Any predictions of Arya's fate?

[DeepBlueSky]

I definitely do not think that Arya will kill Cersei, and I think that this theory by seemingly many here is one of the most far fetched on these forums. While it is possible it will be Arya, as she might take up the identity of a boy (she would need to, to fulfill the prophecy), I think it is highly doubtful and really would be the weakest of the directions I could see GRRM going with this.

Really, while it's not necessarily Cersei's little brother who will be the one to kill her, that really would be the most poetic of all possibilities right now. And given the direction Cersei and Jaime have gone in the story, it is not only likely I think that the obvious will be what happens in this particular case, but it will also be the most meaningful, interesting, and pack more oomph if Jaime is the one to kill Cersei. Arya killing Cersei would be somewhat satisfactory as a Stark definitely deserves her head, but it won't mean as much to the story as if Jaime does it.

I'd wager quite a lot that Jaime will indeed be the one to kill Cersei. And if not Jaime, it's going to be Sandor. But really, odds are high, for many reasons, it's going to be Jaime.

[Mithras]

I definitely do not think that Arya will kill Cersei, and I think that this theory by seemingly many here is one of the most far fetched on these forums. While it is possible it will be Arya, as she might take up the identity of a boy (she would need to, to fulfill the prophecy), I think it is highly doubtful and really would be the weakest of the directions I could see GRRM going with this.

Really, while it's not necessarily Cersei's little brother who will be the one to kill her, that really would be the most poetic of all possibilities right now. And given the direction Cersei and Jaime have gone in the story, it is not only likely I think that the obvious will be what happens in this particular case, but it will also be the most meaningful, interesting, and pack more oomph if Jaime is the one to kill Cersei. Arya killing Cersei would be somewhat satisfactory as a Stark definitely deserves her head, but it won't mean as much to the story as if Jaime does it.

I'd wager quite a lot that Jaime will indeed be the one to kill Cersei. And if not Jaime, it's going to be Sandor. But really, odds are high, for many reasons, it's going to be Jaime.

Arya will stab Cersei fatally but not kill her. Varamyr didnot die immediately. He endured a couple of days. Cersei will do the same. Jaime will finish her off be the valonqar.

[Mrmanakan]

She will drink from the cup at the house of black and white to have the sweet sleep of peace after her list is completed

[Amris1]

One can argue a lot about the road Arya is taking and it certainly is a very dark one.

However 'selfish' is a gross misunderstanding of her motivation.

The grim and merciless god GRRM has made Arya loose anything positive in her life. He has stripped her bare and the only thing he has left her is her sense of justice. The Stark sense of justice. Which he plays with now. In its most extreme fashion.

Among all the huge, huge injustices happrning in GRRM's world - nearly always going unpunished - Arya sacrifices everything (herself and her own soul included) for a little bit of justice that is overdue.

You may well be right that she is doomed. It would be fitting. It is the sacrifice she makes. It is the only choice GRRM has left her. Because he took everything else away - except for the Stark sense of justice.

Selfish doesn't come into it at all. The exact opposite. She sacrifices herself for the duty she feels the powers that be - gods included - have grossly neglected.

One can call that insane. One can call it evil. Deranged. Whatever. And one would be right. To a point.

But all these expressions fall short of what she does. Of what she has become. Because She does not kill randomly. Or for the pleasure of killing in itself. She chooses very, very specific targets, who deserve everything they get. In fact have deserved it for a long time and many times over. And whom she knows no one else will ever call on their misdeeds. She gives herself up on that path. And probably dooms herself. And probably knows that too. But the little bit of justice which no one else can provide is worth it. For her.

Nothing else is left for her.

Hold GRRM responsible for that.

For me her path is a very interesting and twisted experiment by GRRM on what we call good and evil. On what we understand and don't. On what is moral and what isn't. On human behavior.

And on whether murder can be justified in extreme cases. Or not. What humanity is. What we want to be. Lots to think about.

