The 30 most heartwarming moments on Game of Thrones

1. Jon and Sansa Reunite (“Book of the Stranger”)

KATIE: Nothing gives me more hope for a happy(ish) ending to Game of Thrones than this scene. “The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives,” the late Eddard Stark, once said. And now—finally—the pack is coming together again.

The horn that blares across Castle Black is a triumphant announcement, as the gate opens to reveal Brienne, Podrick and Sansa. Your heart can’t help but soar. It means family, safety, hope and love. It means redemption for these characters who have endured tremendous burdens. Sansa and Jon alike are coming off the heels of traumatic experiences, and for once get a respite from all their misery.

When their eyes meet across the courtyard, the scene takes on a reverent tone. Sansa, for the first time in years, is contemplating the possibility that she might find some peace in Jon’s presence and under his protection, and Jon looks like he’s seeing a ghost he can’t quite believe is real. These first few moments are slow and dreamlike, as the wonderful truth of the matter sinks in. And then the trance breaks when, all at once, the estranged pair launch towards each other in a loving embrace the likes of which neither of them has felt in far too long.

Sansa and Jon have both lost trust and faith in those who should have protected them. Now, they have each other. That’s what makes this series so compelling. It’s not the violence and the death and the acute suffering—it’s how the characters rise up and fight those evils, and how they find hope despite them. For all of Jon and Sansa’s pain, they find a hope in each other that makes their continued fight worth the struggle.

The pair have their differences, but after all they’ve fought through to get to this point, there’s no going back to a time in which they don’t love each other deeply. They weren’t close growing up—indeed, Sansa never considered Jon a brother like her siblings did—but that’s just indicative of this family’s bond. These two reunite first for a reason: to demonstrate that even the Starks’ weakest familial link is strong.   

Sansa and Jon go to war for each other and for the Stark name, to take back their home and their rightful seat in the North. Although downtrodden, each of them helps the other to achieve their potential. Sansa gives Jon a reason to keep fighting when he would have otherwise given up and run. Sansa gives him back his purpose, and Jon gives her security, and begins to restore her faith in all that she had once believed in.

(I’m not crying—you’re crying.)