Originally Posted by
Formalhaut
The funny thing is, Catelyn's prisoner exchange of Jaime for Sansa, appears at best ill advised and at worst downright stupid. However, when you think about it, it doesn't seem that lopsided. During the same time period when Catelyn was thinking and then releasing Jaime, Sansa was being publicly harassed and having a crossbow aimed at her as well as being stripped, perhaps even raped. Given how idiotic Joffrey is (beheading Ed Stark being just one example) it is conceivable that he might have just, on a whim, struck her down and killed her. During that scene in the Iron Throne where Sansa was being stripped and aimed at, were it not for Tyrion's intervention, much worse would have happened.
Of course, Joffrey didn't kill her, but Catelyn's desperate attempt to exchange prisoners actually had good intentions. Technically, the swap was still very lopsided (a lord commander for a teenaged girl) but hey, it is Cat's daughter. Hell, Robb's 'honor' with marrying Talisa was arguably worse, because it lost the loyalty of the already shady Freys. If the Freys wanted two marriages in return for a simple bridge crossing, holy hell what does Robb expect to be offered this time round?