[snip]

Exactly! Arya did not kill Dareon or Raff by accident, out of self-defence, the need to defend others, necessity, or compulsion. Her motives were purely selfish and purely internally generated: pursuing vengeance, justice, or her own empowerment. No negative consequences would have attached to the decision to leave them be, other than her personal feelings being offended. She did it for no other reason than to serve her personal reasons, which is no justification for any immoral act involving another human being, let alone murder.

[conon394]

@Newstar

She now evokes not Ned--who executed NW deserters but took no pleasure in it--nor even the Hound--who hunted Mycah down and killed him but did so on orders--but Stoneheart, who's determined to murder any and all Freys she can get her hands on in the name of vengeance, Ramsay, who poisoned Domeric for personal reasons, and Tyrion, who murdered Nurse even though he was already dying of the pale mare for no other reason than revenge, spite and getting the better of Nurse. Those people are her moral peers now, not Ned and not even the Hound: Stoneheart, Ramsay and Tyrion.

I would agree Ayra is no longer Ned's Girl in a way, but I think you are making false analogies. I am not sure anyone is comparable to the undead Stoneheart who is barely human and it seems doubtful she even has much of mind left. Ramsey is not fair because it is clear Arya does not look for any sustained period torture of her kills they are still motivated by vengeance, orders or necessity.

I would say you are wrong she so far remains the in effect the Hound's daughter. I agree she has abandoned the world of her father and she has little to no faith in family, or the nominal and abstract law of Westros or the honor of knights etc. But she is only 12 and no Syrio or Hound she cannot intimidate a grown man directly. She kills on orders like the hound, she kills for need like the hound (note do you doubt the Hound would not have killed or injured those he intimidated had his bluff failed?) or and she kills for revenge. That she uses guile is more or less a necessity, since she is 12 maybe 13 and a girl and holds no group of warriors under her command and can hardly expect to win a duel with Raff or get the citizens of Braavos to help her execute a self admitted deserter from the NW.

I would say the sample chapter puts her on a knifes edge if you will. She clearly enjoyed the kill and also has become desensitized to violence. The question is will she keep that only to her list or being older and more skilled will she act say to kill out of hand somebody like the horse trader who cheats her (or she feels is cheating her)? That really will drop her morally down the ladder, but at the same time she is what the world made her.

[Vegeta_Greyjoy]

I can definitely see her 'disappearing' for a spell, with Nymeria subconsciously attacking Freys and Boltons, only for her to have a big reveal a la Barristan & Varys. Speaking of Varys, I think she'll be the one to murder him in the end.

I don't see any satisfying Kill Bill revenge for her though. At least not anyone major like Cersei.

[You Lie]

I definitely do not think that Arya will kill Cersei, and I think that this theory by seemingly many here is one of the most far fetched on these forums. While it is possible it will be Arya, as she might take up the identity of a boy (she would need to, to fulfill the prophecy), I think it is highly doubtful and really would be the weakest of the directions I could see GRRM going with this.

Really, while it's not necessarily Cersei's little brother who will be the one to kill her, that really would be the most poetic of all possibilities right now. And given the direction Cersei and Jaime have gone in the story, it is not only likely I think that the obvious will be what happens in this particular case, but it will also be the most meaningful, interesting, and pack more oomph if Jaime is the one to kill Cersei. Arya killing Cersei would be somewhat satisfactory as a Stark definitely deserves her head, but it won't mean as much to the story as if Jaime does it.

I'd wager quite a lot that Jaime will indeed be the one to kill Cersei. And if not Jaime, it's going to be Sandor. But really, odds are high, for many reasons, it's going to be Jaime.

