[ADWD SPOILERS] The Blind Girl

[George Snow]

Also, I think calling her a little girl by this point is pretty false. Each book essentially represents one year (granted the 4th an 5th book sort of skew the line, for all intents and purposes by Arya's chapter I think we can safely assume the timelines have finally been fixed and the story is pushing forward once more), so by this stage she would be around 14. Now I'm not saying she's an adult (though she probably would be if we were thinking in the Westerosi/Medieval fashion), she's definitely not a child. You can see GRRM sort of hinting at that with the line about her leg's growing longer (which I suspect might have been a remnant of when GRRM intended for the story to jump ahead 5 years to help hammer home that she had gotten older). Just saying because it seems a fair few of you are treating Arya like this little girl, which she isn't by this point (both due to her age and her experiences (she's got a full fledged confirmed kill list on the wiki that put's most real life killers to shame lol)). Just sayin is all.

She's still a girl, because she hasn't flowered, yet. But you're right about her age, and her flowering should be coming shortly.

GH

[Wolf Maid]

Edit: Also, I think calling her a little girl by this point is pretty false. Each book essentially represents one year (granted the 4th an 5th book sort of skew the line, for all intents and purposes by Arya's chapter I think we can safely assume the timelines have finally been fixed and the story is pushing forward once more), so by this stage she would be around 14. Now I'm not saying she's an adult (though she probably would be if we were thinking in the Westerosi/Medieval fashion), she's definitely not a child. You can see GRRM sort of hinting at that with the line about her leg's growing longer (which I suspect might have been a remnant of when GRRM intended for the story to jump ahead 5 years to help hammer home that she had gotten older). Just saying because it seems a fair few of you are treating Arya like this little girl, which she isn't by this point (both due to her age and her experiences (she's got a full fledged confirmed kill list on the wiki that put's most real life killers to shame lol)). Just sayin is all.

Arya is still 11. Jon mentions her age in one of his chapters. She may have turned 12 if enough time had passed by the end of the book. The author mentioned before that each book isn't equal to one year and that was the reason for the 5 year jump. However, he couldn't do that either. So, I think only about 2 or 3 years have passed since the start of the series. Arya's still pretty young.

[Hegs]

Arya is still 11. Jon mentions her age in one of his chapters. She may have turned 12 if enough time had passed by the end of the book. The author mentioned before that each book isn't equal to one year and that was the reason for the 5 year jump. However, he couldn't do that either. So, I think only about 2 or 3 years have passed since the start of the series. Arya's still pretty young.

Sorry my math was slightly off, for some reason I thought GoT took place in 297 instead of 298. So by ASoS she's definitely 11, not 12 as I had originally thought (I based all of this stuff on ASoS, since that's the only book that definitively establishes the year). Sorry, due to my original screw up I had assumed each book up until ASoS was essentially a year, or close to it. So yeah, my age assumption was wrong. But I'd say by this point she'd be 12, which is young by our standard but not so in Westerosi/Medieval society (Plus like I said before, she's experienced more death in her short life than most of us ever will (not to mention a fair portion of those she killed with her own hands)).

[GG109]

Loved this chapter,

I have missed Arya for a long time now,

Do you think what "the kindly man" was waiting for is Arya to admit that she can see through other animals eyes?

doeshe know she can do that?

:unsure:

[TippsBlackandWhite]

I don't think he knows. It made it sound like he was genuinely surprised that she knew he was the one hitting her. He probably figured it was because she mastered her other senses enough, and hence, because of that, he gave her back her sight.

[jdp13]

I don't think he knows. It made it sound like he was genuinely surprised that she knew he was the one hitting her. He probably figured it was because she mastered her other senses enough, and hence, because of that, he gave her back her sight.

I agree with that theory. I also loved that she can warg to more than just her wolf.

[Lady Snark]

Where did this idea that the faceless men will send Arya to kill members of her own family/loved ones as a final test come from? That doesn't seem to be in keeping with character of either of them. And I certainly don't agree that she's "a bad seed". She's of that world, she's a survivor, she seeks vengeance, justice. She's one of the few characters (along with Jon) who seem to stay true to themselves and the honor they were taught. Arya is badass! It is fun, however, to think of her becoming a young girl Dexter in Westerosi!

Arya is so freaking awesome! I was so glad to get a chapter on her. I enjoyed every word of it. I knew the blindness was going to be a tool to make her even better. I don't think she is going to fully commit to becoming one of the faceless and giving up her identity.

The secret about the slavers picking up wildlings at Hardhome really has me worried for Jon. I think the Wildlings are going to revolt against Jon & the NW assuming they have bad intentions.

[Aryador]

Arya is still 11. Jon mentions her age in one of his chapters. She may have turned 12 if enough time had passed by the end of the book. The author mentioned before that each book isn't equal to one year and that was the reason for the 5 year jump. However, he couldn't do that either. So, I think only about 2 or 3 years have passed since the start of the series. Arya's still pretty young.

