Who are the remaining Starks in Game of Thrones?

It was a well-known fact that the Starks would ultimately triumph in Game of Thrones, but not how much these poor kids would have to go through before that stage is reached. In fact, none of them is happy with the endings given to them, but they shoulder their burdens with the help of their parents (so long as they are alive), as well as each other.

Ned is the first to die, followed closely by Robb and Catelyn at the Red Wedding. The rest of them, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Jon, come close to dying way too many times to even bother counting — in fact, one of them is technically dead and reincarnated. What happens to them after everything is over, though?

Sansa Stark

Sansa has become the woman she always wanted to be, and although the outcome isn't exactly as frilly and naive as she once fantasized, she really grows into her leadership role. She emerges out from under Baelish's "hypnotic" machinations, gradually, almost imperceptibly, turning into a different variety of Littlefinger. Sansa's life is riddled with lies, manipulation and deceit, but her love for Winterfell and her family is as powerful as ever.

She is the one who saves Jon Snow at the Battle of the Bastards with a set of devoted troops from the Vale, has Ramsay Bolton executed in a manner that aligns with the norms of poetic justice, and has the temerity to question Daenerys' motivations when her brother continues to cow before her. In fact, Sansa ends up as Queen in the North (but it should be made clear that there isn't anyone else to challenge her for the position.)

Arya Stark

Many things about Game of Thrones can be debated — the right of succession to the Iron Throne, Jon Snow's knotty parentage, even what could possibly be driving the White Walkers to invade Westeros. What is beyond doubt, however, is the fact that Arya Stark is the fiercest hero in the whole story, not least for decimating the Night King, and his entire army by extension.

She also takes the trouble to inform her brother that his adoration for Daenerys will result in conflict with Winterfell, given Sansa's insistence that the North secedes from the Seven Kingdoms. Arya, finally freed from the constraints of family expectation, becomes the sea captain, taking a ship to the lands that lie beyond the western shores of the continent. Assuming that there are any, of course.

Brandon Stark

Bran Stark enters the Great Council of Westeros as the Three-eyed Raven and leaves it as Bran the Broken, King of the Six Kingdoms. When Tyrion inquires as to his capacity for the position, he smirks that he didn't come to the Red Keep for anything less. He begins to fix the situation almost immediately, selecting the most sensible characters to fill up his Small Council: Samwell Tarly as the Grand Maester, Davos Seaworth as the Master of Ships, Tyrion Lannister as the Hand of the King, Bronn of Highgarden as the Master of Coin, and Brienne of Tarth as the Commander of the Kingsguard.

At the first session, they discuss Drogon's disappearance with Daenerys' body, but without any clear conclusion, Bran tries to solve the problem without their help. It is at this point that the name for the original work by George R.R. Martin makes its first appearance when Samwell produces a tome titled "A Song of Ice and Fire."

Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen

After performing his final act, the regicide of Queen Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow is forced to stand trial for treason. Luckily for him, the power of judgement passes from the Unsullied to the newly selected King, with Grey Worm giving his assent. Bran, being the pragmatic man that he is, realizes that the safest option for everyone (if another war is to be avoided), would be to send his big brother back to Castle Black.

Jon, however, is still steeped in guilt for having killed his aunt/lover/queen, but Tyrion explains to him that there was no other choice and that he will come to terms with it in time. Before leaving for the Night's Watch, he meets with his remaining family for the last time and is later seen traveling into the snowy wastes of the North beyond the Wall. A worthwhile adventure, because with the Night King and his minions gone, there is so much remaining of Westeros to explore.

Ghost & Nymeria

Sansa's Lady is the first Direwolf to die, being "executed" by Ned Stark to please Cersei (instead of Nymeria, who was the one to actually hurt Joffrey.) Robb's Grey Wind is one of the many casualties of the Red Wedding, and his head is stitched to his master's body to make a grotesque chimera. Bran's Summer is killed by the Night King, through his wights, when he remains in the cave to allow Meera and Bran to escape.

Rickon's Shaggydog is murdered in cold blood, with his head used as evidence of Rickon's capture by Ramsay Bolton. Arya's Nymeria, however, obviously survives the end of the war, but she has been partially undomesticated by her stint in the wild, as seen when she and her new wolfpack interact with Arya. She refuses to return to Winterfell, but she doesn't hurt her previous owner either, instead choosing to walk away. Jon and Ghost are the only Stark-direwolf combination to remain intact, with both of them taking a journey deep into the outer limits of Westeros.

NEXT: Game of Thrones: Ranking Every Hero Death In The Show