Arya Stark’s plan and the Twins theory

[Ser Harry Darkenshield]

This is a long one. I wonder about Arya’s plan and a theory about the Twins. With in mind as how it can do the most damage to Starks and even Stannis enemies, and particularly the Freys since they are situated right by the rivers. So from a Feast For Crows and Dance with Dragons we know that Arya is being trained to become a Faceless Man or woman. We also know how Arya feels on avenging her father, Robb, her own mother Catelyn and countless others. She starts praying the names of the people she wants to kill or be killed. Cercei, joffrey, lannisters, the hound etc... This is natural for her because she is a Stark and she cannot simply let it go that she is a Wolf by nature and heritage descended from the First Men and therefore she needs revenge and justice as she sees it fit. Important to note, Arya has witnessed a lot of blood and seen her own mother mutilated by the Freys at the Twins that night she and Sandor Clegane were closing in on the Red Wedding. So Arya is not afraid of the consequences from the point she leaves Kings Landing till she leaves Westeros in order to find the FM in Braavos. Now if all goes well, Arya will become an assassin of the Faceless Men. Our impression of FM is that they don’t seek glory or fortunes, and they are not people who dwell on things in the past or things in their own personal life. Seemingly they don’t own a private life and are simply devoted to their Killer God of Faceless Men. I believe Arya will never forget or discard her identity as a Stark and Wolf, and rather she will use her new identity as a Faceless Man to exact revenge and pain on the enemies of her house in Winterfell. Her experience with Jaqen H’ghar made her see the ways of a killer and assassin, and how easy killing someone is for a Faceless Man. Arya knows this power is what she needs and yearns for.

So here is my theory of how Arya will return back to Westeros and the North. I believe her future is linked with all the Direwolf sightings in the Riverlands. In book 3-5 we hear rumors of a large pack of wolves lead by a she-wolf of monstrous size that kills people around the river lands, including Freys. In a Feast for Crows, a Frey reports that there are hundreds of wolves that keep attacking trade roads and baggage train leaving from the Twins.

We also suspect that this pack leader which most likely is a Direwolf to be the same direwolf as Arya’s old Direwolf, Nymeria. This wouldn’t come as a surprise as we can assume Nymeria is probably alive, and in addition could with her 5 puppy siblings (Summer, Ghost, Lady, Grey Wind, Shaggy) have actually been sent by the old Gods to help the North tear up invaders or simply some other reason. In Storm of Swords, when Arya is in the woods away from the Brotherhood of Banners and searching the Riverlands. She sees or hears this pack of wolves howling around in the woods. Arya is not killed or hurt, which I find interesting because a pack of wild animals would normally attack their prey but they didn’t. This leads me to believe that the pack of wolves are somehow following the guidance and judgment of the Old Gods and therefore they are not inclined to follow their hunting instincts and instead sees Arya as something else then an enemy to hunt and to be killed. It is revealed that Arya feels this connection with the Direwolf leading the wolf pack, and the Direwolf feels no sense in hunting Arya and killing her. Anyways, I presume Arya will return to Westeros within the next 2 books, Winds of Winters and a Dream of Spring. She will most likely be a trained assassin, with powers that only the Faceless Men holds. I expect her to once again search the river lands, this time in hopes of locating this pack of wolves and to possibly be reunited with Nymeria. Arya will carry her agenda with her motives being to unite these wolves at her command with her Warg powers, so that they can together strike their enemies in and around Riverrun. The plan being: sacking the Twins with only blood and all the Freys in it.

Arya will find the Twins heavily guarded, as it has always been throughout the ages. However, Arya will be a faceless man and she will change her face into someone that will enter the Twins. After entering the Twins, Arya will wait till Dark before she exacts her plan. When everyone in the castle is sleeping she will summon the wolves closer to the castle gates of the Twins. At that moment Arya will use her assassin skills and kill the standing guards, so that she can open the gates and let her wolves enter the castle.

From this point, Old Walder Frey and all the big and small Freys will be slaughtered alive by all the wolves that are entering the castle and keep on entering till no man or woman is left alive. With one stroke, Stark and Tully enemies, the Freys will be vanquished in the most horrible way possible. This will be satisfactory for Arya, and also to the cause of North.

