Arya endgame?

[Hier]

After she half completes whatever quest she thinks she needs to complete she will definitely be killed off by some "good" character. Arya has been a villain in the making for a very long time, and the pay off will be evident.

[Philokles]

Queen Regent of the shattered North or as a senior advisor to some monarch would be my guess. I doubt she will rule in her own name, but I feel she is being set up as a rather ideal leader - Egg with the means and pragmatism to reform, Bloodraven with greater concern for justice and the smallfolk.

Other than Bran, I'd say she is the most likely of the 'big-6' to survive the end.

[The Commentator]

On 7/23/2016 at 8:04 PM, TheSeer27 said:

Can we have a thread where we speculate on the endgame of Arya? My question is, I think its safe to say we generally have an idea where Bran And Jon will fit with their abilities in regards to the endgame of ASOIAF, but what about Arya? How does facechanging fit in to the endgame and what importance will it hold? Why is it so sought after by the Faceless Men? I have a few ideas of my own but would love to hear some really tinfoily ideas on what others might think on the subject. They seem to be leading to Arya killing Cersei, but why make it so complicated? In my opinion Arya seems the most likely of the Stark children left to die soon so before we have TWOW and season 7 lets hear some ideas and theories as to whats in store for Arya.

Arya will work on her Hit List but Jaime is the valonqar and he will beat her to Cersei.  It is also possible for Cersei to outlive Arya.  One botched attempt at assassinating a Lannister, a Bolton, or a Frey could end Arya's life.  I hope the vision follows through and Arya dies in the Riverlands, with her cold hands still clasping Needle.  That is a fitting ending for Arya.  Death by Frey arrows. 

[Ser Ronan Storm]

Arya's endgame is to be found frozen to death in a snowdrift. It is known. And I'm okay with that. Arya is more of a sociopath than anything, so I think that as she continues to get her vengeance by crossing names off her list, we are supposed to slowly stop cheering for her to do so. By the end, she'll have become as terrible or worse as the people she put on her list. Then, she might remember herself or realize that a revenge-driven murderess isn't what she wants and she finally turns back to Winterfell, only to die within sight of its walls. That would be the perfect bittersweet ending for her.

We need at least one Stark child left alive at the end to maintain ownership of Winterfell and the Lord Paramountcy of the North. I doubt this role will fall to Jon, because he is destined for greater things. I don't really see it being Rickon, because he's the most expendable Stark at this point and you know we're going to lose at least one more. Bran or Sansa will take Winterfell when Spring arrives. The best bittersweet ending for the Starks is for Arya to die, Bran to still be crippled, Sansa to have achieved her mother's status as a ruling woman, but she will be full of regrets for her own naïve crimes throughout the series. Arya should die.

[chrisdaw]

10 hours ago, DutchArya said:

Wow. I am floored.  

This line in particular, "To do justice, she will have to give up her freedom." Arya has spent most of her life sacrificing parts of who she is in order to survive. She has given up freedom willingly when she went to the HoBW. 

Vary's speech on a just ruler was grrm's misdirection.

What do you think about her story arc crossing paths with Bran? The connections grrm builds between these two can't be for nothing?

Arya is the black swan. Her future will suprise many. 

Bran is architect of Jon's southern conquest. Jon will know he needs to seal his conquest with marriage, which is the reason Arya must marry to the throne. If Bran is with him from the start or needs Jon to coerce him I do not know, but the situation is foreshadowed in this scene below which Bran presides over.

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"I shall wed again if His Grace commands it," Lady Hornwood replied, "but Mors Crowfood is a drunken brute, and older than my father. As for my noble cousin of Manderly, my lord's bed is not large enough to hold one of his majesty, and I am surely too small and frail to lie beneath him."

Bran knew that men slept on top of women when they shared a bed. Sleeping under Lord Manderly would be like sleeping under a fallen horse, he imagined. Ser Rodrik gave the widow a sympathetic nod. "You will have other suitors, my lady. We shall try and find you a prospect more to your taste."

