Arya Stark

[Theon_is_Azor]

In my opinion the old Arya was still there earlier this season. For instance when she "joked" about killing the Queen with the Lannister soldiers. She had the same spunk she has had all along at that point. 

 

What's different is now. Now she is acting the part of the dangerous sociopath she wants Littlefinger to see her as. What's going on now is all an act. She is either acting in concert with Sansa, or she is acting in such a way as to manipulate Sansa into doing what she wants her to do. But the end game here is to remove LF To benefit her family.

 

She didn't turn North to Winterfell to betray her family. She went North to help

 

[Lurid Jester]

2 minutes ago, Theon_is_Azor said:

What's different is now. Now she is acting the part of the dangerous sociopath she wants Littlefinger to see her as.

I think you're right. I hope you're right... but my confidence is flagging.  

If this is all theater for LF's benefit, I'm wondering how he ends up finding out about it. The girl he appeared to bribe last episode?

I have a bad feeling like the final reveal will be similar to bad murder mysteries that tell you the killer is a character never before mentioned.  

"The killer way the King's brother's cousin's nephew who entered the city the night of the murder and left afterward without anyone knowing."

 

[Lord Okra]

30 minutes ago, Gaz0680 said:

Lol no it wouldnt. It would be bad writing to set up his end the way you described.

And yes, in the current scenario, Arya and Sansa WOULD have to be idiots who have not learned from all they have been through in order to be so easily manipulated by LF in this scenario.

LF *SHOULD* have been totally fucked the second Arya and Bran arrived in Winterfell. Him having the influence show is making him out to still have is just so unrealistic.

 

It seems you'd complain no matter which way the took the story.

They have invested 7 seasons into the side character, Littlefinger.  He's being given his big sendoff with a scheme.  The children will each use their own growth as characters.....combined.....to finally outwit him once and for all.

It is called good story telling.

[Gaz0680]

3 hours ago, Lord Okra said:

It seems you'd complain no matter which way the took the story.

They have invested 7 seasons into the side character, Littlefinger.  He's being given his big sendoff with a scheme.  The children will each use their own growth as characters.....combined.....to finally outwit him once and for all.

It is called good story telling.

Lol. In your opinion it may be good story telling.

and no, I wouldnt complain no matter which way they took the story at all. I just want the storytelling to be consistent and make sense with the foreshadowing and prior scenes they have done in the season. But it hasnt been and the conclusion wont make a lick if sense either way because of how inconsistent thwyve been with plot and characters in WF.

[UnViserion]

Terrible writing. They picked up where they left off last season with Arya's arc. Just terrible.  

[Stormourne]

55 minutes ago, The Special Pug of Belfast said:

Terrible writing. They picked up where they left off last season with Arya's arc. Just terrible.  

I don't really care. Just enjoy it for what it is. I'm sure the writers will take constructive criticism from actual critics in the industry, and use that to compose the script for season 8. I hope next episode will resolve the conflict between the two sisters. And for me, it hasn't been terrible writing. Not really. I'm actually glad that Arya is so defensive of Jon, mostly because I could care less for Sansa, and she does need to be reigned in. Littlefinger has been in her head for too long.

[The Chequered Raven]

On 21.8.2017 at 10:09 AM, DirePenguin said:

Waif would have no reason to kill the Freys nor know about Nymeria tho.

This!

 

I think she's just getting older, becoming more experience, and she realizes that Snsa is no more the stupid girly anymore.

The scene with the valyrian dagger shows that she wants sansa to trust her. She has remembered her dad watching her training archery, she will as well remember his words: "If winter comes, the lone wolf dies, the pack survives"

 

I bet we'll hear this line from her lips the next episode!

[UnViserion]

6 hours ago, Dawn of Fyre said:

I don't really care. Just enjoy it for what it is. I'm sure the writers will take constructive criticism from actual critics in the industry, and use that to compose the script for season 8. I hope next episode will resolve the conflict between the two sisters. And for me, it hasn't been terrible writing. Not really. I'm actually glad that Arya is so defensive of Jon, mostly because I could care less for Sansa, and she does need to be reigned in. Littlefinger has been in her head for too long.

Sansa needs to be reigned in. By the 12 year old serial killer with a bag full of faces.  

