Arya Losin' It

[Lot Seven]

The one thing I actually liked about those scenes is that they were not tender or sweet. That would have been really weird, given her character. She has never shown any real interest in romance. Thinking backward, I also do not find the comments about Melisandre weird, as she was/is on Arya's list... The idea of sleeping with the same man as Mel must be repulsive for her, so she’s checking what that was about.

Oh and thankfully a baby is not a very realistic scenario at this stage of the show, that would be awful... I want to see Arya cut up some WW and people on her list, not walking around with a pregnant belly and thinking about how to name her kid…

 

[darmody]

1 hour ago, tallTale said:

Arya is in need of something to help her re-enter the normal human race. Perhaps she'll bring "life" into the world for a change with a baby.

That would be a hero of a twist, and something that would please me. Even if she just gives it to Jon and Danny to raise. 

[Lady Winter Rose]

7 hours ago, Black Arya said:

Therefore, I also wonder if parents who named girls after the adorable tommy boy she was, will still be happy with their choice 

LOL I have my reasons to gloat. 

[anjulibai]

I think the part of Jenny's song played over the shot of Gendry and Arya post-coital is kind of the clue to Arya's mindset:

"They took all her sorrow and pain
And she never wanted to leave"

Arya's personality change over the series is a result of all the pain she has pushed down in order to survive. But being with Gendry has taken some of that away - and she's scared and not wanting to give that up. That's why she looks so serious, it's not an unemotional response because she's a psychopath (which I don't think she really is), it's a very emotional response to this connection she's made with Gendry. 

I think, though, this is all set up for Arya losing Gendry. He's going to die and be the wight chasing her through Winterfell. It's why she looks so scared - she won't want to kill him, so she runs from him. 

[dbunting]

I was happy this happened. It's been in my head since S2 when they met and traveled together. Something just made me think they could end up together. After last week I thought it was pretty clear they liked each other more than just friends. You look good, no you look good, walking away and looking back to see if he is still watching you. You have a daughter, I have a son, let's join our houses Ned!

I read an article where Maisie said that when she found out about the scene, the director talked to her about it and told her it was entirely her decision how much to show. She could have been fully clothed in scene or fully naked, whatever she felt comfortable doing.

They also talked about the meaning of the scene, that it was more than just last night on earth, but also about Arya getting back some of her humanity.

[HellasLEAF]

I think really the only problem is how young in the face Arya still looks.  And we remember her younger on the show.  It was really a nothing coming of age sex scene with some side boob.  

I admire that the show didn't go the safe route with a cutaway.  

It's GOT.  The show takes risks.  

[Nihiloth90]

21 hours ago, darmody said:

5. Not that I want to see Maisie Williams naked, but it's strange to see a modest sex scene on Game of Thrones. Though it's happened before, and I guess it's less jarring than characters who go from constantly nude to wearing almost too many clothes (Danny).

It probably was a stand-in. They can manipulate imagery so well these days, and not still imagery, I mean moving imagery. That was not Lena Headey's naked body during Cersei's 'Walk of Shame,' for example. 

Why pay a top-billed actor to do a nude scene when they're asking for so much, when they can just hire a relative nobody who loves getting naked in front of the camera for little to no cost, to serve that nudity purpose.

As far as the sex scene, I thought it was gratuitous as hell. Much like most of the sex and nudity in GoT, it's one of those instances where I feel like I didn't need to see Arya's butt crack or huge side boob. There are subtle things they could have done without the nudity in order to achieve a similar effect. However, I feel foolish for saying this, because I love Melisandre's nude scenes; the actress has an amazing physique.

[sweetsunray]

8 minutes ago, Nihiloth90 said:

It probably was a stand-in. They can manipulate imagery so well these days, and not still imagery, I mean moving imagery. That was not Lena Headey's naked body during Cersei's 'Walk of Shame,' for example. 

Why pay a top-billed actor to do a nude scene when they're asking for so much, when they can just hire a relative nobody who loves getting naked in front of the camera for little to no cost, to serve that nudity purpose.

As far as the sex scene, I thought it was gratuitous as hell. Much like most of the sex and nudity in GoT, it's one of those instances where I feel like I didn't need to see Arya's butt crack or huge side boob. There are subtle things they could have done without the nudity in order to achieve a similar effect. However, I feel foolish for saying this, because I love Melisandre's nude scenes; the actress has an amazing physique.

Maisie denied there was a stand-in or body double. It was her own body.

As for Arya as a character stripping: off with the gloves, off with the assassin layer, off with the Arry boy clothing (similar to it) of the Riverlands, and underneath is Arya the woman (he said her name right before she kissed him), scars and all.

[MinscS2]

I loved their first scene together this episode, when Arya was showing of her dagger throwing-skills.
Gendry, or rather Joe Dempsie, made one of the best "I have the weirdest boner"-faces I've ever seen.

I'm not a big Gendrya-shipper, but I don't mind them together one bit.
It also has a ironic but sad undertone to it: Somewhere in the seven heavens during the last episode, Ned and Robert gave each other the worlds biggest and manliest hug, as their houses started to join. It just wasn't the son nor the daughter they expected it to be.

[darmody]

1 hour ago, Nihiloth90 said:

It probably was a stand-in. They can manipulate imagery so well these days, and not still imagery, I mean moving imagery. That was not Lena Headey's naked body during Cersei's 'Walk of Shame,' for example. 

Why pay a top-billed actor to do a nude scene when they're asking for so much, when they can just hire a relative nobody who loves getting naked in front of the camera for little to no cost, to serve that nudity purpose.

As far as the sex scene, I thought it was gratuitous as hell. Much like most of the sex and nudity in GoT, it's one of those instances where I feel like I didn't need to see Arya's butt crack or huge side boob. There are subtle things they could have done without the nudity in order to achieve a similar effect. However, I feel foolish for saying this, because I love Melisandre's nude scenes; the actress has an amazing physique.

Have you seen Black Book? Carice van Houten is naked through like half the movie. 

Cost may be a factor concerning Cersei, though that actress has appeared nude many times on camera. With Arya, I imagine that the show doesn't want to put her through that, 18 or not. Sansa gets her modesty, too. 

[darmody]

7 hours ago, Lot Seven said:

The one thing I actually liked about those scenes is that they were not tender or sweet. That would have been really weird, given her character. She has never shown any real interest in romance. Thinking backward, I also do not find the comments about Melisandre weird, as she was/is on Arya's list... The idea of sleeping with the same man as Mel must be repulsive for her, so she’s checking what that was about.

 

Oh and thankfully a baby is not a very realistic scenario at this stage of the show, that would be awful... I want to see Arya cut up some WW and people on her list, not walking around with a pregnant belly and thinking about how to name her kid…

 

 

Arya didn't understand Mel's appeal when she was 12 or whatever, because she couldn't see past her feelings. But I'm sure by now she gets it. And if she is disgusted by the thought of Gendry with Mel, it didn't appear to put her off. Fairly certain she knows the red Witch took his virginity. 

 

Far as the baby goes, we're going to have to see the Stark bloodline stretching over the horizon when the show ends. Though Sansa is the better candidate for this, Arya would be a twist. And I estimate either the living or the dead are going to win this war before Arya would start showing, if she got pregnant that night. 

[MinscS2]

Just now, darmody said:

Fairly certain she knows the red Witch took his virginity. 

I thought Gendry was a virgin as well, but then Arya started questioning him about the number of ...ladies he's been with, and seemed to finally be pleased when he said "three", which I assume is the correct answer.
She could tell he was lying when he said "I didn't keep count", those lie-detector skills coming in handy in the weirdest way possible.

[darmody]

9 minutes ago, MinscS2 said:

I thought Gendry was a virgin as well, but then Arya started questioning him about the number of ...ladies he's been with, and seemed to finally be pleased when he said "three", which I assume is the correct answer.
She could tell he was lying when he said "I didn't keep count", those lie-detector skills coming in handy in the weirdest way possible.

I can't recall the dialogue precisely, but I think maybe the three stood for how many he's been with since he rowed back to King's Landing. 

He definitely told Davos Mel was his first. 

[MinscS2]

3 minutes ago, darmody said:

I can't recall the dialogue precisely, but I think maybe the three stood for how many he's been with since he rowed back to King's Landing. 

Hmm, good point.

[sweetsunray]

18 hours ago, AryaNymeriaVisenya said:

The post coital scene reminded me of when they slept next to each other in Harrenhal and she was always wide awake. She may die tomorrow. He may die tomorrow. Her siblings may die tomorrow. She can't sleep. And the song over the top suggested no negativity, he took away her pain and sorrow and she never wanted to leave.

Thanks for this post, it made me realise exactly what that "stare" meant, when yo mentioned the HH aerial shot of her lying on her side next to a sleeping Gendry, reciting the "names on her list" to deal with her insomnia that began since she saw Ned's execution.

She still has insomnia, but no more names on her list anymore.

She took off Beric some time ago, and with what Gendry told her about what the Red Woman did to him and being alive and kicking she took Mel off the list as well. And if there is no more name on her list anymore, that means Cersei's of her list as well.

It's just Arya dealing with her ghosts of those she lost and her insomnia, the exact opposite of 'losing it'.

[Kajjo]

13 hours ago, Red Dragon10 said:

But Arya is just not your average teen.  She was a lot more typical back in the days when she was telling Gendry "I could be your family".  A LOT has happened to her and been committed by her since then

Of course Arya is not a typical average girl. But she is a young woman anyway. Only because she is a trained assassin, she is not desinterested in sex. Do you expect all warriors and assassins to have no interested in sex?! My goodness. Almost everyone has interested in sex after a certain age. She simply wants to experience it, too. Not to miss out on such a fundamental human need.

13 hours ago, darmody said:

Arya has no personality and is a serial killer. Not just because revenge, either. Deadly violence gives her physical pleasure. 

That's utter nonsense. We are shown many personality of Arya, from smiling when sparring with Brienne, tearful reminiscing with Sansa about missing their father and "the pack survives", up to flirting with Gendry in E1.

In real-life even Mafia bosses have family and love their wife and children, professional killers have family, too. Being a trained assassin and revenging your family does not mean, you are not human anymore. She is callous to killing, but not callous to everything else.

12 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Also, giving Arya a more mature and feminine look wouldn't have hurt the believability of the scene either.

Well, Arya is 18 and the actress was 21. She looks young, even in real-life. But honestly, teenage girls of 16 having sex is very much believable, too, at least in my world. I guess most teenage girls nowadays have regular sex. Is it really different where you come from?

For me it is absolutely believable that a 18-year-old petite girls doesn't want to miss out on sex.

Arya is a pretty girl and when naked more than feminine enough. She has a slender, attractive body with the right curves, firm buttocks, a slim small of the back, perky breasts. She doesn't at all look like-pre-puberty, which would be a show-stopper for me, too. Arya's naked body is that of a woman. No question at all. She's young and looks even younger, but she is a woman, not a girl.

12 hours ago, AryaNymeriaVisenya said:

She showed plenty of personality when she was flirting with him, when she reunited with Jon, when she sassed the Hound and Beric, when she was furious as Sansa 'betraying' their family and when she said she missed Ned. Getting revenge on the Freys made her happy. She had no reaction to killing Littlefinger. I fail to see this physical pleasure aspect.

Agreed, well explained.

12 hours ago, darmody said:

Do you remember her face when she slit Frey's throat? I'm not saying it was necessarily sexual, but she was definitely euphoric. 

It wasn't sexual at all. That was simply satisfaction. Rightly so. 

Yes, she is callous to murdering and revenge comes natural. She is a trained assassin. Like I said, in the real-world trained killers have family, too. 

[Kajjo]

11 hours ago, Lot Seven said:

not find the comments about Melisandre weird, as she was/is on Arya's list... The idea of sleeping with the same man as Mel must be repulsive for her, so she’s checking what that was about

That's a fine observation. I like this idea.

11 hours ago, Lot Seven said:

The one thing I actually liked about those scenes is that they were not tender or sweet.

I liked this, too. She was honest: She didn't want to miss out on sex, she wants to know what it is like. She did not babbled about romance, a crush or even love, not about lust. It was about curiosity and experience. And maybe there was some desire in the background. A girl has needs, too.

11 hours ago, Lot Seven said:

not walking around with a pregnant belly and thinking about how to name her kid

That would be awful at the time being. But in the long run that would be a twist for the endgame "Dawn of Spring" scenario...

6 hours ago, HellasLEAF said:

I admire that the show didn't go the safe route with a cutaway.   It's GOT.  The show takes risks.

They did it well. Modest, but keeping in line with provocation at least a bit. It fits the Arya arc that it is not too flashy.

6 hours ago, Nihiloth90 said:

It probably was a stand-in. They can manipulate imagery so well these days

Well, the interview with actress Maisie Williams says it was real and I believe it. Why not? She is 21 and the scene was relatively modest. It is believable.

4 hours ago, MinscS2 said:

I thought Gendry was a virgin as well, but then Arya started questioning him about the number of ...ladies he's been with, and seemed to finally be pleased when he said "three", which I assume is the correct answer

Yes, Arya played the faceless men's game with him and knows when he lies or tells the truth. 

Gendry did not have sex with Melisandre and was probably virgin then. He obviously found some girls in King's Landing after escaping.

4 hours ago, darmody said:

Fairly certain she knows the red Witch took his virginity. 

Melisandre didn't take his virginity. She seduced Gendry, cuffed him to the bed and took his blood. No sex there. 

1 hour ago, sweetsunray said:

It's just Arya dealing with her ghosts of those she lost and her insomnia, the exact opposite of 'losing it'.

Top! This is it.

[sweetsunray]

2 minutes ago, Kajjo said:

Gendry did not have sex with Melisandre and was probably virgin then. He obviously found some girls in King's Landing after escaping.

Wanna bet what kind of girls these were? Bossy ones.

2 minutes ago, Kajjo said:

Melisandre didn't take his virginity. She seduced Gendry, cuffed him to the bed and took his blood. No sex there. 

Agreed. It was going to be his first time, instead he got leeched.

2 minutes ago, Kajjo said:

Top! This is it.

[Kajjo]

17 minutes ago, sweetsunray said:

Wanna bet what kind of girls these were? Bossy ones.

Ha-ha, maybe so. Or maybe not. Arya rushed him into it, maybe he prefers more romance otherwise? Who knows. We never thought too much about Gendry's preferences in women.

18 minutes ago, sweetsunray said:

Agreed. It was going to be his first time, instead he got leeched.

Yes.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

13 hours ago, darmody said:

Imagine Brienne asking Gendry about his encounter with the dead. Would she ever in a million years want him to write a stream of consciousness short story about how he felt?

Why can't everyone recognize how weird Arya is? She's not the plucky girl a bit too obsessed with her list. She's nearly affectless (aside from the smirk), mentally deranged and excited by killing. 

She is weird and she is twisted but she lives a weird and twisted world. She is too obsessed by her list. Her identity is a key part of her character. Keeping hold of that is important to her story. She keeps hold of it because of her pack, whether that is Gendry/Hot Pie or her family. She was empty when she saw Hot Pie last season and then at the end she finds a bit of herself in him and I think we are seeing that more and more as she is surrounded by the people she loves.