Arya's Purpose?

[Ser Luke]

I'd like her a lot more without a mouth, though.

[Bran Of The White]

Arya's purpose is to kick ass and chew bubble gum.

is she all out of bubble gum?

[elksbugle]

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!

Nah, Sansa is a very valuable POV for the reader. She's improving as a character, but for most of the series she is vapid and insipid, true - but because of her nature she is in a position to see a lot, and to pass her observations onto the reader. GRRM is a masterful writer that way. My guess is that Sansa will be one of the few Starks left alive by the end of the series.

My guess is that Arya is going to be a wicked awesome assassin. I think she'll start out with her list of names (those that are still left alive) and move onto bigger game. My pet theory is that she'll be employed by Dany and will flit around Westeros murdering Dany's annoyances before finally meeting up with Bran, Rickon, and Sansa again. Jon will be with Dany, of course - that's obvious.

But if she kills Littlefinger I'll be pissed. I love him. He's my favorite character in the entire series. I am surprised there is less love for him around these parts. He's the shizzle.

[elksbugle]

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.

*snip*

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.

I think you've probably come the closest to what is likely to happen.

I'm still pissed about Littlefinger, though. He's so grandly devious. I'd be thrilled if he won in the end and just ruled all of Westeros forever. But I'm sure I'd be the only one.

[Bran the Builder]

The only two characters I have cried for are Arya and Bran. I have never cried before over some fantasy series and this is one of the many reasons I love ASOFAI. Bran and Arya could both easily have their chapters turned into seperate books. Perhaps this is why some readers dislike their POV's. They don't normally advance the big picture as much as they show individual growth in characters we deeply care about.

[Shewoman]

I think Arya's fascinating. Martin has created a wonderful character here, one whose reactions show us one of the most determined kids I've ever seen in literature. We see things in her PoV that we otherwise never would. She's shown us more of Westeros than any other PoV and is now able to show us parts of the East we haven't seen with Dany.

I do think that sooner or later she will kill someone important--Littlefinger's a good guess--either because she wants to or because she'll be an assassin for someone else. I think it's possible that she may kill someone she wouldn't want to without realizing who her victim is until too late. My nominees are Sansa or Jon.

Clearly there's something in store for her and Jon. I hope it's not sexual but I don't know--but I'm sure there's going to be some sort of payoff there.

[Bran the Builder]

I mostly certainly hope she isn't asked to kill Jon, but it would make for some of the best reading we have had to date in my opinion. I just hope she doesn't completely forget about who Arya Stark was before the war started.

[The Boar of Gore]

Arya's purpose is to kill sick fucks who need to die like the Tickler and also payback to all those bastards who have betrayed the Starks and think they got away with it. Sleep tight, Walder Frey! Sweet dreams, leech lover!

But I do hope she gets to come home at last, meet Jon, and reclaim her identity.

[Dracosmith]

Either LF will survive the series or Sansa will be his downfall. It would be a good bit of literary irony if Sansa schemes to remove him in Game of Throne style (rather than hiring Arya, which I find unlikely in the extreme).

Besides, Arya already has a list of people to kill and some obvious others who haven't made the list yet (but will). The Freys, Boltons and the other Arya are all going to go on the list. I think Arya is more likely to reunite with her mother than her sister, given the path she is going.

Although I don't really agree that a character must be destined for "greatness" in order to validate their story, I do think that Arya will have a significant role to play before the end. Even though she has started down a number of paths: swashbuckling swordfighter, street thief, servant, outlaw and now assassin-in-training, the one thing that existed throughout nearly all of those was her "prayer" for the deaths of her enemies. Because of that, I think she has found her calling finally in her faceless woman training.

The challenge though will be for her to be able to complete enough training to become dangerous yet still retain at least some of her own identity. Why give up all of who she is to become a faceless woman, yet then lose her identity and thus drive to kill the people she wants to? It will be very interesting to see how GRRM handles this dilemma.

