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Why do people hate the kick-ass character that is Arya Stark?


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I've seen threads about Arya's redemption; these don't make sense to me because I don't think she needs to be redeemed. I get that she's killed a bunch of people, but let's be honest, so has nearly every other character in the series.



The fact that's she's young and female has nothing to do with with the quality of her character, as it would be perfectly acceptable if she were a male teenager.



Assassination is a sordid affair, but she kills RAPISTS and KILLERS and has sworn vengeance on those who have ruined her family and put her in the situation in the first place. That's bonus points in my book.



Arya is NOT a psychopath, she's just a young person making do with what she has and valar morghulising a bunch of bad people.



So my question remains: Why do people hate the kick-ass character that is Arya Stark?



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I adore Arya and see her character development as a survivalist coping mechanism more than anything else. I know she wants vengeance, but who wouldn't? She just has been in the unique position to bestow a little of it.



I DO though, think that being an assassin would make it hard to reintegrate into a normal life, if at some point she had the chance, so I don't have very high hopes for a happy ending for her.



If I could write the last two books, I'd have her save Jon Snow and ride off for adventures with Gendry, but I don't see it actually going that way.


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She is neither an interesting or unique character. There are abundance of characters like her all over the genre. I would not have as a character at all.

I have to agree with this. I love her earlier arc, it was a really interesting way to show the war (through the eyes of a rebellious high born little girl). As much as I love her though I think it would be better if she had been Reeked (that is disappeared from the series to reappear and tell her story in memories) or died. If GRRM has a real plan for her that connects back with the main events obviously Reeking her would have been the way to go, as it is I worry that she is perhaps being shoe horned in and her arc is more thematic that plot based.

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The OP is missing the point of why people don't like her current arc. Sure she kills rapists and killers, but she's being trained to become part of a group of people that will essentially kill anybody for any reason. In my experience Arya is one of the most popular characters in the series, and certainly the most beloved (living) Stark. That is why people don't like the way her story is going. Her fans don't want her to become No One, and they don't like the fact that she's killing people somewhat indiscriminately now.

I agree with you whole-heartedly, ser.

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I have no idea where this is coming from considering Arya is almost universally loved by the fandom.



I love her but I can't be oblivious to the fact that she is becoming darker and I see no point of return for her. I think it's a little naive to think that something good is going to come from murdering all those people regardless of their crimes. I'm not gonna root for her doing that while she is destroying her soul in the process.


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I like Arya and enjoy reading her chapters, but I don't know that I find it particularly awesome that a child has been traumatized to the point of indiscriminate murdering. She makes me sad more than anything. I'll admit, when she did the whole "is there GOLD in the village" thing in my first read through, I cheered. But now I read it and just think, poor kid. I'd imagine that's a lot of where the negativity in regards to her arc comes from. And with the aforementioned losing of her Stark identity.

ETA: And if someone actively dislikes her, it may be because she's a bit of a brat. Hate to say it, but there's no real arguing against it.

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I don't think many people hate Arya, she's actually regarded as one of the more popular female characters in the series, I believe.


As for me personally, I liked her as a character and also her arc in the beginning - a lot, actually, but as her story goes on, it also starts to drag a little bit. Especially in Feast, her chapters weren't very exciting to read. I don't dislike her, but she's definitely not one of my favorite POVs.

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The OP is missing the point of why people don't like her current arc. Sure she kills rapists and killers, but she's being trained to become part of a group of people that will essentially kill anybody for any reason. In my experience Arya is one of the most popular characters in the series, and certainly the most beloved (living) Stark. That is why people don't like the way her story is going. Her fans don't want her to become No One, and they don't like the fact that she's killing people somewhat indiscriminately now.

Can we at least wait until she becomes no one before we pass that judgment. The fact that she retains needle suggests that she doesn't want to let her previous life go.

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I like Arya and enjoy reading her chapters, but I don't know that I find it particularly awesome that a child has been traumatized to the point of indiscriminate murdering. She makes me sad more than anything. I'll admit, when she did the whole "is there GOLD in the village" thing in my first read through, I cheered. But now I read it and just think, poor kid. I'd imagine that's a lot of where the negativity in regards to her arc comes from. And with the aforementioned losing of her Stark identity.

Yeah, 'sad' is by a mile my strongest emotion when I read her now. In the first book she was top 3 fave for me, but I've been increasingly saddened by her murdering and even more by her complete lack of remorse or even second thoughts about killing...well, anyone, really.

I think Daeron was my breaking point, and I find it incredible that so many people try and rationalize that as acceptable. Because killing is what makes killers who they are, but self-justification is what allows killers to do what they do.

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I don't think anyone hate the character it is just people want a happy ending for someone who really feels like they are not going to get one.

I love Arya . My apologize folks, this is going to get sappy. I read most of the series, sitting in a rocking chair with my new born daughter sleeping in my arms. ( Thank the gods for e-readers. ) What geek father would not be proud of his daughter training to be a water dancer and practicing her balance for hours, standing on one foot , in front of the stairs, or chasing the cat through the castle and spying on Varys?

That said, post dead Ned Arya is disturbing. I can't help but project my daughter on her, and it would be the ultimate failure of my life for my daughter to have so much sorrow and rage .

I love seeing the war from her vantage point, and I love her sense of justice, yet some of her murders disturb me. The guard who's throat she slits in Harrehall, the Night's Watch deserter, the man she kills as the ugly girl, none of these are morally clear cut killings. So while I love her character arc, I dread where it is going. But no, I could never hate her.

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I could see Arya dying and living on in Nymeria. A wolf doesn't have to be redeemed for killing and her spirit is too wild for the human world anyway.

I'm curious about that too because George said in an interview that Nymeria has a role to play and I'm usually really bad at guessing what happens next so I'll guess we have to see how they come together.

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