146 replies to this topic

[Sand Snake No. 9]

It occurred to me the other day -- and I started a thread about it -- that Arya was more herself being a Faceless Man than she had been or would be as a highborn girl in Westeros.  The Faceless Men are active, independent (out in the field, at least), intelligent, educated, cunning, and ruthless, among other things.  A highborn girl in Westeros, on the other hand, is chattel, her future restricted to marriage, babies, and family influence, all behind the scenes.

So even though I'm convinced that she will return to Westeros to right some wrongs and get revenge, I now think there's no reason to leave her there unless she does, in fact, become the She-wolf of Winterfell -- which I wouldn't like because that would mean more dead Starks -- or something equally challenging.  Why should she be Arya of House Stark if it means a life in a virtual prison?  She can be free as no one.

Edited by Sand Snake No. 9, 21 May 2012 - 02:40 AM.

[Chessiejenna]

Here are my thoughts on Arya's future . . .

I believe, like most others, she will be sent to Westeros as an assasin. Who she will be hired for, I don't know and possibly it won't matter. Along her trip she will run into Sam. I believe Sam's purpose is to help the Starks. Possibly en route to Westeros Arya finds herself on the same ship as Sam. At some point she will learn about Jon and Bran. She will find out that Jon is dead and Bran is beyond the wall. But as a FM she will tell herself that she is no one.

She arrives in Westeros and makes her way to her intended victim only to be inches from dying by a pack of wolves. At that point she moves to survival mode and wargs into Nymeria and, therefore, reclaims her true identity. The true identity she was running from to survive learns it was her true identity that saves her.

Arya, Nym and the wolves start to make their way north only to be faced with an army of others. And the war is on. Jon and Dany are fighting by sky and Arya is fighting by ground (along with the rest of Westeros). Am I the only one who thinks one of the dragons won't make it? I lean towards the one named after Viserys. Anyways, Arya and Jon will be reunited moments before his real death. He will ruffle her hair and he will die.

After the war ends, Arya and Nymeria will head North in search for Bran. Never to be heard from again. Although, there could always be that persistant rumor of a family of wolves to avoid.

[Howling Mad]

Dracarya, on 16 March 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

  Oh, and someone pushes Mel and Patchface off the Wall, but that's another story.

I would like to hear that story.

[KhaLeesiLee]

Arya will be sent to give "the gift" to Dany (anonymously via Illaryio and Varys) so that Aegon can take the Iron throne. Arya will learn that, above all, Dany is a rescuer and, as such, will join her mission to protect her/their people of Westeros. Dany will concede the throne if Aegon is the true heir as retribution for lessons learned in Slavers Bay. Arya will use her mastery of FM sorcery and don the facade of a wight/white walker to get close to their source (AKA Mel's "the God who cannot be mentioned") for an assassination attempt. She will take down some powerful Other, but it will not be enough to eliminate the Others entirely. We will learn that the Others are not evil, that they are simply guardians of "cold" magic and that the long cold night is upon the realm because magic is out of balance. Jon will survive, leading the Wildings against the wights with Val by his side. In battle he will finally reunite with Arya. He will ruffle her hair and she will remember who she is after being so long in the company of Others. She will finally define herself. Bran will come to Arya through the weirwoods and teach her about the ice dragon. Dany, through her dragons, will finally save the people of Westeros because she commands the fire. Arya, (remembered and taught) commands the ice and will learn how to warg the ice dragon. She will take it far beyond the wall, in to the north to be "preserved" again by the cold. Through Dany (who is AA) and Arya, magic will equalize and balance will be restored. Arya will nearly die in the process. Nymeria and her pack of normal wolves will rescue Arya from far North of the wall and bring her close to Winterfell. Out of respect, Arya will vow that Nymeria will live a free life and never be warged. We will not see an Ayra POV again after that. Instead, the Boltons (and their consorts) at Winterfell will all die mysterious deaths and shortly after, the house of Frey will be obliterated. In KL, Aegon assumes the Iron throne backed by the people and appoints Dany as his hand. Dany has no interest in political marriage. As part savior of the realm, she has freedom and finally chooses her own husband without care for nobility of birth. Tryrion succeeds Barriston and Mormont (who eventually regains her favor) as her most trusted adviser for his knowledge of dragons and she shares him with Aegon for the good of the realm. Cersei throws herself from the new "tower of the hand" to spare her children her disgrace and Jamie is free to acknowledge paternity of Tommen and Myrcella and takes them back to Casterly Rock. The Sand snakes are council members and the Tyrells go home to smell the roses. Rickon is named King of the North for his family's pivotal role in saving the realm and because Aegon (through Dany and Arya) recognizes that the realm survives when Ice and Fire is balanced. Sansa is appointed Regent until he becomes of age. Hodor says Hodor.