Attrocious writing and poor acting from Maisie are the reason why so many people are wondering what's up with Arya this season. That's not the same character from seasons 1-6. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about how she's changed throughout her travels. You're bound to see a "different character" from season to season as they progress along their arc. What I mean is the writing and the acting don't fit the character or make sense. And she's not the only character suffering from this.

If her bizzare behavior is supposed to be the culmination of her arc, why does the character even exist? What an unsatisying conclusion.

IMHO

[Lord Okra]

8 hours ago, The Special Pug of Belfast said:

Terrible writing. They picked up where they left off last season with Arya's arc. Just terrible.  

How is picking up where you left off terrible writing?

Wouldn't terrible writing be abandoning where you left off?

[Illiterati]

1 hour ago, The Special Pug of Belfast said:

Sansa needs to be reigned in. By the 12 year old serial killer with a bag full of faces.  

Attrocious writing and poor acting from Maisie are the reason why so many people are wondering what's up with Arya this season. That's not the same character from seasons 1-6. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about how she's changed throughout her travels. You're bound to see a "different character" from season to season as they progress along their arc. What I mean is the writing and the acting don't fit the character or make sense. And she's not the only character suffering from this.

If her bizzare behavior is supposed to be the culmination of her arc, why does the character even exist? What an unsatisying conclusion.

IMHO

I see it as some of the more clever writing and acting in the show, certainly post-books.

[Cas Stark]

Just now, Illiterati said:

I see it as some of the more clever writing and acting in the show, certainly post-books.

What is clever about the Stark sisters hating each other and threatening each other?

[Illiterati]

6 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

What is clever about the Stark sisters hating each other and threatening each other?

It is clever that they are doing this to troll both Littlefinger and the audience.  It's clear by many comments these last two weeks that the audience has sucked it in hook, line, and sinker.  I predict Littlefinger gets sucked in too, to his demise.

[Cas Stark]

1 minute ago, Illiterati said:

It is clever that they are doing this to troll both Littlefinger and the audience.  It's clear by many comments these last two weeks that the audience has sucked it in hook, line, and sinker.  I predict Littlefinger gets sucked in too, to his demise.

And will it still be clever if what is seen on the screen is the whole story:  the sisters are at odds and threatening each other the end?  And it takes Bran to snap them out of it?  

[Vuron]

15 hours ago, Theon_is_Azor said:

In my opinion the old Arya was still there earlier this season. For instance when she "joked" about killing the Queen with the Lannister soldiers. She had the same spunk she has had all along at that point. 

 

What's different is now. Now she is acting the part of the dangerous sociopath she wants Littlefinger to see her as. What's going on now is all an act. She is either acting in concert with Sansa, or she is acting in such a way as to manipulate Sansa into doing what she wants her to do. But the end game here is to remove LF To benefit her family.

 

She didn't turn North to Winterfell to betray her family. She went North to help

 

I'm going to agree with this.  I can only think of 3 reasons that she'd be acting the way she has been.

1) Arya is attempting to fool someone.

2) Arya is being fooled (less likely).

3) Poor writing (least likely due to the fact of having different writers and directors for each of the episodes where she's been acting strangely).

I could accept the fact that she would be pissed and blame Sansa for things that have happened, but leaving faces lying around, getting caught spying, having arguments with open doors, etc is just so far out of character that it isn't believable... especially when compared to her book character.

[UnViserion]

40 minutes ago, Lord Okra said:

How is picking up where you left off terrible writing?

Wouldn't terrible writing be abandoning where you left off?

It's terrible writing if where you left off was terrible writing. Arya's season 6 endeavors were really something. The Waif chase through Braavos was so bad. You might recall all of the elaborate theories people were coming up with after the Waif stabbed Arya multiple times in the gut and she jumped in the bay.. did she have a bloodbag? Was it actually Jaqen? Was she the Waif the whole time ala Fight Club style? Nope. Nothing clever at all. Arya spent the season sweeping floors and getting the tar kicked out of her by the Waif. Then she casually strolled through the streets of Braavos without a care in the world after leaving a deadly group of assassins on bad terms.

Now she's at winterfell brow beating Sansa. Sad!