"Perhaps you need not look very far, ser."

After she had taken her leave, Maester Luwin smiled. "Ser Rodrik, I do believe my lady fancies you."

Ser Rodrik cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable.

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Ser Rodrik nodded. "Sad and gentle, and not at all uncomely for a woman of her years, for all her modesty. Yet a danger to the peace of your brother's realm nonetheless."

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Ser Rodrik tugged at his whiskers. "In such cases, her liege lord must find her a suitable match."

"Why can't you marry her?" Bran asked. "You said she was comely, and Beth would have a mother."

The old knight put a hand on Bran's arm. "A kindly thought, my prince, but I am only a knight, and besides too old. I might hold her lands for a few years, but as soon as I died Lady Hornwood would find herself back in the same mire, and Beth's prospects might be perilous as well."

 

It's Arya Lady Hornwood is foreshadowing though she bears the arms for Arya's lover Gendry by way of the bullmoose.

The lady wants the knight, but the knight is just a knight and too old besides. That match would have been dangerous. Arya will want Gendry, but he's too old and just a knight, not a fit match for a princess in the north. And they'll need to make Arya a match in the interest of peace in the realm.

The scene is there for Bran remember when it comes to the question of Arya marrying, for him to have learned from. No suitable match was made for Lady Hornwood, there was no-one there to look out for her or the peace, and well, things went to all hell. It may take Jon to push the point though, as Bran tends towards the heart without thinking things through.

[BadPussy]

Pretty sure she is going to die. The whole "Going to freeze to death while grasping needle" line.

[Ashes Of Westeros]

On 7/24/2016 at 3:02 AM, TheSeer27 said:

She could kill Jaime and then wear his face and kill Cersei boom! Valonqor prophecy comes true

Sounds interesting. Maegy the Frog didn't specify if it would Cersei's valonqor or someone elses. It was Cersei who jumped to this conclusion.

[unitron]

13 minutes ago, Ashes Of Westeros said:

Sounds interesting. Maegy the Frog didn't specify if it would Cersei's valonqor or someone elses. It was Cersei who jumped to this conclusion.

Jon's a little younger than Robb, isn't he?

 

Of course that would require that Ned was actually Jon's father.

 

So, how do we manage things so that Bran can kill Cersei?

 

 

[Ashes Of Westeros]

1 minute ago, unitron said:

Jon's a little younger than Robb, isn't he?

Of course that would require that Ned was actually Jon's father.

So, how do we manage things so that Bran can kill Cersei?

Bran could warg into someone.

[Maester of Valyria]

I like to think that Arya will end up being Dany's bodyguard against the Faceless Men (who will want to kill the Mother of Dragons as soon as she stops fighting slavery). I also think that she'll claim a dragon at some point, given the foreshadowing in TPATQ with Nettles' similarities to her.

[Darksnider05]

Who knows she could end up hearing about Jon from the Freefolk slaves and racing back North.

[Maxxine]

For what it's worth if Arya does kill Cersei it won't be because the FM send her. From what I understand, you can't kill someone as a FM if you already know their name. That's why the men on the boat that took her to Braavos wanted to make sure she remembered their name. Plus, sending her to kill Cersei contradicts the the whole lesson of her becoming "no one" since Cersei is on Arya's list. I understand why some people would say she may be sent to kill Dany but I don't see those two ever crossing paths. I think she will leave the FM before she even becomes a full-fledged FM. She's obviously not becoming "no one" as evidenced by the wolf dreams and Needle. I agree with OP that she is probably the hardest character to predict her endgame. I don't think she will die though. 

[GhostNymeria]

On 2016-07-24 at 4:50 AM, chrisdaw said:

Arya will be queen, of Westeros on the Iron Throne, the final queen of the series. GRRM has pretty much laid out her arc if you look hard enough.

