Is Arya a realistic character?

[Ser Not Appearing]

In short, yes but no. Others above have answered pretty well.

[Light a wight tonight]

Wait what? I don't understand what you say. Do you say that Arya fought a fair fight against a grown-up? Or that she successfully planned an assassination on her own? Or that Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie and Lommy were not three-quarter starved when picked up by the Mountain or later the BWB?

How is a skinny 9 year old girl fighting an adult "fair" in any sense of the term? Would you call Dontos fighting Gregor fair? At least they would be two trained knights.

For that matter she sure as heck planned and executed the assassination of Dareon.

[ARYa_Nym]

She did it was calculated murder. She prowled behind him and got the jump on him. Dareon never knew what hit him. She watched him for weeks or months (there's fan discrepancy on the timeline of her chapters) and never gave him any indication of her growing feelings towards him.

She doesn't beat anyone based on being more skilled with a sword by herself because she really isn't.

[thelancer]

I have a feeling that Arya is being used by the FM. IMO its too pretty of a story having her become this super cool assassin and getting her revenge. I think the FM realised who she was right away and only saw her as a tool for them to use in part of their larger scheme (whatever that turns out to be). They collect useful items/information and that would include a missing daughter of one of the great houses of Westeros.

So they hold on to her. Give her that training, string her along, and when other peices start to fall into place they can ship her to where they need her for whatever it is they are trying to do.

I just don't buy her story as it is being set up. To much of a "standard fantasy" arch. I think we are being played with a bit.

[conon394]

I would say is far more realistic than say Varys

So what can we say about her she is High born and thus well educated and an experienced rider, and she will have been well fed her whole life.

As a second daughter with both an older brother and bastard brother and two younger brothers she is realistically not all that important to the Stark line or dynasty and has been allowed a fairly indulgent life of hanging out with the commons. Thus she has both the ability to look like the locals and received some martial education.

On balance she has lost every time as a child should, be it Yoren catching her, Harwin running her down to the BWOBs, to the Lanister men, to the Hound etc.

On balance perhaps only her participation in Hold fight with Yoren is a stretch, but otherwise an emotionally broken child soldier she seems relatively well constructed.

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For that matter she sure as heck planned and executed the assassination of Dareon.

But of course by that time she 11 and has not had any kind of sedentary life and we know she learned how use a concealed stiletto. Dareon was unaware and we don't know if she just stared by bashing his head first with a rock etc. My 11 year old girl is quit strong after doing wrestling, swimming and gymnastics - if she said 'hey' and hit with a brick I rather sure I might drop.

[ARYa_Nym]

I have a feeling that Arya is being used by the FM. IMO its too pretty of a story having her become this super cool assassin and getting her revenge.

I don't think one should necessarily believe that is her setup since the FM are incompatible with revenge. The thing is a lot of the fandom have the tendency to ignore her FM storyline and assume she's going to leave them immediately so this conflict is N/A in that scenario. I say well what's the point of introducing the FM in her arc then?

By the time she gets back to Westeros the major Stark enemies may be dead already.

[Mourneblade]

I think her story is quite realistic: her path so far could be seen as a patchwork made from the early life of Joan of Arc and Charlotte Corday.

A lot of people have difficulty with the possible reality of her path. It is certainly not the norm for your average young girl, but there are plenty of historical precedents. Hua Mulan, Joan of Arc, Pocahontas, Tomoe Gozen, just to name a few. These are Heroic story lines. They happened, it is rare, but they happened.

I'll echo what others have said, Arya as a character is realistic, other than the general issue that all of the young characters intellects are a couple of years older than their calendar years. She's a smart, resourceful, brash girl, her emotional life and reactions are realistic.

Her plot armor, that's another thing, she goes through ultimately a few too many adventures with too little harm. And for my taste she's spent too long already at the House of Black and White.

I would agree that as a character the longer she is with the house of black and white the worse she will become.

[Cas Stark]

I don't think one should necessarily believe that is her setup since the FM are incompatible with revenge. The thing is a lot of the fandom have the tendency to ignore her FM storyline and assume she's going to leave them immediately so this conflict is N/A in that scenario. I say well what's the point of introducing the FM in her arc then?

By the time she gets back to Westeros the major Stark enemies may be dead already.

It seems obvious though, don't you think, that she is eventually going to jettison the "no one" personna and reclaim her identity as Arya Stark, which almost by definition means she will leave the FM/not fulfill her mission/vows or whatever.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

How is a skinny 9 year old girl fighting an adult "fair" in any sense of the term? Would you call Dontos fighting Gregor fair? At least they would be two trained knights.

Of course it wouldn't be fair in the original sense. I'm asking the question because a lot of fans state that Arya is a skilled/superb fighter because "she fought fair battles face to face". Which is utterly untrue.

[ARYa_Nym]

It seems obvious though, don't you think, that she is eventually going to jettison the "no one" personna and reclaim her identity as Arya Stark, which almost by definition means she will leave the FM/not fulfill her mission/vows or whatever.

That doesn't mean that she will get revenge though. She may leave the FM but when exactly? Will she get to Westeros before the Lannisters and Boltons are done for? I very much doubt it. I see her getting to Westeros the same time as Dany. Late as hell.

[Mourneblade]

She did it was calculated murder. She prowled behind him and got the jump on him. Dareon never knew what hit him. She watched him for weeks or months (there's fan discrepancy on the timeline of her chapters) and never gave him any indication of her growing feelings towards him.

She doesn't beat anyone based on being more skilled with a sword by herself because she really isn't.

