The little bird was always a Phoenix

As soon as Sansa said that I knew it would stick in a lot of people's craw. I know what the writers were going for, but fuck they muffed it. The whole of her experience from the time the Hound could've gotten her out of Kings Landing to now made her into the what she is now. Pairing it up right on the harshness of breaking her in rough to the next topic just connects the dots. Her rape made her into the woman she is. That pair is how the Hound talks. He says something vile then follows it up with something touching using gruff language. Like with Gentry. The hound tells Gentry that he wants to know where Arya is because of the fucking. Then follows it up with of course he should be thinking about that. Surrounded by so much death the act of of sex is affirmation of life. In the most guttural way possible. The same with the rough breaking in. He says something blunt, tasteless, and vile and follows it up with the regret of not sparring her as a child from all of it. Her line about not staying a little bird yes includes the rape but also every other trial/triumph she went through.