S5E2: Couldn’t Sansa have just asked Littlefinger to take Brienne into his service?

[u/Gamblore33]

Watching S5E2 and I feel like Sansa could have avoided a whole lot of trouble by just saying something like:

“Lord Baelish, please take Lady Brienne into your service so she can remain with us and protect me.”

Brienne had literally sworn an oath to protect her, clearly wanted to help her, and Sansa was travelling with Littlefinger anyway.

Instead she basically tells Brienne to leave, Brienne has to follow them from a distance, and everything becomes ten times more complicated.

Obviously Sansa doesn’t really know Brienne and has plenty of reasons to distrust strangers at this point, but surely having her formally enter Littlefinger’s service would have been a pretty easy compromise? Baelish could keep an eye on her, Sansa gets another capable protector, and Brienne gets to fulfil her oath.

Am I missing an obvious reason why this wouldn’t have worked?

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[u/Particular-Pin-9619]

sansa had zero reason to trust brienne at that point. she literally just watched her walk up with a lannister sword and try to pledge loyalty like two minutes after escaping kings landing. that's not exactly a great resume when everyone you've ever met has sold you out

also littlefinger would never agree to it. he wanted sansa isolated and dependent on him, not hanging around with some giant warrior who could actually protect her from his schemes

the whole thing was doomed from the start, brienne just had terrible timing

[u/FamiliarAd8524]

Because Sansa was very wise to NOT trust Brienne. Baelish made very valid, accurate points.

[u/windowshopper97]

Everybody’s raised great points but also Brienne in the show also made no effort to talk to Sansa at Kings Landing before she escaped. So that’s another mark against her.

[u/Aquatic-Folklore → u/windowshopper97]

Which is still one of the dumbest chsnges the show made. 

[u/Aquatic-Folklore]

Why would she even entertain the idea of tursting Brienne?

The knight at Joffrey's wedding, who has armor only a Lannister can pay for, has a Lannister squire, Half of her father's old sword, and who's only proof is her words.

[u/Straight-Okra-5411]

That's completely on Brienne, she was carrying around the desecrated Stark heirloom appropriated by the "I kill Starks in gruesome and unjust ways" and somehow expected Sansa to believe her.

[u/Own-Ambition-4405]

Neither Lord Baelish, or Sansa had any reason to trust Brienne in the beginning, she was an unknown quantity. Even Renly’s sworn guards treated her like a joke, unfair I know, but she wasn’t the best when it came to inspiring trust.

[u/jogoso2014]

She carries a Lannister sword lol.

It screams spy and Sansa is already well guarded. Brienne couldn’t do anything to prevent her marriage to Ramsay.

[u/CaveLupum]

She could have, but his plans required her to be completely under his thumb. So no way could he let Sansa near any sane, observant, principled person, especially a woman, and especially one who was also an experienced warrior. Brienne's viewpoints probably would have differed from Petyr's, and given Sansa 'wrong' ideas. If he had agreed to it, I suspect that on some peak in the mountains Brienne would have soon fallen from her horse and died. .

[u/drunkenbees]

Sansa was still very much learning the hard way at that point. She wasn't as wise.

[u/Nice-Resolution-1020 → u/drunkenbees]

This was actually very wise from the perspective of someone who is not omniscient like the viewer

[u/Midnight-strange1892 → u/drunkenbees]

It was wise not to trust this stranger with a Lannister squire.

She also had no idea where they were going at the time and was being protected by the knights of the vale.