Arya will die before the series ends

[naur a sereg]

When Jon recalls his Winterfell dream to Sam in GOT, he lists the names of some of his family

I don't even know who I'm looking for. Most nights it's my father, but sometimes it's Robb instead, or my little sister Arya, or my uncle

 We know that the dream is foreshadowing Winterfell burning down. But we also know that Ned, Robb and (I believe) Benjen are dead

Taking this into account, we can assume that Arya will also die before the series is over?

[Weirwood Schmeirwood]

I think she will.  There's also that line about when the snow thaws they'll find her body with a needle in her hand.

[Sullen]

Could be foreshadowing, could simply be Jon dreaming about the people he cares for the most.

I do think she'll die though, either early on in DoS, or in late WoW.

Good catch.

[winterfellsedai]

As long as she dies close enough to Nymeria so she can 'live on' as it were, I think it will be bitter and sweet, as George has hinted at.

[Arya-Jon]

I don't even know who I'm looking for. Most nights it's my father, but sometimes it's Robb instead, or my little sister Arya, or my uncle

He is looking for Lyanna who is Arya's duplicate.  Maybe a subtle hint to that?

The chances of Arya staying on till the end are huge

Because -

Some major characters — yes, I always had plans, what Tyrion’s arc was gonna be through this, what Arya’s arc was gonna be through this, what Jon Snow’s arc is gonna be.”

But dying at the very end, and after she has achieved what she needs to is not impossible at all.  What that achievment entails is what we need to find out.

Many many books have a time leap at the end, especially when they involve young characters and are part of a series. For instance we saw Harry Potter when he was grown up in the last chapter of the final book. Its possible Grrm may go down the same route. If that is the case, its possible that once she has achieved what she was meant to and completed Grrm's plans (which may include helping the Starks win/ revenge/ or ruling as queen), she may die.

 Her ruling as queen was arguably foreshadowed just one chapter before the quote you mentioned. So if this part is true the other part may also be true. Some people refute that ,because Arya said "Thats Sansa". But when Mormont's raven called Jon a King, Jon took it to mean Mormont and said "He means for you to have  a crown my lord".  There is another "father to queens " line from Ned too.

5-year gap?

A: It worked for characters like Arya and Dany but not so much for the adults or those who had a lot of action coming. He was writing chapters where Jon thought, "Well, not a lot has happened these past five years, it's been kinda nice." And Cersei chapters where she thought, "Well, I've had to kill sooo many people the last five years." So he ended up dropping it. He said he would have done it sooner if he hadn't told so many fans about it. And there is no gap anymore. "If a twelve-year old has to conquer the world, then so be it." -GRRM

Now this could be Grrm just talking about a 12 year old randomly and just putting some random age. But there is a chance he is not. I have noticed that before the GOT series came, GRRM was quite open as far as giving hints was concerned.

If it is a 12 year old, Bran and Arya are the only possiblities (Dany was 13 initially and would be 16 by the time she reaches Westeros) .  Arya ,I suspect because Mellisandre said this line  in the show "I see a darkness in you and in that darkness eyes staring back at me" .Similarly  Ghost of High Heart in the books called her " blood child" and "dark heart". What I am almost sure about is that Arya will kill a lot of people. More than even Jon, unless  Martin/the show is implying that killiings in war dont count .The killings may well be for the purpose of conquest or saving her pack, but that  may be a important part of her endgame.

So if  Arya does kill a lot of people, co-rules and ensures that it is indeed "A Time for Wolves", which was the initial planned title of the 7th book, her death will have a similar effect on us as Tony Soporano's.  So it may come in the end of the series. But mostly I think it will come after a time gap, similar to in Harry Potter as we do need to see whether the person who finally sits the iron throne (if there exists one) rules well or not. Her death being the very last moment of the series, may have a strong effect , especially if it comes some years later after her success and when we think she is safe.

It would also be a subte way, that Grrm would be fulfilling his wife's wish that "he must not kill Arya". He is not killing Arya in the main action. But at some time in the future which would fit with "Valar Morghulis". 

[CaptainJugular]

I've thought before that Arya will be the last death of the series.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

When Jon recalls his Winterfell dream to Sam in GOT, he lists the names of some of his family

 We know that the dream is foreshadowing Winterfell burning down. But we also know that Ned, Robb and (I believe) Benjen are dead

Huh. It seems like Jon is really, really bad luck, doesn't it? As if, it's better to see a black cat and break the mirror under a ladder, than be close to Jon Snow.

Taking this into account, we can assume that Arya will also die before the series is over?

She might. Sadly, she might. Dark shadows everywhere around the girl.

If that happens earlier than the last book, however, George doesn't need to bother finishing the series, as I'll be done with it for good.

[Winter's Cold]

Arya should have died multiple times already but she's still alive and she'll still be alive by the end of the novel.

[Liz Stark-Targaryen]

I've thought before that Arya will be the last death of the series.

Only way I'll accept it. And it will crush me nonetheless.

[Liz Stark-Targaryen]

Huh. It seems like Jon is really, really bad luck, doesn't it? As if, it's better to see a black cat and break the mirror under a ladder, than be close to Jon Snow.

She might. Sadly, she might. Dark shadows everywhere around the girl.

If that happens earlier than the last book, however, George doesn't need to bother finishing the series, as I'll be done with it for good.

Same. If Arya dies in TWOW, I won't finish the series. I'm that annoying kind of reader. Really just reading for the Stark girls and Dany with a side of chips. And as much as I defend Dany, Arya's my non-negotiable.

Fortunately, it sounds as if she's Parris' too, and since George loves his wife, we Arya fans are safe.

[Lord Wraith]

Put me down in the Arya dies but is reborn as Nymeria. Then she can hunt down more of her list as Big Nyms.