[Errant Bard]

Either LF will survive the series or Sansa will be his downfall. It would be a good bit of literary irony if Sansa schemes to remove him in Game of Throne style (rather than hiring Arya, which I find unlikely in the extreme).

I don't think ASOIAF operates like that. You can usually tell who is going to take down who based on the symbolic value of that event, in common fantasy, but in ASOIAF, things tend to happen like they would naturally do, without regard for either poetic justice, irony or symbolism.

As examples, Cersei was not taken down by a Stark nor by Tyrion, nor was Joffrey, Gregor wasn't killed by Sandor, and Arya only killed two mere guards off her original list.

Why give up all of who she is to become a faceless woman, yet then lose her identity and thus drive to kill the people she wants to?

Because she doesn't really wants to kill them, as we saw with the Hound. They are just names, that just helped her to cope with the rest, her anger is what kept her from crumbling. What she really wants is power, and a place to belong to, which the FM both provide.

[Shewoman]

I remember on the old board there was some discussion of what would happen when Arya and Sansa met again. I have no idea who wrote it and my reconstruction isn't word-for-word. But the scene was of Arya fighting her way into the place where Sansa was imprisoned.

Arya: I'm here to rescue you.

Sansa: Just let me get my poisons and I'll be ready.

I could live with that.

[DocBean]

I gotta say i dissagree with some of the posters in here.

I love the Arya chapters, they started out among the most exciting with Syrio's training and then her escape from then on.

She's developed a lot of friends, and a lot of enemies, I can't wait to see her start to take people out. Let's face it she's the biggest badass in the entire series, no one has racked up as many kills at such a young age.

I can't stand how dumb Sansa is, but Arya is way smarter, she knows to lay low, and when to speak up. She knows when to kill, and when to hide, she has more common sense then anyone in the series, and is probably the most traveled character in the series too. I have a feeling Samwell will meet up with all the Starks before they meet up with each other.

I'm hoping Arya finds Rickon and puts him on the same path. His wild side, with her cunning, they'd make one hell of a deadly duo.

[SkyPirate]

*sigh* Not this again, people. I like Arya and Sansa.

I can't stand how dumb Sansa is, but Arya is way smarter, she knows to lay low, and when to speak up.

Except for the part where if she'd still be at court, she'd totally fuck up (Like she's pretty much show with the accident with Joffrey) because she doesn't want to conform to courtrules. Not that I agree with Joffrey or anything.

Look, I really hate it when people (this is people in general) diss one Stark sister and then worship the other. Both have their good qualities and they're not dumb. They're lucky (um, relatively speaking) that they landed in their own respective situations, because Sansa wouldn't be able to handle the things Arya went through and Arya wouldn't be able to handle the things Sansa went through.

Wew, ranting helps.

[fgalkin]

I agree with you, SkyPirate, but I just wanted to point it out that luck had very little to do with it. Arya and Sansa got themselves into their respective situations by their own actions. Sansa would never have ran from the castle like Arya did when the Starks were taken down, so she would not have been placed into the same situation anyway

Have a very nice day.

-fgalkin

[AvengingAryaFan]

Arya's purpose is to kill [people] who need to die like the Tickler and also payback to all those ... who have betrayed the Starks and think they got away with it. Sleep tight, Walder Frey! Sweet dreams, leech lover!

A bit rough, Beowulf777, but I agree in principle. And I wonder at two things about this thread:

First, why are so many people bothering to post here who avowedly hate Arya? Seems strange that they'd hate her, as she's my favorite character ... pretty much because she appears to be there to "kick ass and chew bubble gum," she learns from everything, and she's what, 11 years old, totally self reliant, and constantly masters her fear. But it also seems strange that those who dislike her wouldn't just stick to threads whose subject appeals to them more.

Second, nobody's mentioned the seer dwarf woman's prediction for Arya. First she talked about Sansa: "I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." Then she turned to Arya, saying "You cannot hide from me, child. Come closer now." "I see you," she whispered. "I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death ..." She began to sob, her little body shaking. "You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!" ASOS, US PB, p. 593.

