Bad writing or fake arya?{spoilers}

[A Time for Starks]

11 minutes ago, CJDTrismegistus said:

OK, so for arguments sake let’s say it is the same face - What does that say about her story?  What does it matter?  Does it support the Arya Durden theory?  I don’t think so.

My thought is that the writers wanted a big shock this episode and that Arya will magically heal herself with some TCP and will be back fit and healthy to parkour her way through Braavos next episode!

I do think they'll get that big shock next episode with the Arya = Waif reveal.

The reason it's important and supports the theory is because the waif was not present when Arya took a long look at the old lady's face.  If the waif is truly a different person, what are the chances that the waif would pick the same face that Arya was so focused on?  I think the reason that particular face made it's appearance during the supposed attack was because it was imprinted on her subconscious after that long look.

 

[Cas Stark]

The show doesn't work like that.  Arya has not been hallucinating her fights with the waif.  All you have to do, if you can't grasp this from the show itself, is read the interviews from the actors.

The audience would be like WTF? It would be totally absurd and out of sync with the rest of the show's typical style.

[CJDTrismegistus]

8 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

The show doesn't work like that.  Arya has not been hallucinating her fights with the waif.  All you have to do, if you can't grasp this from the show itself, is read the interviews from the actors.

The audience would be like WTF? It would be totally absurd and out of sync with the rest of the show's typical style.

Exactly - It's just a big WTF moment!

Bad writing!

[Cas Stark]

LOL, like a lot of the show now, whatever the outcome is, it will be bad writing and unbelievable plot occurrences.  
 

But, most likely is that Arya was attempting to fake her own death with the help of the actress, and she will still have a final meeting with Jaqen II, and possibly a final showdown where she kills Bobcut, or Jaqen will kill Bobcut.  And then she sails for Westeros.

 

[Sansa's Hairnet]

I don't think it's the same old woman's face either. The nose is completely different. One is straight, the other is hooked. There are other differences too, but the nose is the most obvious.

I hate the Fight Club scenario so much. It is NOT clever as someone upthread said, it is "been there, done that" and lame. I think I'd rather Arya actually got stabbed than have that turn out to be the explanation.

ShadowKitteh's idea of Arya wearing 2 faces -- the old woman and the Waif's -- and the Waif wearing Arya's makes more sense, IMO. The Waif wears Arya's face and strolls around Braavos to try to draw the real Arya out. She doesn't expect Arya to be disguised with another face too, so when the old woman approaches, she looks at her in a friendly way because she thinks it really is an old woman. Arya pulls off the old woman's face and reveals the Waif's to sort of taunt her -- "see, not only did I get you, but I got you using your own trick."

That sounds kinda crazy too, but all of these theories sound pretty crazy.  

[CJDTrismegistus]

Just for arguments sake, here's how I think this will play out -

Arya heals herself somehow (TCP, Blood Magic, Off Screen Unexplained etc.), hunts down the Waif and kills her with a broomstick(Man Bites Dog style), cuts off her face and returns to the Temple of Black and White as the Waif and kills Jaqen, therefore ending her association with the FM.

Job done!  

[A Time for Starks]

9 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

The show doesn't work like that.  Arya has not been hallucinating her fights with the waif.  All you have to do, if you can't grasp this from the show itself, is read the interviews from the actors.

I don't know about the idea of relying on what will happen in the show based on interviews with the actors.  cough... Jon Snow... cough 

[CJDTrismegistus]

The other thing that springs to mind is - will Arya be able to skinchange as a result of her near death experience?

Cue Batman Returns Catwoman resurrection scene - Arya collapses in an alley and hundreds of cats lick her back to life!

[throney]

5 minutes ago, CJDTrismegistus said:

The other thing that springs to mind is - will Arya be able to skinchange as a result of her near death experience?

Cue Batman Returns Catwoman resurrection scene - Arya collapses in an alley and hundreds of cats lick her back to life!

Cat of the Canals!

[CJDTrismegistus]

19 minutes ago, throney said:

Cat of the Canals!

I really hope they get Arya skinchanging!  It would actually add some character development to her storyline......plus it would be really cool!

[A Time for Starks]

2 hours ago, Stoned_Heart said:

So Arya = Tyler Durden?

I do love the theory as it would represent her inner struggle.

Thanks!  I was a bit skeptical at first, but I think it's the only theory that makes sense.  I guess we'll find out Sunday

[Johan Persson]

I'd prefer the fArya theory to all the others and that ultimately they (FM) will give Arya the choice to kill the Waif (which she refuses, not giving in to revenge) proving herself the more suited of the two. Jaquen II certainly seems to have a connection to Arya that he doesn't with the Waif and this isn't the books so perhaps FM aren't all non-feeling robo-assassins but have to learn to control their personal desires in the face of their duty.

[Cas Stark]

Well, Book Jaqen, seems an outlier for the FM, we don't really understand exactly what drew him to Arya, if it was a personal feeling, if he really just thought, hey, this 10 year old girl will make a kick ass assassin, or if there is something else going on.  When he tells her she can basically kill everyone on her list...this is already against their credo of impersonalized killing.

 

[CJDTrismegistus]

Just now, Cas Stark said:

Well, Book Jaqen, seems an outlier for the FM, we don't really understand exactly what drew him to Arya, if it was a personal feeling, if he really just thought, hey, this 10 year old girl will make a kick ass assassin, or if there is something else going on.  When he tells her she can basically kill everyone on her list...this is already against their credo of impersonalized killing.

 

Totally!  Always confused me that bit.

Kind of weird in the book how Arya seems to fail every test and gets promoted each time!?

[umuckurlife]

I was thinking (and I didn't read all of the comments here), that perhaps Arya jumps into the jealous actress's skin and puts on an arya face.  Then the waif stabs the Arya-faced jealous actress.  Arya jumps out of the actress's skin and actress is confused as she walks down the street.  Now the Waif thinks she killed Arya, but Arya is about to get the Waif.

Problems with this theory:

1. No setup for Arya warging or skin changing

2. No setup for Arya knowing how to glamour (since her face is still intact on her real body).

 

[CJDTrismegistus]

2 minutes ago, umuckurlife said:

I was thinking (and I didn't read all of the comments here), that perhaps Arya jumps into the jealous actress's skin and puts on an arya face.  Then the waif stabs the Arya-faced jealous actress.  Arya jumps out of the actress's skin and actress is confused as she walks down the street.  Now the Waif thinks she killed Arya, but Arya is about to get the Waif.

Problems with this theory:

1. No setup for Arya warging or skin changing

2. No setup for Arya knowing how to glamour (since her face is still intact on her real body).

 

This is better than the Arya Durden theory though!

[Cas Stark]

3 minutes ago, CJDTrismegistus said:

Totally!  Always confused me that bit.

Kind of weird in the book how Arya seems to fail every test and gets promoted each time!?

Yeah, this is a dangling contradiction I hope the author explains down the road.

But, Arya doesn't really fail at her training.  Book Arya learns everything they teach her, mixing poisons, she learns the other languages, she learns how to lie, she learns how to control her face, she actually excels at everything except the secret sauce of being no one and giving up her personal agenda.  And here, she repeatedly fails.  She keeps needle.  She kills the NW guy.  She kills whats his name in Mercy.  

We can't really tell if the FM see her "gifts" and are hoping she will eventually become No One, or what their full agenda might be.

[CJDTrismegistus]

2 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Yeah, this is a dangling contradiction I hope the author explains down the road.

But, Arya doesn't really fail at her training.  Book Arya learns everything they teach her, mixing poisons, she learns the other languages, she learns how to lie, she learns how to control her face, she actually excels at everything except the secret sauce of being no one and giving up her personal agenda.  And here, she repeatedly fails.  She keeps needle.  She kills the NW guy.  She kills whats his name in Mercy.  

We can't really tell if the FM see her "gifts" and are hoping she will eventually become No One, or what their full agenda might be.

True.  But you get the impression that they are being a little bit leniant with her!  Possibly due to the fact that they seen her potential either in real time or in the flames/glass candle etc.

[TickTak7]

16 hours ago, ShadowKitteh said:

Yes we do. Did you miss the Meryn Trant stab-fest?

She even improves in her fighting skills while blind.

I feel like I'm watching a different show than some people.

She butchered Meryn Trant. She didn't need training for that. 

Did she improve her fighting skills? She got beat up by the Waif in that entire montage and then managed to block one attack. 

[TickTak7]

The only theory that is somewhat plausible here, is that Arya is drawing the Waif into that dark room where she blew out the candle. 

She's richly dressed, walks around very posh, talks openly about Westeros, throws silver around - all things designed to create attention. 

Then, she retreats to a quiet little bridge with no witnesses & an easy escape route - an inviting place for someone like the Waif to attack her, which happens. 

She's stabbed, gets out of the water, and knowing that The Waif needs to confirm the kill (and presumably bring her face back to the FM), leaves a blood trail across the city, back to that dark underground room she was in at the end of last episode. 

The Waif, expecting a weak and wounded girl will follow the trail, seeing Arya has set it all up, killing The Waif. 

As for the blood / was she stabbed ? I just wonder whether Lady Crane is involved here in some way; is it at all possible that Arya went to Lady Crane to learn how to fake a wound or blood etc? 

That's what I'm going for, as it's the only thing that remotely makes sense.

It doesn't explain why Arya just didn't hunt down the Waif on her own, why Arya was so sure the Waif would stab her instead of slit her throat, why the Waif is so vengeful against Arya, or just what the eff the point of this entire pathetic Faceless Men arc is. 

But it's better than nothing. 

There's no way they get out from underneath this Faceless Men arc without their awful writing just weighing down any attempted pay off.