[Cressit]

There are other teachers in Braavos for Arya in addition to the Faceless Men. I can see her spending time in the household of the Sealord, one of the bankers, or a courtesan like the Black Pearl.  I think that she is capable of being more than simply an assassin.  A well-rounded Arya could be a wondrous (and dangerous) thing.

I don't know what will get her back to Westeros but I'm pretty certain she'll get there.  I'm torn between her being below the Neck with Nymeria avenging her parents and Robb or in the North helping Jon. (My head says the former, my gut the latter.)  

I'm really not much of a shipper but there was something about Arya and Ned Dayne that made me think "if only they were older and not in the middle of a war..."

[TheKindlyMan]

1) Arya goes all River Tam somewhere in Westeros, either in KL, the Twins, or the Dreadfort (not on assignment for the FM)
2) She somehow recovers Dark Sister because the name fits her so well (I started a thread about this a few weeks ago), then she assassinates some Others, or dies trying
3) Nymeria and the wolfpack from hell chow down on some wights
4) IF she lives, she becomes a leader in the new North, not because she's a Stark, but because she cares about people, is strong, and is smart too.  Wildlings try to steal her and there become a few more northern eunuchs before they stop bothering.
5) She doesn't go south again, none of the Starks do, it isn't their place
6) If she marries anybody, it will be one of Dany's Kos that ride north..

[DR Supporter]

Easy solution, after a certain period of time, make her go blind once again. This will lead to her asking to get her eyesight back, and then she can be 'kicked' out. And nobody will even know that it was all planned previously.....

[King Hodor I]

Arya will be brought into the cellar of the Temple of the many faced God (during her trainig they took all her limbs and when she failed to murder someone they wont reattatch them) and find Bonecrow (=Bloodraven for the East) then she will become a true Faceless man (Faceless Men are skinchangers which just warg into humans and use them for their assasinations). With the possessed humans and Nymeria (who knows when Arya warged someone and follows her) she will be an assasin for a while. When dany comes to Westeros she and bran warg a dragon each (not knowing about each other) and fight each other and dany/drogon until all dragons die.
btw. Jon Snow was just a Bastard (the honorable Ned got raped by a tavern wench) and is dead.
With the most powerfull forces of the Realm gone Hodor uses the only word that can command others "hodor" and leads them into battle. As he raises his sword (gendry made it for him from Valyrian steel) Sam (who somehow got back beyond the wall) kills bran with a Dagger of dragonglass and when Bran dies his spirit goes into Hodors sword causing it to light afire. (with this flaming Sword he also melts the Iron throne into a more comfortable chair)
It is known.

[big.chivichanga]

When Jon mentions that they will find arya dead during winter wit her cold hands around a needle ( something like that, you guys know what I mean)
I would like to think that that is her statue he is talking about. How the Starks all have a statute of themselves in the crypts with a sword in their fingers. I hope GRRM plays it out this way it seems like a good twist on Jon's words and it would suggest a happy end in one way or another for arya. This ending also indicates that arya is finally accepted for who she is by the Starks ( even if they are dead) since she will be the only female with sword and a unique one at that as well. I don't know if she will be lord or anything. Or even if Martin does some type of epilogue to reveal this.