I heard this theory from my dad who also reads A Song of Ice and Fire, and I thought “this would simply be too great of a plot not to happen”. This is little bit of wishful thinking on my part but could also be considered as plausible actions that might happen if Arya is going to have an effect on the Civil War in the Land of Seven Kingdoms. But I am not sure of how it would work with Arya being ready to do something like this, shes only in her early teens. Who know how many years it took Jaqen H’ghar to become a fearless FM. I think it might take a long time to fully grasp the powers and training of the FM. Let me know what you guys think! Might be that someone has already discussed this theory in which case send us some links.

Hope you liked this theory, even though it was pretty long. Thank you for reading

[Nordling]

What has she learned in Bravos so far? To sneak and keep her ears open. It is not known how long the time radius will be in the next two books, and I do not think learning all the Faceless Men's assassinating tricks will be a short process. Even if it took five years, a lot would've had happened in Westeros and Arya would still be just a child.

[gingerpunk]

I don't think that Arya will learn all of the skills of the Faceless Men. I think she will merely learn enough before she goes renegade. I have the feeling that she will reunite with her undead mother at some point, and may realize it's up to her to grant her the gift of mercy. I would suggest, however, that this reunion may unintentionally happening while seeking vengeance on the Freys. I've heard the notion of a second Red Wedding thrown around in this forum, so I propose this notion:

I know that Myrcella and Tommen are currently living on borrowed time, and believe they will be done by The Winds of Winter. We know that there is an arrangement for a Lannister/Frey wedding currently in the works, and if there is to be a second Red Wedding, who better than the Lannisters in addition to the Freys? We also know that Jaime is headed toward the custody of the Brothers without Banners for Lady Stoneheart to exact her vengeance upon him. It is possible, I believe, that UnCat will keep Jaime alive if he agrees to help the BwB enter the walls of wherever this wedding is to be held. It's also possible for Arya, being only slightly older than Myrcella, to kill the girl and assume her identity to gain entry. I am not sure how that is to work out, but it puts Arya and Lady Stoneheart in the same place at the same time with the same purpose. This scenario would end with the complete annihilation of the Freys, possibly the Lannisters (maybe not... Jaime is to be there as well and may help some of his kin escape) and closure for Stoneheart's storyline since she will be able to look on the face of a living child of her body, accomplish her vengeance, and ultimately die by her child's hand.

A bit crackpot, but if we're throwing proposals out there... well, I think this one's cool.

[Dargor]

I also think Arya won't complete her training with the Faceless Men, but yes, probably it is safe to assume that she will encounter again with Nymeria. And, if this happens, the only storyline still continuing in the Riverlands (the most posible place for any action of the wolves) is the revenge against the Freys by UnCat and the remaining forces of the Brotherhood, so it is also safe to think Arya will be related with this.

But I don't believe Lord Walder will survive until Arya's return from Braavos, and probably she will confront a weakened House Frey immersed in an internal fight between the heir and his kin.

[Ser Harry Darkenshield]

I hope Lord Walder gets a painful bloody death, he doesnt deserve dying of old age or something comfy. .

[Lord Liam DarkStark]

I don't think she'll get to be a faceless woman or a severant to the many faced god unless she renounces being a stark. She has to loose that from her heart in order to be inducted into this house. The only reason I think she will remain arya at heart is because she is a warg. Its just too easy to think she'll become an assasin and take out all the people who wronged her family. I think martin has an even better plan for arya that involves more than just vengeance.

[gingerpunk]

I'm hoping that WoW has her going renegade and heading back to Westeros somehow, but it might not happen til DoS. I feel like she might be the one who finally kills UnCat, and I'm hoping it's Arya in person instead of Arya through Nymeria. Although Lady Stoneheart is a raging bitch, I'd like her to get some closure and see one of her children alive before meeting her ultimate demise. I want UnCat to be the one to turn a Red Wedding on the Freys, too, because she at least deserves that. And I'm hoping for Jaime to survive her.

[gogorath]

I do agree with some things in your theory:

1) Arya isn't going to permanently forget she's a Stark

2) Nymeria is leading the pack in the Riverlands

3) Arya will learn some skills from the FM

4) Arya will end up in Westeros

Aside from that, though:

1) I really don't think Arya is going to become some all-powerful assassin. That's wish-fulfillment fantasy and not really Martin's style. The only route I see that happening is if Arya does indeed lose her identity for a very long time and her skills are used in an attempt on a character we like -- not someone that Arya necessarily has on her list.

