[Book Spoilers] Arya's plot for Season 4?

[YouSnowNothing]

This is how I would like to see Aryas story go:

S3 E9: Red wedding; Arts takes an axe to the head, her fate is unknown

S3 E10: Arya wakes up beside the river with the Hound. He explains what went down at the Twins. Arts sees a woman's body floating down the river and just knows that it's Cat. She jumps into the river crying trying to reach the body but the current is too strong and the Hound rescues her pulling her from the river. (I just don't think they're going to get in to Aryas wolf dreams, not yet anyway)

S4 E2: Cut the Eyrie subplot all together. The Hound tells Arya he has no use for her and she's free to go but she decides to tag along anyway realizing she has nowhere else to go.

S4 E3: They find the dying archer and the Hound kills him, afterward giving a monologue about "mercy" setting up Aryas decision to not give it to him later on.

S4 E5: They arrive in that random village and decide to stay there to earn some money to get a ship.

S4 E6: They integrate themselves within the town while doing work to help them rebuild.

S4 E7: The village is used as a stand in for the Saltpans raid. The village is brutally raided;Arya and the Hound help to defend it but realize they are too outnumbered and leave.

S4 E8: They sneak back to the village to inspect the damage and find Polliver and Co looting the inn. The fight at the inn occurs with Arya killing Polliver and recovering Needle while the Hound is wounded.

S4 E9: Arya leaves the Hound to die, denying him mercy (I hope this scene is just as it was in the book)

S4 E10: Arya arrives in Saltpans and takes ship to Braavos, maybe with the captain giving some mention of the Faceless Men.

Well that's how I would like it to happen. I think it gives the Hound and Arya some much needed screen time without too much filler while staying pretty close to the books.

I like the idea of using the village more in the show. It gives them a good standing location to use and create a bit of context to Sandor/Arya bonding. However I would restructure it so that:

Episodes 1-4: Travelling, arriving at a village in the Vale, settling down there, bonding, exposition about mercy-killing, introduction to local bandits (i.e. Tickler stand-in), just general build-up stuff. I wouldn't cut the Eyrie stuff, I'd play up the idea that Sandor plans to go there just as soon as possible, teasing an Ayra/Sansa reunion .

Episode 5: Village attacked by raiders. Arya witnesses vicious slaughter and atrocities but escapes with the Hound.

6: Travelling with Hound, comes across raiders in inn. Arya kills the guy and retrieves Needle.

7: Sandor is injured, dying, asks for mercy, Arya leaves him

8: Gives coin to the sailor and says "Valar Morghulis"

9: On the boat to Braavos, exposition about the Faceless Men

10: Arrival at the HoBaW and meeting the Kindly Man, decides to join them

[Peasant Rebel Leader]

There's not really room to build up new characters/locations for Arya when you have the Purple Wedding (incl. new Dornish characters) and the Ironborn plot in the season, right? The minutes need to come from somewhere. There's also the battles at Castle Black and Meeren, so are those additions really necessary? (Instead of using the built up&introduced stuff like the Eyrie, HotPie&the Inn, or the Brotherhood) Why slaughter a "to be introduced" village, when you have characters around?

Compare it to this season which had a few nondescript forest shots (not much set building necessary ;)), the inn which might be an existing set but isn't that big a deal anyways and the lowlight cave (which we know was also used for the Jon/Ygritte scene f.e.). What you propose is on a entirely different scale. (Braavos might be a problem, but in essence it will be lots of CGI, a harbor/street or just a canal, and the outside of a house with a door, but yes, it'd be a new one mainly used for the next season).

Also, why is the mercy-killing thing so important? That never registered big to me... Also, they tend to leave these small character moments out when they don't pay off immediately. Basically, you can include that with the "death scene" of the hound.

[Bronn's Squire]

I just think it would be good to have some sort of exposition about the "gift of mercy" so there is more impact when Arya refuses to give it to the Hound. It won't require a whole episode or anything, just a quick one off monologue, repeated later in the "previously on" segment. It just needs to be sad haha

[YouSnowNothing]

There's not really room to build up new characters/locations for Arya when you have the Purple Wedding (incl. new Dornish characters) and the Ironborn plot in the season, right? The minutes need to come from somewhere. There's also the battles at Castle Black and Meeren, so are those additions really necessary? (Instead of using the built up&introduced stuff like the Eyrie, HotPie&the Inn, or the Brotherhood) Why slaughter a "to be introduced" village, when you have characters around?

The village doesn't need much building up, no new characters. But it provides some context to the Arya/Hound stuff, and Arya's murder being related to the horrors she sees during the slaughter is much closer to the book (where it's about the horrors she saw at Harrenhall), than Arya murdering as, say, vengance for Hot Pie. It's more heartbreaking, if you tease the idea that Arya could've found a kind of home in the village, before that was taken from her as well, serving as a "final straw" for Arya to abandon hope of getting home and heading to Braavos (in the books, the RW is the final straw, we need a new one due to the delay). Plus, it sets up the Saltpans/fake!Hound plot for Brienne in S5 (something I imagine will be kept and expanded upon, since IMO Sandor is alive and still has a role to play, so the show will want his presence to be felt still, even if the man himself does not appear until S6, and it ties into the Brave Companions/Brotherhood storylines, which are the important parts of Brienne's story).

Basically, I think expanding on this village which is briefly mentioned in the books allows the show to extend Arya's plot while remaining very close to the themes and characterisation of the books. Having a Lysa/Arya or Stoneheart/Arya meeting massively diverges from the series, and would logically result in much more fallout than the plot constraints allow. The village plot has minimal ripple effect, and can in fact enhance Arya's arc by expanding on themes present in the book, AND tie into later events (fake!Hound outlaw) and themes (the main theme of AFFC is the effect of war - Brienne surveying the remains of this village would be a great way to express this in the show).

[Bronn's Squire]

Thank you Void. Exactly what I was thinking, just didn't have time for much detail in my outline.

[Rhaegarsjoy]

Dunk & Egg 2.0 arya and the hound travelling thought westeros with the hound trying to sell her to anyone from her family.

[Peasant Rebel Leader]

Hmm, so to make the village work, you'll need a farmer, some recurring (&recognizable) extras and include an elaborate death scene for them (so it has impact), when we didn't get one for Irri or Ros f.e. I was under the impression the show wants to pick up speed, not lose. The telegraph the "arya has a dark side" already with the "my god is death"-answer and her general badassnes (backtalking, bow training and so on), that I'm not sure they can hold of her training much longer.

Aside from that, I feel that getting her to Braavos earlier will synch up much better with Sams story. Character interactions are important on this show and they'd do good by emphasizing those more than with new characters. Hence f.e. the Hound. It will be interesting how they handle the hound. Imho, they can't have an explicit death scene if they want to use him later on. A vague one also doesn't seem to be the best way forward since he's a big character and that would basically tell the audience that he's still alive. But Brienne's travels and all that is a whole other storyline plotting problem which has pages written on it.

[PhoenixFlame]

Hmm, when I picture Sandor's death scene, I think of that Merlin miniseries where Arthur is slumped against a tree and Merlin rides off. In the background, you see Arthur falling completely. Maybe something like that, but not quite as implicative that he bites it.

I don't know if fake!Hound is going to be in it--he hasn't had his Hound helm since S1. Maybe it's tucked away in a saddlebag.

[Javi Marcos]

In my opinion Arya shouldn't be 100% in at least 3 episodes next season, let's say 4x01, 4x05 and 4x09.

She'll be staying with the Hound in 4x02, 4x03 and 4x04, fighting some guys or visiting villages, just random or even invented staff.

Then in 4x06 they will reach the inn, in 4x07 they will fight there and in 4x08 Arya will see Sandor dying. Then in 4x10 she travels to Braavos.

The alternative is moving Brienne's boring trips to Season 4

The Sandor fight at the inn+dying should be in, let's say, 4x05, so Brienne could reach Quiet Island in 4x08 or 4x09 and find the grave digger.

The problem would be what to do with Arya next episodes.

She could not appear in 4x06 and 4x09. Ante then 2 alternatives

1) She would just travel alone in 4x07 and 4x08 (the invented scenes should come here, but those invented scenes would be far weaker than the ones with the Hound we mentioned before). And in 4x10 take the ship to Braavos

2) She would travel alone in 4x07, take the ship in 4x08 and in 4x10 reach Braavos. Problem? Bravos is maybe too expensive for just one episode. Maybe she will just see the Titan, land in the town and hear in the pier something about the House of Black and White.

[Ice Turtle]

I think that we can have at least two episodes without the Hound, first episode: two scenes: woman cheating her during horse selling and Arya getting passage at Braavosi ship, next episode Arya at Titan's daughter someone telling us something about House of Black and White

That said Arya getting passage and Arya entering the Temple are two best endings I can imagine.

About need to build a new set: well, for one episode a lot of fog would do. Something like later re-casted extra among locations.

PS: I agree with posters who said that Arya won't be in all episodes I would guess the she will be absent in 2-3 of them.

[Winterz]

I think Arya will be a bit off screen next season and her storyline's screen time will be similar to Bran's this season. Just a few walk throughs, small developments in their conversation, the eventual fight and she abandoning him for Braavos.

[Bronn's Squire]

I think Rorge and Polliver and maybe one other random will be Arya and Sandor's kills at the inn. Polliver has Needle and Rorge is really the only other one of the Harrenhal crew that got any screentime. It doesn't make sense to save Rorge for Brienne because in the show they haven't had any interaction. I'm guessing Locke/Host will be Brienne's kill at Orphan Inn.

[WheelofIceandFire]

I hope they dont leave her out for most of the season. Theon isnt in book three but they still featured him heaviliy this season so they should easily make up some stuff for Arya if they want to end with her going to Braavos. This is an adaptation so they could easily create something completely original for Arya to do either with or without The Hound. They could be captured by The Mountains men (with Polliver leading them) and could come up with an season long arc with them eventually killing them and escaping. The season could then end with Arya leaving the Hound and going to Braavos.

It would be a shame if Maisie Williams wasnt given much to do next season. She is one of the best actors on the show and is always consistent, so i hope they come up with something for her to do without leaving her out too much. Having her miss more than 2-3 episodes would be stupid IMO.

I know she doesnt have much to do in part 2 of book three, but the same could be said for most characters other than those in Kings Landing and at the Wall. The Grejoys will obviously be introduced but other than that, the other 'main' characters are in a similar situation to Arya. Dany will probably just continue to do what she is doing, Bran will be beyond the wall for the whole season, Sansa will leave KL after the PW and arrive at Eyrie, Stannis will arrive at the wall, Jaime will just be stuck in KL (with Brienne?). I dont think anyone needs to worry about Arya's story next season. She will probably feature as much as she has in the first 3 seasons.

But, i do think it would be best to have some of her content from Braavos added to Season 4. Have her leave the Hound mid way through and train for a few episodes with The Kindly Man. Have her kill someone in episode 8/9 and then end her season with her going blind. Then they could easily have more for her to do in Season 5 (maybe even expand on her training, give her a small assignment that takes up most of the season etc)

[Hiram McDrogon]

Biggest surprise of all: D&D have learned from GRRM that Arya in fact plays no significant part in the story as a whole, and he's at a loss for what to do with her - so D&D kill her off at the RW too. That cliffhanger where we're supposed to fear she's dead? She's really dead.

I almost wish that'd happen just to see what happens to this board, except I fear that would also somehow cause my computer to burst into flames. That's how the internet works, right?

My real fear: Maisie Williams will soon be old enough that they may decide to have her act the seductress to augment her assassin skills. That would just be so wrong.

We probably won't see Arya head off to Braavos until other characters head in that direction, so I'm guessing her departure will be roughly in line with Sam leaving Castle Black, Tyrion fleeing King's Landing, and maybe even Jorah's departure from Dany, as well as Davos getting Gendy out of Dragonstone. I'm assuming most of this will be around the end of S04, but they do have a problem filming this: the different storylines have radically differing amounts of material left in them. (Totally unrelated to the topic: KL is great now, but what's going to be like after Joffrey and Tywin are dead, and Tyrion and Varys are gone?)

[WheelofIceandFire]

Arya shouldn't be in any less than 6-7 episodes in my opinion. Kings Landing, Dany and Jon will obviously be given the most screen time, but it doesn't look like they are going to be introducing the Ironborn this season so I don't see why Arya will be pushed to the background. This is the last season that Rory McCann is going to be in the show (unless the Hound plays a big part in the last two books) so I can see them giving him and Maisie plenty of time together before Arya leaves him to die

[Ser Tahu]

We know from reports from the set that Arya and Sandor are going to get MUCH closer to the Eyrie in the show than they do in the books (as in base of the mountain close). So I believe that they are going to play up how close Arya and Sansa get to reuniting (probably around episode 6). My prediction is that they will get turned away at the gates of the moon, with the reason being the large number of small folk fleeing the Riverlands because of the war.

After that, I predict the fight at the inn to take place in episode 8, and then I think Arya's season will end in the finale with her on the ship with the Titan in the distance. Having her actually arrive in Braavos this season would require them to either create new sets or travel to a new filming location, as well as hiring more extras and possibly casting more charters. So from a budgetary and production standpoint it doesn't make much sense for her to arrive until season 5.

[AccusedSinner]

It seems like Mark Gatiss is going to be playing Aeron + Euron + Victarion(all merged together) from what i've read from some of the news sources and there's probably NOT going to be a Kingsmoot but heck i could be wrong. But would be cool !!

[Colonel Green]

My prediction is that they will get turned away at the gates of the moon, with the reason being the large number of small folk fleeing the Riverlands because of the war.

It could be that they'll hear that Petyr Baelish is there, and the Hound decides not to give Arya to him. Because if they actually get to the Giant's Lance and some random guards are enough to dissuade them from going further, that's pretty silly. Just tell the guards about having Arya or whatever; it'd be enough to spark interest.

[Martini Sigil]

My feeling is that Arya will be in Bravos by ep 6-7... Other than getting needle back, and ditching a prone Hound, there is not much else for her character to do.... so she makes her way to the coast, and boards the ship. Maybe there's some new dialogue while onboard, but her next phase is in Bravos.

Unless, of course, I'm missing something, which is a distinct possibility.

[Colonel Green]

My feeling is that Arya will be in Bravos by ep 6-7... Other than getting needle back, and ditching a prone Hound, there is not much else for her character to do.... so she makes her way to the coast, and boards the ship. Maybe there's some new dialogue while onboard, but her next phase is in Bravos.

Unless, of course, I'm missing something, which is a distinct possibility.

They'll invent stuff to pad out her season, I imagine. Production-wise it makes more sense to end the season with her boarding the ship and showing Braavos next year.