Maisie Williams: S7 scripts made me read & RE-READ everything!

[Queen of Procrastination]

6 hours ago, Cron said:

Regarding "They basically said that Sansa felt that she wasn't appreciated enough and that she felt that Jon didn't give her the credit she deserves. Similar statements were made by Sophie Turner at Comic Con,"

I fully understand that you are not saying this is your explanation, but rather, your understanding of THEIR explanation, but in my opinion these "explanations" are totally unsatisfactory..

She "didn't feel appreicated enough" and "felt that Jon didn't give her the credit she deserves"...uhhhh...appreciated for what?  Credit for what??  She hadn't done anyhing HELPFUL yet!

I'm assuming these are references to the "war council" meeting with Jon, Sansa, Tormund and Davos, and the conversation Jon and Sansa had afterwards.  To my memory, Sansa offered virtually nothing of any practical value whatsoever.  As I recall, Sansa was complaining that no one was listening to her, so Jon gave her a chance to speak, and what she said was essentially useless.  In fact, she contradicted things she had just said a few episodes earlier (after imploring Jon to retake Winterfell b/c the Boltons had Rickon, Sansa THEN basically told Jon to forget Rickon, there's nothing they can do to save him and Jon should just accept the fact that he's as good as dead.  What??), and then gave Jon nothing useful.  As I recall Jon asked her what she thought he should do, she basically told him she didn't know, and then told him something EVERYBODY knows, which was that Ramsay Bolton was really, really dangerous.  Yeah, no kidding.  I noticed that, too.

Weak, weak, weak.

But ahhhh, whatever ever.  I continue to watch cuz the good still outweighs the bad in my mind (largely b/c I have an intense focus on positivity, I believe), and I strongly suspect that will continue to be true as long as they continue making HBO shows set on Planetos.. 

Yes, I agree with the things you wrote and I was equally upset when I first heard these things. They've completely ingnored the fact that they've portrayed Sansa as someone who has no problem with risking the lifes of 2000 people including one of her last surving family members and then thinks that she should be congratulated for this action. It's just a weak explanation and the truth is that she didn't tell becausese they needed the KoTV to play riders of Rohan and have a cool looking entrance on TV. 

5 hours ago, Cron said:

Let's see...arguably Tyrion surviving the two battles in which he fought in hand to hand combat qualify as pretty extreme plot armor, but I have NO reason to believe that even there Tyrion faced a full cavalry charge alone on foot!!  My friend, the odds of Jon Snow surviving that would have been infinitesimal even if he had been facing down stampeding cattle (it is overwhelmingly likely he would have been trampled to death almost instantly, no question), much less war horses with armored soldiers on them wielding weapons and actively trying to kill him.

And the cavalry charge was just the first few minutes (maybe less) of the battle!  Jon survives encounter after encounter, no one beats him OR stabs him when he's fighting someone else, and he is THEN in such a pressed mob of warriors that he has to strain to squeeze through them...and nobody harms him!  AT ALL!!  I'm guessing that in a mob like that, swords would be dropped (no room to wield them), knives would be out, and it would be total butchering mayhem.   But Jon's fine. Totally unhurt. 

Who else (besides Arya, as I mentioned, and that's just in the show) has faced such "odds" and survived?

Hmm.

Hmmmmmm.

I'm drawing a blank.

Can you give examples?  

Cuz I've read all books twice and seen every show episode probably an average of at least 4 or 5 times, and I'm still drawing a blank.

I agree and I've also read the books twice (gonna do my third re-read soon) and I can't come up with any examples either. On top of these things Jon never gets hit by any arrows, despite the fact that the they've shot hunreds of arrows at him while he is riding for the Bolton soldiers alone, but they've only hit Rickon's dead body and Jon's horse. 

5 hours ago, Cron said:

Can an argument be made that other characters have had some plot armor at other times in the books and show?  Sure, but I can't think of anything else remotely close to Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards and Arya surviving her stabbing and fight with the Waif (regarding the latter, I'm hoping that next season it is going to be revealed that Lady Cran had magic healing abilities or potions or whatever, but if it's left the way it is I have to judge it "off the charts unlikely."  Sincere question:  Do you realize how BAD it is for a human being to be stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen like Arya was??  It's BAD, cuz there's so much packed in so tightly there, even a SINGLE stab wound can wreak havoc, puncture mutliple internal organs and shred intestines that are packed in there like a nest of snakes.  Multiple stab wounds??? Wow.  And THEN, shortly thereafter, she gets up, runs through the streets of Braavos, and fights and defeats the Waif, cuts off her face, takes it back to House of Black and White, confronts Jaqen (even having the nerve to point her sword at him, if I recall correctly), and is standing there, smiling, JUST FINE, then she strolls out and heads for Westeros.  Again, WOW.)