Her arc is predominantly about these two things;

1) Vengeance vs justice

2) Freedom vs duty

Arya was shaped in the north, where justice prevailed. She went south and then was shaped by horrible acts of injustice. Arya does not currently understand the difference between vengeance and justice, but it is her arc to learn it.

Now, currently, she is looking at things with myopic eyes. Bad person does bad thing, bad person deserves to die, Arya should kill them. That will make her feel better, but it doesn't fix anything. It's just murder, and it just fuels more violence. It is not a solution. To understand the solution she must first understand why these horrible acts happened. There are two root causes.

A) The Iron Throne failing in its duty to do justice.

B ) War

Robert was a negligent king. He failed to do justice. Justice for Lady for example. Cersei didn't/doesn't give a fig for justice.

War inevitably brings horrors and lawlessness. TWOT5Ks was caused specifically by Cersei failing to do her duty. Her duty to the realm was to be a good queen and have the king's babies, and certainly not fuck anyone else or have anyone else's babies. But, Cersei valued her own freedom to love greater than she valued any duty to the realm, and so Westeros got war.

The solution to both A and B, how B was caused by Cersei anyway, is simple. A realm of Kings, Queens, Lords and Ladies who will do justice, and who will put their duty above that of their own freedom.

And thus, the natural conclusion to Arya's arc, is to assume the role of Queen, dutiful queen. As queen she can do justice, and prevent the terrible occurrences that so shaped her by deterrence, the promise that in her realm under her rule lawbreakers will face justice. That is the solution, open visible justice in the name of the people of Westeros as their rightful Queen, as opposed to vengeance carried out in secret for secret reasons, in the dark where no-one can see in the name of and by no-one.

But it all comes at a cost. To do justice, she will have to give up her freedom, she will have to return to being Arya Stark, return to duty (1). Her father loved Ashara, but to overthrow an unjust king and set the realm to rights he had to forego love and do his duty and marry her mother. Her mother makes much of having always done her duty, she counts marrying her father among those duties. If they'd not sacrificed their love for duty, Arya would not exist. Cersei refused to forego love for duty, and for it the realm bled and all those horrors that shaped Arya occurred.

Arya foregoing vengeance by the time the decision comes will not be the hard part, the hard part will be turning her back on love. And it will be even worse, because she will bear a love a child that she will need to give up. A little Daemon Blackfyre whose very existence will threaten to bleed the realm. Recall her throwing rocks at Nymeria to drive her away, for Nymeria's own safety, or the queen would kill her. It was the right thing to do, wasn't it?

Ultimately, Arya will do her duty to her lord and king, she will sacrifice her love and freedom, give up her lover and his child and become Arya Stark once again. She will marry where her king, the KITN, commands her. She will marry the king on the Iron Throne, a man she doesn't love, can not love (2), and become queen of Westeros. She will do her duty and stay loyal and bear him true heirs (2) for the sake of the realm. Sweet and sour.

I've got to say, you're ability to interpret character themes, notice and put different clues and foreshadowing togheter is astonishing. I always enjoy reading you theories and predictions because you notice things laying under the surfice that other people miss. For me your predictions on this forum have a lot, if not the most merit, since you actually basing it on underlying themes(not just the obvious ones) and character's actions and conflicts (again, not just the ones that the books throw in your face). I just wanted to put that out there

As for Arya, I agree this proximately where her story is going. I like to add that she have a pack leader/pack mentality theme as well, adding to the queen/leader foreshadowing.

[Arya Targaryen]

On 2016. 07. 24. at 4:50 AM, chrisdaw said:

Arya will be queen, of Westeros on the Iron Throne, the final queen of the series. GRRM has pretty much laid out her arc if you look hard enough.

snip

 

I agree with most of what you are saying - I've always thought that Arya's training - even with the FM (lying game, languages) - and her experiences all point towards her becoming a fair ruler. Put it together with all the queen-foreshadowing in her arc, I think it is safe to assume that she will end up being Queen - either Queen in the North or Queen on the iron throne. She may become Queen in her own right or by marrying the King. I think that might have been GRRM's original intention with the character - I'm not so sure any more, without the planned 5-year gap. Arya will still be too young to marry by the end of the story, even though it was mentioned (By Martin, I think, but I don't have a quote), that Arya is not a child mentally any more - she is like 40, with all she has been through. If she is biologically mature (flowered), she might be mature enough to marry whoever she wants or needs to.