I would like to see Cercei get what she deserves regardless of who does the deed. One hint I would put my money on not being Jaime (or any conclusive interpretation from a simple translation of the word “valonqar”) is the fact that Maggy uses High Valyrian for just that word. For example, why doesn’t she use the same for when she tells Cercei that she will marry the king that is “…you will marry the dārys” (I think that’s “king” in High Valyrian)? If she was referring to Jaime, why not just say “little brother”? That puts me into thinking that there must be some background story for the valonqar and whoever that is. At least for the moment, Jaime’s story does not offer anything deeper to the word valonqar than just the fact that he is a (slightly) younger brother of Cerei. In contrary, if the valonqar is Arya (I am not saying she is), Maggy’s words could make more sense .To explain myself, it is plausible that Arya takes the face of someone that used to go by that nickname. And we know that bravosi are Valyrian descendants (and therefore the nickname in High Valyrian), so the valonqar might be someone who lived long time ago and also has a cool story behind him. That’s just a thought, I am not saying it’s definitely not Jaime.

On another note (irrelevant with the quoted comment), I get really upset when people call Arya a “monster”. Imo people who think that benefit in critical thinking the same when they read ASOIAF, as by reading “Rapunzel”. Let’s face it, if we all went through what Arya has, we would love to hit a button that would result into eliminating all the injustice in the world, even(?) if that would have meant killing torturers and rapers. It takes a combination of mental strength, physical abilities and dedication to achieve at least partial justice from her perspective and to compensate for some of the injustice she has experienced. And that’s what Arya does. I call that special, whether it agrees with someone’s morals or not.

[AmyLoveAryaSansa]

"You'll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers."

Oh, my Gosh! I've never thought about this one as her fate!!! heartbreaking!

Then following this logic, I'd say Arya will survive through Book 6, killing people for revenge, and then in the final book, a dream of spring, that's when spring comes, Jon will find her dead with Needle in her hand. How sad will Jon be!!!

[Darksnider05]

Oh, my Gosh! I've never thought about this one as her fate!!! heartbreaking!

Then following this logic, I'd say Arya will survive through Book 6, killing people for revenge, and then in the final book, a dream of spring, that's when spring comes, Jon will find her dead with Needle in her hand. How sad will Jon be!!!

It's not really if the theory that their about to head into a second Long Night is true as that lasted a full generation.

[Lord Of The Batch Kingdom]

I think it would be foolish to kill Arya off now, just as she as getting close to becoming a trained killer. She will either escape the FM or get sent on a contract for them in Westeros for someone "Arya" may not have killed, which could set up tension between her old self and the new predator she has become. I think an interesting and satisfying death for Arya would be that she at least takes out Ser Illyn, directly avenging her father's death. Then the FM send her old friend Jaqen to finish her off for her treason, which could set up a tragic death for Arya or Jaqen.

As far as her dying before she gets back to Westeros that would be a complete waste of an entire book spent in Braavos training.

If and when she does die, she will warg into Nymeria and lead the pack of wolves into the Twins and slaughter every Frey within. The ultimate "wolf" vengeance.

[Talking Hodor]

I don't see the FM killing her for such a petty reason as her seeking vengeance on those so very deserving of the gift of mercy. Everyone points to her killing Dareon as the reason they 'punished' her with blindness. They didn't punish her at all, the accelerated her training! They'll probably reward her for her brilliant kill. Arya's a survivor, like the cat in KL she could barely catch, most likely Rhaenys' pet kitten Balerion, and she'll do what it takes to keep surviving, with the FM's full blessing.

[AnotherCrannogman]

Arya will make it back to KL. Probably with the blessing of the FM. She will kill Cersei and likely many others.

[Daenor]

I don't see the FM killing her for such a petty reason as her seeking vengeance on those so very deserving of the gift of mercy. Everyone points to her killing Dareon as the reason they 'punished' her with blindness. They didn't punish her at all, the accelerated her training! They'll probably reward her for her brilliant kill. Arya's a survivor, like the cat in KL she could barely catch, most likely Rhaenys' pet kitten Balerion, and she'll do what it takes to keep surviving, with the FM's full blessing.

Killing her is too much indeed.But rewarding her again?In that case Arya could have kept murdering people and finish her training in a record time.So no, i don't think the murder will result to further speeding up her training.Most probale it's either she finds a way to convince them she didn't do something wrong or it's bye-bye from the FM for her.

