Becoming No One: Rereading Arya II

[Lummel]

Just because we like it doesn't mean everybody else will :)

All I can say is that bad ass means naughty donkey. It's a bizarre popular culture concept were killing people in a dramatic and theatrical manner while displaying sangfroid is applauded. But GRRM is combining realism with fantasy. We see plausible psychological grounds for the likes of Sandor and Tywin. We see the consequences of violence, it's not acrobatic but horrible. Arya is a little girl, she should be throwing balls not kettles of hot weasel soup. She been pluged into a world of horror.

Yes the signs of the plot are there to be seen, Glover clearly expected Hoat's men to be releasing them. The captives also are dirty appearing - but not injured. You'd expect more injured men among a group captured in battle. Arya's action sped things up, but also if she hadn't been involved, she would not have ended up as Roose Bolton's cupbearer and chief leech wrangler.

[Blisscraft]

Lummel and Lyanna - As my very wise brother once told me, "Wounded animals will bite." This could apply to both Arya and Sandor (and some other characters as well).

[Ragnorak]

Rapsie, just an awesome write up. Loved it.

What did Roose know and when did (or will he ever) know it?

“Nymeria,” she said. “Only she called me Nan for short.”

“You will call me my lord when you speak to me, Nan,” the lord said mildly. “You are too young to be a Brave Companion, I think, and of the wrong sex. Are you afraid of leeches, child?”

This time she knew better than to say that she’d sooner work in the stables. “Yes, your lord. I mean, my lord.”

Roose has his mi'lord vs my lord talk with Theon later so we know he's particularly aware of the difference. I've always thought it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume he spots this as a sign of her being a highborn child. Now I noticed the "your lord" too. Is this used from one noble to another where no fealty is owed? Is it used among those of equal rank regardless of fealty owed? Or am I just off here? How big of a clue is "your lord" as to possible identities for this curious soup child?

His comment about her being too young to be a Brave Companion seem to imply that he is pondering what or who she actually is. Maybe the lion and the manticore was an attempt at getting her to say which animal (House sigil) she did in fact prefer? Would Roose know the names of the direwolves of the Stark children? He would certainly know they all had one-- that tale has probably spread past Braavos if a LC of the Watch qualifying as pub gossip is any indication.

I think we can conclude that Roose knows she's a noble I'm not too sure about knowing she's Arya but it isn't out of the question with Nymeria, "my lord" and "your lord" as clues. I can easily see Roose as keeping this to himself and waiting until he can turn her over to win favor with Robb. His "gentle" treatment of Arya throughout her time here (a couple incidents will come up where I suspect Roose might have had "sharp lessons" for a lowborn servant) may be because he know she's highborn but that doesn't mean he knows she's Arya. The fact that Roose eventually marries "Arya" to Ramsay and that Arya is present in Harrenhal while Roose plots the Red Wedding is what really has me wondering.

Nymeria and Nan are both names of power. She has become a wolf again just like she prayed for. Nan has multiple layers. Harrenhal and all the imagery we get is the thing of old Nan's stories. Taking "Nan" as a name is staking claim to the power of songs and stories-- the power of the author.

Great posts all around. Thoroughly enjoyable to read such interesting perspectives on this chapter.

[Lummel]

...Roose has his mi'lord vs my lord talk with Theon later so we know he's particularly aware of the difference. I've always thought it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume he spots this as a sign of her being a highborn child. Now I noticed the "your lord" too. Is this used from one noble to another where no fealty is owed? Is it used among those of equal rank regardless of fealty owed? Or am I just off here?...

I think you are off here with the your lord, I remember Peter Ustinov doing something similar when telling a joke about a Dutch Art historian and an English Duke who had a Rembrandt (or similar) that hadn't appeared in the Art Historian's definitive catalogue, although on the other hand Arya is his lady. She could have correctly said to him "I am your Lady, Arya of House Stark". Some gender and identity confusion here maybe?

