Arya in Braavos, So Spake Martin

[The Lord's Kiss]

While reading the update on Aegon's invasion and the strength of all the armies in the North and how the Reach and the Westerlands joined forces for the largest force ever (at that time) I found that stuff to be quite interesting. Especially the fact that Brandon Snow, Torrhen Stark's bastard brother offered to sneak behind the lines and kill Aegon's three dragons. Ha, good luck bro. Guess Brandon Stark was Brandon Snow reborn. What caught me and interested me the most was this quotation.

"He said that LOVES to write about Arya's adventures in Braavos. He said he could write whole novels about. That received a huge applause until he joked that maybe he could put off Winds to do so."

This seems to mean something, I just don't know what it is. Either:

1) GRRM has not written anything about Arya for TWoW, and still has yet to do so if he plans on including her in the book, which I expect he does. He was just talking about writing for her in A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons.

2) GRRM has written some or all of the chapters for Arya for TWoW and she continues to remain in Braavos under Izembaro's tutelage. Martin has said that he writes chapters for each character one after another, and then separates them for the books for chronology's sake. This means she does not

meet up with Justin Massey and Asha and head back to the Wall with them once Massey has hired his sellswords as others have been speculating

.

3) I doubt this one very much because of how busy he's been, but GRRM has written every single one of the Arya chapters he has left to write, including the ones in A Dream for Spring. In this novel she will finally graduate and be sent on her first real mission as an assassin. She continues to train as a Faceless Woman, and going with The Ice and Fire Assessment Theory, which was very good by the way, and I think she will eventually be sent to kill Dany in the last book, since the Braavos have a long-standing hatred of Valyrians and this is the best way to tie the Faceless Men into that theory.

I dunno, random speculation much, but it just got me thinking. Anybody have any ideas?

[Ice Turtle]

Hard to tell, I just hope there will be more than 2-3 Arya chapters in the Winds.

[The Lord's Kiss]

Yeah he's so cryptic as usual, but with so many POVs this book who knows.. 4 chapters is basically the most any character can get at this point. I was just really hoping Arya would get out of Braavos but this makes it seem like she's not going to anytime soon.

[ARYa_Nym]

Well tbh, I've never gotten why some just want her to leave the FM immediately in the next book whether it's hearing about Jon or seeing Justin Massey.

What would be the point of her FM/Braavos chapters then?

Also, usually it's just so that she can join up with either Jon or Sansa. They have their own storyline. I'd rather Arya have one of her own as well and not be their sidekick.

I think Izembaro is in Braavos because the KM said that she would need a face that the city watch doesn't know.

There have been theories that she will receive courtesan training because of the amount of mentions in her chapters and the fact that the KM said that she needed a pretty face but I'm not sure on that.

[pig]

Also, usually it's just so that she can join up with either Jon or Sansa. They have their own storyline. I'd rather Arya have one of her own as well and not be their sidekick.

This.

[The Lord's Kiss]

She can have her own storyline, she's had it since Ned got taken prisoner and it was wonderful up through A Storm of Swords. She's still my favorite character because of those first three books.. I just found the last two to be lacking in the urgency and catharsis that her journey has previously had. Send her to go kill Dany, send her to the Wall and have something terrible happen so she ends up in Hardhome, or keep her in Braavos but have her do something other than assassinate some grumpy old insurance salesman by having him bite a poisonous coin. I dunno.. I'm sure TWoW will be great, I just don't want lose my favorite chapters.

[ARYa_Nym]

I believe that he has something planned for her we just don't know what it is yet for sure.

I think in AFFC-ADWD she had to train to make it more believable. She needed to be tempered a bit by the FM so that she can be a bit more disciplined. We also got a window to Braavos through her POV.

[Sand Snake No. 9]

"He said that LOVES to write about Arya's adventures in Braavos. He said he could write whole novels about. That received a huge applause until he joked that maybe he could put off Winds to do so."

That's great, because I love reading them.

I don't want her to become an appendage to any other character's story, but I also think that she inevitably will return to Westeros.

[ServantOnIce]

I still think Arya dies, maybe she dies in Braavos . . . . that means that either Sansa or Rickon will be the next Stark to fall.

[pig]

The problem with Arya being almost anywhere other than where she is right now is that she would either become little more than someone's ward were she to be reunited with any of her family, or a hostage, like Sansa, were she to be captured by any of the southron Lords (or, god forbid, the Boltons). Either way, she becomes markedly less interesting as a character.

That she could go it alone in war torn Westeros, at this point, is simply not believable. She slipped notice once because she was a child, but a girl the age she is now wouldn't slip notice; she would be raped. Repeatedly. By every mummer, sellsword and small town sicko that crossed her path.

I'd rather she stay where she is; relatively safe and protected, preparing for whatever her ultimate role in the story is.

[The Lord's Kiss]

nooo wayy. No more Starks are dying. Definitely not Sansa and Rickon at least. And we know Bran's invincible now, or near enough to make no matter.

[The Lord's Kiss]

The problem with Arya being almost anywhere other than where she is right now is that she would either become little more than someone's ward were she to be reunited with any of her family, or a hostage, like Sansa, were she to be captured by any of the southron Lords (or, god forbid, the Boltons). Either way, she becomes markedly less interesting as a character.