Exactly.

My defense of her is based in reality. She is too physically limited and lacks the skill to engage most anyone in a fair fight.

She does not have the survival skills of the guy from Man against Wild, but she does adapt rather quickly, and realistically to her surroundings enough to scrape by.

I don't think one should necessarily believe that is her setup since the FM are incompatible with revenge. The thing is a lot of the fandom have the tendency to ignore her FM storyline and assume she's going to leave them immediately so this conflict is N/A in that scenario. I say well what's the point of introducing the FM in her arc then?

By the time she gets back to Westeros the major Stark enemies may be dead already.

I think this arc was started from a writing point of view with a 5 year gap in mind, I do not think she will stay with the FM much longer as GRRM has hinted that she wont be as skilled or mature as he would like her to have been.

He has also created two sub plots that bring characters to Braavos, one of them being on her list. So I believe that sooner rather than later she will be leaving them.

[conon394]

I think this arc was started from a writing point of view with a 5 year gap in mind, I do not think she will stay with the FM much longer as GRRM has hinted that she wont be as skilled or mature as he would like her to have been.

Magic gives him a bit a out on this one if she leans hard on skin changing w/o any reservations (humans for example) she can credibly maybe move through the world now that she seems to understand what she can do.

[ARYa_Nym]

I think this arc was started from a writing point of view with a 5 year gap in mind, I do not think she will stay with the FM much longer as GRRM has hinted that she wont be as skilled or mature as he would like her to have been.

He has also created two sub plots that bring characters to Braavos, one of them being on her list. So I believe that sooner rather than later she will be leaving them.

She could leave later and still not be as skilled as she needs to. It takes years she does not have to learn how to change her face. I don't think it makes sense to start a storyline only for it to have no point/lead to nothing in retrospect.

[Cas Stark]

That doesn't mean that she will get revenge though. She may leave the FM but when exactly? Will she get to Westeros before the Lannisters and Boltons are done for? I very much doubt it. I see her getting to Westeros the same time as Dany. Late as hell.

She will get some kind of revenge, she will be reunited with Nymeria in the riverlands, otherwise, what is the point of all of the wolf dreams? Not that GRRM doesn't put in pointless info. but this seems like a strong possibility. What happens from there, who she fights, if she sees any of her family again, mother, sister, Jon, no idea.

Also, it would seem that all of the foreshadowing that she is going to grow up to be beautiful like Lyanna would also be leading somewhere...that its in there for some future purpose...otherwise why sprinkle these references to her increasing beauty throughout the books? I still think he's going to kill her at the end, but hope to be wrong about that.

[conon394]

She could leave later and still not be as skilled as she needs to. It takes years she does not have to learn how to change her face. I don't think it makes sense to start a storyline only for it to have no point/lead to nothing in retrospect.

Maybe, maybe not If you think about she wanted to be like JH seemed - or also the Hound - somebody who does not need to rely on others (or at least looks not to) in screwed up world, not to be a mouse or sheep again. Her own power would let her do that as well so she might decide to leave the FM

[Lady Sharya]

It seems obvious though, don't you think, that she is eventually going to jettison the "no one" personna and reclaim her identity as Arya Stark, which almost by definition means she will leave the FM/not fulfill her mission/vows or whatever.

Arya being a Stark is a central theme to all her chapters. Too much so for her to end a FM. The point of her training there is to provide a realistic explanation for whatever she ends up doing to aide her family and allies in reclaiming WF. It's true she is aided by many thru her story but it would hardly be realistic to think she could have survived on her own. It seems clear that no one is gonna come along and put Arya in the position her story needs her to be in. She will have to find her own way using the skills we have watched her gain since Syrio.

[Lady Sharya]

Of course it wouldn't be fair in the original sense. I'm asking the question because a lot of fans state that Arya is a skilled/superb fighter because "she fought fair battles face to face". Which is utterly untrue.

Where in this thread has anyone said that though?

[Mourneblade]

She could leave later and still not be as skilled as she needs to. It takes years she does not have to learn how to change her face. I don't think it makes sense to start a storyline only for it to have no point/lead to nothing in retrospect.

First off Hi, love your Arya of Death posts...a lot to digest, still reading lol.

I do not know how satisfied we will be with what she learns or how quickly she does at the HoBW, but it seems hinted that she will leave sooner rather than later. Many people are of the opinion that she will leave with a contract, but I just do not see her staying there remotely long enough to have those skills. She might learn how to change her face, as it might be something simple, or some potion that she could steal that gives her a limited amount of face changes, or some magical device, but her training will be no way complete IMHO.

I do think that GRRM wanted to flesh this out much more than he will have to settle with when he started this, but she will be given just enough knowledge to continue her arc. Like I said we have two different plot devices heading to Braavos, Ser Justin Massey, and the new Master of Coin, who is being guarded by Raff the Sweetling. I think these events will trigger her seperation from the HoBW.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Where in this thread has anyone said that though?

Not in this thread, fortunately. But the OP's impression seems to be rooted in these widespread fantasies.

[Lady Sharya]

Not in this thread, fortunately. But the OP's impression seems to be rooted in these widespread fantasies.

Fair enough. The impression is certainly mentioned many time, but not by Arya fans. When it comes to Arya's skills, the potential for becoming lethal when she she's older is more realistic than what she is capable of now, and I agree with you she has a lot of help thru her ordeals (which wouldn't be realistic otherwise), but she is ultimately responsible for the actions she takes to gain that help, like throwing JH the axe, which resulted in him giving her the iron coin.