Definitely the mi'lord my lord is interesting given ADWD...unless like Jeyne westerlings' hips it is a mistake. Convoluted theory - Ramsey gets a low class servant in the form of his Reek, but Roose prefers his servants to be correctly spoken? You'd think he notice from her accent that she was a northerner and not a Riverlands girl too :dunno:

[Bright Blue Eyes]

More of a silent observer in this thread, because I currently lack the time for an indepth reread. Just giving my opinion.

Roose has his mi'lord vs my lord talk with Theon later so we know he's particularly aware of the difference. I've always thought it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume he spots this as a sign of her being a highborn child. Now I noticed the "your lord" too. Is this used from one noble to another where no fealty is owed? Is it used among those of equal rank regardless of fealty owed? Or am I just off here? How big of a clue is "your lord" as to possible identities for this curious soup child?

In my opinion you are reaching for straws here. There are two instances in the books where "your ..." is used as a title: First is "your Grace". Between equals it's always "my Lord" or "Ser". For the lower nobility as well.

Second is "his lordship" used by peasants to speak of their overlord. If I remember correctly, it is transformed into "your lordship" once or twice, with a lot of blushing and stammering, by people who don't know how to address a noble properly and/or are extremely shy.

In that way "your Lord" is exactly what you'd expect from a peasant - corrected to the instructed way at the last instant. I believe Arya's disdain for proper protocol saves her in this situation. Sansa would have spoken the proper title out of instinct, but Arya never developed that instinct.

I think you are off here with the your lord, I remember Peter Ustinov doing something similar when telling a joke about a Dutch Art historian and an English Duke who had a Rembrandt (or similar) that hadn't appeared in the Art Historian's definitive catalogue, although on the other hand Arya is his lady. She could have correctly said to him "I am your Lady, Arya of House Stark". Some gender and identity confusion here maybe?

Definitely the mi'lord my lord is interesting given ADWD...unless like Jeyne westerlings' hips it is a mistake. Convoluted theory - Ramsey gets a low class servant in the form of his Reek, but Roose prefers his servants to be correctly spoken? You'd think he notice from her accent that she was a northerner and not a Riverlands girl too :dunno:

I wouldn't put to much stock into her northern accent. She spent two years in Kings Landing and the Riverlands, that leaves marks. For example, I've got about four different accents mixed together after moving a lot. it even changes depending on whether I talk to my friends, my father or my grandparents.

Furthermore, Cat had a Riverlands accent to start with, probably Septa Mordane and Maester Luwin as well. Half of the people teaching her to speak.

And Roose is a Northerner himself. He'd have trouble recognizing the Northern parts in her accent. The Riverlands and KIngs Landing bits would be much more obvious to him.

[Ragnorak]

I think you are off here with the your lord, I remember Peter Ustinov doing something similar when telling a joke about a Dutch Art historian and an English Duke who had a Rembrandt (or similar) that hadn't appeared in the Art Historian's definitive catalogue, although on the other hand Arya is his lady. She could have correctly said to him "I am your Lady, Arya of House Stark". Some gender and identity confusion here maybe?

Definitely the mi'lord my lord is interesting given ADWD...unless like Jeyne westerlings' hips it is a mistake. Convoluted theory - Ramsey gets a low class servant in the form of his Reek, but Roose prefers his servants to be correctly spoken? You'd think he notice from her accent that she was a northerner and not a Riverlands girl too :dunno:

Ok. It was a question for a reason. It was the self correction of “Yes, your lord. I mean, my lord.” that made me wonder. I have a vague recollection of Cat using "your lord" as a form of address but I wasn't certain. I know Meera has a "Your Grace" address to Bran before the Red Wedding that is probably on the mistake list.

