Becoming No One: Rereading Arya IV

[Ragnorak]

@ Ragnorak and Lummel

I find some inherent assumptions in your conclusions. One is that the KOM exists to cater to Arya's needs and desires and that failure to do so means that he is disingenuous/manipulative towards her.

...

There is also the assumption that in prompting her to go on with her training he does not have her best interests in mind and is looking how to use her. ...

It isn't so much about assumptions as it is about placing a motivation or agenda on his offer. The Kindly Man states that she believes she has no place else to go and he offers her a number of alternatives to staying at the House of Black and White. He makes an offer to "help" her find an alternative place. Questions about whether his offer serves himself or Arya are inherent in the offer.

As I think about it another possibility occurs to me-- Arya's prayer. We'll later learn that the first FM recruit's membership was the price for granting his prayer. The waif's membership was the price of her father's prayer being granted. Is this the most common or almost universal method of joining? Is the Kindly Man trying to get her to ask for the gift to be delivered to her prayer list with his multitude of undesirable options?

Speak the word, and we will send you to the Black Pearl... tell me, and we shall find a husband for you

Wordless, she shook her head.

There's some similarity between "speak the word" and "speak the name" but it is far from conclusive.

Even without knowing the answer there is a certain parallel between Arya coming to the FM and Jon's initial time at the NW. Unlike the other recruits whose membership was to pay the price of their reprieve, Jon came of his own free will and was thus free to leave-- up until the point he said his vows. There are also some compare and contrasts between the Faceless Men and the First Men tradition of justice though that's probably best left for when Arya kills Daeron.

I can't help but wonder whether or not the Faceless Men can sense magical power in Arya. Mel claims she can sense the power in Jon. Borroq and Jon can sense each other as well. This is probably best left for when Arya starts to be called a wolf girl, but if the Kindly Man can sense some magical power in Arya would it matter? There is a clear sense of magic at play in the House of Black and White, Arya does have a brief wolf dream this chapter, and we get the line All sorcery comes at a cost, child. The Stark warging seems to be natural and not something bought through sacrifice as that line implies (without going into ancient speculation about the Starks, the CotF, and the Pact.) Thinking ahead, when Arya gets her first face there is a bit of similarity to the second life memories of a skinchanger embodied in the face. That magical similarity. the upcoming wolf girl nickname and its connection to her bloodthirsty desire to kill that the FM say she must let go of all connect back to this chapter:

The gods wanted me to have it. Not the Seven, nor Him of Many Faces, but her father’s gods, the old gods of the north. The Many-Faced God can have the rest, she thought, but he can’t have this.

[The Sleeper]

It isn't so much about assumptions as it is about placing a motivation or agenda on his offer. The Kindly Man states that she believes she has no place else to go and he offers her a number of alternatives to staying at the House of Black and White. He makes an offer to "help" her find an alternative place. Questions about whether his offer serves himself or Arya are inherent in the offer.

My objection lies with the fact that whether or not he has Arya's best interests in mind is a question for an external observer. From the KOM's perspective there needs to be no such question. He is examining/interviewing a prospective recruit for his order; there is no need for a further agenda than that. Whether he is encouraging or discouraging her would be about her suitability. For all intents and purposes he leaves it up to her. There is some degree of manipulation and this exchange could very easily qualify as prodding. Still, I don't imagine he considers being an FM a bad thing as he himself appears to be the head FM. While a further agenda, relating specifically to Arya is certainly possible, I don't think we have enough from the text to assume it at the moment. As for whether he wants Arya to be an FM, it is not his wants that matter, it is Arya who asked for it.

As I think about it another possibility occurs to me-- Arya's prayer. We'll later learn that the first FM recruit's membership was the price for granting his prayer. The waif's membership was the price of her father's prayer being granted. Is this the most common or almost universal method of joining? Is the Kindly Man trying to get her to ask for the gift to be delivered to her prayer list with his multitude of undesirable options?

