192 replies to this topic

[summer_stark]

I'm loving all of these predictions!  so many creative ideas, many of which i haven't heard before...must digest.

[feardeathbywater]

Her two most likely targets are Aegon and Daenerys, the former because she knows Westeros and the latter because her (Dany's) dangerous feelings of pity for unfortunate children.  Maybe Arya will imitate Missandei...

Edited by feardeathbywater, 22 May 2012 - 11:41 PM.

[Ibbison from Ibben]

Arya is currently staying with the FM for two reasons: 1) She thinks all her relatives except Jon are dead, so she has no motive to return to Westeros, and 2) she wants to be trained by them. She is using them. She will leave when it suits her, or when she learns about Bran and Rickon (will Bran contact her though the Summer-Nymeria connection?)

Besides the assassin stuff, Arya is also being trained as an intelligence-gatherer. Her warging ability will greatly enhance her effectiveness in that role. (Beside the obvious spying potential, she should be able to intercept ravens by warging them.)

She will likely be sent by the FM to Pentos to infiltrate Illyrio's household. This will allow a reprise of the Illyrio-Varys scene from aGoT. She will eventually have a confrontation with Dany, who has yet to learn about her father's crimes. Arya will ultimately become Dany's Mistress of Whisperers.

[Catastrophy]

My crackpot theory is that Arya will wear Fake Arya (Jayne Poole) face when she returns to Westeros.

[BrojenReed]

What a bunch of awesome theories!  The possibilities that would be opened up if Dany is the intended target for Arya are making my head spin

[Arthanis]

Arya target will be Deanny

[gogorath]

The first question with Arya is whether or not there is ever a point where she forgets Arya Stark.  She buried Needle on the steps of the Temple instead of throwing it away.  She is trying desperately to deceive the kindly one man that she is "no one."

I don't know if Arya will fail to convince him and be thrown out (or might they try to kill her?) or convince them and keep it a secret (at which point she could take an assignment of someone she knows but lie about it) or actually become no one and abandon all ties to her past, only to be sent off and recover herself when she is forced to go after someone she knows (Sansa?).

[dreamcatcher]

Arthanis, on 22 May 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

Faceless man can kill only people they don't know their names. Target no.1 is obviously Danny (and/or her dragons), since:
a) It is one of main characters
A lot of people across the world have a reason to kill her
c) Arya-assasin plot is pointless if far main target is supposed to be minor character
d) characters with highest numbers of POVs are Jon, Tyrion, Arya and Deanny - and only Deanny is person Arya don't know
e) Faceless man seekeing methods of killing dragons to finish contract are simpliest explanation of Citadel infiltration

f) Dany just happens to have an 11-year-old servant who had a lot of book time... And Arya just happens to be training for taking faces..

Edited by dreamcatcher, 23 May 2012 - 03:36 PM.

[Lan the Clever]

dreamcatcher, on 23 May 2012 - 03:35 PM, said:

f) Dany just happens to have an 11-year-old servant who had a lot of book time... And Arya just happens to be training for taking faces..

Hmmm. My spidey sense senses a WoT parallel.

[Dolorous Ali]

I am new to the forum, but as I reckon, most people regard ASoS as the best book of the series. In that book, the character with the highest number of POV is Arya, with 13 chapters. Why do you guys think that the only thing she's gonna do is to kill the people on her list or just lose her identity? If so, why did we follow her through 5 books (note that she's the only character present in all 5 books and also confirmed for twow)? There may be thousands of kids in Westeros with killing lists. So why her? Because she's Stark? Poor explanation. If the only thing she's gonna do is kill the people on her list, I'd bet Rickon POVs would've been better than Aryas. Also, why does GRRM mentions her warging abilities?
I think that she will learn a lot at the temple of the many-faced god. Then she would get back to Westeros (I don't believe in any cliches like she would be sent to kill Jon or Sansa, FM can't kill people they know, though Dany might pass, and I would be very happy if Arya kills Dany). I also think that Arya will get her revenge from Cersei (Maggy the frog's prophecy). Then she will get her wolf army. The last battle in the realm wouldn't be for the throne, it'd be against the Others. If she survives the tasks that are set for her, then she would even participate in the fight against the Others. I hopes she survives both.
I have to admit 2 things: 1. My opinion's kinda biased, as Arya is my favorite POV. 2. She may have identity struggles/issues (what I'm saying is that it wouldn't be the only thing she does).

[rickard]

ThePrinceOfSunspear, on 22 May 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

how much more is this writer gonna inflict on this poor family?

I recall from an interview that GRRM said that he doesn't inflilct pain or hatred on the Starks, the Lannisters do, and the rest of Westeros.

[rickard]

That being said, I'm leaning towards Arya (night wolf) linking up with Nymeria somehow.  She still has the dreams as a wolf and wargs with stray cats.  She has a rebellious nature and it would be cool to see her take down the entire house of black and white similar to how Dany did in COK with the house of the undying. Not sure that is going to happen but...

[cancerman]

andloveisenough, on 22 May 2012 - 06:39 AM, said:

I think she will be sent to Westeros as one of the Faceless Men to kill someone, someone important. Maybe Littlefinger (but I hope Sansa will kill him, that would be bad-ass). or one of the Boltons. Or, maybe someone who was close to her before everything went wrong, so that she refuses. I really don't know. What I do know is that she will be back in Westeros. What is the point of having her in the Free Cities until the end anyway? That wouldn't make any sense in relation to the story. Unless someone of Westeros comes to Braavos, that is.