That being said, I don't think she will agree to a political marriage - unless it is to Jon, knowing they are cousins. I also don't see Gendry becoming any sort of love interest of her, I never understood all the shipping. Gendry has already let her down. She might forgive that, but she won't forget. Honestly, I don't see her trust any man - apart from Jon, that's why I think that if she ends up marrying anybody, it will be Jon. And truth be told, that would also make her Queen of Whatever (North, IT, Free Folk...).

 

If not becoming Queen, she might die by the end. That's a possibility. I don't think she will ever complete her list. I think she will have to choose between revenge and helping her family at one point and she will choose her family. Or she will be there, almost killing Cersei (I think), but she ends up forgiving (not likely, I admit, but still). She will play her part in the Stark-pack and may sacrifice herself for her pack.

 

I also think she would make an excellent spearwife. Not likely though.

 

6 hours ago, unitron said:

Jon's a little younger than Robb, isn't he?

Of course that would require that Ned was actually Jon's father.

 

If Ned is not Jon's father (quite likely), he is still Aegon's little brother.

(For some reason I think that second sons do have an important role to play in the story. Ned was a second son. Just like Tyrion, Bran, Jon - who else (apart from the Second Sons) ?)

[TheSeer27]

8 hours ago, Maester of Valyria said:

I like to think that Arya will end up being Dany's bodyguard against the Faceless Men (who will want to kill the Mother of Dragons as soon as she stops fighting slavery). I also think that she'll claim a dragon at some point, given the foreshadowing in TPATQ with Nettles' similarities to her.

I was just thinking this lol. Her training in the HOBAW could be to save someone, not just kill. Mostly her ability to smell poisons seems a good defense.

[OuttaOldtown]

An afterlife worthy of a queen..

[Meera of Tarth]

23 hours ago, DutchArya said:

Wow. I am floored.  

This line in particular, "To do justice, she will have to give up her freedom." Arya has spent most of her life sacrificing parts of who she is in order to survive. She has given up freedom willingly when she went to the HoBW. 

Vary's speech on a just ruler was grrm's misdirection.

What do you think about her story arc crossing paths with Bran? The connections grrm builds between these two can't be for nothing?

Arya is the black swan. Her future will suprise many. 

 

I was wondering the same!

[a black swan]

8 hours ago, Meera of Tarth said:

I was wondering the same!

I dunno what it all means but from the top of my head, these links stand out:

 

- Both Bran & Arya are training under mysterious magical beings. The similarities between the BR and the HoBW are several.

- They are both wargs AND skinchangers, the only Starks who can do both.

- Their mysterious mentors: Both BR and the KM have one eye and look like skeltons.

- Bran sees Arya in Leaf, the CoTF assisting him. Much like Waif who is assisting the KM. Even their names sound similar. Waif Leaf. 

- Arya has strong links to trees, she is a great climber and throughout her journeys, Arya would climb trees and dance among the branches. Jumping from tree to tree, she felt at home as does Bran.

- Both Bran and Arya have been called "Squirrels" a name the Giants gave the CoTF.

- Arya and Bran are the only POVs to have met a CoTF in some capacity.

- They are the two most connected to the wolf pack. Bran takes over a pack while warging Summer, he defeats a one-eyed wolf - probably being warged by BR. Arya's wolf pack connections are obvious.

- Both Stark children are learning to wear faces: Arya with human faces and Bran with Weirwood faces that "bleed".

- Both have eaten paste from trees.

- Leaf tells Bran: After he weds the weirwood tree he will move on and one day see through any tree. In a moment at Acorn Hall, Arya actually calls herself an Oak Tree. That is also the tree she ate the paste from.