Also I'm rooting for her and gendry or edric storm so that Ned and Robert finally unite their blood or whatever. So I can definitely see her as winterfells lord.

[Neoteros]

I do not know what Arya will become at the end, but it's certain that:

She will never, never marry. Not only because she has despised the life of a typical highborn lady since Book One, but also because no one would marry a woman that could slit your throat in half a second without you even noticing, or tear you to shreds while warging into a feral, huge wolf. XD

So, she will become an outsider. Maybe, she'll become a far more cynical and violent version of Brienne.

[Lady Storm]

I think that (luckily for Arya) we cannot know what she'll end up doing. Out of all the characters in the books, she's the only one with no father, husband, lord, law or scheme forcing her to do something. Sure, the FM are teaching her how to behave, but they keep giving her the choice to reject and abandon them.
So unlike other important characters (Dany and her throne, dragons and slaves; Sansa and LF, charges for regicide; John and the NW, Others and lack of funding; Bran with his legs, Bloodraven and CotF etc.), Arya chooses her own destiny. Will that mean that she’ll stay (become) No One or that she’ll return home and what will her motives be, depends entirely on what she chooses to become.
Right now, there’s evidence enough to support both the “new identity” and the “old one” scenarios.

[ARYa_Nym]

I think she won't marry because she doesn't want to. That's not her as she told Ned. She is the forest lass who doesn't want to be chained down. That doesn't mean celibacy though.

I think with the 5 year gap she would have already had herself a little boy toy. I think it would be one of the sailors she has the tendency to hang around. She mainly hangs around men and she hangs around brothels every so often. I wouldn't be surprised if she developed pretty lax views on sex.

She wouldn't be a good stealthy assassin if the masses were aware of her activities though. The KM is also teaching her to not be a butcher.

I think if she becomes an outsider it will be because she made it so because she has felt that she has undergone too much psychological trauma but this may only apply to her old life in Westeros.

[Saer]

Arya will become Thane of the Gift and Queen of the Wildlings, obviously.

[LizardLion]

Arya is going back to Westros at some point, she's going to use her faceless skills to do some serious covert ops.

She's gaining the skills of the FM, but she's not buying into the religion, he saved needle, she's bound to her wolf, she will remain a wolf.

She may end up with Gendry, they were starting to flirt quiet a bit.

[Myrcella]

Why would Arya marry Gendry? If she ever is to rule (unlikely since she is last in line) her banner men will disapprove of marrying a bastard.

[pig]

A wife and a mother.  A Lady in the truest sense.

[ServantOnIce]

Arya will die in "Winds of Winter"  she will be another Stark who doesn't make it . . "It is known."

[Lady of Whisperers]

At some point she will goe back to Westeros.
She will become known as the Night Wolf a mysterious assassin, who kills a couple of Freys (if Lady Stoneheart saves some for her) and the remaining people of her list ( except Cersei Jaime will kill Cersei).
She will reunite with Nymeria and her pack after that
She will goe North, reveal herself to save the Fake Arya and teach the Boltons a lesson.
She will reunite with her siblings and Jon ( I hope for an awesome Arya & Jon scene).
She will not dye ( or I will cry and hate the books).
She will become the King/Queen in the North Master of Whisperers.
And she will finally have a happy life.

[Revilo]

How do you think Darth Vader Started.

[Winter Wind]

Roose Bolton will be killed by Stannis.  Ramsay will then become lord of the Dreadfort and will be subsequently killed as well, leaving no male heirs.  As a result, the Dreadfort will pass to his wife, fake-Arya.  At some point during this chaos, real-Arya returns and will eventually supplant fake-Arya as the Lady of the Dreadfort, who will bend the knee to the returned boy King of the North -- Rickon.  She will never marry, but will use her training and warging to exact ruthless and relentless vengeance on all those who have wronged her family.