[gandalf.ohwaitwrongseries]

I think people overly exaggerate FM's power and importance. It looks like a plain sect to me. I wouldn't be surprised if Arya ends up leaving the FM and killing a few of them on her way out.
The other option I see is the FM giving Arya their blessing to go back to KL (or, at least, kicking her out without trying to kill her). The FM killing Arya is pure nonsense. That would be like the Slavers killing Dany.

[DipMeInGoldAndCallMeAegor]

Someone is going to end up killing her. I just have a feeling. I feel that will be one of George's sucker punches in this book. Killing off a character that many people have hopes and hype for as to her actions, and having someone just kill her out of nowhere.

I don't really have any theories as of how, but I can see Mr. Martin doing that to add his sense of realism and what have you.

[Yojimbo]

I really have a feeling Arya will take her own life, not right away of course, mostly likely once her list is mostly cleared/finished. Because think about it, every person she kills/dies on that list is some one Arya wants dead, not the God of Many Faces. So in the process of "ticking" names of her list, she taking away apart of herself. Because what stopping Arya going completely faceless? Her need for justice and revenge, once Arya comes to the true understanding of how hollow justice/revenge is in a world where "all men must die", what use is there for justice and revenge aka what use is there for Arya?.

Take this for example, Arya gets back to Kings Landing and is dead set on taking out Cersei. Now am not in the camp of "OMG ARYA GOING TO BE A SUPER KICKASS NINJA!" but more in the lines of infiltrating her way into Cersei "domain", how is this done? Well you would have to be of importance to her or be a comman handmaid/servant. What would Arya observe about Cersei? Someone in dire need of some swift justice and needs to be killed? Or someone who seems to be doing a perfectly good job at doing that herself? (hence why that bastard Spider had to kill my 3rd favorite Lannister :frown5: ) Say she kills some one to take their face, (which from what I've read, all the faces at the temple are from people who go there to die, so taking a face of someone who did not give it "willingly" would be a sort of cardenal sin) like a innocent handmaid to allow herself to get close to Cersei, only to release's she took a innocent life in an pointless attempt of dishing out justice. Wouldn't that be world shuttering for a character (or any person really) to find out your ideals are worthless, that you in yourself are made worthless because you have got nothing else left in your life but your ideals? Not to mention having ideals for Starks, are more deadly than Dany Dragons :lol:

But of course this is just pure speculation on my part, but I really think there is not going to be a happy end for Arya. And I know I will sob like a baby for what ever may happen to her :crying:

[The Stags Man]

I really have a feeling Arya will take her own life, not right away of course, mostly likely once her list is mostly cleared/finished. Because think about it, every person she kills/dies on that list is some one Arya wants dead, not the God of Many Faces. So in the process of "ticking" names of her list, she taking away apart of herself. Because what stopping Arya going completely faceless? Her need for justice and revenge, once Arya comes to the true understanding of how hollow justice/revenge is in a world where "all men must die", what use is there for justice and revenge aka what use is there for Arya?.

Take this for example, Arya gets back to Kings Landing and is dead set on taking out Cersei. Now am not in the camp of "OMG ARYA GOING TO BE A SUPER KICKASS NINJA!" but more in the lines of infiltrating her way into Cersei "domain", how is this done? Well you would have to be of importance to her or be a comman handmaid/servant. What would Arya observe about Cersei? Someone in dire need of some swift justice and needs to be killed? Or someone who seems to be doing a perfectly good job at doing that herself? (hence why that bastard Spider had to kill my 3rd favorite Lannister :frown5: ) Say she kills some one to take their face, (which from what I've read, all the faces at the temple are from people who go there to die, so taking a face of someone who did not give it "willingly" would be a sort of cardenal sin) like a innocent handmaid to allow herself to get close to Cersei, only to release's she took a innocent life in an pointless attempt of dishing out justice. Wouldn't that be world shuttering for a character (or any person really) to find out your ideals are worthless, that you in yourself are made worthless because you have got nothing else left in your life but your ideals? Not to mention having ideals for Starks, are more deadly than Dany Dragons :lol:

But of course this is just pure speculation on my part, but I really think there is not going to be a happy end for Arya. And I know I will sob like a baby for what ever may happen to her :crying:

Take her own life? That's foolish, her entire story is about family and survival, plus she views killing yourself as being idiotic or craven. Arya is the type of character who makes friends wherever she goes and has a burning desire to correct injustices. Someone with such a strong would never willingly take their own life.

[Zacker]

I think people overly exaggerate FM's power and importance. It looks like a plain sect to me. I wouldn't be surprised if Arya ends up leaving the FM and killing a few of them on her way out.

The other option I see is the FM giving Arya their blessing to go back to KL (or, at least, kicking her out without trying to kill her). The FM killing Arya is pure nonsense. That would be like the Slavers killing Dany.

Not only that, those who think the FM strict adherance to their rules, that may partially have been imposed on them by us readers, are going to prove a near insurmountable obstacle are just setting themselves up for being surprised. Nothing's written in stone in ASOIAF.

Arya was never going to be a no-one-FM, not with that list of named enemies (which sets up her inner opposition to that particular FM rule right from the start) and not with her treasuring Needle the way she does. Not with her wolf dreams. Not only is she remaining herself, she still treasures the few links to her family, her old life, if you will. What would the point of her literary existense be otherwise. (Keep in mind that 'Mercy' originally came after the five year gap. If she didn't lose sight of herlsef and her present goals after all that time she won't do it now. And remember that seemingly half the characters in this series are carrying age old grudges around.)

I don't think she will persue her enemy list with much vigour unless an opportunity presents itself. She already gained the insight that focusing power (Jaquen's gifts) on minor things is a waste. So gone is the brownian motion of her old days. At some point Arya will attach herself to some goal. We may struggle to see what it is initially but I can't see how it could not be related to the Starks.

Arya's fate is adventure.

IMHO.

[Yojimbo]

Take her own life? That's foolish, her entire story is about family and survival, plus she views killing yourself as being idiotic or craven. Arya is the type of character who makes friends wherever she goes and has a burning desire to correct injustices. Someone with such a strong would never willingly take their own life.

Yes, Arya has these traits, ARYA. Really Arya's story been entirly about family? You mean the father who she knows is dead, her mother who she know is dead, Robb who she knows is dead,Bran and Rickon who she thinks are dead, Sansa who apart from Little Finger knows she alive and her location and Jon who at the end of the book may or may not be dead, yep I sure can see a happy family reunion happening......................if you mean by finding her place, well the House of Many Faces seems to be only place who has truely ever accepted her and taken her in, since she has lost her family.

Survival? What is she surviving for at the moment if not for revenge. Sure Arya is the type of character who makes friends where ever she goes, when was the last time she made friends as Arya Stark though? She made friends as Salty, she made friends as Cat, she made friends as Beth and now we know she made friends as Mercy, when was the last time Arya made friends? O that right, all Arya cares about is geting revenge. It been her "other faces" she made friends with since she got to Bravos, not ARYA. What happens when Arya releases that Arya's face has become useless because revenge in itself has become useless?

[Daenor]

What happens when Arya releases that Arya's face has become useless because revenge in itself has become useless?

Nothing.Arya's face won't become useless.He may be killed at some point so that Martin can enjoy seeing a hell lot of people getting sad,truth.But the idea of suicide is out of question.By the way Arya is still in Bravos and by the time she gets back to Westeros her younger brother may have been back from Skaagos,Bran could start "contacting" her through improved greenseer powers and Sansa may have appeared in a wedding with a cloak with the sigil of the wolf on it,claiming the North.Arya assumes her family is dead but they are not and sooner or later she'll find out.That of course doesnt' necessarily mean her story will end with a "she lived happily ever after".