Bad writing or fake arya?{spoilers}

[Renolm]

My tinpot theory is that she went back to the troupe of actors and rigged up some fake blood inside her clothes to fake her own death.

 

Of course a professional assassin would surely know that their knife was not sinking in far enough to their target's body... but hey, it's  a tinpot theory.

[Ser Barris]

Does "wearing a face" change one's height and body shape?

[Ser Not Appearing]

I was pretty peeved last night. This theory works for me for two reasons. One, the writing wouldn't have to be bad - it would have to be atrocious and problematic on a grand scale. Two, this coincides with my general feeling that Jaqen was up to something the prior episode. His response felt off, as did the climax of the Waif's unFM-esque hate for Arya when she indicated he'd promised. That's overtly expressing desire for the kill.

In fact, this theory serves to make the writing and much of Arya's arc so much better than it seemed previously. They've baked in Waif animosity and discord/disagreement with Jaqen for awhile now. To pull it all off and fool me despite that I suspected something all along is quite exciting.

[Lord Martin]

18 minutes ago, Renolm said:

My tinpot theory is that she went back to the troupe of actors and rigged up some fake blood inside her clothes to fake her own death.

 

Of course a professional assassin would surely know that their knife was not sinking in far enough to their target's body... but hey, it's  a tinpot theory.

 I actually think this is a very real possibility.  There had to be a point to having Arya train with Mummers, right?

I also think its equally likely that Arya did get stabbed and she's going to see the actress.  Remember she seemed to have some medical skill as the boy was asking her what to do about the penis warts.  If the wound is merely a flesh wound, she might be able to get stitched up.

I also have a tinfoil hat theory that Arya's presence at the HBW was all a giant test for the waif (on the show).  The FM wanted to test the waif by putting her in close proximity to her exact opposite and someone the Waif would want to kill.  The test is for the waif, can she show restraint and not kill Arya, or kill her with mercy as Jacquen told her?  

We know the waif was jealous of Arya in many ways.  Jealous of the way Jacquen treated her, jealous of the fact that Arya comes from a well bred family and smirked when she was told she gets to kill Arya.  In fact, she was "promised" she could kill Arya.  That seems like an odd promise to make, no?

Under that premise, Jacquen could have put on Arya's face and that is what we saw.  The waif stabs Jacquen, he falls into the water as Arya, comes out as Arya just in case the waif is watching.  My guess is he will next show up at Arya's hiding place, as Arya and tell her she has passage on a ship home.  He'll give her the two bags of silver and send her on her way with his thanks for helping them draw out the waif as being unfit to join the FM.  And she'll be told if she speaks of what she learned, she'll be killed.  

Then Jacquen will kill the waif, as Arya and reveal to the waif the "Arya" is really Jacquen and that she failed.  One way or another,  face will go on the wall.  

[Christi84]

It seemed a little too easy and simple. I thought it was Arya setting up The Waif to fake her death, but she didnt know how The Waif would come at her, so I think it was Jaqen setting up The Waif. I'm hoping Arya's story in Braavos continues and that it isnt about rushing to get Arya back to Westeros just yet

[Guess who's back]

This was one weird ass scene. A faceless trainee (or is she already a full member?) cant do a fatal kill with how many stabs were there?

[RoamingRonin]

2 minutes ago, Guess who's back said:

This was one weird ass scene. A faceless trainee (or is she already a full member?) cant do a fatal kill with how many stabs were there?

A slice and two stabs. The Waif thinks she's killed Arya. 

 

[Darksky]

Arya seemed off. She was strolling around with her hands intertwined behind her back. That's not how Arya walks, especially not Arya who knows she's being hunted down by assassins. Then she just stops on a bridge to observe the Titan of Braavos. 

There's a girl with similar clothes and hairstyle to Arya's previous ones, walking past her. We don't see her face.

If it was indeed Arya being casual, then it was deliberate.