It seems to have more than a little bearing on "Arya's Purpose." Of course, that prophecy isn't exactly clear, but it implies that Arya brings a great deal of death and misery, which further suggests not a single well-placed assassination, but vengeance to a whole bunch of people. By my lights, the children of Walder Frey all need to die, and I can think of nobody better suited to accomplish that than Arya ... though her unMother is getting a head start. The Red Wedding was a monstrous crime in a period when mere savagery was common, and I think it needs monstrous revenge. Indeed, my greatest complaint about FFC is that it leaves that huge wrong largely dangling unattended.

Hence my display name.

[DBaron]

I have to admit I like Arya.

She is quite the catalyst in this series, and lot of peoples fates end up revolving around the decisions she makes. She does a lot more than give us a view into the suffering of people in the Riverlands.

Just some examples.

She throws long claw (Joff's sword, whatever it was called) in the river, and forever poisons Joffs and Sansa relationship. That was bound to happen sooner or later, but she just speeds up the event.

She chases off Nymeria, who goes on to become a scourge of the riverlands.

She frees Rorge, Biter and, Jacquen. Rorge and Biter go on to terrorize the riverlands (and Saltpans). Jacquen goes on to kill Balon, and then Pate, and who knows who else.

She forces Jacquen to help her in Harrenhal, thus giving control of Harrenhal to Bolton, and then the Brave Companions. I guess this plan was in the works, and she just stumbled into it, but she did speed it up. It's a bit a of a stretch, but Jamie does lose his hand the Brave Companions, which facilitates a change in his character, and Briennes view of him.

Sandor captures her from the bwb, which begins them looking for her, which leads them to Cat, which leads to unCat. Nymeria, btw also finds cat, but is chased off by BwB. She opts not to kill Sandor and who knows what is in store for him.

[the silent speaker]

Joff's sword was Lion's Tooth, which Sandor (I think it was Sandor?) thought hysterically funny. Longclaw is Jon's sword.

[marwyn]

I think Arya's storyline (especially since aFfC) is slowly leading up to a climactic moment, where she has to make a choice between her Stark identity and her assasin identity. It seems to irrealistic and illogical to me that she would just go assasinating around westeros, then become the 'real' arya again, meet with Jon and Sansa and the rest and live happily ever after - that wouldn't really work.

So it's one way or another - what I really hope is that she'll be asked to kill someone she loved (probably Jon and Sansa) and that, at that point, she has to make a choice whether to reclaim her stark identity or not. I really hope she does (the wolf dreams she still has are a hopeful sign) but one the other hand, she seemed to have gone quite far down the path of the FM now, and it does not seem like she'll say ''ah nevermind, I don't want to be a FM after all'' anytime soon. I really wonder what's in store for her.

[Kawnliee]

I've heard a lot of people talking about how the FM would never send Arya on a high-profile mission. And I agree, that's likely.

What I do think will happen, though, is that the FM will teach Arya a lot of things, and then Arya will, at some point, leave them and go and begin killing people on her own accord, for whatever reason. The likeliest reason would be she hears that a member of her family is in danger.

[Insert Edit]

I think Arya's storyline (especially since aFfC) is slowly leading up to a climactic moment, where she has to make a choice between her Stark identity and her assasin identity. It seems to irrealistic and illogical to me that she would just go assasinating around westeros, then become the 'real' arya again, meet with Jon and Sansa and the rest and live happily ever after - that wouldn't really work.

So it's one way or another - what I really hope is that she'll be asked to kill someone she loved (probably Jon and Sansa) and that, at that point, she has to make a choice whether to reclaim her stark identity or not. I really hope she does (the wolf dreams she still has are a hopeful sign) but one the other hand, she seemed to have gone quite far down the path of the FM now, and it does not seem like she'll say ''ah nevermind, I don't want to be a FM after all'' anytime soon. I really wonder what's in store for her.

To me the symbolism of refusing to give up 'Needle' and burying it beneath the stairs shows that in her heart she won't ever abandon Arya.