[Butterfreak]

I think that's fairly flimsy support of Arya dying, honestly.  Not every line is foreshadowing.

I'd put Arya as the most likely of the Stark children to die, but I still find it really, really unlikely.  

[Cas Stark]

I think she will die, and that will be the end for me.  I will be done with GRRM forever.

[John Doe]

I hope she dies.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

Arya (in her human form, it must be clarified, because of late there's this silly notion about spending the remaining time of the series in Nymeria) will live through the series as far as the last pages of the last book. That's a no brainer. Past that point, the odds are out for all the main POVs (save Bran - maybe), not just Arya. But then again, we won't here from those characters again after that, so from that perspective, literarily, they will all die.

 

Also, GRRM is not some super experimental, counter-culture writer as some posters here like to believe. He won't kill off the character he's spent years developing and heavily invested a very substantial part of his books, for the (whose, really?) lolz.

[Myself656]

There are a couple of bits that foreshadow Arya dying.

Jon's dream of searching for missing family members in the castle where everyone else is dead is one. I don't buy the theory that Jon is confusing Lyanna for Arya in these dreams because at the time he is sharing the dream (GoT, Jon IV) everyone he lists (Ned, Robb, Arya and Benjen) were all still very much alive and its only later in his dreams that he reaches the crypts.

Another is a particular mode of foreshadowing where something said in jest turns out to be horribly horribly true (ex. Ron jokes that Tom Riddle might have got his award for killing Moaning Myrtle)... "The longer you hide, the sterner the penance. You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.”

What does Arya spend the rest of the series doing? Running away and hiding, then "sewing" (i.e. killing those she decides need to die). The only bit left unfulfilled is for her family to not find her until after she's died, likely with her sword firmly still locked in her death grip.

I'm not expecting her death until the very climax of the series though. Her association with death is such that I fully expect her to be the one to kill someone of critical importance at the climax of the entire series (quite likely to save one or more members of her family in whatever final battle occurs) only to be mortally injured in the process and dying before her family can find her (but still satisfied that she saved her family and lived the life she chose to live).

[ShadowCat Rivers]

I'm not expecting her death until the very climax of the series though. Her association with death is such that I fully expect her to be the one to kill someone of critical importance at the climax of the entire series (quite likely to save one or more members of her family in whatever final battle occurs) only to be mortally injured in the process and dying before her family can find her (but still satisfied that she saved her family and lived the life she chose to live).

Wrong - she is of critical importance for the climax series. She's the third character in therms of total number of chapters, ffs. Designed to be a core main character from the very beginning. She will do what she'll do and then (maybe) she'll die, not before, but whatever that is, it will be a most significant part of the overall series and (of course) its climax. Someone's death does not qualify for that.

[John Doe]

Arya (in her human form, it must be clarified, because of late there's this silly notion about spending the remaining time of the series in Nymeria) will live through the series as far as the last pages of the last book. That's a no brainer.

GRRM said he looks forward to killing more characters in the next two books.

[CaptainJugular]

Only way I'll accept it. And it will crush me nonetheless.

Really only because my belief is that Arya's death will bring both Jon and Dany's stories together and be the peak for both, but that's just speculative on my part.

[Arya-Jon]

 

Another is a particular mode of foreshadowing where something said in jest turns out to be horribly horribly true (ex. Ron jokes that Tom Riddle might have got his award for killing Moaning Myrtle)... "The longer you hide, the sterner the penance. You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.”

 

Where is death even mentioned here? Frozen fingers can mean a strong grip. Or simply a rescue operation. I am not really averse to Arya-Death theories as long as it happens after she achieves what she needs to and considers other things the author has said about her.

For instance this-

Some major characters — yes, I always had plans, what Tyrion’s arc was gonna be through this, what Arya’s arc was gonna be through this, what Jon Snow’s arc is gonna be.”

Ned' s line to Arya " your children will be lords and princes." came after Jon's line. So either one is true and the other is not.  Or both may happen at the same time. Ie there is a epilogue set some time after this happens in which what has to happen happens. 

As you seem to know abt foreshadowing and the joke method of foreshadowing , you may also be aware that Ned's line to Arya also follows a certain method of foreshadowing which is very similar to the one where Mormont' s raven calls Jon a King and Jon tells Mormont "He means for you to have a crown, my lord"

Coupled with this -

It was all meant for Brandon. You, Winterfell, everything. He was born to be a King's Hand and father to queens.

Father to queens does indicate that at the time of writing , Sansa and Arya were meant to be queens. It also indicates that Ned's line to Arya was not some random muttering of a doting father to a daughter. And if that line was set during the outline, Ned's line to Arya was certainly meant for Arya as Sansa was supposed to die in the outline with her child from Joffrey being murdered by Jaime as a means to elimnate those ahead of him in the line of sucession.

Things may have changed after the outline. But as all the quotes we are discussing (including the OPs) are from AGOT, I guess it does not matter. Plus the above quote that I mentioned  on the lines of " Some major characters — yes, I always had plans", does reduce the chance that Arya's final endgame may have changed that much from the outline.

While Arya being Grrm's second most favourite character or the fact that "Parris (Grrms wife) has explicity told him he cannot kill Arya" may not necessarily save Arya, but it reduces that chance that she would die before the very last scene or before she accomplishes some great deeds.

If someone wants satisfaction from Arya's death. Check out the below quote    Arya is dead, people. Its Mercy who remains. Though who knows, from Mercy's ashes Arya may be reborn again .

To her sister and sister's friends and all the rest, she had just been Arya Horseface. But they were all dead now, even Arya, everyone but her half-brother, Jon. Some nights she heard talk of him, in the taverns and brothels of the Ragman's Harbor. The Black Bastard of the Wall, one man had called him. Even Jon would never know Blind Beth, I bet. That made her sad.