Maise mentioned something about Arya getting to use the skills FM taught her this season. I doubt it's only about weapon wielding but also the art of deception and craftiness.

[Eli Stark]

8 minutes ago, Guess who's back said:

This was one weird ass scene. A faceless trainee (or is she already a full member?) cant do a fatal kill with how many stabs were there?

Or she purposely stabbed her where she thought Arya would suffer by a wound that bleads not too fast and festers.  There is a reason they have made it clear that the Waif holds some animosity towards Arya.  There is a reason Jaquen told the Waif to not let Arya suffer.  There is a reason why a FM did not give an instantly fatal wound to Arya.

[Darksky]

yeah I think the Waif wanted Arya to suffer, to die slowly.

[RhaenysBee]

I did find everything she did out of character, but I added it to the Stark stupidity bill. 

And now begins the Is Arya dead? Round. 

CON: 

Now that you say, I can see they would do a fake Arya. I am somewhat disappointed to see that they don't really have the guts to actually go beyond book storyline further than one step. I had high hopes for them, but they basically took one step forward and two backwards. They keep reaching back and including stuff they had previously chose to exclude for reasons completely incomprehensible to me. So yes, I can see them doing a fake Arya for the sake of a fake Arya. 

If it was Arya, I can totally see them pulling another come back from the death... (Because there aren't more than enough of those already) the only 100% dead Starks were decapitated. Jon survived three arrows, he was later brought backafter stabbed wounds, God knows wtf is up with Catelyn, the hound survived a shit ton of wounds, Davos survived Blackwater. In spite of the high death toll, there are some pretty miraculous survivals in the story. If the writer wants you to survive, you totally survive in spite of the odds. It's not a question of the real life chances of surviving stabbed wounds. 

PRO: 

Dying of stupidity is a very stark thing to do. Arya couldn't have died a more stark death. 

Being stabbed to death is quite poetic for Arya who herself stabbed people to death (the tickler/random Frey soldier no.481, Meryn Trant). 

Arya is often compared to Lyanna, now she was stabbed in the belly and we got some nice clean shots of her bloody abdonment. Foreshadowing for you. And we do know that Lyanna died. 

update: 

Spoiler

Okay so she is obviously alive and the waif is in for a surprise. 

 

[Viper Hound]

To those of you saying "bad writing", how can you say that without seeing the resolution of the situation? Maybe it does end up being a dumb plot, but can we at least see the end before criticizing it?

[Guess who's back]

4 minutes ago, Eli Stark said:

Or she purposely stabbed her where she thought Arya would suffer by a wound that bleads not too fast and festers.  There is a reason they have made it clear that the Waif holds some animosity towards Arya.  There is a reason Jaquen told the Waif to not let Arya suffer.  There is a reason why a FM did not give an instantly fatal wound to Arya.

Still she should have stabbed her in a way that is not recoverable. Because who the fuck was the godlike unstoppable assassin Jaqen in season 2? The guy who could kill anyone in castle in less than a minute? This season is bringing faceless men to a whole new low. Aryas failed assassination, now Waif. Ridiculous.

[Zoo_Dane]

There is no way someone can survive that attack. So either that wasn't Arya or she is dead.

It would make no sense to dedicate maybe 15% of a show to a character to have them die in a land unconnected to the real story by a character even less associated with the real story. So this shouldn't be Arya. But given the inconsistencies and head scratching moments in the show, especially in her arc, I think that this was Arya and she is the luckiest victim of a FM ever.

I cannot think of any moment in the show that was shocking for the sake of being shocking, every shocking moment has served to further move the story along. So to me, showing Arya die but then next week saying "surprise! it wasn't really her!" doesn't fit the mold of the show. (The FM obviously know she's still alive if that wasn't her on the bridge and she still needs to die as she is rogue, so she will still be hunted).

