Not Arya! (spoilers from her last chapter)

[Arya_Stark666]

I finished Arya's last chapter in this book a few days ago. I've got to say, I'm a bit diappointed. I didn't really think she'd stay in Bravos. I don't know exactly what I was hoping for, just not that.

I don't think she really has the sort of character to be one of the Faceless Men... or woman. She's too vengeful. I wanted to see her become like Brienne, I suppose.

What I'd really like would be for Jon to marry Dany and for them to take the Iron Throne. Sansa could marry the Hound, and Sandor could be their Hand so Sansa would sort of be a queen. Arya could then be the leader of the Kingsguard.

Unfortuantely, now she's blind. I don't own the next book yet, but I'm praying it's not permanent! I'm hoping it's temporary to make her use her other senses more and not rely so much on what she sees. Then again, she did seem to make the kindly man angry, so I'm also thinking it's a punishment.

I just really hope that the Faceless Man thing isn't permanent for her. It's cool, but I don't think it suits her.

[kephv]

I just really hope that the Faceless Man thing isn't permanent for her. It's cool, but I don't think it suits her.

I disagree. I think it suits her very well. It's one of the reasons, I believe, that Jaqen gave her the coin originally: he saw she was good at taking on the roles of different characters, becoming a rather bold boy then turning into a rather meek and frightened girl. Not to mention it perfectly fits with her killing style (sneaky, cunning, etc...).

As for staying in Braavos, she never actually wanted to. Her goal from the start was to go to Jon, when they wouldn't take her to the wall she really had no other option but to stay at the House of Black and White - of course, learning their secrets didn't make it so bad an option. Arya almost asked Dareon to take her back to the wall as well, until she found out that he wasn't going back. Probably another one of the reasons she was mad at him.

OT but:

Personally, I really loved her Cat of the Canals chapter (one of my favorite Arya ones). It was the first time really since AGoT that we got to see her really be herself... though not actually herself, since she's pretending to be someone else; but we got to see the friendly, gregarious Arya actually living in an environment where her life wasn't immediately at risk. I loved her interactions with everyone and thought it was a nice change. Though I completely understand why a lot of people were disappointed with her AFfC arc.

[zztop]

I too hope the blindness is not permanent, though i think it is. GRRM has a tendency to cripple some characters giving them other skills (bran for instance).

Now i did find the cat of the canals to be the most interesting chapter in the book. I feel it captures the mindset of a 10yo in a foreign city very well.

I think arya is better suited for being an 'assassin' than being a member of the kingsguard.

[Drowsey Dragon]

I was a dissapointed in how she totally disgarded her past and connection to Winterfell and the North. She says over and over Arya is dead and now I am... But why? She is a daughter of the North and the Starks. That should be her motivation, to return to what she is, not run away from it or totally disgard it. If now she is blind permenatly, I think her character arc will be ruined.

[House Balstroko]

I was a dissapointed in how she totally disgarded her past and connection to Winterfell and the North. She says over and over Arya is dead and now I am... But why? She is a daughter of the North and the Starks. That should be her motivation, to return to what she is, not run away from it or totally disgard it. If now she is blind permenatly, I think her character arc will be ruined.

I think its because she wants to make sure her identity isn't revealed. By negating her past she is setting aside her previous life in order to ensure that she doesn't accidentely slip out wrong information when interacting with people. Its similar to Sansa's case where Petyr tells her to call him father even when they're alone, so that she engraves that in her head.

[boojam]

Need to move on the ADwD.

[Chelisandre]

But the man at the house of Black and White already knows her identity, he is the one pushing her to forget who she was. So when he asks her who did these things and she says no one, she is trying to put it behind her to move on thru her faceless man training. More:

<p></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color:#fff0f5;">But then after she kills whatshisname and he asks her who did it she confesses that it was Arya Stark of Winterfell who did it. Which is why I think that she hasn't lost herself, and she is still very much a child of the North, with morals and ethics from the North. He was a desserter, his punishment was death. As far as she knows, she is the last Stark of Winterfell, so who better to execute a desserter of the Wall than her?</span></p>

I don't think she is permanently blind, I think she has just reached her next level of training.

[Errant Bard]

That should be her motivation, to return to what she is, not run away from it or totally disgard it.

It always seems like regression to "return to what you were". Denying character progression and growth. Let her build her adult self, don't wish for her to stay locked in her child personality.

And why should she want to return to being the little girl Arya Stark anyway? She thinks her whole family is dead, she knows he house is destroyed, her family's authority is broken, and nobody would likely even recognize her anyway, besides Jon, maybe, but she tries to get a ship to the whole for the full length of AFFC (asking Dareon, asking Sam, asking sailors, even the Kind Man...) but nobody sails to the Wall.

So what's left? Getting power and security to be able to come back with a vengeance. For that being a recognizable "Arya" is a big hindrance.

[Debb2]

It's been very interesting reading your thoughts about Arya. I had totally missed the point that the black and white temple was anything to do with the Faceless men. #8 gives a very good argument against this, but I still would find it easier to believe if Arya was returning to the north and trying to find any of her family.

[Euphail]

Sansa could marry the Hound, and Sandor could be their Hand so Sansa would sort of be a queen.

I've never understood why people want the hound and Sansa to get together - it's so twisted. The hound pretty much stood around and let people beat her, and then abused her emotionally. That seems terrible.

[Darth Vader's Bastard]

Arya is an assassin, a ninja....when you think about it she sort of always was.

I would have been severely disappointed if she has "grown up" to be some warrior in plate and mail like Brienne of the Mormont girl, although I thought it might go that direction for her at one point.

[Fragile Bird]

Can I do some cross-pollination here?

I like reading the "Heresy" thread, and the most recent one, 7, has an interesting discussion on the meaning of "the song of ice and fire". I had one of those face slapping moments when it was pointed out that Arya = aria, which, of course, is a song. Duh, how oh how did I not connect the dots? I guess it was the spelling.

Surely that means whatever our ninja assassin tomboy is doing right now she won't be hanging out in Braavos forever.

[Debb2]

Poor Arya, a refugee of war, her family torn apart and she's lost everything. I think I don't want her to become an assassin and Faceless killer because I want her to finally find some peace and know some happiness. I want her to have a partner and be surrounded by friends and family and to rule a strong and safe castle.

[Your_Grace]

I think she wouldn't be in Braavos FOREVER but I do think she'll be there for every loooong time. Yeah and I guess the blind thing is temporary for a new lesson for her or something.

And I guess Arya staying in Braavos instead of going to back to where she's from is a little understandable. I mean, she thinks she doesn't have family left in Westeros anyway and she's always been good at adapting to change. Sooooo.. yeah.

[Sandy Snow]

..... I want her to have a partner and be surrounded by friends and family and to rule a strong and safe castle.

In the words of Arya herself, that's Sansa you're thinking off.

I don't think she never really wanted to be the Arya Stark that she was expected to be by the rest of her family (bar Jon). The Faceless Men thing fits well with her multiple personalities, it doesn't however fit well with her kill list, which makes me think she won't become a true Faceless Man, as she definately needs to lay some pain down on those who remain on her list. Plus she still has a direwolf she needs to reclaim.

[SelaBela]

Yes! I want Arya and Nymeria to be reunited sooo badly.

[RedPanda]

like ManyFacedOne said, Arya is good for being an FM due to her being able to shift characters already. the Kindly Man asked her on who she really is and is training her to be no one to be able to be more good as an FM but doesn't really want one to forget since the names are actually important to the FM.

[LadyJSnow]

I feel like her blindness is part of the training. The House of Black and White is a very mysterious place with some excellent fantasy/magic eements. I have a feeling (and a dire hope) that Arya is not permenantly blind. I think it's just the next step in her training. Her blindness occured after her first admission to basically being able to separate herself from the "Arya" part of her...

I think that this blindness is a way of her moving on to the next step. Then once she's mastered the art of her blindness, she'll get her sight back and will see things totally differently, a la Sirio.

As for Sansa and The Hound... I think people (myself sort of included) want to see it happen because we can clearly see that he cares for her, despite the things he was ordered to do to her. His feelings for her are the only real humane part of The Hound we really see... so I think we all want to see him become a better person through loving Sansa.

[Sphinx The Riddle]

i believe in the FM story line as long as she trains up to be a shadow ninja type killer and then goes back to westeros and confronts Cercei

[Chelisandre]

As far as the Hound and Sansa go, I feel like she (not on purpose) makes him feel like he has chosen to be a bad person. Here he has been going through his life being everyone's "dog" and he let himself get really low almost to the point where he feels like he is an animal himself. And then here comes this pretty little maid with a blank slate for him and she calls him a knight and has high expectations for him, and he keeps trying to tell her he is just a dog. But deep inside he knows that he is more than a dog. He resents her because she forces him to confront his demons. And every time he tries to be ugly or make her look at his ugliest parts, she doesn't give him the reaction he is going for. She always maintains her composure like a lady. At the same time he realizes it's not her, it's him. It's easy being just a dog and doing what you're told when that's what people expect, even if you don't necessarily like it or want to be that way. But with Sansa he gets a blank slate and he struggles with which face he wants to put forth when she is around.