That is a good question. Perhaps this is something to be examined at future chapters, because so far we only have Arya as an example. I have assumed that being the price for an assasination would be the most common way, one joins the FM. Most of them would not succeed. They would need to do something with them. One option would be to turn them into masks. They claim, however, that they do not decide who lives or dies. A way around that would be to get them to go through the training, see if they go through with it or cry uncle and then use them otherwise. ShadowCat mentioned this in her post and I agree.They could place them in various stations within the city and use them in the future. For instance, where did the servants or the cook came from? Brusco, seems to know a bit about them. Isn't it probable that he was a failed prospect? (or that he has had his wife killed and ows the FM)This ties in with the alternatives he presents Arya. It would be business as usual placing her within this presumed network of contacts and she would be part of perpetuating the network, keeping her for future use. If she were a boy, I imagine he would offer to apprentice her to some craftsman or other.As far as her list goes, she initially denies its very existence, she never considers the possiblity of asking them to kill the people in her list and the KOM never brings up the possibility either. If he had wanted to tie her to the FM he could have offered to take care of her list in exchange for her membership. I think, however, that he understands her well enough to know that he would never earn any true loyalty from Arya if he forced it and that her victims dropping dead does not mean anything to Arya. What matters to her is the power to exact vengeance not the act it self.

There's some similarity between "speak the word" and "speak the name" but it is far from conclusive.Even without knowing the answer there is a certain parallel between Arya coming to the FM and Jon's initial time at the NW. Unlike the other recruits whose membership was to pay the price of their reprieve, Jon came of his own free will and was thus free to leave-- up until the point he said his vows. There are also some compare and contrasts between the Faceless Men and the First Men tradition of justice though that's probably best left for when Arya kills Daeron.

That is a good point, but whose to say that all recruits to the FM were not given the same choice upon initiation? They do not need to become priests to be useful. Though that's probably better left for the next chapter.

I can't help but wonder whether or not the Faceless Men can sense magical power in Arya. Mel claims she can sense the power in Jon. Borroq and Jon can sense each other as well. This is probably best left for when Arya starts to be called a wolf girl, but if the Kindly Man can sense some magical power in Arya would it matter? There is a clear sense of magic at play in the House of Black and White, Arya does have a brief wolf dream this chapter, and we get the line All sorcery comes at a cost, child. The Stark warging seems to be natural and not something bought through sacrifice as that line implies (without going into ancient speculation about the Starks, the CotF, and the Pact.) Thinking ahead, when Arya gets her first face there is a bit of similarity to the second life memories of a skinchanger embodied in the face. That magical similarity. the upcoming wolf girl nickname and its connection to her bloodthirsty desire to kill that the FM say she must let go of all connect back to this chapter:

That is a really good question. For my part I'm disnclined to believe that Melisandre actually felt something. I see it more like the leaches thing. She knew a little bit of something about skinchangers and hinted at afurther knowledege and power as is her MO. She doesn't seem to have any innate ability, but more like learned skillis. Thoros did not get any vibes from Arya either. Borroq is a different matter, as he and Jon share the same innate abillity and skinchangers' ability to sense one another has been confirmed through a couple of different sources.If the KOM's skills are likewise learned, it would point to him not knowing. Then again she growls in her sleep.What they would do if they knew? On one hand, it is easy to see how good an FM a skinchanger would make. On the other, an organization like that would not look favorably on one of their members having such a big advantage over the others. Since I am leaning on the second, I am inclined to believe that they don't know.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

The magic the FM possess seems pretty low-key, so far. The only thing that strikes me as authentically supernatural is the application of a new face. All the other things that appear as magical, could very well be an application of (relatively advanced) secret knowledge. For examble, the lie detection is pure skill, nothing magic. The effect of the candles could be based on some volatile psychotropic essence. The KOM prefers the word "art" to describe what they are doing and in a later chapter he uses the same word to refer to glamor along with mummer's tricks as if they belong to the same category.

Originating from the slaves of old Valyria, it would seem logical to be reserved and wary towards the uneven power that magic brings; therefore their moto "all sorcrery comes at a cost", their belief that pain must be the price of power and their self-imposed strict rules of conduct.

I think that it wouldn't feel strange if their view on magic is, in a way, aligned to that of the Citadel. A big difference is, the mainsteam Meister's approach (after the death of the dragons) seems to be that placing all knowledge on magic in an oubliette would suffice to extinguish it, while the HoBaW seem to be much more aware of its power and persistence.

However, I don't think they are quite aware of the skinchanger's kind of magic. The Old Gods are notably absent from their temple, implying that First Men were never a part of this mongrel folk that settled in Braavos. Adding to that the relative isolation of the First Men and the fact that the Old Gods/CotF knowledge has been mostly forgotten south of the Wall, I assume that their insight on this subject must be extremely limited. Arya brings with her an unknown variable.

Back to Arya, the significance of keeping and hiding the Needle has often been a subject of discussion, so I thought to focus on the things she did throw away. How did she come to own them, what do they represent and what does getting rid of them signifies?

Starting from the oldest to newest acquisitions:

1. The boots

Looking back, the last time she was given shoes was in Harrenhal. It's most probably the ill-fitting pair of shoes that Amabel and Harra gave her, though there is a possibility to be a part of Bolton’s livery she wore as Nan the cupbearer. The next pair of shoes she came by, were too big for her (and too small for the hound) so we can safely assume that she was still wearing the Harrenhal shoes by the time she arrived to Braavos.

If so, the boots represent her time as a "mouse". It's so fitting that they made the loudest splashes... Whatever she 'll become, she will never be a mouse again.

2. The swordbelt and the cloak, tunic, breeches, smallclothes

Those are the stuff that Lady Smallwood gave her. She also gave her the notable remarks that “in times like these, it is better to be insignificant" and that "any act can be a prayer, if done as well as we are able".

Lady Smallwood could represent both a sheltered, quiet, "normal" life, as well as a prompt to become an (individually insignificant) servant of the Many Faced God, as that's the way her "needlework" can be as good as prayer. To the canal it goes, either way.

3. The dagger

She got this one off the archer to whom she gave water, and Hound gave the gift of mercy. Could this signify that her path will be divergent from that of the FM? Or that she will become merciless, like Lady Stoneheart?

4. The coins

That's the money she got off Craven in an unfair exchange. Craven was also the horse that fled the battle. Although she named her craven for this, fleeing had been Arya's most common response to threat. Scattering the coins across the water could mean that the days of fleeing and/or being cheated are over.

5. The floppy hat, the gloves and the silver fork

All those gifts were given to Salty, the girl with the iron coin. The KOM claims that they belong to Arya of House Stark, but the sailors gave them to her on account of being a member of the Faceless Men, to their perception. Throwing them away could be a forshadowing that she will leave the HoBaW. However, among those things there is one that's really valuable and she's reluctant to lose: "It was real silver, solid through and through". It won't be an easy choice and the price to leave them will be quite expensive. She also sees a value in some of the things the FM give her, so the loss of "membership" in its own right may be part of the price, I think.

[Cruella]

I am not sure if it was mentioned but I assume you know that Pale Child is from GRRM's short story And Seven Times Never Kill a Man, or some such. I think he references himself to avoid coming up with unnecessary new religious and mythological systems which are just there for atmosphere. It's a trick, a shadow on the wall, like unexistant Valyrian language.

[Blisscraft]

Just a couple of thoughts about the "last of her name Arya chapter".

The first point is general in A Feast for Crows, its Prologue begins with an introduction to another society similar to a preisthood, the Maesters of the Citadel like the society Arya is attempting to join. Within the Prologue, like this Arya chapter, there are examples of identity presented in the question, "who are you?", what's required of your identity (or lack thereof) and what must be surrendered by association with the society.