Also, in the wedding chapter, it is mentioned, that Jeyne is 13. Which makes Theon think "The real Arya would have been even younger."

[Tammy]

There's also an element of her simply having no other options. After the news of Bran & Rickon, then the Red Wedding, and then leaving Sandor to die[suffer], going to the Wall didn't seem enough like going home.

She had the Faceless coin, which seemed as much a meal ticket as anything, so she just went with the flow without knowing what awaited her at the House of Black & White.

And now that she does know that the true goal is becoming "no one", she's clearly resisting. And now that she is understanding her warging a bit more, she is finding ways to succeed in training without having to truly be "no one".

I see a light at the end of her tunnel... I just hope that in the Winds of Winter, we'll also see the light at the end of Bran's. Losing Arya or Bran to these identities would be too sad for me to handle.

This is how I see it to. When she was at the port with the ships, she tried to get enough coin to get on a ship going to Eastwatch, IIRC, so that she could get to the wall to see Jon. Noone would take her there. Noone was going and she didn't have enough coin. When she found out the ship was going to Braavos, she remembered her coin and the saying without knowing what was awaiting her. Once there, she realized she didn't have anywhere else to go.

I loved her warging into the cat! I was half expecting her third thing to be that she had killed the sailors for being slavers and instead she wraps him on the hand. That was awesome.

I wonder if they'll ever find out her warging abilities and what they think of it.

I think her connection to Jon will be her ultimate saving grace in the struggle for her to forget who she is and be no one. They have a strong connection, as we can see them both thinking of each other and missing one another.

[carmocodran]

A nice little chapter, not my favourite but it was good fun to catch up with events in Braavos.

Thoughts on 'The Blind Girl':

* The sea lord is sick. I wonder if this is the same sealord who signed the marriage agreement between Oberyn Martell and Willem Darry? We know that the Braavosi are not very fond of dragons, we know that Jaqen has a key to the citadel - where there just so happens to be a tome about The Death of Dragons - and now the sealord is sick. I don't think this is a coincidence. Who in Braavos doesn't want the dragons back on the Westerosi throne?

-> THEORY -> I wonder if the sealord had pledged his armada to the cause of the restoration of the dragons?

* The wildlings at Hardhome, it is interesting that the Lyseni have rescued some of them. Note that Jon said he would take the women and children first too, are these Wildlings going to be once bitten twice shy?

* We learn more about the customs of the House of Black and White - being escaped slaves has a great deal of emphasis in this chapter, I wonder if that is going somewhere.

* Loved Arya warging the cat!

[anemona]

Who do you think is the young dead body???

[anemona]

I got this feeling reading it that this chapter was written years ago. It felt like good old Martin.

[David bc]

I think Arya's task will be to kill Stannis or Tommen.

[Nathan Storm]

This my favorite POV. I want to see more!

[Sandor's Wench]

I am so frustrated that more of you aren't discussing who the young man that came to die was.

[DanyStark]

I have missed Arya. So glad to have her back.

[Spidey]

But the real question is why Arya killed Dareon. I think that maybe Jon Snow--through mental telepathy--triggered Arya

to kill Dareon because Dareon abandoned his vows to the Nights Watch. Why else would Arya kill him for deserting? She's

not a sworn brother...why would she care if he deserts. I just think there is a powerful connection between Jon Snow

and Arya...a mental and spiritual bond.

I think it is a lot simpler than that. She's a Stark. The Starks are Wardens of the North and it falls to them to punish deserters. And since she was the only Stark in Bravos, she probably felt like it was her inherited duty to carry out the sentence.

[Athel]

She still has Needle tucked away, doesn't she? I don't see her going all faceless so long as she's got that and Nymeria is alive.

Edit: And wouldn't it just be lovely if she was sent after Melisandre? Epic catfight incoming!

[JonTargaryenSnow]

This was, without question, my favorite chapter in ADWD. She's still Arya, no matter what face she's wearing or whether she has all her senses. I LOVED that she could warg into the cat!!!!! She's like Bran! I bet Jon can do it too, he just doesn't know it. It'd be cool if Jon warged into Drogon! Ok, anyway, yes....this was a much needed POV in a long, long, long, long book of ho-hum.

[Arya Rocks]

Where did this idea that the faceless men will send Arya to kill members of her own family/loved ones as a final test come from? That doesn't seem to be in keeping with character of either of them. And I certainly don't agree that she's "a bad seed". She's of that world, she's a survivor, she seeks vengeance, justice. She's one of the few characters (along with Jon) who seem to stay true to themselves and the honor they were taught. Arya is badass! It is fun, however, to think of her becoming a young girl Dexter in Westerosi!

Amen and hallelujah to that! :cool4: