion (Peter Dinklage). After Joffrey’s murder, she was squired away by Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) and brought to the Eyrie, where her Aunt Lysa (Kate Dickie) nearly murdered her after Littlefinger kissed her. From there, she was sold off to marry Ramsay, who brutally raped her multiple times and beat her, before she escaped with Theon. She has since proven to be a much different woman, one who admits she’s learned “quite a bit” from Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).

As for Arya, she fled the capital after Ned’s murder and posed as a boy in order to be considered by the Night’s Watch. She was taken captive and outed as a girl by Tywin Lannister, where she served as a cup bearer until she escaped once again. From there, she briefly traveled with the Brotherhood Without Banners before being taken hostage by The Hound (Rory McCann), who attempted to sell her back to Robb, only to arrive immediately following the events of the Red Wedding. After The Hound appeared to die, Arya headed to Braavos to receive training as a Faceless Man, only to find it to be more difficult than expected after she disobeyed orders twice, being blinded and stabbed in both instances. After finally leaving Braavos, she returned to Westeros and murdered Walder Frey (David Bradley) and all of his sons out of revenge for the Red Wedding, before deciding to return home.

After dealing with so much horror between them, and being changed into these incredibly different human beings who all have new outlooks on the world, it’s unclear if they can truly form a bond together again and fight back against their enemies as a whole. Only time will tell as episodes continue airing, starting with Arya’s return home in the next episode.

“Game of Thrones” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO.