Does anyone believes that Arya would get a happy ending?

[Jojen]

My guess....and this is strictly a guess....is that her best possible scenario is to roam the forests of Westeros with Nymeria.

But like you....I can hope for the best.

Edited: grammer and spelling correction

Or maybe she'll have a second life as Nymeria.

[OnlyOne]

Arya is like Lyanna and she doesn't need a dress nor does she need to wed. Even if she never returns, which I personally doubt, all the warging and the big weir wood at Winterfell keep her visible. Hate keeps you going only so long.

[Harlan]

Or maybe she'll have a second life as Nymeria.

This is probably the happiest plausible ending for arya that I've seen yet. I will add to it that at the time of her true death (death of human body) she had successfully crossed all her names off of her list and died by taking a crossbow bolt for sansa/jon/rickon. (I'd say bran, but bran is never leaving his cave) She then goes on to her second life in Nymeria as the dominant predator in the land....

[The Undead Martyr]

Why does she have to die? Who's to say that she isn't this generation's Hound and/or Varys, or that she can't go wander the earth like Marco Polo or Ibn Battuta?

I don't buy the "foreshadowing" claims of i.e. the sewing quote, nor do I think her character arc should terminate fatally solely for the sake of story drama. She's a survivor, and short of the FM coming after her for deserting (and I'm not certain they would do this- heck if she ends up as say Master of Whisperers they might let her go as a "contact" in Westeros) or maybe an AA Jon killing her to forge Lightbringer I think she's a safe bet for surviving the series. That doesn't mean she's going to be "Arya Stark" and reunite with her siblings- she's widely believed to be dead, and even if she goes back for Nymeria/her list she doesn't need to pop her head up.

One thought is if Mel resurrects Jon and he comes back obsessing about finding his sister, then he learns that Massey took her to Braavos- he follows, and Arya runs into UnJon somewhere along the line. Or she stays with the FM, as she seems to enjoy it and it gives her purpose. There are three big questions- what happens when her list is finished? What brings her back to Westeros- she could probably leave at any time but she's staying to train with teh FM and because Braavos is a stable and safe and home to her. At this point the only things I see moving her to leave would something involving Nymeria seeing Lady Stoneheart, a desire to punish Jon's killers, Bran Inceptioning her dreams, or Rickon/Sansa raising their banners in Winterfell, or maybe the Iron Bank or FM sending her to Stannis or Dany though this last bit seems increasingly unlikely.

The third question, and the one that will probably determine whether the FM come after her, is what the FM are planning. They come across as a sort of Buddhist Death cult. They aren't evil IMO, nor will they be working with the Others, and I do not think either they or Braavos are against Dany/her dragons, so long as she stays in Westeros and doesn't threaten Braavos itself or its commercial interests. If anything they might throw in with her against the Others and/or to end the war in Westeros along with destroying the economic base of their rival cities, e.g. Volantis. Is Jaqen rogue or did he infiltrate the Citadel on their orders? What was he doing with the Nights Watch- and what changed between the moment he was in the black cells and the moment he showed up as Pate?

[Nettles]

I do hope for a happy ending for Arya, and by "happy" I mean a return to Westeros and a reunion with Jon. I'd love to see a Stark reunion and Jojen did say that the wolves will return to Winterfell. He didn't say "some of the wolves", so I think it's very likely.

I don't think Arya was comfortable working on her first target. She kept making little excuses in her head that were meant to show the reader she is not a ruthless person. Those on her list are a completely different matter. Why should she feel remorse for killing them or wishing them dead?

She also executed Dareon for a deserter, which points to her identity as a Stark of Winterfell. Arya acted as a representative of her father, she knew who and what she was. Bran was seven in chapter one when he witnessed a beheading and knew it would be expected of him when he was older. Why is it wrong for Arya to act as his substitute?

I am also very surprised to read of her supposed "seduction" of Raff the Sweetling. She made a blunt proposal, that's not seduction. It only worked because Raff the Sweetling was a pig, not because she had become a seductress. The other guard was disgusted with Raff.

What was he doing with the Nights Watch- and what changed between the moment he was in the black cells and the moment he showed up as Pate?

I'd really want to know the first part, what changed was the hatching of Dany's dragons.

[Vivianne]

Even if everyone's dreams for Stark return come true, Starks regain the North and Winterfell is rebuild, I don't think Arya can come back and be what she was - a highborn Lady with all responsibilities and duties that comes with it. At worst, she would be an embarassment to the family - a wild, damaged, fallen girl - even to the sensibilities of the North (not counting the South). I don't see any future for her. I doubt she would marry anyone, I doubt she would be a loyal retainer, I doubt she can be someone like Brianne.

I think for her the "happy ending" would be to clear out her "nighttime" list and see her Stark siblings regain the North and she would simply walk away. If GRRM would keep true to his portrayals of characters, she would not have a happy reunion and become "old Arya" again.

she will only be happy doing what SHE wants..... whatever that is after Westeros calms down, I hope she lives and prospers but thats subjective to her......as long as she gets Needle and Nymeria back I am happy....we will see

[taem]

I agree with Nettles, I just don't see her arc in the grim terms that some of you do. She is struggling to maintain her identity, and succeeding.

[addicted to snow]

She will freeze to death after killing Jon… it's foreshadowed in one of the first handful of chapters in the series...

[MountainThatSkates]

Well I think everyone on her list will be dead by ADoS is over so in that aspect I think she will have a happy ending. My crackpot theory has always been not that a Jon reunion kind of removes her from her current path, but a Nymeria reunion will remind her that she is not "no one". I think this will be her strongest sign that Arya Stark is still in this world.

I think she will a major character at some point, and I perhaps in GRRM style it will be someone we don't want her to kill. I don't think this will necessarily be the exact example but something along the lines of her killing Jaime just before he is about to do something heroic that we, (the reader) really want him to do but now can't.

I have Arya in my final four category with Dany, Tyrion, and Jon. I won't be surprised if any of these four die... but I think it will have to be in the last book in the climactic events.

[GERM]

I think of anyone, Arya is the most likely to survive the cruel world Martin has created. She kills without remorse and she sees the worst in people, not their best. She is a survivor and she'll survive. Unlike every other Wolf (except maybe Jon), she has created her destiny and survived without help.

The only evidence a person can argue about Arya's death being foreshadowed is in Jon's second (I believe) chapter where he jokes with Arya that she is going to be sewing through the winter and they'll find needle frozen into her hand. If this were any other writer, I would be convinced. Martin doesn't know heads from tales about this story, and if you read the interviews with GRRM about when he originally started writing it, he didn't know what kind of story he was writing. I don't think Martin had any real plan for these characters until after the first book, and even those plans were broad. I think everyone is giving GRRM way to much credit to believe he planned that far ahead. His early interviews say otherwise.

IMO, she survives.

[theseven]

I think (and kind of expect) that Arya will meet her mother. And Lady Stoneheart knowing that Arya is alright, will ask her for the mercy of death. To confront these two characters that only live for revenge will be very interesting. Will Arya be shocked not to recognize the loving mother she once knew? would she see herself in lady Stoneheart? would that change her views of revenge?

I do think she survives, and I do think she will be happy but in a way nobody expected.

[BuggerThemAll]

I think (and kind of expect) that Arya will meet her mother. And Lady Stoneheart knowing that Arya is alright, will ask her for the mercy of death. To confront these two characters that only live for revenge will be very interesting. Will Arya be shocked not to recognize the loving mother she once knew? would she see herself in lady Stoneheart? would that change her views of revenge?

I do think she survives, and I do think she will be happy but in a way nobody expected.

I love this. So much. Please, please, please.

[The Wolf Lord's Daughter]

I think Arya getting back to Westeros and reuniting with her family and live life the way she wants to will be sufficiently happy. Believe it or not, Arya care more for her family than revenge. She proves that when she stops trying to fight Sandor, a man on her lists, when he tells her he wants to ransom her back to her brother. She has Catleyn's "family is everything" trait, proving it when she time and time again risks her life trying to save people she loves and cares for. She wants revenge and has become ruthless, yes. I want her to get her vengeance and I find her becoming darker realistic and complex. But to say it means everything to her is wrong.

Arya is a survivor. She has suffered through things nobody should have to face, let alone a 9 year old. But she still remembers who she is, still enjoys life in Braavos, and she can live happily in Westeros after the war had ended. I really hope she doesn't die. She really deserves a happy ending.

[GERM]

I think Arya getting back to Westeros and reuniting with her family and live life the way she wants to will be sufficiently happy. Believe it or not, Arya care more for her family than revenge. She proves that when she stops trying to fight Sandor, a man on her lists, when he tells her he wants to ransom her back to her brother. She has Catleyn's "family is everything" trait, proving it when she time and time again risks her life trying to save people she loves and cares for. She wants revenge and has become ruthless, yes. I want her to get her vengeance and I find her becoming darker realistic and complex. But to say it means everything to her is wrong.

Arya is a survivor. She has suffered through things nobody should have to face, let alone a 9 year old. But she still remembers who she is, still enjoys life in Braavos, and she can live happily in Westeros after the war had ended. I really hope she doesn't die. She really deserves a happy ending.

Of all the characters, her the most; she's earned a happy ending.

[Newstar]

She will freeze to death after killing Jon… it's foreshadowed in one of the first handful of chapters in the series...

Daniel Abraham, who's adapting AGOT in comic book form, wanted to remove a certain line when adapting AGOT and GRRM specifically forbade him, saying that the line foreshadowed the ending of the books. Abraham also mentioned that "you wouldn't know it" from the line that it foreshadows the last scene of the books.

Jon's "prophecy" of Arya being found frozen to death clutching a needle in her fingers made it into the comic book. Just saying.

[GERM]

Daniel Abraham, who's adapting AGOT in comic book form, wanted to remove a certain line when adapting AGOT and GRRM specifically forbade him, saying that the line foreshadowed the ending of the books. Abraham also mentioned that "you wouldn't know it" from the line that it foreshadows the last scene of the books.

Jon's "prophecy" of Arya being found frozen to death clutching a needle in her fingers made it into the comic book. Just saying.

I don't think your interpretation and what was said is even close to truth.

There was one scene I had to rework because there's a particular line of dialog -- and you wouldn't know it to look at -- that's important in the last scene of "A Dream of Spring."

When the words forbade, foreshadowing, or anything else came out in the interview is beyond me. Lol

I am of the opinion that her death isn't foreshadowed, but that's just me.