Arya's Purpose?

[Ser Luke]

I must admit, I dislike Arya's chapters after she escapes king's landing. (Excluding The Hound chapters...)

It becomes very apparent to me that since she's a POV character, she's going to end up playing a major role in the end. I think she's going to end up assassianating someone important (Cersei, Littlefinger?)

What do you think?

[Lundy]

I must admit, I dislike Arya's chapters after she escapes king's landing. (Excluding The Hound chapters...)

It becomes very apparent to me that since she's a POV character, she's going to end up playing a major role in the end. I think she's going to end up assassianating someone important (Cersei, Littlefinger?)

What do you think?

I can't guess yet, exactly how large a role she'll play. I'm wondering if her blindness is temporary or permanent. What do you think about her blindness?

I think she *will* be reunited with Nymeria and big things will happen then... (at least I hope so)

[HardCoreArya]

Her purpose is to kill Sansa.

[Ser Luke]

Her purpose is to kill Sansa.

WOW. amazing prospect.

[cybroleach]

I must admit, I dislike Arya's chapters after she escapes king's landing. (Excluding The Hound chapters...)

It becomes very apparent to me that since she's a POV character, she's going to end up playing a major role in the end. I think she's going to end up assassianating someone important (Cersei, Littlefinger?)

What do you think?

She's the one who saves the world

[Harlot]

She could kill Dany. She's in the East and still has time to cross paths with some of those characters.

[Ser Luke]

Seems unlikely. End the Dany before she even lands on Westeros?

That would be a total waste.

[Skyrazer]

Well I think the FM are trying to do something in Westeros that has to do with the coming "long winter" which is why Jaquen/Alchemist is in Oldtown seamlessly on his old accord. What exactly I don't know, but I think we may find out through Arya and that she will make an impact on whatever the FMs are trying to do.

[Lord O' Bones]

Her purpose is to kill Sansa.

For heaven's sake, why?

[HardCoreArya]

For heaven's sake, why?

Sansa fucking sucks and Arya's pretty much the shit. Most of the POVs at least try to do something. Sansa's only contribution is her name.

Kill her!

[Elliott]

Arya’s character became a tad less likable when she killed that singer and stole his boots.

Re: The Blindness Question - It seems like a safe bet that the blindness is a temporary part of the first stages of Faceless Man training. The youngest acolyte (prior to Arya beginning her training after she bumps off the singer) was blind and would walk around lighting candles using his sense of smell.

[Atreides]

I'm probably wrong, but I'm going to say her purpose is to be Queen in the North, Nymeria style.

[shadowbinding shoe]

Arya’s character became a tad less likable when she killed that singer and stole his boots.

From the beginning of FFC she's become a bit of a psychopath. I hope she regains her humanity

Re: The Blindness Question - It seems like a safe bet that the blindness is a temporary part of the first stages of Faceless Man training. The youngest acolyte (prior to Arya beginning her training after she bumps off the singer) was blind and would walk around lighting candles using his sense of smell.

For all we know that blind acolyte is still blind and still lights the candles by smell. He could be an example, not to be stupid and act on your own. We know Arya is stupid and doesn't take the hint so now she's blind too. Also even if this is part of the path to becoming Faceless man I'm not sure if they regain normal sight ever. They might have some kind of magical sight instead that replaces their lost sight.

[Sarella]

Royal assasin for Dany?

[Gerold Hightower]

Some POV characters are mere observers. GRRM uses them to tell us what's going on in places where none of the man characters is around. Arya's POV has shown as the war from the perspective of the common folk.

[Arbor Gold]

Sansa fucking sucks and Arya's pretty much the shit. Most of the POVs at least try to do something. Sansa's only contribution is her name.

Kill her!

Really? Sansa has a lot of room for development, IMO. She and Jaime are the two grey characters in the series. Sansa is written to be hated early on, but I feel she has a larger role to play as she matures and develops. I am very much looking forward to see what she does in the future.

[Jon Targaryen]

It becomes very apparent to me that since she's a POV character, she's going to end up playing a major role in the end. I think she's going to end up assassianating someone important (Cersei, Littlefinger?)

What do you think?

I agree with your first statement. I'm not sure about the second.

Let me preface what follows by saying, I do not know (of course) or think I know what will happen with Arya.

There are some clues, however.