In the Prolgue, Pate asks the stranger, who may be "no one": "who are you?" Pate's question is reflected back upon himself, like a mirror, and the answer is that Pate is a "thief". The same question was presented by weirwood door in Bran's chapter from ASoS, and is another, "who are you?" Sam answers the weirwood door's question, in order to open it for Bran and his party to head north of the Wall with a statement of identity:

I am the sword in the darkeness. . . I am the watcher on the walls.. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers. I am the shield that guards the realms of men.

Although, Arya has yet to become "no one," unlike Sam who has become a man of the NW, we witness the beginnings of her process in the loss of self to be replaced with the gain of a society, in her case the society of the HoBaW, or the FM. This gain, to be apart of the society, is shown by the structure of the Temple itself. The Temple is much more than it seems. It has levels and is "honeycombed with passageways." The word honeycombed suggests a hive, like bees or hornets. This idea of a honeycomb is suggested by the KM's story of the society's beginnings in the firewyrm tunnels through the mines. Another suggestion that Arya must give up her self is found in the idea of the pack and being part of a pack. Sadly, as Arya knows, she cannot give up her whole self in order to join the society if she lacks a piece and she lacks a heart. As she thinks once again, there is a hole where her heart should be.

One more small thing has to do with the names of ships in this chapter. At one point the KM offers Arya "freedom" from the society on a ship called Lady Bright. Later, Arya chooses the name of the ship which brought her to Braavos as part of her identity as "Cat": Nymeria. This is a nice little shout out to the girls direwolves, Lady and Nymeria.

[Lyanna Stark]

Oddly, in this chapter when Arya loses the name "Arya" for her chapters, there are more references to her family, Winterfell and the north than I think in any of her other chapters. Even if on the face of it, Arya goes deeper into the FM cult, it seems that she does nothing but list her links to her home. Her "Star of Home" is still shining bright, as it were. I highlighted over a dozen quotes that link Arya to her parents, her siblings, to Winterfell, Nymeria and the Old Gods. Just like Sansa in her Winterfell snow scene, it feels as if GRRM is going through a lot of trouble to link the Stark sisters to Winterfell and the North still.

Regarding the Faceless Men and Death. Even if they are a death cult, it's interesting how seriously they take death. I remember the chapter in ACOK when Arya encounters Ser Amory Lorch and he kills the Nights Watchs recruits. Ser Amory treated the people and their deaths as something totally unimportant, and Arya noticed that to him, they were worth as much as flies. Their dying and suffering were unimportant to him. Some of his men, and Vargo Hoat, revelled in death and suffering and enjoyed it for its own sake.

The Faceless Men, on the other hand, treats death as a serious matter. Each death is an act of worship, and a gift to/from their god, hence they take death, and as an extension to that, also life, seriously. Death is not to be trifled with.

Also, what the Kindly Man tells Arya is very reminiscent of Tolkien's Gandalf and what he tells Frodo about Smeagol. The KOM tells Arya:

"Then you have come to the wrong place. It is not for you to say who shall live and who shall die."

Gandalf tells Frodo:

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

However, Arya does not let go of her list, even if she stops whispering it at night. The first thing she does when she comes out of the temple of Black and White is to recite it again.

The chapter is actually framed with Arya's death list. It starts with Ser Gregor, Queen Cersei et al, and ends with it as well, as a great circle, or the snake eating its own tail. Arya may have thrown almost all her wordly possessions away and entered the temple again as naked as her name day, but Needle was hidden under a rock in the fog, and Arya says "One day".

It's also interesting how Arya thinks the Many Faced God can have everything, but he

(meaning Needle ofc).

Further, I think Arya mentioning that she will one day know the Freys of the crossing's names means they are totally done for, even in I know Lummel hates foreshadowing. ;)

EDIT: The Third Level is also intriguing. It brings to mind the descent into the underworld and also the levels of the Red Keep, where we know Varys talked about how awful the lower levels are.

EDIT2: Because my brain is like a sieve, I do think the KOM is using Arya, to a degree, since he made her teach the Waif the Common Tongue.

Also, Arya's thoughts on treasures echo Jon Snow's in the Jon Snow re-read.

