The finale of HBO's unprecedented televisual hit Game of Thrones had a few twists and turns, in keeping with the show's reputation for drama and unpredictability.

Bran Stark ended up on the Iron Throne, for example. Not many people saw that coming.

Perhaps more predictably, his sister Sansa Stark ended up being crowned Queen of the North. She had recently become a bookie favourite to rule the Seven Kingdoms, so it doesn't seem too surprising that she rule the North, as her family have done for generations.

Of all of the tiny details that writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss intentionally tucked into the last few episodes, as delicious easter eggs for the viewers to unravel (that white horse, Dany's ever-more complicated twisty hair styles), there's one small element, picked up by viewers, that wasn't actually part of the plan.

Sansa stark rivalry with daenerys targaryen - dragon crown
HBO

And that was the 'dragons' on Sansa Stark's crown.

Fans, eager to pick out the tiniest of messages in the show's legendary symbolism, became convinced that Sansa's crown depicted two dragons, representative of her victory over recent rival Daenerys Targaryen

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And while this is a worthy theory, it just isn't particularly true.

Sansa Stark's crown, in fact, depicts two wolves - the Sigil of the House of Stark.

The sigils have been incredibly important throughout the show's history.

The Lannister sigil is the Lion, for example and the house colours are red and gold. We see these woven throughout their kingdom while they remain the rulers. Their hair is golden, they live in the red keep, the King's Guard wear red and gold armour.

The Greyjoy sigil is the kracken, because their army is based at sea.

Giveing some credence to the fan speculation, it is interesting, that we see the wolf sigil so often on Jon Snow's armour.

It is also interesting, that their chosen depiction of the wolves seems to involve a scaly quality to their fur. Considering Jon Snow does indeed end up being half Targaryen, perhaps this scaly version of the wolf is somehow a slight blending of the two sigils - wolf and dragon, a nod to Jon's dual-heritage.

On the other hand though, the scales might represent fish. Sansa's mother's Sigil is a fish, representing the Tullys of Riverrun.

Her sleeves also seemed to display fish scales, an homage to her mother Catelyn Stark.

Sansa stark's sleeves with fish scales to represent house tully
HBO
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