Arya will die before the series ends

[Good Guy Garlan]

Over my needle-grasping frozen body!

But I do accept it as a very real possibility, sadly. I just hope GRRM's couch is incredibly hard and uncomfortable because that's where he'll have to sleep if he kills his wife's fave. 

[ShadowCat Rivers]

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

So?

I mean yea, he can have Arya die early in Winds, Dany soon after, Tyrion following from greyscale and let's not forget, Jon is dead and never coming back. Seriously, I can see an ending with Sweetrobin living "against all expectations", and thriving and saving the world with the power of fits. That would be something the audience has never seen before.

[SevasTra82]

I still find it hard to see any more Starks dying....and even though the original plot line has been altered, I think the overall theme remains the same.  GRRM once described ASOIAF as being a "coming of age" tale of the Stark kids.  I still think this holds true, in some senses.  There is clearly foreshadowing for a Jon/Arya reunion of sorts, either way.

[Endymion I Targaryen]

Arya will reach the end of the last book.She is a major POV and still evolving.I doubt if she survives the series,but I hope she does.She seems connected with death,so useless in the rebuilding of the world after the Others are defeated.

[Arya-Jon]

Arya will reach the end of the last book.She is a major POV and still evolving.I doubt if she survives the series,but I hope she does.She seems connected with death,so useless in the rebuilding of the world after the Others are defeated.

She is the only one with Bloodraven level capability/ or even Varys level capability of being a master of whisperers. She has learnt some tricks in AHOBAW. Including speaking lies/ detecting lies (which is crucial ability), probably knows of the secret passages in Kings Landing.  That  coupled with her willingness to use warging for her own benefit makes her very useful that way.  She also knows about poisons and glamors like Bloodraven did. She has an unusual amount of love for the smallfolk. So she can arguably be useful in ruling/making reforms. I dont know whether that equates to rebuilding.

Connection with death, she may have. But we dont know whether its her death or the death she will cause. If its her death, whether it will come after she rules or before.  And its all confusing with Arya right now. She has mentioned in the show that Visenya is her hero. Her direwolf is named after Nymeria, which is   very symbolic (as is not Jon's direwolf housing a ghost now that Jon is deader than dead?), and there are certainly are some foreshadowing for her as queen

I understand that its Valar Morghulis for everyone, but based on the foreshadowing and some Grrm quotes, I would be surprised if it happens for Arya before she grows up . You always want to see how the favourite characters are once they mature. I think there will be some sort of Stark power as the title of the last book of Asoiaf was intiitally "A Time for wolves" , before being changed to "ADOS". The actor who played Robert Baratheons reckons that the Starks will rule from the iron throne in the end which I think is plausible if we compare "Return of the King" with " A time for wolves".

If the King and Queen will be someone who are wolves, (actual wolves due to being a warg), then Jon and Arya are the only available alternative. Of course its also possible that Grrm may ditch his initial foreshadowing and make the Stark sisters as hands to the King. But right now , I have got no indication that this will be the case. There is a lot of foreshadowing for Jon being King in particular and I can see the wisdom of Stark Sisters playing a major role in this as it will show how they have grown . With all this talk about three treasons and three fires for Dany she has a high chance of dying as a Joan of Arc figure. As some kind of an inspiration.There certainly has to be some sort of connection (including possibly marriage) between Jon(Ice and Fire), Dany (Fire) and Arya (Ice), as they are the ones (along with Bran) most connected with magic and have always been Grrm's major characters. And among the five characters Jon, Arya and Dany (Bran, Jon ,  Tyrion, Dany and Arya) were destined to stay till end in the outline. I think the characters destined to stay on till the end in the outline will stay on till the end now as-

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.”

 

[RattleSnake]

I too think that Arya will die somewhere in DOS. I don't want it but I have a feeling it will happen. I just hope she gets a chance to meet up with her loved ones. 

[Myself656]

I too think that Arya will die somewhere in DOS. I don't want it but I have a feeling it will happen. I just hope she gets a chance to meet up with her loved ones. 

The sad thing is that she probably won't. As much as Arya-Jon tries to deny that Jon's quip isn't some type of foreshadowing, its been damn accurate so far... she runs and hides from her her family and has been killing people as winter has fallen. The only part left is that she won't be found by her family until the winter has passed and when they do they'll only find her body with her sword still clutched in her frozen fingers.

Narratively speaking she should accomplish something terribly important with her killing, but in the end she'll have died with her family never knowing what's happened to her until she's already gone.

The only way I see around that is if Arya finally discards her old life completely and leaves her face and Needle on a stranger so that her family can have some sense of closure. What's left won't be Arya Stark though... she'd be the Faceless Woman or some such moniker.

[Arya-Jon]

 

Narratively speaking she should accomplish something terribly important with her killing, but in the end she'll have died with her family never knowing what's happened to her until she's already gone.

 

All men die. As I said, i am never denying that she would die. What I am arguing about is when? 

From Grrm quotes and foreshadowing (I have a whole list)  I can see the sweet elements in the story (conquest, ruling etc) . The bitter may come along with it . And there are many reasons it can be bitter (not limited to the innocent people that she may end up killing and the death and destruction she may cause). Some people say that foreshadowings for Arya being queen is not valid, because it was part of Game of Thrones which is close to the outline, but the same applies to your quote. Its also in AGOT.  Its possible both may happen (in case what you are saying is foreshadowing for her death)

If you are saying that she wont co-rule with Jon after he is crowned king of Westeros (which I suspect may happen), I would agree to disagree. Lets return at the same forum, as and when the show ends or ADOS comes up, and see who is right and who is wrong. I know the odds are high that I may be wrong. But lets just see

[lidsa]

Jon legit dies within the story, and everyone goes "psh, he'll come back!"  

Arya has a double running around that's already half-dead (Jeyne), she's believed to be dead, she joined a death-cult, she's a warg who we know doesn't simply die (Varamyr), and Jon has a dream that may foreshadow her death, and everyone goes "bye Arya".  

I do think she'll die, but I also think she'll come back. Be that in becoming Nymeria, or warging someone, or being resurrected, I don't know.

[The scourge of westeros]

I love how the fandom continuously quotes that line from Jon to arya in AGOT as being air tight foreshadowing of arya's frozen death with needle in her hands. There really isn't much to push that as foreshadowing of arya's death, and to me it seems those that have no business living throughout the series are the ones who will inherit westeros by the end of the story. 

Theon, for example, should have been dead books ago. 

I think arya falls into the same category; by all means she should have died numerous times by now, but for some reason maneuvers through the dangerous world almost artfully. 

[aryagonnakill#2]

There is another piece of foreshadowing of Arya's death, and it comes from Arya herself.  She tells the Frey she is betrothed to that she hopes his stupid princess dies, not aware that is herself.  People who Arya wish will die have a habit of dying.

I don't think it is unreasonable to think that Arya will leave the FM, accomplish something with her skills, but ultimately be killed by the organization for her betrayal.

[Arya-Jon]

There is another piece of foreshadowing of Arya's death, and it comes from Arya herself.  She tells the Frey she is betrothed to that she hopes his stupid princess dies, not aware that is herself.  People who Arya wish will die have a habit of dying.

I don't think it is unreasonable to think that Arya will leave the FM, accomplish something with her skills, but ultimately be killed by the organization for her betrayal.

Sorry. Cant resist

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.

Arya is dead as Arya herself is saying she is.  Foreshadowing is fulfilled. She has joined the Faceless men and has taken a different face . What more do you want ? Will she be revived and bought back to life. Of course, she will be. 

[The scourge of westeros]

We give George too much credit with foreshadowing, when he's really the king of sideshadowing:

Sideshadowing suggests not what happened or what will happen, but what else might happen/have happened in a story. Sideshadowing techniques include:

Unanswered questions
Loose ends
Half-told stories
Digressions
Historical backdrops vaguely referenced
Unexposed backstory

Sideshadowing is sort of an argument against inevitability, if you will. Where foreshadowing and linear "ideal" stories close off narratives step-by-step, sideshadowing opens up a narrative moment-by-moment, offering the reader the idea of more than a single possible outcome.

 

George RR Martin you the real mvp!

[Lost Melnibonean]

When Jon recalls his Winterfell dream to Sam in GOT, he lists the namespeciallyf 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

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

It's a bit thin by itself, no? You need to incorporate other hints, especially the bot about needling throgh winter, to develop this theory. 

[Lost Melnibonean]

Q: 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."

SSM

Oh, I see this was quoted above. And note that the George's original plan was for Arya and Jon to wed. Is that totally out the window? 

[Farerb]

SSM

Oh, I see this was quoted above. And note that the George's original plan was for Arya and Jon to wed. Is that totally out the window? 

George's original plan for Arya went eventually to Sansa.

[aryagonnakill#2]

 

Sorry. Cant resist

Arya is dead as Arya herself is saying she is.  Foreshadowing is fulfilled. She has joined the Faceless men and has taken a different face . What more do you want ? Will she be revived and bought back to life. Of course, she will be. 

That quote confuses me, why would Arya think Sansa is dead.

[Arya-Jon]

 

SSM

Oh, I see this was quoted above. And note that the George's original plan was for Arya and Jon to wed. Is that totally out the window? 

Certainly not totally out of the window. There are many quotes which point to the contrary

If you kill a man, and never mean t’, he’s just as dead,” Ygritte said stubbornly. Jon had never met anyone so stubborn, except maybe for his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever? ASoS

Comparing your girlfriend to your sister repeatedly (as this is not the only instance) is fine. But doubting whether Arya was his sister can imply that Jon's internal feelings in his hearts of hearts for Arya were not only that of a brother but much more or possibly something else. This is in Storm of Swords when Grrm had clearly diverted from the outline.

She wondered if he would still call her “little sister.” I’m not so little anymore. He’d have to call me something else.  -ASOS Arya

What exactly should Jon call her?  

There are many such quotes available in this thread http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/125364-jon-arya-hints-and-overall-significance-of-their-relationship-including-part-3/  (in page 1 , 10 and 13) And I would say the amount of words which is used  in them thinking about each other is large, like really large. Easily 3000-5000 characters.

If it had stopped in ADWD, I would have thought that Grrm has abandoned it. But it has not. There are many times they think of each other. I am just giving my favourites

“I have no sister.” The words were knives. What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?

And Jon's  last line before dying was "Ghost " and "Stick it with the pointy end". 

I get the argument that it is still a platonic relationship. But just like in the outline they are much more than a brother and sister. There are still two books left. And the outline was what a trilogy, right? 

The only change that I think may happen is that as the five year gap has been abandoned , so things may take place a bit later than initially planned. But just as the conqueror story will not be abandoned due to the five year gap, the same may apply here. Grrm has claimed that Arya has the mind of a 40 year old.

For people ( @farerb )  who claim Arya's role has gone to Sansa I will just give this quote

Why not? thought Jon. They are all convinced she is a princess. Val looked the part and rode as if she had been born on horseback. A warrior princess, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.

From the above line, I doubt Sansa would set Jon's heart racing. Plus most hints point to Sansa's love with Sandor.

http://amplifyme.tumblr.com/post/103799934084/is-a-sansan-endgame-foreshadowed-in-sansas

Winds of winter and ADOS will tell

[Ice Turtle]

 

George's original plan for Arya went eventually to Sansa.

And the proof for this is that the sky is blue, I get it... All right, sincerely, I don't get it at all. So far the only argument I have seen for this theory is that Tyrion married Sansa (and never much cared for her) while outline Tyrion was desperately in love with Arya. Yet there is much more points where Stark girl's storylines reminded same or similar as in the outline.

[Winter's Cold]

From my perspective, Arya is very similar to Tyrion. Tyrion is the male character with the most pov chapters. Arya is the female character with the most pov chapters. Tyrion has family issues with his sister and his father and a good relationship with his elder brother. Arya has family issues with her sister and her mother and a good relationship with her elder brother (Jon). They both thirst for vengeance when wronged. They're also both stuck in Essos. 

They have both also been in many dangerous situations and should have probably died countless times by now. Yet they're both still alive. From this I assume, that Arya's chance of dying is about the same as Tyrion's. It might happen but it's definitely not likely. I feel the only pov characters that have lower chances of dying than these two are Bran and Sam.