- Arya has wished to become a wolf with wings. Bran is the wolf with wings.

 

On another note.

 

Robb not including Arya among his dead siblings at the sealing of his Will. Why would GRRM do that? It is such an obvious omission. Robb stays publicly silent on Jon and Arya when he talks to his witnesses. We know Jon is legitimised. But what of Arya? If Robb thinks she is dead, why not mention her along with his other dead siblings? Does this leave the door open for Arya's claim on Winterfell and the North to play a factor in her end game? 

[chrisdaw]

11 hours ago, Arya Targaryen said:

I agree with most of what you are saying - I've always thought that Arya's training - even with the FM (lying game, languages) - and her experiences all point towards her becoming a fair ruler. Put it together with all the queen-foreshadowing in her arc, I think it is safe to assume that she will end up being Queen - either Queen in the North or Queen on the iron throne. She may become Queen in her own right or by marrying the King. I think that might have been GRRM's original intention with the character - I'm not so sure any more, without the planned 5-year gap. Arya will still be too young to marry by the end of the story, even though it was mentioned (By Martin, I think, but I don't have a quote), that Arya is not a child mentally any more - she is like 40, with all she has been through. If she is biologically mature (flowered), she might be mature enough to marry whoever she wants or needs to.

That being said, I don't think she will agree to a political marriage - unless it is to Jon, knowing they are cousins. I also don't see Gendry becoming any sort of love interest of her, I never understood all the shipping. Gendry has already let her down. She might forgive that, but she won't forget. Honestly, I don't see her trust any man - apart from Jon, that's why I think that if she ends up marrying anybody, it will be Jon. And truth be told, that would also make her Queen of Whatever (North, IT, Free Folk...).

 

If not becoming Queen, she might die by the end. That's a possibility. I don't think she will ever complete her list. I think she will have to choose between revenge and helping her family at one point and she will choose her family. Or she will be there, almost killing Cersei (I think), but she ends up forgiving (not likely, I admit, but still). She will play her part in the Stark-pack and may sacrifice herself for her pack.

The Arya/Jon relationship is brother sister only. It's a Ned/Lyanna parallel. It had to be special because it had to get Jon to break his vows, as Ned betrayed his honour for Lyanna (safety of her child). And, the relationship makes it harder for them both to do the right ring, giving it the emotional impact. Jon won't want to deny the sister he loves her happiness, her love, but kings have to do this sort of shit, he has to put the realm ahead of her. He failed to do this in ADWD, and for it he got himself killed. And for what? It wasn't even really Arya. Point was, he let his emotions get in the way, his feelings for Arya, and it caused him to fail, lead him to do the wrong thing (on principal, the rules of the NW exist for reason). A test he won't fail the next time.

Arya obviously won't want to give up her lover, her happiness, but it's Jon asking, and she will (eventually) do it for Jon's sake. She went back to her room (duty) because Jon told her she should.

GRRM is the one shipping Arya and Gendry.

Gendry, represented by bulls and variants (ox, moose bull), as the bull is his nickname. Represented by stags and variants (harts, deers), as he is a Baratheon bastard. Associated colours, red and white. Red seemingly for the red god, white because he will be a future KG. Dominant character traits, stubborn. Low born and very class conscious. Protective of people. 

Arya, represented by wolves by way of house. Prior alias, Beth. Associated colours, black and white, for the house of black and white where she trains and currently belongs. And seemingly for a theme in her arc of contrast, dual personalities or possible paths, dark or light. Also a contrast inside of herself, an internal struggle between the light and dark. Dominant character traits, wilful. Is not at all class conscious. Adventurous. Rebellious.

Lord Commander Ser Gerold Hightower, known as the White Bull, seemingly a particularly stubborn man.

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The Kingsguard does not flee.

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You swore a vow to guard the king, not to judge him.

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That was the White Bull, loyal to the end and a better man than me, all agree.