People say that Jaqen himself, or another FM, disguised themselves as Arya to test the Waif. This would make no sense to me. The FM require Arya's death. Why kill one highly trained assassin to test another highly trained assassin and kill a rogue assassin in training? There is no balance of life and death there and no payment/reason was given for any death but Arya. So logistically (wasting a highly trained assassin) and religiously (following the cult teachings of balance) there is no reason for that to be fArya on the bridge.

The only scenario I can see that being fArya on the bridge would be Arya paying for anothers death to save her own (death pays for life, must be balance). Yet even this is extremely unlikely because she would have to sneak back into the HoBaW to make this payment, which would likely by needle (as it is extremely valuable to her). And just in general that would make no sense.

So long story short, this is likely Arya on the bridge. She will impossibly survive the assassination attempt having the FM believe her to be dead. Thus moving the plot along allowing her to be free of FM wrath.

[Faceless Man Friday]

32 minutes ago, Christi84 said:

It seemed a little too easy and simple. I thought it was Arya setting up The Waif to fake her death, but she didnt know how The Waif would come at her, so I think it was Jaqen setting up The Waif. I'm hoping Arya's story in Braavos continues and that it isnt about rushing to get Arya back to Westeros just yet

This may be.  Remember the official synopsis for this episode says, "Arya makes a plan."  What we see on its face is no plan so maybe next week we will find out what really happened.

[GeorgeIAF]

It's not bad writing, the Waif always had disdain for Arya, so she wanted to give her a long painful death, that's why she didn't go for the throat. 

[caravaggio]

Whether it is Arya tricking the Waif or Jaquen/FM posing as Arya I think the act she puts on does a few things.

1. Walking around like a rich tourist attracts attention.
2. Being flashing with her money to the Westerosi Captain establishes to anyone paying attention where she is going, how she will get there, and that there is a limited time table if someone there wanted to attack her (dawn).
3. Letting herself be attacked establishes that she was mortally wounded (whether by some mummer's trick or a FM taking one for the team).
4. Arya stumbles through the crowd to further draw attention to herself and the fact that she has a mortal wound. No one will be looking for her if she is expected to die.

So, I expect one way or the other Arya is A-okay and will be headed somewhere else in Essos before traveling to Westeros. She certainly won't be going with that captain. Somewhere along the way, she'll join the Dany crew.

[Trimula]

Bad writing.....Not!   Bad directing.......Not!!  Bad first, second, and third drafts.......Not!!!  When you throw the writers under the bus, you need to throw the Director and Producers under the wheel also.  I enjoy the books far more than the show, but  lets be honest, books don't have anywhere near the moving parts as the show.  You imagine Arya's actions from a book-her bleeding out.  The show provides a very visual effect of her being stabbed.  Visuals most often conflict with imaginations.  the show has come a long ways since season 1; I commend the writers for all the new material without a written book. 

Though out the show, haven't the Waif demonstrated she is superior to Arya in the ways of FM?  She beat Arya with a Staff, then beat Arya with her hands.  The Waif has always proven to be several steps ahead of Arya.  To quote someone from a different post concerning Arya, "it will be a shame for her storyline to spend all this time in Braavos without leading to something bigger."  The Waif knows how to fight Arya, the No One,  but I thought she know how to Arya Stack?  Arya must fight the Waif in her own setting.  Reach out with her senses, and in the book, borrow the night sight of a nearby cat or the smell of dog to sense pass a face.  Not all warging leaves you like Bran as the book indicates.  Arya must remember Arya Stark?  Leaving Braavos knowing how to face change and warg, now those are abilities making her PoV make sense.

my 2 cents        

[tugela]

59 minutes ago, Guess who's back said:

This was one weird ass scene. A faceless trainee (or is she already a full member?) cant do a fatal kill with how many stabs were there?

The waif is actually in her 30s and has been with the faceless men for a long time. It isn't clear if she was an actual assassin though, since there were various retainers and acolytes on the site as well (the people who did the day to day maintenance/upkeep).

[David Selig]

On this show, the answer to such questions 9/10 times is "bad writing".