 

Agreed. Arya running parcours after she has been stabbed repeatedly doesn't make sense based on our world's standards, but it doesn't make sense within the rules of the show-universe either, because the show has previously established that stabbings in the stomach either kill the person or that he/she is at least bed-riden for quite some time and can't run around directly afterwards. 

In Season 1 Robert Baratheon got hit by boar and the antler apparently hit him in the stomach, so he died a few days or hours later. He even had a maester to take care of his wounds someone who's most likely better trained than Lady Crane. 

In Season 3 Talisa got stabbed into the stomach repeatedly and died directly. 

In Season 5 Jon got stabbed into the stomach repeatedly and died because of that.

In Season 6 Roose Bolton and Doran Martell got stabbed into the stomach and died. 

So, the show has previously established within its own universe that a knife into the stomach kills you. Maybe someone could survive if he/she gets treatment by a maester directley  after the stabbing (because Robert didn't get it directly after the antler hit him, they needed to transport him to the Red Keep first), but in Arya's case she first had to swim through Bravos, then she had to reach Lady Crane and then Lady Crane had to take her to her apartment. 

 

[Ashes Of Westeros]

1 hour ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

I agree and I've also read the books twice (gonna do my third re-read soon) and I can't come up with any examples either. On top of these things Jon never gets hit by any arrows, despite the fact that the they've shot hunreds of arrows at him while he is riding for the Bolton soldiers alone, but they've only hit Rickon's dead body and Jon's horse.

Actually Ramsay could shot Jon with an arrow instead of Rickon. And the battle would be over before it started.

1 hour ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

So, the show has previously established within its own universe that a knife into the stomach kills you. Maybe someone could survive if he/she gets treatment by a maester directley  after the stabbing (because Robert didn't get it directly after the antler hit him, they needed to transport him to the Red Keep first), but in Arya's case she first had to swim through Bravos, than she had to reach Lady Crane and than Lady Crane had to take her to her apartment. 

Agree. If I watch an action movie from 90s I'm totally fine with a pratagonist walking safe out of explosion, because it's the movie-universe. But in GoT universe wounds are taken seriously, a person can die or be bed-ridden for a long time.  Until the last moment I was waiting that it would Jaqen who got stabbed not Arya or that Lady Crane was some sort of red priestess in disguise. But nope.

[MoreOrLess]

1 hour ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

In Season 1 Robert Baratheon got hit by boar and the antler apparently hit him in the stomach, so he died a few days or hours later. He even had a maester to take care of his wounds someone who's most likely better trained than Lady Crane. 

In Season 3 Talisa got stabbed into the stomach repeatedly and died directly. 

In Season 5 Jon got stabbed into the stomach repeatedly and died because of that.

In Season 6 Roose Bolton and Doran Martell got stabbed into the stomach and died. 

Jon, Roose, Doran and indeed Robb all got stabbed though the heart which is obviously almost certain to be fatal very quickly, Talsia got stabbed a great deal(at least 4-5 times but likely more as it cuts to Rob) plus Robert was I'd imagine several days from help?

Even beyond being stabbed in the heart your obviously dealing with potentially different injuries, different health of those injuried and infection which I'd imagine is likely to be worse from a blunt bore tusk or stag antler pushing your clothing into the wound than a sharp knife.

 

[Philokles]

3 hours ago, MoreOrLess said:

Jon, Roose, Doran and indeed Robb all got stabbed though the heart which is obviously almost certain to be fatal very quickly, Talsia got stabbed a great deal(at least 4-5 times but likely more as it cuts to Rob) plus Robert was I'd imagine several days from help?

Even beyond being stabbed in the heart your obviously dealing with potentially different injuries, different health of those injuried and infection which I'd imagine is likely to be worse from a blunt bore tusk or stag antler pushing your clothing into the wound than a sharp knife.

 

Good job Arya didn't jump into a dirty canal if she was trying to avoid infection.

[Meera of Tarth]

4 hours ago, MoreOrLess said:

Jon, Roose, Doran and indeed Robb all got stabbed though the heart which is obviously almost certain to be fatal very quickly, Talsia got stabbed a great deal(at least 4-5 times but likely more as it cuts to Rob) plus Robert was I'd imagine several days from help?

Even beyond being stabbed in the heart your obviously dealing with potentially different injuries, different health of those injuried and infection which I'd imagine is likely to be worse from a blunt bore tusk or stag antler pushing your clothing into the wound than a sharp knife.

 

That doesn't justify Arya running and parkouring after that. If Lady Crane gave her something magical (which could be since magic exists in Essos and Westeros) we were not told that. The waif actually twists the knife very deeply.....(and that was for shock value). But sleeping heals her to the point she can run, run and jump. And then returns to Westeros and she is in perfect conditions.

Many many scenes would be justifiable if they didn't exaggerate the consequences. But they do: Arya being stabbed deeply, Frey Pies scene...

[MoreOrLess]

1 hour ago, Horse of Kent said:

Good job Arya didn't jump into a dirty canal if she was trying to avoid infection.

You would be taking a risk there but still less that than being stabbed by the blunt horn/tusk of an animal that's nearly certainly to push clothing/dirt into the wound.

Granted I would say that Ayra's wound is certainly pushing plotting convenience somewhat but I think leaves itself enough leeway not to be too distracting, especially as they show it does open again.

[Cron]

8 hours ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

Yes, I agree with the things you wrote and I was equally upset when I first heard these things. They've completely ingnored the fact that they've portrayed Sansa as someone who has no problem with risking the lifes of 2000 people including one of her last surving family members and then thinks that she should be congratulated for this action. It's just a weak explanation and the truth is that she didn't tell becausese they needed the KoTV to play riders of Rohan and have a cool looking entrance on TV. 

Yeah.  I don't think the showrunners are bad guys (not that you said they were), and in fact they've done a LOT of great things over 6 seasons, but they just don't value or prioritize things in the same way as GRRM.  I believe GRRM carefully crafts the story so there is internal consistency and logic (taking years to do it, as I mentioned), but the showrunners' main concern seems to be "How can we meet deadlines and make "good" t.v. which is suspenseful, dramatic and shocking."

I always try to remind myself, though, that they HAVE done a lot right, and to me GOT is the best t.v. show ever.  My understanding is that the show was the brainchild of D&D, and I am grateful to them for that (without them, there are many awesome scenes we would never have had, and you and I would not be having this conversation right now, cuz I wouldn't be here.  I like the books over the show, BUT, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the show.)

8 hours ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

I agree and I've also read the books twice (gonna do my third re-read soon) and I can't come up with any examples either. On top of these things Jon never gets hit by any arrows, despite the fact that the they've shot hunreds of arrows at him while he is riding for the Bolton soldiers alone, but they've only hit Rickon's dead body and Jon's horse. 

Ah, yes.  The arrows. Thanks for reminding me, I neglected to mention them.  HAR!!

8 hours ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

Agreed. Arya running parcours after she has been stabbed repeatedly doesn't make sense based on our world's standards, but it doesn't make sense within the rules of the show-universe either, because the show has previously established that stabbings in the stomach either kill the person or that he/she is at least bed-riden for quite some time and can't run around directly afterwards. 

In Season 1 Robert Baratheon got hit by boar and the antler apparently hit him in the stomach, so he died a few days or hours later. He even had a maester to take care of his wounds someone who's most likely better trained than Lady Crane. 

In Season 3 Talisa got stabbed into the stomach repeatedly and died directly. 

In Season 5 Jon got stabbed into the stomach repeatedly and died because of that.

In Season 6 Roose Bolton and Doran Martell got stabbed into the stomach and died. 

So, the show has previously established within its own universe that a knife into the stomach kills you. Maybe someone could survive if he/she gets treatment by a maester directley  after the stabbing (because Robert didn't get it directly after the antler hit him, they needed to transport him to the Red Keep first), but in Arya's case she first had to swim through Bravos, then she had to reach Lady Crane and then Lady Crane had to take her to her apartment. 

 

Excellent points.  I had a similar notion about other characters who had died from similar wounds, but you really laid them out.  I think we can also add Tywin to the list.

I'm still hoping they're gonna reveal that Lady Crane had some sort of healing magic.   We'll see.

[Queen of Procrastination]

2 hours ago, Cron said:

Yeah.  I don't think the showrunners are bad guys (not that you said they were), and in fact they've done a LOT of great things over 6 seasons, but they just don't value or prioritize things in the same way as GRRM.  I believe GRRM carefully crafts the story so there is internal consistency and logic (taking years to do it, as I mentioned), but the showrunners' main concern seems to be "How can we meet deadlines and make "good" t.v. which is suspenseful, dramatic and shocking."

I always try to remind myself, though, that they HAVE done a lot right, and to me GOT is the best t.v. show ever.  My understanding is that the show was the brainchild of D&D, and I am grateful to them for that (without them, there are many awesome scenes we would never have had, and you and I would not be having this conversation right now, cuz I wouldn't be here.  I like the books over the show, BUT, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the show.)

 

I don't think they are bad guys either. The way they behave in interviews they come off as a bit unsympathetic and a bit arrogant to me, but I've never met them in person so I can't really judge them. People behave different in interviews than they do normally. I really don't like it when some people refer to them as "dumb and dumber". I find that unfair and insulting. I acknowledge that they are under much tighter constraints than GRRM is and it is obivous that they cannot be as good as GRRM is when they have these constraints. However, some of the illogical stuff during this season is extremely obvious. I watched quite a few reaction videos were many people found the whole Arya thing illogical, same applies for Sansa and the Vale army. There are several writers on the show and I'm just surprised that none of them said "guys, this is illogical maybe we can find a better solution" or maybe someone did, but they just decided that epic moments were more important than good written moments

I'm also grateful for the fact that they've made the show. The show got me into the books and I really loved the first four seasons (after season 4 GoT was still my favourite TV show). However, despite the fact that I loved the first four seasons, I believe that there are a  couple of things which they did wrong in these seasons (the Jaime/ Cersei sept scene or the way in which Jon's, Dany's and Robb's storylines were handled in Season 2 for example and all the unnecessary nudity). Despite this I think that the first four seasons had more good than bad things. I also think that there are some things which they did right during the last two seasons, but for me they did more things wrong than right and therefore my opinion about the show has changed. I think season 6 did great in terms of production and special effects, costumes, acting and music, but they really performed poorly in terms of writing. For me the writing is just more important than all these other aspects combined, because it forms the heart and the soul of a story, but we all value things differently. 

 

[Queen of Procrastination]

Going back to the original topic I just saw on Reddit that two new articles with infos about season 7 have been released and maybe some of you will find this interesting:

 

 

http://winteriscoming.net/2016/10/13/ruins-italica-close-soon-game-thrones-season-7-filming/ 

 

 

http://winteriscoming.net/2016/10/14/ben-crompton-dolorous-edd-teases-surprises-game-thrones-season-7/ 

Just hope the spoiler tags worked 

 

[Queen of Procrastination]

 

Brienne and Davos could have an intersting dynamic. They are similar in some ways, both are morally good and honourable charactes, but Brienne killed Stannis, so it could be problematic. I just hope they are going to address this issue. I guess Davos will inform Dany & co. about the White Walkers. He's also a good choice for an ambassador to talk to Danaerys and Tyrion. Not sure why they would send Brienne away though. I think she would do better as Sansa's bodyguard than as someone to negotiate with Dany. If Podrick goes with her we might get a Podrick/ Tyrion re-union though, that could be nice 

 

The fact that they are filming in the Dragonpit also shows that Daenerys will conquer KL. If the pit still exists then Cersei hasn't managed to blow up all of KL.

 

A meeting between Tyrion and Davos sounds nice. I just hope they address the battle of Blackwater. Does Davos know that Tyrion was the one in charge of the defence of KL when Stannis attacked and that Tyrion ordered the entire wildfire thing?

[Evarei]

Another spoilery tidbit about s7

Spoiler

According to another reliable source, L7R, one of the Greyjoys will head North and meet Jon. It's not specified which one.

 

[Queen of Procrastination]

Can you link the article? These are the two people Dany should 

not send north. I doubt they are very popular in this area

[Evarei]

 

Spoiler

 

http://watchersonthewall.com/dolorous-edd-speaks-plus-house-stark-spoilers-season-7/#more-73610

Ok, so it's Theon who will reunite with Jon and it won't happen in the North but somewhere South.

 

 

[Queen of Procrastination]

5 minutes ago, Evarei said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

http://watchersonthewall.com/dolorous-edd-speaks-plus-house-stark-spoilers-season-7/#more-73610

Ok, so it's Theon who will reunite with Jon and it won't happen in the North but somewhere South.

