Forlong the Fat Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 I was struck last night when Arya found herself in a room with three people, The Hound, Melisandre, Beric. All three have been on Arya's death list. And her reaction in that situation was to cry because Beric was dying. That is a massive change for her, and it resulted in her truly saying "no" to the God of Death, rather than continuing to do his work. We can trace a path for Arya that begins with her choosing to go home, rather than kill Cersei, re-connecting with her family, and yes, having sex with Gendry, with each step recovering a bit of her humanity. The result of that path is for her to kill death, as personified by the KN with the dagger that set her on the path to first become no one, and then to regain her someone-ness, and to be capable of killing the KN. "Everything you did brought you to where you are now, where you belong, home." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kajjo Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 1 hour ago, Forlong the Fat said: All three have been on Arya's death list. They have been, but they were also removed from it. But yes, Arya turned to be a proper Stark again and has left the "no one" behind her. I was a vocal opponent of all this black-and-white babble anyway, of her "losing humanity" or "being no-one". She never did, she never was. She got more callous, she is a trained assassin, she has no problem with killing, but in the show she always had empathy, sympathy and a strong sense of justice, revenge and, above all, family. All the time. That was her primary driving force, partially turned into hate-revenge, then returning to "the pack survives". She showed clearly to have made her peace with Sandor Clegane and Beric before this scene -- atop the ramparts before she had sex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansaJonRule Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 I never believed her goal was truly to be no one. She wanted to learn to kill to get revenge on the people who wronged her and her family. When she told J'aquen Hagar that her name was Arya Stark, and she was going home, he didn't seem surprised either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kajjo Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 4 hours ago, SansaJonRule said: I never believed her goal was truly to be no one. She wanted to learn to kill to get revenge on the people who wronged her and her family. Agreed. Jaqen even promised her to do so when he gave her that coin. She came to be trained and take revenge. I never really understood why Jaqen first lures her to Bravos witht he promise of "you can offer many deaths to the God" and then insists on her not killing people from her list. 4 hours ago, SansaJonRule said: When she told J'aquen Hagar that her name was Arya Stark, and she was going home, he didn't seem surprised either. That's true. Maybe he knew that Arya was destined to play an important role and educated her all along for this. Now that Arya killed the Nightking maybe Jaqen somehow knew or devined it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a black swan Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 It was certainly striking to see her reaction to these people. She went back to pick up the axe and help Beric! She defended the Hound with her bow and firey arrows as he ran back to the gates. She took Melisandra's cryptic council and refocused her mind on one target and headed to the Godswood. Not only her emotional tears but her actions spoke even louder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenmonsterff Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 She is certainly someone now. They will be singing songs of Arya Stark for millennia.. Her name will now become legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinscS2 Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 I guess this also (partially) answers the question of why Jaqen let her off the hook so easily. He knew, or at least suspected, that she would do something very important as Arya Stark. But then, if that's the case, why even send the Waif after her in the first place... Hmm, best not to think too much about it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaena Targaryen Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 I loved that Arya killed the Night King. I didn't expect the show to do something like that but it totally works. Sure there are some things I hope we get answers for but... It's not out of line with her book arc either. (Not that I expect "it" to happen in the books, just that it could.) I have always believed it's obvious in the books that Arya will play a role fighting the Others - and most of her themes, motifs, symbolism, training, skills, travels, experiences and encounters support that. There are many parallels in the story lines of Bran/north/three-eyed crow and Arya/Braavos/Kindly Man. Arya has a strong relationship with death, and more minor associations with water and the moon. Arya has a connection to the Isle of Faces and maybe the children. Also don't forget Nymeria and her enormous wolf pack. Arya will be a major asset in the battle against the Army of the Dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AryaNymeriaVisenya Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 The more I think about the ending the more I love it. - Arya protects Bran just like Catelyn protected him against the same dagger. - Arya was so afraid of not making the Twins in time for Robb and ultimately she didn't. She got there in time for Bran - Arya ran to the Sept of Baelor to get to Ned but was stopped by Yoren, again she is finally