George said he created Sansa because families do not get along as well as the Starks would without her. Who conflicts most with Sansa? Arya. So Arya was probably created before Sansa. Yet Sansa seems to be playing a more important role than Arya so far. She was just an observer through the first three books. Now she is learning the game of thrones and being set up to be a pawn in a Littlefinger power-grab. More than Arya killing a NW deserter and going blind. But Arya was created first. So that means, to me, that Arya will have at least as important a role as Sansa.

It seemed to me that Arya would go at least partway to becoming a Faceless Woman by her second to last chapter in ACOK. This has come to pass. She is in training now to become just that. So she is becoming a Faceless Woman and this training was part of GRRM's grand plan. Also, the Faceless are a group of assassins. More on that later.

However, Arya still misses Jon greatly. She wanted to go to Eastwatch-by-the-sea, not Braavos. The Kindly Old Man tells Arya she must give up everything that makes her her to join them. She tries but cannot give up Needle. It reminds her of home, her family and the Old Gods. She saves it because she may need it "one day."

Finally, there is the question of what the Faceless do for money. Assassinate those that a group or individual want dead for a high price. It seems clear that Arya will assassinate someone. I don't really care or have a guess as to the minor ones that will come first. But I think the major one will be Littlefinger in the Riverlands, who has by now separated himself from the Lannisters. No one, truly (Arya) will be sent to assassinate Littlefinger. He will be in the Riverlands asserting his claim as Lord Paramount there, which he is still using even though Tommen (or Myrcella) has attainted him. Sansa will be with him. No one, truly will run into Sansa on the way to kill Littlefinger and Nymeria at the same time. Back comes Arya. With a vengeance.

For that is the final aspect of Arya. The nightly prayer and one of my favorite lines of AFFC:

"Are you hungry, child?"

Yes, she thought, but not for food.

Sansa and Arya will be reunited. Arya and Nymeria will be reunited. After dispatching Littlefinger, they go as one to get their vengeance. Arya in the physical realm, Sansa in the political realm, Nymeria and her pack in the "scare the shit out of any army" realm. Arya will be the "hidden dagger" in Sansa's hand (boy, Sansa haters/Arya lovers are going to howl over that one!). Sansa asserts her claim as Queen of the North and the Riverlands and wife to the Lord of the Eyrie and they go to town, eventually bending the knee to Daenerys.

Anyway, I'm not sure at all of any of the predictive stuff but that's the best I could come up with given what we know of Arya.

[Anthem]

I've often wondered at this myself.

For the last four books Arya's been one of the most pointless POVs in the entire series, and the most depressing. Yes, I got how her perspective shows how the commoners suffered during the war, and how if you're not noble you're essentially treated less than a steaming pile of manure, blah blah blah - but for the love of the Seven I hope GRRM has something big up his sleeve to make up for the torture I endured reading her chapters.

I like your predictions, Jon Targaryen. It's infinitely better than your display pic - there's something inherently wrong about that Santa...

[Errant Bard]

Let's not forget Arya is also ideally placed to meet any invasion from a certain Targaryen Queen, and her connections with the BwB, Nymeria's pack, Jon Snow and Sansa (LF) make her an ideal intermediary to bring forth an alliance between the Targ and the North.

I don't really think the FM will give her a high profile assassination ever, but playing messenger and confronting all sort of people as a sort of skinchanger ghost, that I could see. Also, even if I do like the girl, I want GRRM to be consistent and keep her on the dark path she has chosen, so she ends as a gray, not totally likeable person, like, or worse than a Sandor.

[shadowbinding shoe]

I've often wondered at this myself.

For the last four books Arya's been one of the most pointless POVs in the entire series, and the most depressing. Yes, I got how her perspective shows how the commoners suffered during the war, and how if you're not noble you're essentially treated less than a steaming pile of manure, blah blah blah - but for the love of the Seven I hope GRRM has something big up his sleeve to make up for the torture I endured reading her chapters.

I like your predictions, Jon Targaryen. It's infinitely better than your display pic - there's something inherently wrong about that Santa...

I dunno. Isn't her story in itself worth reading? We meet interesting people like the BWB and others and we see how Arya develops as a result of it. I suppose that makes me a bit of a hypocrite because frankly, I couldn't give a damn about Brienne's story in FFC, but maybe that's more because it stood in place too much and had speeches instead of conversations in it.

Jon Targaryen, I was also wondering. Why choose a pic of a Martyred Santa?