That she could go it alone in war torn Westeros, at this point, is simply not believable. She slipped notice once because she was a child, but a girl the age she is now wouldn't slip notice; she would be raped. Repeatedly. By every mummer, sellsword and small town sicko that crossed her path.

I'd rather she stay where she is; relatively safe and protected, preparing for whatever her ultimate role in the story is.

The raping I had not thought of. Perhaps she could dispatch with two or three sickos who happened to cross her path and wanted to have their way with her, but you're right, if a band of Bloody Mummer wannabes happened by on Arya she wouldn't stand a chance. It is interesting how safe Braavos is compared to every other Free City and Westeros. You're right. The room with all the faces bugged me the fuck out, and I guess her assassination method took ingenuity rather than just stab stab stab. I just wonder how long it will be until we see Needle again.

[Sand Snake No. 9]

It occurred to me that Arya doesn't have to go to Westeros right away because a lot of Westeros is going to Braavos.

There's Justin Massey and whoever is in his entourage, on behalf of Stannis.

There's Harys Swyft, who is being sent to Braavos to deal with the Iron Bank along with his guard that includes a couple of people on Arya's list -- although those plans might change after Kevan's death.

Faux Arya might be traveling to Braavos with Justin Massey, assuming she survives the chaos at the Wall and a pursuit by Ramsay.

Tycho Nestorius will be returning to the Iron Bank with news of Stannis and Jon. So I think there might be plenty of Westeros-related activity in Braavos to keep Arya involved even if just as an observer.

[The Lord's Kiss]

I remembered

Justin Massey returning with Tycho, but had not thought about Faux Arya travelling with them. Could very well happen.

And you speak of a pursuit by Ramsay? Pshaw, Stannis shall wipeth the dusty crypts of Winterfell floor with his wormy pink lips. Totally forgot about Harys Swyft heading over there, I hope we get to see that in some way, because that is going to be comedic gold. Or they'll just have Arya kill him.

[TNine]

She could go in plenty of directions. I think she's gonna end up with UnCat and start knocking of Freys, but that's just me. I also think that she will reunite with Sansa before Jon.

Of course, she could also go to Dany in Slaver's Bay. I don't know if we are going to see Starks+Targs in an epic alliance to seize Westeros, but that would be one way of having that happen. Of course, i believe that we will see Starks vs Targs, but that's just me.

[ARYa_Nym]

I believe that she will get involved with the dragon/Dany storyline.

This line from ACoK:

"If I had wings...I'd just fly away, fly up past the moon and the shining stars, and see all the things in Old Nan's stories, dragons and seamonsters and the Titan of Braavos, and maybe I wouldn't ever fly back unless I wanted to."

Also, when she was with Sandor she mentioned a kraken and there was one line about a King who had horses that could walk on water which harks back to what Ned said about the Dothraki.

“Arya had never heard of Old King Andahar. She’d never even seen a horse with two heads either, especially not one who could run on water…”

"I shall fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water."

GRRM also said that the FM haven't yet been assigned to kill dragons so I think there will be a standoff eventually. Arya is our major FM character.

Are the Faceless Men under contract to kill Dany’s dragons?

Not yet (Interviewer: Hmm…)

http://www.asshai.com/martin/entrevistas/entrevista_aviles.php

I'd rather her not go killing Freys because I find that too irrelevant. She said that one day she would learn their names and kill them all but I think GRRM won't give her the opportunity for vengeance. She didn't think about it in ADWD and the FM are against caring about personal vengeance or serving a house's interests.

EDIT: I do not think that she will go to Slaver's Bay but will perhaps meet Dany on her way to Westeros. Maybe in Pentos because that's one of the languages Arya is supposed to be learning. Lys might be another place she may go to because that was another language that she's supposed to be learning.

[Independent George]

He could always release them as an anthology in a separate volume. I would pay cash money for that.

[Rhaegar Targaryen's Ghost]

i'm just about ready for Arya to leave Bravos and come back to Westeros. I'm not sure where her storyline can go, but I want it to happen in westeros.

[rmholt]

I still think Arya dies, maybe she dies in Braavos . . . . that means that either Sansa or Rickon will be the next Stark to fall.

If she dies I will be mad enough to walk all the way to Santa Fe.

[Free Northman]

Arya's Braavos adventures are a welcome relief from the constant depression of the rest of the series.

The lighthearted - "I couldn't give a damn" attitude that she projects even in the worst of circumstances is a crucial oasis for the mind of the horror-weary, emotionally battered reader who has just had to read through a bunch of grave Jon chapters, suffering-filled Theon chapters, emotionally numb Victarrion chapters, sadistic Cersei chapters and depraved Tyrion chapters.

Arya merrily going about extracting the fun out of every situation, and mastering the challenges of whatever she has to face (turning blindness into victory by warging into the cat was a typical example) is an emotional balm to the punch drunk reader.

Saving Sam from the bravos, making friends with Colloqo the Seal King or whatever his name is, learning three new things every month, outwitting the Kindly Old Man and just taking life by the scruff of the neck is the part of ASOIAF I find myself looking forward to most during the long suffering slog through all the death and devestation that is wreaked upon everyone I care about in the rest of the series.

May Arya have more chapters than anyone else in Winds!