I was just thinking after reading your post, perhaps she runs into Sansa unrecognized but not without encounter, Arya grants her three deaths.  But I don't think Arya will follow orders from the FM to a T, we're in her head and she's mostly thinking of Arya and past events.

tyrions sliced nose, on 22 May 2012 - 11:15 PM, said:

Believe in GRRM! He would never screw up Arya, cmon now. Personally i think once the bravossi banker returns with the stannis agreement to pay the crowns debts the bank will hire the facemen men and send them to Westeros to terminate whoever is on the iron throne to help stannis gain control of it. Arya would be one of the ones picked obviously.

Yeah, I don't think she'll be sold short by Martin, from reading, I honestly think Arya is one of his favorite characters, maybe not right behind Tyrion but certainly up there.

Edited by cancerman, 23 May 2012 - 07:34 PM.

[JonTargaryenW/Viserion4WIN]

We already know that skin changers can slip into people. Arya will develop her faceless man training past the point of assuming a different face an actually enter someone's body against their will. As that other person she can commit suicide and then "pull out" when the deed is done. Afterwards she can move in, filet the face, paste it on, and go about her day as that person.  

My hopes:  Arya will travel back to Westeros after going rogue with FM. There she'll seek out Varys and take his face. She'll then control the kid army, Varys's birds, and combine that with her wolf army leading them all with Nymeria to destroy every Southron household. After she's done she'll be so depraved that she'll resort to wandering the continent as the Stranger, escorting any misfortunes traveler to hell.

[allosaurus]

I feel like the FM wouldn't send Arya out on such a high profile mission (Dany, whoever sits on the Iron Throne) when she's just begun training. I think she'll return to Westeros on her own, yet use the skills learned from the FM. It may just be hearing a bit of news, or even warging into Nymeria and witnessing some huge event, that will trigger her return.

[BrojenReed]

allosaurus, on 24 May 2012 - 01:16 PM, said:

I feel like the FM wouldn't send Arya out on such a high profile mission (Dany, whoever sits on the Iron Throne) when she's just begun training. I think she'll return to Westeros on her own, yet use the skills learned from the FM. It may just be hearing a bit of news, or even warging into Nymeria and witnessing some huge event, that will trigger her return.

I tend to agree with you; logic and common sense stand to reason that the FM wouldn't entrust such a delicate and dangerous task with such a n00b...The only counterlogic I can see is that I'm pretty sure the Kindly Man is not convinced that Arya is 100% committed to forgetting her identity.  He might send her on such a high profile mission as a challenge to prove herself.  Either way, the end result is the same-- Arya will not remain a FM for much longer, and will def return to Westeros.

[Roughspun]

Stark@heart, on 22 May 2012 - 11:37 AM, said:

If you remember, at first, Arya did not like the Temple of the Many Faced God, it was dark inside but it did not feel safe (like the Crypts under Winterfell or the lair of BloodRaven) and Arya drew her sword. It wasn't until the smells became familiar and reminded her of Winterfell that she relaxed

That’s because there are candles in the temple which make people feel at home, safe, quiet … to ease their passing. They are mentioned later.

I expect Needle to become important again at some point. A scenario which seems possible to me is that in order to irrevocably join the FM, Arya will have to destroy Needle. The FM are so damn omniscient, there’s no way she can hide something under their doorstep without them knowing, I guess. (Btw, when Arya arrives at the temple, the kindly man mentions the “cold cup”. Sounds like drinking that is the ritual for joining the FM. I wonder what effects that potion might have.)
So, if it comes to that, what’s gonna happen? Obviously, I very much hope she won’t give up Needle and her identity. And if she doesn’t? So far, the FM have seemed very relaxed about the possibility of leaving, even offering her the opportunity. But is that attitude going to hold? I doubt it.

Some further speculation: If Arya isn’t just going to leave Needle to rot at the temple, and if she doesn’t take it with her to Isembaro, she isn’t leaving Braavos/the temple for good right now.
And after all, there’s still quite a lot of stuff on her training plan: paralysing the arms, legs, and stuff. It doesn’t seem likely that she’s going to complete the training as intended by the FM unless she stays with them for the last two books.

[Dornish Bannerman]

I think she will talk with Justin Massey, and then get some information about the fake Arya, who he believes is real. Massey will then discover her identity, and take her to Stannis. Maybe at the same time as Davos arrives with Rickon? With Jon released from the Night's Watch, he will have three Starks to unite the North under his fiery heart.

[amazingoopah]

I've always had a feeling Sansa and Arya's next meeting will have a tragic ending... wouldn't surprise me if Arya is sent to kill Westeros's new queen... and it turns out to be her sister.

[jarl the climber]

I think the fact that she is being trained in the Eastern languages points to her probaly staying in Essos and going to meet Dany after she finishes or fails in her training with the Faceless Men. Most likely she will fail probaly when she is asked to kill someone she considers to be innocent. Possibly Jon might send her to the Dragon Queen if they get in touch and Jons has started hearing rumors about her. She might approach Dany in disguise which is interesting because Barristan might recognize her.