 

 

Well that meeting could be interesting. Theon saved Sansa, but he also betrayed Robb and sacked Winterfell, so I doubt Jon will be very friendly to him. To put it mildly.[/spoilers]

 

[Evarei]

Spoiler

 

Theon betrayed Robb, seized Winterfell, but he didn't kill Bran and Rickon, helped Sansa escape and protected her with his life. Jon won't be high-fiving him but he won't harm him. At first, he may confront him, then tolerate him begrudgingly, then their relations may get better when they go through shit together and have some time to work out their issues.

I think Jon may want to head to Dragonstone to retrieve Dragonglass. Or to Riverlands to unite it with the North.

 

 

[Cron]

7 hours ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

I don't think they are bad guys either. The way they behave in interviews they come off as a bit unsympathetic and a bit arrogant to me, but I've never met them in person so I can't really judge them. People behave different in interviews than they do normally. I really don't like it when some people refer to them as "dumb and dumber". I find that unfair and insulting. I acknowledge that they are under much tighter constraints than GRRM is and it is obivous that they cannot be as good as GRRM is when they have these constraints. However, some of the illogical stuff during this season is extremely obvious. I watched quite a few reaction videos were many people found the whole Arya thing illogical, same applies for Sansa and the Vale army. There are several writers on the show and I'm just surprised that none of them said "guys, this is illogical maybe we can find a better solution" or maybe someone did, but they just decided that epic moments were more important than good written moments

Keeping my fingers crossed the Arya thing will be explained by "Lady Crane's Magic Heaing Potions."  It would be SO easy for them to throw us a bone in this regard.  Surely, by now, they MUST realize how implausible it was...it would be SO easy to just give us an explanation to make the whole thing at least palatable.

7 hours ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

I'm also grateful for the fact that they've made the show. The show got me into the books and I really loved the first four seasons (after season 4 GoT was still my favourite TV show). However, despite the fact that I loved the first four seasons, I believe that there are a  couple of things which they did wrong in these seasons (the Jaime/ Cersei sept scene or the way in which Jon's, Dany's and Robb's storylines were handled in Season 2 for example and all the unnecessary nudity). Despite this I think that the first four seasons had more good than bad things. I also think that there are some things which they did right during the last two seasons, but for me they did more things wrong than right and therefore my opinion about the show has changed. I think season 6 did great in terms of production and special effects, costumes, acting and music, but they really performed poorly in terms of writing. For me the writing is just more important than all these other aspects combined, because it forms the heart and the soul of a story, but we all value things differently. 

 

Yeah, I hear you, much as I love the show, I can find something to nitpick in every season, too.

I like Jaime a lot (book and show), but they did two things in the show which appalled me. 

The first was when he killed his cousin in the holding pen in order to attempt escape (I maintain Book-jaime would NEVER have done that, even if it was his only possible way of escaping, which it wasn't.)

The second was that scene you refer to (I believe) with Jaime and Cersei.  When I first saw that I was absolutely flabbergasted.  Even though I know they claim it was NOT a rape scene, that REALLY looked like a rape scene to me, and (a) it DIDN'T happen that way in the books, and (b) Jaime would NEVER rape anybody, in my opinion, most definitely including Cersei (My memory is that they claimed that if you watch Cersei's hand or arm or leg or something near the end, the movement is intended to convey that she consented, but...in my view, that is, at best, very, very weak.  I needed to see something a LOT more obvious and convincing than that.  Better yet, re-film the whole scene, just as it is in the books.)

[Queen of Procrastination]

Book! Jaime is one of my favorite characters, but I don't really like Show!Jaime. That's not really Nicolai Coster-Waldaus fault he does a good job, most of the time and I was really dispointed when he didn't get an Emmy nomination in Season 3. 

I don't think Jaime would have kille his cousin either and I agree that he would never rape anyone. There are several scenes where he was disgusted by violence towards women in the books and he has a more progressive view on women than many other male characters in the series. 

One other thing I didn't like about the show version of Jaime is that he didn't break with Cersei during the last two seasons. Maybe he did it in Episode 10 of Season 6, but that was too late and they cut a lot of his personal development. In Season 5 and in Season 6 he leaves KL and spends some time away from Cersei, but he still remains loyal to her and she is still the only woman in the world for him, while he becomes disgusted by her behaviour in AFFC. It feels like he is still very similar to his season 1 personality in the show, while his book character has developed a lot.

Apart from the fact that I believe that Book! Jaime would never rape anyone I had two other problems with the sept scene.

First of all, the fact that they didn't realise that most people would view this scene as rape. If you read reviews or read Facebook commentaries you'll see that most people view that scene as rape. I watched this scene with several other people  and we all regarded it as rape. Now there are a many people involved in the production of the series and I'm just surpised that apparently no one realised that this scene could be viewed as rape. I'm not sure how TV production works, but I assume there are some people who view the episode before it airs and they should have seen this. Especially because rape is a very sensitive topic. I just have a hard time understanding that no one on the show realised that it looked like a rape scene, but well apparentlyy no one realised it or they all acted negligently, so the  episode aired.

No my other problem with the scene is linked to the behaviour of the writers and the director. For quite some time they refused to comment on the scene or only gave very vague answers, despite the fact that it was all over the media an that they received a lot of criticism for it. As season 4 progressed no one really commented on it or addressed the criticism. After some time the actors and the director spoke about it, but the writers still remained silent. The first time they answered a question about that scene was at the Oxford Union panel nearly one year after the episode had aired. I don't know if you've watched the video of the panel, basically someone asked the showrunners about the scene and reffered to it as rape, but the showrunners gave some really vague answers and kind of tried to talk around it. I think the controversy surrounding that scene would not have been as big as it was, if the writers and the director had responded to the criticism in a better way. Instead of refusing to talk about it or trying to defend the scene they should have said something along the lines of "we never intended it to be a rape scene, but we have re-watched the scene and realised that it looks like one. We've made a mistake and we realise it. Rape is a very senstive topic which should not be treated lightly and we will deal in a better way with it in the future." If they had done this the criticism might not have been as harsh as it was. It's still baffling that everyone misjudged the scene, but it would have been better if they had acknowledged their mistake. 

[Queen of Procrastination]

15 hours ago, Evarei said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Theon betrayed Robb, seized Winterfell, but he didn't kill Bran and Rickon, helped Sansa escape and protected her with his life. Jon won't be high-fiving him but he won't harm him. At first, he may confront him, then tolerate him begrudgingly, then their relations may get better when they go through shit together and have some time to work out their issues.

I think Jon may want to head to Dragonstone to retrieve Dragonglass. Or to Riverlands to unite it with the North.

 

 

I agree that Jon won't harm him. Apart from the things you mentioned, Theon will most likely be send as an envoy from Dany and harming an envoy is a bad way to start negotiations, but I expect Jon to still be angry at Theon for sacking Winterfell

[WolfQueenArya]

I've been away for awhile but I'm back now. There's been so much season 7 news!!! Maisie's tweets a couple months back, Emmy interviews, and now filming spoilers/speculations! I saw Maisie in the northern costume on the same day as practically everyone else that's involved with the North storyline (except Sansa) and I really hope she does in deed make it to Winterfell in the first couple of episodes. The reunion with Jon better be the most emotional scene of the series yet...and Nymeria too. That has to happen. But will she be running into the Hound and the Brotherhood? Melisandre? I know they added in season 3 that the two would meet again so for continuity that should happen somehow too. Maybe she'll tell Arya about Jon.

I don't think Arya will be going South. So many fans think she's all about killing, killing, revenge, revenge - sure that's part of her and her story but that's not the main theme of her character/journey: it's idenity. She's a Stark. She's been trying to get to Jon/Home this whole time while learning the  sword, "assassin" skills, leadership skills even... With Maisie having re read everything I really expect there to be some major twist that she didn't see coming, but maybe we, the fans, do. I wonder if aspects of the original outline are still in the end game - I know George has said many times that he knows the major characters endings and that it's the same ending since the beginning - which means the Jon/Arya romance perhaps? Or maybe Arya will lead her own army/rule the north? Or it could honestly be something completely unexpected that we book readers couldn't even guess. You can't really predict the actual outcome of Arya's storyline sadly, but that's the fun!

As for deaths, based off Emmy interviews... I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Sansa lives or dies. It feels like her story is pretty much done, unless, of course, she's important with Dany for some reason. I can't picture them in a scene together but that may happen. Anyways... sorry for the ramble like post. Too many thoughts in my head.

[King Tyrion I]

And there's this quote from book!Jon: "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.”

If it's indeed foreshadowing this could be Damocles' sword hanging over Arya's head. And since she's apparently going North - where winter has already begun - it could definitely mean something and result in an event in her storyline.