able to protect her family. - Her weapon breaks like The Last Hero's did, she in the end is the Last Hero standing to defeat the Night King. - Its a Stark who pulls the plug on the Night King. The Others are a part of the Stark story, wouldn't have been right to be a Targaryen - Her training with Syrio. Every word seemed to mean something. Not just 'not today' but also teaching her to catch her weapon. That all men are made of water and if you prick them the water comes out. She is a water dancer vs a man made of ice - Everything from chasing cats led to that moment, Swift as a deer, Quiet as a shadow. - She has had more interaction with the red priests than Jon or Dany. She's protected by Jaquen who cites the Red God. Then falls into the hands of Thoros of Myr, before going to the Faceless Men. - She has endured death since she was 11 years old. Hopefully now she has killed Death she can start living. At this point I would not be shocked if she got pregnant to really set up the whole life vs death thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meera of Tarth Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 2 hours ago, AryaNymeriaVisenya said: The more I think about the ending the more I love it. - Arya protects Bran just like Catelyn protected him against the same dagger. - Arya was so afraid of not making the Twins in time for Robb and ultimately she didn't. She got there in time for Bran - Arya ran to the Sept of Baelor to get to Ned but was stopped by Yoren, again she is finally able to protect her family. - Her weapon breaks like The Last Hero's did, she in the end is the Last Hero standing to defeat the Night King. - Its a Stark who pulls the plug on the Night King. The Others are a part of the Stark story, wouldn't have been right to be a Targaryen - Her training with Syrio. Every word seemed to mean something. Not just 'not today' but also teaching her to catch her weapon. That all men are made of water and if you prick them the water comes out. She is a water dancer vs a man made of ice - Everything from chasing cats led to that moment, Swift as a deer, Quiet as a shadow. - She has had more interaction with the red priests than Jon or Dany. She's protected by Jaquen who cites the Red God. Then falls into the hands of Thoros of Myr, before going to the Faceless Men. - She has endured death since she was 11 years old. Hopefully now she has killed Death she can start living. At this point I would not be shocked if she got pregnant to really set up the whole life vs death thing All of them great points! I had noticed how she ultimately protected her family, but not the parallels, but also her training and motives, all similar to Bran's and not a bad choice for her being the one killing the NK. Ithink she could indeed be pregnant at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forlong the Fat Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 11 hours ago, MinscS2 said: I guess this also (partially) answers the question of why Jaqen let her off the hook so easily. He knew, or at least suspected, that she would do something very important as Arya Stark. But then, if that's the case, why even send the Waif after her in the first place... Hmm, best not to think too much about it... I think the Waif was a test. If she couldn't pass it she wasn't worth letting go. I think Arya was also a test for the Waif, which the Waif primarily failed by taking such pleasure in tormenting and potentially killing her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AryaNymeriaVisenya Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 10 hours ago, Meera of Tarth said: All of them great points! I had noticed how she ultimately protected her family, but not the parallels, but also her training and motives, all similar to Bran's and not a bad choice for her being the one killing the NK. Ithink she could indeed be pregnant at the end. Look at the way Summer leaps to kill Bran's assassin in that episode too. He appears from nowhere to maul him. Arya's movements around Gendry in episode 2 were very wolf like, she's been prowling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meera of Tarth Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 4 hours ago, AryaNymeriaVisenya said: Look at the way Summer leaps to kill Bran's assassin in that episode too. He appears from nowhere to maul him. Arya's movements around Gendry in episode 2 were very wolf like, she's been prowling. Oh yeah! Totally! And both events were also related to the dagger, even if with different perspectives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansaJonRule Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 On 4/30/2019 at 6:30 AM, Kajjo said: I never really understood why Jaqen first lures her to Bravos witht he promise of "you can offer many deaths to the God" and then insists on her not killing people from her list. Perhaps to teach her discipline and patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywin Tytosson Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 On 4/30/2019 at 6:30 AM, Kajjo said: Agreed. Jaqen even promised her to do so when he gave her that coin. She came to be trained and take revenge. I never really understood why Jaqen first lures her to Bravos witht he promise of "you can offer many deaths to the God" and then insists on her not killing people from her list. That's true. Maybe he knew that Arya was destined to play an important role and educated her all along for this. Now that Arya killed the Nightking maybe Jaqen somehow knew or devined it. Arya could be the Many Faced God's contribution to Ragnorak (or the Second War of the Dawn). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.