2) While Arya has plenty of reasons to hate the Freys, I don't think she is going to get the chance to take out an entire castle of them. Again, that's more on the wish fulfillment side of things. We get that sometimes -- Lady Stoneheart's reveal, for example, but Arya cleaning out a castle of Freys with super FM powers isn't Martin's thing. Being sent back to Westeros to kill Sansa? That's more Martin's style, I'd think. (Not that I see that happening either. Actually, Arya is a weird one -- what role DOES she play?)

[evita mgfs]

I will throw out some of my observations about Arya, and ask an important question I cannot get answered, and I even searched forum.

1. Arya is the best trainee the FM have ever had, and she is a girl - quite unusual.

2. Arya is sent on her first hit when she is how old? Timelines kill me. Is she eleven? While Arya kills targets of FM clientele, Jeyne Poole is being raped by Ramsay, Reek, and dog.

3. Arya must now learn to combine her mask wearing skills with real mummers - she will be an intern with the mummers in the Purple Harbor, or in another location. A mask alone does not make a girl a a faceless man. She must learn posture, voice, mime, stage fighting, memorization, concentration, evoking and using her senses, etc. So I believe she has more training to undergo.

4. Arya will love learning mummery, even though she used to call them "bloody" mummers, which may have been a nod to a future event, like Arya becoming a mummer under the service of the FM. She will leave their service after a brilliant performance during which she has to kill a cast mate.

5. I also think, at some point, Arya will practice warging on Casso, King of Seals.

6. The FM must know she has warged a cat. I see Arya as counterpoint to Bran. He is learning from wise, maybe evil teachers just as Arya is learning from wise, maybe evil priests of the HoB&W.

7. I agree she may find her way back to Westeros, either in the service of FM or fleeing them.

8. I hope with all my heart she meets up with Nymeria, and I like your ideas above.

9. Arya has to learn that which Jaqen already knows - how to ACT. Jaqen is hunched over with watering eyes as Pate. Before becoming him, Jaqen had to do a character study, just as an actor does preparing for a role; i.e., Anthony Hopkins reading about serial killers in medical texts to prepare for his role as Hannibal Lecter.

Those are my ideas about Arya.

[Titus Andronicus]

I can't remember the exact quote, but I remember in book one Jon tells Arya, jokingly, that she will spend the entire winter busy with needlework, and that they will find her at winters end dead, with a needle frozen to her fingers. I'll edit the quote in if I can find it.

My interpretation? Arya is going to spend the Winds of Winter on a quest of revenge, and in the end it will destroy her. I've got a feeling all of the Stark children are headed down some pretty dark paths...

[sumant30]

Arya is the best trainee the FM have ever had, and she is a girl - quite unusual.

Nothing in the books seems to indicate that.

Arya is going to spend the Winds of Winter on a quest of revenge, and in the end it will destroy her. I've got a feeling all of the Stark children are headed down some pretty dark paths

How come bran is heading on a dark path ?

[Stannis the Wight]

I like the idea of Arya reuniting with Nymeria and taking out Freys. I can see Gendry taking over control of the brotherhood when/if Arya kills UnCat, and I can only see Arya killing her undead mother only after weeks/months of conflict culminating in the return of Jaqen to teach her the importance of knowing when/who to give the gift of mercy to and why she must kill her zombie mom.

I don't however like the idea of Arya's quest for revenge destroying her in the end, but that does sound like GRRM. As long as Arya kills a good amount of Freys and or Ramsay Bolton before she may or may not die I will be sufficiently less disappointed.

[sumant30]

Jaqen to teach her the importance of knowing when/who to give the gift of mercy to and why she must kill her zombie mom.

Jaqen is at citadel searching for the book which states how to kill the dragons why would he go to the riverlands.

[Cold-King]

It certainly sounds possible, i like the sound of it also. I've a recently pondered what sort of badassery skillz she will bring to the game once she returns to westeros and apart from erradicating the remaining people on her list like cersei etc, this sounds plausible, but who knows, GRRM could take a completely different route, either way i cant wait :D

[evita mgfs]

Nothing in the books seems to indicate that.

How come bran is heading on a dark path ?

No - I agree. :agree: I am drawing inferences. She mastered blindness at a record speed, and even named her abuser - which prompts her return of sight. Do you think another FM trainee at her age and a woman, which the Kindly Old Man tells her give life, not take it, so they do not usually take women in their order has achieved what she has in the same limited time frame? She never meets another FM/woman among the weirdo glamored people she serves when the moon is black, either. Just the Waif, who also has powers, but who has not yet changed her face, unless we count Arya saying that she reminded her of a girl she used to know named Wease. (And that's another story and thesis!)

