[book spoilers] ARYA. discuss.

[Gogossos]

I think we can all agree that vengeance is a word that we associate with her. She doesn't wantonly destroy lives but there is a short list that you just know she is not going to let them live if she can help it. And that list only includes those who have destroyed/hurt her family and their pets. We've mentioned Dareon earlier and that it was an odd touch by GRRM, but I've always thought that it was because he deserted Jon.

[Bee Diddie]

That's right, I nearly forgot about the crow who left Sam and Maester Aemon! Now that you mention it, she wanted to kill The Tickler for his torture as well. So if we consider this, is it vengeance she wants, or justice? While she may not have a true sense of the concept of justice just yet, what would Ned have done in her place? What would an honorable warrior of the north do?

I think their actions would be similar to young Arya's (excluding of course traveling abroad to train as an assassin), but given she's so young and a female in a mideival setting (and wanted by noble houses to exploit her claim as they have done to Sansa) her choices are few.

[SerMixalot]

Im sorry but to an extent I dont believe this. The killing of the guard was not vengence or justice, it was someone in her way. GRRM purposely wrote the story such that it was a northman and she did not gendry or JH or inconjunction with any of them. IIRC there were mummers at Harrenhall or freys at Harrenhall so the killing could have seemed more justified. it was intentionally someone she should have identified with and had no beef with.

Now certainly it could be inthere to demonstrate her continuing detachment witih her identiy as Arya and her continued growth as a cold blooded killer, but her lack of remorse or nightmares on the incident paints her as a sociopath.

she has been traumitized? yes so was joffrey being raised by cersei, that does not make Arya any less responsible for her actions as Joffrey

and I wold not want to stand in the way of a murderous 11 year old gettting what they want

and as an aside, do you get that same feeling of ruthlessness from Show Arya? I dont

[Bee Diddie]

I thought Joffrey's mean streak was a result of his parent's incest. The Targs were certainly prone to madness as a result of such close breeding.

Killing the guard was a necessity of escape.

I don't particularly get a sense of ruthlessness from book Arya.

[lomiller]

I think we can all agree that vengeance is a word that we associate with her. She doesn't wantonly destroy lives but there is a short list that you just know she is not going to let them live if she can help it. And that list only includes those who have destroyed/hurt her family and their pets. We've mentioned Dareon earlier and that it was an odd touch by GRRM, but I've always thought that it was because he deserted Jon.

IMO it's because she is a Stark. Death is the penalty for desertion from the Nights Watch and Starks have carried out that penalty for 6000 years.

[Whitering]

Actually taking out Daeron, which I hope she does in the show, was very in character. She has always been a little wild, I suspect that even the nine year old fresh out of Winterfell Arya would have thought him deserving of execution, but just not have had the means or talent to pull it off.

He deserted from the Night's Watch. Even in this world deserting from a military order can get you killed. In the West it mostly now gets you imprisoned for a long time, but that's pretty recent.

[Mulled Wino]

Reading this thread it is easy to see how Arya can be viewed as a psycho, but I never truly got a sense of that when reading her POV. She's an eleven year old girl thrown into a bad situation and she's a survivor and a Stark, the blood of the first men is strong in her.

I am re-reading the books now, and her inner narrative doesn't describe someone without remorse, in my humble opinion. In aSoS she misses Hot Pie, even though she admits he was weak and thoroughly useless, she doesn't want to tell the things she's done to someone who she associates with her father because she can't bare for the late Lord Eddard to know. Even later in aDwD I never got the sense she was a cold killer, only that she wants the learn the skills she needs to exact vengeance from the people responsible for destroying the life she knew.

She's cold blooded in that she doesnt hesitate to kill when its necessary.

Very good points though by yourself and someone else regarding her sense of remorse.