I still think we can conclude that Roose suspects he has someone's highborn daughter just from the Theon "my lord" exchange. He could just suspect it is some Whent bannerman's daughter picked up in the slaughter of the Riverlands. If he did know he had Arya and she escaped it would complicate (in interesting ways) the analysis of agreeing to use a fake Arya knowing for certain the real one was still about. Having the likely last surviving daughter of some holding in the Riverlands is a worthwhile asset to keep around.

Gendry and Hot Pie liking their work and not caring which lord they serve is typical of the attitude we see among most smallfolk. It fits with Jorah telling Dany how the smallfolk care nothing for who sits the Iron Throne. It also stands out because we know it will matter and all these smallfolk will suffer a monstrous fate under Harrenhal's future lords. "A sword’s a sword, a helm’s a helm, and if you reach in the fire you get burned, no matter who you’re serving." will no longer apply.

[Lummel]

your grace is the correct form of address for Bishops and Dukes, maybe for heirs to the crown of the north too (although I would have expected it to be your Highness)?

@Bright Blue Eyes, I know what you are saying, but in Arya's case the time she spent in King's landing she was mixing almost entirely with Northerners and according to the global timeline its about thirteen months rather than two years since she arrived in King's Landing. Although on the whole you are right, I don't think GRRM makes enough of accents and regional speech differences for this to be something that Roose should have been able to notice. In story terms I suppose we have to accept that she is passable.

[1234567]

Another out if place and odd reference in Arya's chapter is the following:

"Through the empty mews, where people said the spirits of dead falcons stirred the air with ghostly wings."

There are only 3 references to falcons in ACOK.

1. When Sansa is describing the various people she sees praying in the Sept and falconers come up in the list.

2. The above quote from Arya's chapter

3. The Appendix where it lists the Arryn sigil as the Moon and Falcon.

I've seen little that would connect Arya to the Vale, but the moon is highly connected with her and as we now know LF orcestrated the death if Jon Arryn and will be The Lord of Harrenhal.

It may just be an atmospheric passage, but something about it is a bit off. Anyone else have any ideas?

[Elba the Intoner]

For a while after I finished this book and AFFC I had a strong suspicion that Roose knew who Arya was, but that didn't seem to play out that way after ADWD.

[brashcandy]

My apologies for the delay on the next chapter everyone. Arya X will be up tomorrow, and then we'll be moving on to ASOS next week after the ACOK recap.

[Blisscraft]

Another out if place and odd reference in Arya's chapter is the following:

"Through the empty mews, where people said the spirits of dead falcons stirred the air with ghostly wings."

There are only 3 references to falcons in ACOK.

1. When Sansa is describing the various people she sees praying in the Sept and falconers come up in the list.

2. The above quote from Arya's chapter

3. The Appendix where it lists the Arryn sigil as the Moon and Falcon.

I've seen little that would connect Arya to the Vale, but the moon is highly connected with her and as we now know LF orcestrated the death if Jon Arryn and will be The Lord of Harrenhal.

It may just be an atmospheric passage, but something about it is a bit off. Anyone else have any ideas?

Margaery has a peregrine, which is a variety of falcon. Someone noted this before in this tread (I think). It takes down a heron which is a very large crane. Falcons kill with their talons, then rip apart their prey with sharp hooked beaks. Falcons were the symbol of kingship in ancient Egypt, represented by the god, Horus. Because falcons see so well and can dive so fast, they have been associated with war by conquest, the rapid fire strike out of no where from an invading army. A peregrine falcon, like Margaery's, gets its name from the Latin, peregrinus, which means foreigner or wanderer. Because of falcons' great flying and hunting abilities, as well as the fact that falcons are part of the landscape of the sky, they are seen as both messangers of the gods and companions which lead the dead to the afterlife. As such, the falcons become a symbol of rebirth, as with the god Horus, who conquers darkness and death and rises again at sunrise.

It is this last idea that seems to link the moon with the falcon, time within darkness only to rise again with the dawn, from a time within the "reflected" light, the moon, to soar in upward in the "direct" light of the sun. In this regard, it seems that the moon and the falcon represent something inchoate, awaiting the proper circumstances to spread wings and soar.

As both Sansa and Arya are so young and have yet to reach their full potential, they are presently in a world of darkness and reflected light, (not only because they are "girls," but also because they are "children," and still a reflection of their parents). The cold winds of winter are rising and inevitable, but so too, is the promise of spring and the coming of dawn.

[Lonin]

A very interesting read, thanks to the OP team... a good read :drunk:

[brashcandy]

Arya X

Summary

Something is rotten in the state of Harrenhal:

The heads had been dipped in tar to slow the rot. Every morning when Arya went the well to draw fresh water for Roose Bolton’s basin, she had to pass beneath them. They faced outward so she never saw their faces, but she liked to pretend that one of them was Joffrey’s. She tried to picture how his pretty face would look dipped in tar. If I was a crow I could fly down and peck off his stupid fat pouty lips.

Some of the heads belong to the castle household – Maester Tothmure, Lucan the armourer, and Goodwife Harra - who have all been killed for providing services to Tywin Lannister. Pretty Pia and the other women who had sex with Lannister soldiers are put into stocks and left in the middle of the courtyard to be raped at will by Roose’s men.

Arya is accosted on her way back from the well by Goodwife Amabel, who points out Pia and the other women and threatens that Arya will get that same treatment when Tywin retakes the castle due to the part she played in the Weasel soup.

Arya swung the bucket. The weight of the water made it turn in her hands, so she didn’t smash Amabel’s head in as she wanted, but the woman let go of her anyway when the water came out and drenched her. “Don’t ever touch me,” Arya shouted, “or I’ll kill you. You get away.

Gendry also resents Arya’s weasel soup heroics. She tells him that it wasn’t her fault and that he hated Ser Amory, but Gendry insists:

“I hate this lot worse. Ser Amory was fighting for his lord, but the Mummers are sellswords and turncloaks. Half of them can’t even speak the common tongue. Septon Utt likes little boys, Qyburn does black magic, and your friend Biter eats people.”

Arya reflects that he’s telling the truth. Roose Bolton has given the Bloody Mummers the task of finding Lannisters, and their strategy is to simply return and terroize those who helped them when they were working for the Lannisters. She wishes sometimes that she’d gone with Jaqen and still has the coin he gave her.

On her way back to the bedchamber, she meets with Roose’s squire Elmar Frey.

Elmar could be friendly when he needed help, but afterward he would always remember that he was a squire and she was only a serving girl. He liked to boast how he was the son of the Lord of the Crossing, not a nephew or a bastard or a grandson, but a trueborn son, and on account of that he was going to marry a princess.

When she returns to Roose’s chambers he is being leeched and having a council meeting on the state of the war. Ser Aenys Frey cautions that they must not allow themselves to be trapped by Tywin in Harrenhal, and Roose claims that he has no intention of allowing that to happen. But it is the statement by Ser Hosteen that Robb has lost Winterfell and his brothers are dead that shocks Arya to her core:

For a moment Arya forgot to breathe. Dead? Bran and Rickon, dead? What does he mean? What does he mean about Winterfell? Joffrey could never take Winterfell, never. Robb would never let him. Then she remembered that Robb was not at Winterfell. He was away in the west, Bran was crippled and Rickon was only four. It took all her strength to remain still and silent, the way Syrio Forel had taught her, to stand there like a stick of furniture. She felt tears gathering in her eyes, and willed them away. It’s not true, it can’t be true, it’s just some Lannister lie.

Roose soon dismisses his council and has Arya remove the leeches. He announces that he’s going hunting for wolves and leaves Arya to tend to his chambers.

If the Lannisters hurt Bran and Rickon, Robb will kill them every one. He’ll never bend the knee, never, never, never. He’s not afraid of any of them. Curls of ash floated up from the chimney. Arya squatted beside the fire, watching them rise through a veil of hot tears. If Winterfell is truly gone, is this my home now? Am I still Arya or only Nan the serving girl, forever and forever and forever?

Later on when Roose returns and is having his dinner, Arya questions him on whether he will take her with him when he leaves Harrenhal. Roose imparts that he’s leaving Harrenhal to Vargo Hoat and that she’ll have to stay on there. She encounters a crying Elmar Frey in the yard, who has just received news that his family has been dishonoured and he’s no longer going to marry the princess.

A stupid princess, she thought, that’s nothing to cry over. “My brothers might be dead,” she confided.

Elmar gave her a scornful look. “No one cares about a serving girl’s brothers.”

It was hard not to hit him when he said that. “I hope your princess dies,” she said, and ran off before he could grab her.

She goes to the godswood and prays to the gods for guidance. At first she can only hear the wind in the leaves, but then:

Gooseprickles rose on Arya’s skin, and for an instant she felt dizzy. Then so faintly, it seemed as if she heard her father’s voice. “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives,” he said.

“But there is no pack,” she whispered to the weirwood. Bran and Rickon were dead, the Lannisters had Sansa, Jon had gone to the Wall. “I’m not even me now. I’m Nan.”

“You are Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the north. You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you.”

It is the mention of the wolf blood that steels Arya’s resolve and ends her insecurities. She throws away the wooden sword and goes to Gendry to convince him to escape the castle, along with Hot Pie. She lies to Gendry about Vargo Hoat’s plans and then to the stable hand in order to secure three horses, realizing that the boy will probably be killed for helping her unknowingly. When Gendry and Hotpie arrive with swords and food, Arya must next deal with the guard at the gate.

Alone, she slid through the shadow of the Tower of Ghosts. She walked fast, to keep ahead of her fear, and it felt as though Syrio Forel walked beside her, and Yoren, and Jaqen H’ghar, and Jon Snow. She had not taken the sword Gendry had brought her, not yet. For this the dagger would be better. It was good and sharp.

She tricks the guard with Jaqen’s coin and slits his throat, whispering “Valar morghulis” as he dies. Hot Pie is shocked to find the guard dead, but Arya is nonchalant:

“What did you think I would do?” Her fingers were sticky with blood, and the smell was making her mare skittish. It’s no matter, she thought, swinging up into the saddle. The rain will wash them clean again.

[brashcandy]

Analysis

Character Development

The Rottenness of Harrenhal:

Arya’s days of invisibility in Harrenhal are over – a new state that has meaning on multiple levels. She wears the flayed man of House Bolton on her chest, and is responsible for the upkeep of the Lord’s chambers. We see that despite her hopes of creating a better chance for herself with the Northern control of the castle, she’s arguably made things much worse for everyone else. Once again, she cannot escape the spectre of rape and exploitation as seen when she has to pass Pretty Pia and the other women in the yard being raped by Frey soldiers.

Three Frey men-at-arms were using them that morning as Arya went to the well. She tried not to look, but she could hear the men laughing. The pail was very heavy once full.

Interesting language and juxtaposition; the full bucket could symbolize the guilt Arya feels over her participation in this state of affairs. It’s a burden that she has to bear, and unlike the heads mounted on the wall which are faced away from her, and where she can morbidly fascinate about pecking Joffrey’s fat lips, she cannot avoid seeing what’s happening “on the ground.” Some biblical symbolism seems relevant as well:

Jesus’s meeting with the Samaritan woman where he tells her that he can provide “living water” and the prophecy in the book of Isaiah (referred to as the book of salvation) which states:

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation

The idea of salvation, which comes only from ‘God’ or his ‘chosen one’ seems particularly apt when we consider the “same old” affairs in Harrenhal and Arya’s later experience in the godswood.

The confrontation with Goodwife Amabel continues to highlight Arya’s quick resort to violence when she’s angry or feels threatened, and yet her response seemed particularly vicious this time. Not only does she swing the bucket to bash the woman’s head in, but there are the emphatic threats to kill her if she’s touched again. When she entertains the thought of telling Lord Bolton but decides not to, it doesn’t strike me as an act of mercy or sympathy.

Gendry is proven correct when he stated in the last chapter that when one reaches into a fire you get burned no matter who is ruling. Harrenhal continues to stink, personified by men like Biter and Rorge, the pervert Septon Utt and the black magic of Qyburn. That rottenness extends to the activities of Roose Bolton, as his plans to betray Robb Stark begin to take shape in this chapter.

Arya may wear the bloody man on her clothing, but her identity as a wolf is underscored at various points in the chapter. We see her grief for Bran and Rickon and the idealistic hopes she has for Robb, which are reminiscent of Sansa’s thoughts when she’s taken to Tyrion’s chambers earlier in ACOK. It is her prayer at the godswood, however, that she finally reclaims her faith in being a wolf and identifying as Arya Stark with the wolf blood:

“I’ll be as strong as Robb. I said I would.” She took a deep breath, then lifted the broomstick in both hands and brought it down across her knee. It broke with a loud crack, and she threw the pieces aside. I am a direwolf, and done with wooden teeth.

This seems to have been a very clear intervention by Bloodraven; later on in the night when she hears the wolves howling and thinks that they are calling to her, it might be another indication of her warg identity. Arya’s time in Harrenhal may have alluded to some of the more memorable features of Shakespeare’s Hamlet – a vengeful ghost, a budding plot to kill a king - but Arya is no procrastinator. She moves with quick and decisive action in order to escape Harrenhal, and isn’t above lying to get Gendry to accompany her. It’s interesting how she’s once again implicated in the death of a stable hand. This time she isn’t directly doing the killing, but should we consider her hands to be any less bloody?

Such a question seems almost moot, at least to Arya, by the time she kills the guard at the gate. This time there’s no ambivalence or extenuating circumstances; the falling rain and Arya’s premeditated purpose evoke the term of cold-blooded murder. Although she “slid through the shadow of the Tower of Ghosts”, she’s no longer the ghost of Harrenhal; this time, she uses her known identity as Roose Bolton’s servant to deliver death to the guard. When she speaks of the rain washing her hands clean again, she’s now in another Shakespearean play, only this time she calls to mind Lady Macbeth. Are we witnessing the beginning of a tragedy?

Foreshadowing/Symbolism/Irony

The use of Jaqen’s coin, the repetition of Valar Morghulis: - all point to Arya’s eventual involvement with the Faceless Men. A bit of retroactive foreshadowing with her wearing the flayed man of House Bolton after Jaqen wiped the bloody dagger on her shift in the last chapter. Interesting that Arya doesn’t yet know what the words Valar Morghulis mean, but seems to have an innate/natural understanding of their relevance.

Her warg bond with Nymeria: In addition to her observation that the wolves were calling to her, we see at the end of the chapter when she’s done killing the guard that she’s not the one to howl to alert Gendry and Hotpie. The sound comes from an actual wolf:

When he stopped moving, she picked up the coin. Outside the walls of Harrenhal, a wolf howled long and loud.

Elmar’s Princess: The irony is strong in this one. He doesn’t realize of course that he’s talking to his beloved princess, and Arya had no idea that she was even promised to a Frey. I like that Martin foregrounds the importance of interpersonal/gender relations here. Yes, Arya isn’t cut out to be a princess, but she does try to get along with Elmar, even confiding that her brothers have died. That these two would never get along has more to do with Elmar’s attitudes than any impossibility of Arya finding love in an arranged marriage. Her last words to him are that she hopes his princess dies. I don’t consider it foreshadowing of Arya’s fate, but still noting it for the record.

A Dream come true? :

As Arya crossed the yard to the bathhouse, she spied a raven circling down towards the rookery, and wondered where it had come from and what message it carried. Might be it’s from Robb, come to say it wasn’t true about Bran and Rickon. She chewed on her lip, hoping. If I had wings I could fly to Winterfell and see for myself. And if it was true, 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 sea monsters and the Titan of Braavos, and maybe I wouldn’t ever fly back unless I wanted to.

Arya embarks on a journey at the end of ASOS, seeing (or should see) some of the very things she mentions in her thoughts. The mention of the moon and shining stars is worth exploring. We’ve noted the associations between Arya and the moon before, and it could also be a reference to the House of Black and white. Will she ever want to fly back?

*There’s lots of suggestive details about Roose Bolton in this chapter and his activities in Harrenhal, which might have been the beginning of an even more sinister plot than the one to kill Robb. I haven’t gone into detail in this, but if anyone is interested you can check out these threads:

http://asoiaf.wester...al-lady-dustin/

http://asoiaf.wester...-from-a-bolton/

I found it intriguing that Arya is tied to House Bolton/Freys in two marriage alliances, first to Roose’s Bolton’s squire, and then to his son. I wonder if her return to Westeros will bring her back into contact with Roose, and if she’ll be responsible for his demise in the end?

[Daphne23]

Great summary brashcandy. Some assorted thoughts on this chapter:

Gendry also resents Arya’s weasel soup heroics

Again, Gendry represents the smallfolk's position to Arya and emphasises that they don't care about the macropolitics of the game of thrones. This time, she seems to take his point, but this doesn't stop her lying to him and Hot Pie later in the chapter to encourage them to escape with her. I actually found this passage more shocking than Arya's undoubtedly violent tendencies - both boys have made it clear to her in the last chapter that they are safer when they are not with her, and prefer to stay in Harrenhal, but, recognising that she needs them to escape, she puts herself first, using her quick-wittedness to deceive them. To mitigate her actions, one could argue that she recognises the danger the Bloody Mummers pose and knows that the situation in Harrenhal is different now, but that's still something that Gendry and Hot Pie ought to decide for themselves.

Arya's cleverness, and her powers of memory, are again on show when she turns Roose's rebuke into a means of escape:

"Did I give you leave to question me, Nan?"

"Lord Bolton is not in the habit of being questioned by servants." She crossed her arms.

When she speaks of the rain washing her hands clean again, she’s now in another Shakespearean play, only this time she calls to mind Lady Macbeth. Are we witnessing the beginning of a tragedy?

I agree that this ending is extremely telling - as this is the last Arya chapter in Clash, this is the image of her that we are left with, and it's a troubling one to say the least. Hot Pie's shocked reaction emphasises how far she has parted ways with her former companions and her lack of reaction underlies how traumatised she has become.

(Something else I found interesting in relation to the wider role of women in the novels, although not to Arya in particular, was this passage about Lady Walda:

The Lady Walda wrote from the Twins almost every day, but all the letters were the same. "I pray for you morn, noon, and night, my sweet lord," she wrote, "and count the days until you share my bed again. Return to me soon, and I will give you many trueborn sons..."

Although Lady Walda is not generally somebody I have much sympathy with, given her role in the RW, she doesn't strike me as a stupid woman, and it seems interesting that these letters to Roose clearly serve a pragmatic purpose for her, rather than stemming from any kind of attachment to him; she is clearly aware of her precarious position until she gets pregnant and wants to facilitate this happening as quickly as possible. I was also reminded that Lady Walda later boasts about her success in marriage, comparing herself favourably to her 'spinster' sister Fair Walda, and that interestingly this seems to have little to do with who she has married and is more about having the status of being a wife rather than a maiden (although Roose is also a good catch in economic terms). There are echoes of Charlotte Lucas's marriage to Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice, although the two are obviously nothing alike. I think she's a good example to keep in mind when discussing women and marriage in Westeros more generally. To return to Arya, I think it's clear from her internal monologue that she just thinks Walda is a silly, frivolous woman, and catches none of these undercurrents.)

[brashcandy]

I think she's a good example to keep in mind when discussing women and marriage in Westeros more generally. To return to Arya, I think it's clear from her internal monologue that she just thinks Walda is a silly, frivolous woman, and catches none of these undercurrents.)

Good point. I think we see this too with her dismissal of Elmar's "princess". Although we can sympathise with her thinking that Elmar's grief is frivolous, she's really missing the serious implications of these kinds of arrangements, and one that in this case, has deadly consequences for those she loves dearly.

[Ice Turtle]

• weasel soup heroics, Hot Pie is shocked to find the guard dead, but Arya is nonchalant, When she entertains the thought of telling Lord Bolton but decides not to, isn’t above lying to get Gendry to accompany her.
  

I never considered this reread even moderately objective, but the lighthearted use of words phrases with expressive and derogative undertone in this analysis really went beyond my tolerance limit this time. I'm especially interested if "isn't above lying" was ever used in Sansa reread. Because there probably isn't even chapter in which she didn't lie.

• It’s interesting how she’s once again implicated in the death of a stable hand. This time she isn’t directly doing the killing, but should we consider her hands to be any less bloody?
  

She hoped they would not hurt him afterward, but she knew they probably would.

Where this says that she (or we) can be sure that he will be killed? The guards are killed after Jaime frees Tyrion, and the possibility never even occur to Jaime, but Roose is not Cersei.

• This time there’s no ambivalence or extenuating circumstances
  

Arya does some unquestionably wrong things in this chapter, but this is not one of them. Killing the guard was the only way to escape being almost surely raped and killed. She actually considers tricking or commanding the guard first and only after she dismisses these options she decides to kill him.

[brashcandy]

Tell me how you really feel :) Honestly, I have no time for your nonsense.

[Ragnorak]

Lovely write up, Brash.

Some random thoughts and observations.

Amabel threatens to rape Arya with a splintering broom handle that bears a great deal of similarity to her practice sword. Not sure what to make of that. Arya does break the sword but that seems far more about her reclaiming her identity but the similarity still made me wonder.

We've seen lots of water associations and the bucket is also water as a weapon as well as a burden. She is thinking about the coin as she crosses the Flowstone Yard when she is asked to help clean the rust off the armor. Water shaping stone and water eroding metal over time as sure as all men must die. The rain is cleansing water washing away the blood. The storm and its rains may help or hinder her escape-- water as weather representing the uncertain fortunes of the future. The storm seems a metaphor for Roose's impending betrayal.

Might be it’s from Robb, come to say it wasn’t true about Bran and Rickon. She chewed on her lip, hoping. If I had wings I could fly back to Winterfell and see for myself. And if it was true, I’d just fly away

Interesting that Arya's flying away is conditioned on Bran and Rickon truly being dead. Will this knowledge be what pulls her back?

Why nine dead wolves? Technically there are nine "Starks" if you count Cat, Ned, Jon and Benjen but that doesn't seem to fit. Only two are pups and Roose wants those made into gloves because "Winter is coming." Wearing wolfskin evokes images of Boltons wearing flayed Stark skin and in this case Roose specifically says to protect him from the Winter that is coming. The wolfskin gloves covering his hands is a contrast to the Bolton blood covering Arya's. The wolfskin blanket is for sleeping which reminds me of wolf dreams as well as the idea of sleeping peacefully as a metaphor for a clear conscience.

That Roose took a chill in the woods is not a good sign for a future ruler of the North. He also orders that symbolic boar for dinner.

We've also got the grey and white (Stark colors) hissing cat that reminds her of the black tom from KL. Another Bloodraven presence indicator. There's also her symbolic choice to not catch the Stark colored cat.

[Punchslap]

I never considered this reread even moderately objective

Take it for what it is--there's no obligation to agree with the sentiments or arguments expressed.