Come on! At that age? She wields a knife like a pro, has skills as a water dancer, has learned to speak how many languages, has learned the art of caring for the dead with respect and humility, she learns to lie and master her face. (Someone should have those plaintiffs and defenders on the random court shows read Arya's lesson on how to control one's facial reactions. Judge Judy would be out of a job for she can read a lie as good as any FM).

Also, Martin says that Arya can spot a glamor easily, which I think is an advanced skill. (Smoke and mirrors: I have seen Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid live on Broadway, and I still do not know how Disney played their special effects. A disembodied Chip is pushed on a cart across the stage, talking to Mrs. Potts. The Beast rises to the ceiling and transforms into the Prince right before our eyes; the rose under glass magically loses its petals throughout the show; hungry wolves emerge from the stage floor, or hell, and chase Bell and then dad across the stage; in Mermaid, the stage is the ocean, like the face of an aquarium, and Ariel swims across, to the surface, and even rescues her love from the bottom of the sea and carries him to the top of the stage, wagging her fish tail. See - smoke and mirrors. Disney copyrights their special effects, so I can only speculate on how they do their tricks).

Arya never even looks in her Myrish mirror because all she would see is Arya Stark, or No One, not the Ugly Girl. She can see through the glamor. NO ONE at the Wall SAW THROUGH RATTLESHIRT AND MANCE/MANCE AND RATTLESHIRT!

If Arya had been there, she would have seen true.

It is all a trick, as I posted on page 1 of this thread. My quotes to support my theories are there as well - as to exactly the skill set Arya is at. Her magic is strong, and with her Stark blood and her warging skills, I do not think the FM will drop her from their roll call anytime soon. I think with the time that has passed, she has learned an amazing amount of knowledge and skill. She has "book smarts" and the physical aspect. Martin describes how built she is from her work on the docks with Taganaro and family. She carries and drags the dead around. Arya is buff. Martin doesn't use my words, but he infers that she has built up muscle mass.

She still has work to do - which I think will take her to the mummers at the ports or elsewhere. She now has to learn to ACT with her new faces intact! :smug:

Sorry I am so passionate.

[Stannis the Wight]

Jaqen is at citadel searching for the book which states how to kill the dragons why would he go to the riverlands.

Don't remember that at all... this was in ACOK?

[Titus Andronicus]

Nothing in the books seems to indicate that.

How come bran is heading on a dark path ?

Bran has eaten the flesh of man as Summer and warged into Hodor, two acts the prologue chapter of aDwD calls "abominations". Not to mention the weirwood paste, which some believe was made with Jojen. A common theme throughout aSoIaF is the sacrifice required for magic, and Jojen isn't seen after Bran eats the paste.

[TheCrannogDweller]

It certainly sounds possible, i like the sound of it also. I've a recently pondered what sort of badassery skillz she will bring to the game once she returns to westeros and apart from erradicating the remaining people on her list like cersei etc, this sounds plausible, but who knows, GRRM could take a completely different route, either way i cant wait :D

Wasn't there a prophecy by a witch that Cersei's children will die before her? Maybe one of them will be Arya's handywork(though I don't think it likely). And even if she doesn't kill the little lions, I think killing Cersei after she's lost everything she cares about may qualify as "granting mercy" to her - which is something the Queen doesn't really deserve.

On the OP - i very much like the idea of Arya letting Nymeria's pack loose on the Freys in their own castle. Being mauled and eaten alive by a wild animal is a nasty way to go - and that seems fitting for the Late Lord Frey.

[redriver]

To the OP.Arya did not witness her mother being mutilated.She only got as far as the outside of the castle before the Hound clouted her with an axe.

As to the rest of your speculation,well it's a bit fanficky.

[Cold-King]

Wasn't there a prophecy by a witch that Cersei's children will die before her? Maybe one of them will be Arya's handywork(though I don't think it likely). And even if she doesn't kill the little lions, I think killing Cersei after she's lost everything she cares about may qualify as "granting mercy" to her - which is something the Queen doesn't really deserve.

On the OP - i very much like the idea of Arya letting Nymeria's pack loose on the Freys in their own castle. Being mauled and eaten alive by a wild animal is a nasty way to go - and that seems fitting for the Late Lord Frey.

well yea i suppose! :D