Foreshadowing for Gendry the Bull turning KG. As fits Gendry.

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The Bull shouted, "Behind you," and Arya spun. Hot Pie was on his knees, his fist closing around a big jagged rock. She let him throw it, ducking her head as it sailed past.

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Then it will not matter if he eatsme. Biter threw back his head and opened his mouth again, howling, and stuck his tongue out at her. It was sharply pointed, dripping blood, longer than any tongue should be. Sliding from his mouth, out and out and out, red and wet and glistening, it made a hideous sight, obscene. His tongue is a foot long, Brienne thought, just before the darkness took her. Why, it looks almost like a sword.

Coming to the rescue of maids.

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An old man sat down beside her. "Well, aren't you a pretty little peach?" His breath smelled near as foul as the dead men in the cages, and his little pig eyes were crawling up and down her. "Does my sweet peach have a name?"

For half a heartbeat she forgot who she was supposed to be. She wasn't any peach, but she couldn't be Arya Stark either, not here with somesmelly drunk she did not know. "I'm . . ." 

"She's my sister." Gendry put a heavy hand on the old man's shoulder, and squeezed. "Leave her be."

Protecting their honour.

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Septon Meribald answered. "Lady Brienne is a warrior maid upon a quest. Just now, though, she is in need of a dry bed and a warm fire. As are we all. My old bones say it's going to rain again, and soon. Do you have rooms for us?"

"No," said the boy smith. "Yes," said the girl Willow. 

They glared at one another. Then Willow stomped her foot. "They have food, Gendry. The little ones are hungry." She whistled, and more children appeared as if by magic; ragged boys with unshorn locks crept from under the porch, and furtive girls appeared in the windows overlooking the yard. Some clutched crossbows, wound and loaded.

Instead of plundering and fighting and off having a good time with the rest of the BWBs and boys like him, he just happens to end up playing protector at an orphan house.

Gendry will be KG, and thus white.

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White harts were supposed to be very rare and magical,

The white hart is sort of a legendary creature. A hart is a 5 year or more matured stag, Gendry is five years Arya's elder. There is a ship the White Hart on the side of the Lannisters in the Battle of Blackwater.

Davos' ship in the same battle, is the Black Betha. The wiki description of the character the ship is named for.

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Betha was known as Black Betha because of her dark eyes and hair. She was a spirited woman also considered stubborn or willful.

The whole theme of this character is love marriages vs political marriages.

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It was well after dark when Devan came down to Black Betha, leading a snow-white palfrey.

The White Hart and Black Betha at the Blackwater.

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The Warrior must have been listening. Black Betha and Lady Marya slammed into the side of Lady's Shame within an instant of each other, ramming her fore and aft with such force that men were thrown off the deck of Lady of Silk three boats away. Davos almost bit his tongue off when his teeth jarred together. He spat out blood. Next time close your mouth, you fool. Forty years at sea, and yet this was the first time he'd rammed another ship. His archers were loosing arrows at will.

"Back water," he commanded. When Black Betha reversed her oars, the river rushed into the splintered hole she left, and Lady's Shame fell to pieces before his eyes, spilling dozens of men into the river.

Black Betha smashes Lady's Shame.

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One the size of an ox crashed down between Black Betha and Wraith, rocking both ships and soaking every man on deck.

An ox, crashes between Black Betha and Wraith. Wraith signifying undead, Jon.

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Sceptre had lost most of her oars, and Faithful had been rammed and was starting to list. He took Black Bethabetween them, and struck a glancing blow at Queen Cersei's ornate carved-and-gilded pleasure barge, laden with soldiers instead of sweetmeats now. The collision spilled a dozen of them into the river, where Betha's archers picked them off as they tried to stay afloat.

Black Betha steers past Sceptre and Faithful. Sceptre is the ceremonial rod of a queen and thus symbolises queenhood, faithful is self explanatory. She avoids both to hit Cersei's pleasure barge, symbolising love and sex, specifically that which jeopardises the realm's peace as per the first page.