[Bran the Shipper]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 1:48 AM, Gaz0680 said:

I see only 3 possible reasons for this:

1. The writers are taking Arya down an even darker path towards full blown psychopath and the change in delivery of the character is to illustrate that descent. They will then either find a way to bring her back from the edge or will kill her off in S8.

2. Arya is dead and the Waif is wearing her face. I would absolutely loathe for this to be true but I am genuinely fearful the show may go that way.

3. Arya truly did become No One at end of season 6 and is just playing the part of the old Arya Stark, therefore the true emotion of the real Arya isnt there.

I'm beginning to think that 3 is the correct one.  We leave the house of black and white with Jaquen saying that finally a girl is no one.  Now a lot of people interpret this to mean that Arya has gained the skills to become a faceless man.  And when she responds that she is Arya Stark and she is heading home, it is her rejecting the invitation to become part of the faceless men. 

But it could also be that Jaquen is right, she is no one, after all he would know.  And Arya Stark is merely the first identity she is assuming so she can give the gift to those who are on Arya's list.  It would also explain why he seems happy about how things turned out, otherwise if he is no one and dedicated to the Many Faced God he should be upset about her decision 

After all Arya offered the names to the Many Faced God and she paid the price, her identity.  The tragic part of this (beyond Arya effectively dying last season) is that it appears there was a secret name on her list that was never spoken out loud.  Sansa Stark.

It would help explain her change in behavior, plus her newfound abilities that we hadn't seen any indication she learned (being able to use the magic to change her face without assistance). 

[Inigo Sand]

I don't think there's any need to go too deeply into this, as with Arya's story at end of s6 - it's easier to be cleverer than the level that the show is on, and I do think the conflict is being played up for dramatic tension.  Arya's knowledge of Sansa is mainly from s1, while we have the benefit of seeing Sansa growing up - so from her own perspective Arya is justified in being distrustful, and staying in cool/scary mode.    My interpretation is that Arya wanted to scare Sansa a little, but not hurt her; thus giving her the dagger as if to say 'it's OK, I'm not actually going to do anything'.  If Arya actually wanted to kill Sansa, she could easily have done by now without drawing suspicion to herself. 

[Illiterati]

2 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

And will it still be clever if what is seen on the screen is the whole story:  the sisters are at odds and threatening each other the end?  And it takes Bran to snap them out of it?  

I suppose we will find out in 5 days.  I don't think Bran will have anything at all to do with this intrigue.  He planted the knife and mentioned that LF gave it to him.  That set the wheels in motion.  He's got bigger fish to fry, like figuring out that he needs to be sure the NK is able to get to him to kill him.  But that's an entirely different theory.  Suffice it to say that he is operating on a different plane than the mundane political struggles in WF or elsewhere.

[Lord Okra]

1 hour ago, The Special Pug of Belfast said:

It's terrible writing if where you left off was terrible writing. Arya's season 6 endeavors were really something. The Waif chase through Braavos was so bad. You might recall all of the elaborate theories people were coming up with after the Waif stabbed Arya multiple times in the gut and she jumped in the bay.. did she have a bloodbag? Was it actually Jaqen? Was she the Waif the whole time ala Fight Club style? Nope. Nothing clever at all. Arya spent the season sweeping floors and getting the tar kicked out of her by the Waif. Then she casually strolled through the streets of Braavos without a care in the world after leaving a deadly group of assassins on bad terms.

Now she's at winterfell brow beating Sansa. Sad!

Well, I agree with Arya's character has become far less likable and her Bravos storyline was pretty dull compared to her season with the Hound BUT you can't just redo in the middle of a story by abandoning the entire previous storyline.

I don't like the direction they took Arya's character either but that doesn't make it bad writing.  Just because I'd rather have a nice Arya is doesn't mean dark Arya is bad writing.  It is just not the direction I really wanted to see her go.

Anyway, it isn't terrible writing to pick up where you left off.  That's they way stories are supposed to go....

 

 

[Pandean]

Am I the only one who doesn't really like the theories/predictions of Arya using so-and-so and blank-and-blank's faces and the like? Like, I'm not sure why I don't really like the faces thing. Arya exacting vengeance while wearing other people's faces seems just...weird to me? The more the faces are involved the more i seem to dislike when they're used for plot purposes.

 

Not saying I dislike Arya or Arya's vengeance against the people who wronged her....I just can't seem to like the faces part. For some reason.