Immediately after the above passage, of Black Betha striking the pleasure barge, comes the White Hart.

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Matthos's shout alerted him to the danger from port; one of the Lannister galleys was coming about to ram. "Hard to starboard," Davos shouted. His men used their oars to push free of the barge, while others turned the galley so her prow faced the onrushing White Hart. For a moment he feared he'd been too slow, that he was about to be sunk, but the current helped swing Black Betha, and when the impact came it was only a glancing blow, the two hulls scraping against each other, both ships snapping oars. A jagged piece of wood flew past his head, sharp as any spear. Davos flinched. "Board her!" he shouted. Grappling lines were flung. He drew his sword and led them over the rail himself.

The crew of the White Hart met them at the rail, but Black Betha's men-at-arms swept over them in a screaming steel tide. Davos fought through the press, looking for the other captain, but the man was dead before he reached him. As he stood over the body, someone caught him from behind with an axe, but his helm turned the blow, and his skull was left ringing when it might have been split. Dazed, it was all he could do to roll. His attacker charged screaming. Davos grasped his sword in both hands and drove it up point first into the man's belly.

One of his crewmen pulled him back to his feet. "Captain ser, the Hart is ours." It was true, Davos saw. Most of the enemy were dead, dying, or yielded. He took off his helm, wiped blood from his face, and made his way back to his own ship, trodding carefully on boards slimy with men's guts. Matthos lent him a hand to help him back over the rail.

For those few instants, Black Betha and White Hart were the calm eye in the midst of the storm. Queen Alysanne and Lady of Silk, still locked together, were a ranging green inferno, drifting downriver and dragging pieces of Lady's Shame. One of the Myrish galleys had slammed into them and was now afire as well. Cat was taking on men from the fast-sinking Courageous. The captain of Dragonsbane had driven her between two quays, ripping out her bottom; her crew poured ashore with the archers and men-at-arms to join the assault on the walls. Red Raven, rammed, was slowly listing. Stag of the Sea was fighting fires and boarders both, but the fiery heart had been raised over Joffrey's Loyal Man. Fury, her proud bow smashed in by a boulder, was engaged with Godsgrace. He saw Lord Velaryon's Pride of Driftmark crash between two Lannister river runners, overturning one and lighting the other up with fire arrows. On the south bank, knights were leading their mounts aboard the cogs, and some of the smaller galleys were already making their way across, laden with men-at-arms. They had to thread cautiously between sinking ships and patches of drifting wildfire. The whole of King Stannis's fleet was in the river now, save for Salladhor Saan's Lyseni. Soon enough they would control the Blackwater. Ser Imry will have his victory, Davos thought, and Stannis will bring his host across, but gods be good, the cost of this . . .

The ships, White Hart and Black Betha, come together (shipping, get it? He's shipping them). Hulls scrape. Hearts are taken. For a brief moment they're locked together in the heart of the storm.

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She could stay with Hot Pie, or maybe Lord Beric would find her there. Anguy would teach her to use a bow, and she could ride with Gendry and be an outlaw, like Wenda the White Fawn in the songs.

She could be like Wenda the White Fawn and ride with Gendry. A white fawn for a white hart.

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Beyond it, by the canal, that's the temple of Aquan the Red Bull. Every thirteenth day, his priests slit the throat of a pure white calf, and offer bowls of blood to beggars."

The blood of a white calf (innocence) is sacrificed in the name of the Red Bull. The blood for the flowering or deflowering, take your pick, the thirteenth foreshadows Arya's age.

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Arya had never seen Gendry turn so red. "Tansy, you leave the Bull alone, he's a good lad," said Tom Sevenstrings. "All we need from you is safe beds for a night."

Just to reiterate red for Gendry.

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"… for you are bastard born. I had not forgotten. I have seen your sister in my fires, fleeing from this marriage they have made for her. Coming here, to you. A girl in grey on a dying horse, I have seen it plain as day. It has not happened yet, but it will." She gazed at Ghost. "May I touch your … wolf?"

Mel's vision, thought to be wrong and truly about Alys Karstark, obviously not the case as that's as underwhelming as it is unduly worthy of such book space.

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He slipped his blade away. "As well as any raider. Some parts more than others. There's a lot of north. Why?"

"The girl," she said. "A girl in grey on a dying horse. Jon Snow's sister." Who else could it be? She was racing to him for protection, that much Melisandre had seen clearly. "I have seen her in my flames, but only once. We must win the lord commander's trust, and the only way to do that is to save her." 

"Me save her, you mean? The Lord o' Bones?" He laughed. "No one ever trusted Rattleshirt but fools. Snow's not that. If his sister needs saving, he'll send his crows. I would."

"He is not you. He made his vows and means to live by them. The Night's Watch takes no part. But you are not Night's Watch. You can do what he cannot."

"If your stiff-necked lord commander will allow it. Did your fires show you where to find this girl?" 

"I saw water. Deep and blue and still, with a thin coat of ice just forming on it. It seemed to go on and on forever."

"Long Lake. What else did you see around this girl?" 

"Hills. Fields. Trees. A deer, once. Stones. She is staying well away from villages. When she can she rides along the bed of little streams, to throw hunters off her trail."

Once.

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Calm as still water, she took the Bull by the arm and drew him back behind a tall flowering hedge.

She being Arya.

[GhostNymeria]

10 minutes ago, DutchArya said:

I dunno what it all means but from the top of my head, these links stand out:

 

- Both Bran & Arya are training under mysterious magical beings. The similarities between the BR and the HoBW are several.

- They are both wargs AND skinchangers, the only Starks who can do both.

- Their mysterious mentors: Both BR and the KM have one eye and look like skeltons.

- Bran sees Arya in Leaf, the CoTF assisting him. Much like Waif who is assisting the KM. Even their names sound similar. Waif Leaf. 

- Arya has strong links to trees, she is a great climber and throughout her journeys, Arya would climb trees and dance among the branches. Jumping from tree to tree, she felt at home as does Bran.

- Both Bran and Arya have been called "Squirrels" a name the Giants gave the CoTF.

- Arya and Bran are the only POVs to have met a CoTF in some capacity.

- They are the two most connected to the wolf pack. Bran takes over a pack while warging Summer, he defeats a one-eyed wolf - probably being warged by BR. Arya's wolf pack connections are obvious.

- Both Stark children are learning to wear faces: Arya with human faces and Bran with Weirwood faces that "bleed".

- Both have eaten paste from trees.

- Leaf tells Bran: After he weds the weirwood tree he will move on and one day see through any tree. In a moment at Acorn Hall, Arya actually calls herself an Oak Tree. That is also the tree she ate the paste from.

- Arya has wished to become a wolf with wings. Bran is the wolf with wings.

 

On another note.

 

Robb not including Arya among his dead siblings at the sealing of his Will. Why would GRRM do that? It is such an obvious omission. Robb stays publicly silent on Jon and Arya when talks to his witnesses. We know Jon is legitimised. But what of Arya? If Robb thinks she is dead, why not mention her along with his other dead siblings? Does this leave the door open for Arya's claim on Winterfell and the North to play a factor in her end game? 

Thank you for this awesome post I agree with all of it, and I think it shows that Arya, like Bran, still is going have an important role in the war against the others, like the original outline said. Look at these parallells and look closer what Arya actually is learning with the Faceless men,  it's not just to change her face and kill people. Lets just say this, if she becomes a ruler, people are going to have a very hard time lying to her or try to play her false. She will see through their facade. And not to mention her unique understanding (as a noble) for commoners.

The impotance to her connection with magic shouldn't be overlooked. Her, Bran, Jon, Dany are the POV's that have a magic theme through out these books. This is why I have very hard time dismissing Arya's future as just "an assassin who will kill a bunch of people", while the other three is predicted here to be important political figures and fight white walkers.