She pictured stacks of golden plates, bags of silver coins, sapphires blue as the sea, ropes of fat green pearls

Sam talks of the dusty old books as treasures, and Jon thinks it has to be silver and gold and such and thinks books make poor treasures.

[Lummel]

...EDIT: The Third Level is also intriguing. It brings to mind the descent into the underworld and also the levels of the Red Keep, where we know Varys talked about how awful the lower levels are...

Damnable threes!

There were piles of threes in Tyrion too, the deeper levels of pain and blackness under the Red Keep were only the start. Arya's descent and journey through the underworld is also structured with different layers of initiation, some parallels with Bran I suppose, but that comes later.

[Blisscraft]

Damnable threes!

There were piles of threes in Tyrion too, the deeper levels of pain and blackness under the Red Keep were only the start. Arya's descent and journey through the underworld is also structured with different layers of initiation, some parallels with Bran I suppose, but that comes later.

If you think the threes are "damnable" in this chapter then brace yourself. There are many more to come. :devil:

Lyanna - About Arya's "treasure" list. All of the treasure she imagines in a hidden chamber can be linked to other characters and/or houses. The "golden plates," Lannisters; "the bags of silver coins," Littlefinger; "sapphires as blue as the sea," Brienne; and the "ropes of fat green pearls," Dany. I'm not sure what all of this may mean except that Arya may meet with them post HoBaW.

Also, your distinction between the FM view of death, something serious and a gift, as opposed to its meaninglessness to a soldier like Lorch is spot on. The distinction you note has so much to do with one of the main themes within the series: Value beyond price.

The KOM tells her, "What we offer cannot be bought with gold." The value is inherit in the knowlege and training. Becoming a "dark angel" is priceless; not a commodity for purchase. The only cost to join is the loss of self. Consequently, FM are not sellswords or knights with loyalties to a purchaser or House.

Sadly, Arya cannot seem to let go of all of her self to join this society because she does not have all of herself to give. She has lost her heart (or feels and thinks she has). This is perhaps why she cannot stop whispering her list; why she cannot let go of Needle. That is where her heart resides and it is now longer hers to give away to anyone even in order to become no one.

[Odon]

“Are you hungry, child?”

Yes, she thought, but not for food.

One of my favorite Arya quotes. I have to post it.

Last night I just finished watching Season 3 of the tv series, and there's that brilliant scene where Maisie Williams turns on the little lost girl act before bloodily stabbing a man to death. "But I'm hungry..."

[fantasmas]

Last night I just finished watching Season 3 of the tv series, and there's that brilliant scene where Maisie Williams turns on the little lost girl act before bloodily stabbing a man to death. "But I'm hungry..."

Yes, she was brilliant as always.

A girl is hungry for justice.

“I have hungered for a long time. Though not for food. Pray tell me, when will the justice be served?”

[fantasmas]

Regarding the Faceless Men and Death. Even if they are a death cult, it's interesting how seriously they take death. I remember the chapter in ACOK when Arya encounters Ser Amory Lorch and he kills the Nights Watchs recruits. Ser Amory treated the people and their deaths as something totally unimportant, and Arya noticed that to him, they were worth as much as flies. Their dying and suffering were unimportant to him. Some of his men, and Vargo Hoat, revelled in death and suffering and enjoyed it for its own sake.

The Faceless Men, on the other hand, treats death as a serious matter. Each death is an act of worship, and a gift to/from their god, hence they take death, and as an extension to that, also life, seriously. Death is not to be trifled with.

I always got the impression that they held death near and dear. Thus they refer to death as 'the gift.' It's not something to be taken or given lightly since it's an act of their faith. Further on, when they discuss killing the conman, the KM has some harsh judgement against Arya's unsubtle way of killing people without concern for those who might get in the way---they're not Westerosi knights, after all. :smoking:

Deaths are given by the commands of the the MF god and those willing to give a large sacrifice.

Also, I do like the points you make about how much of this chapter contains the identity of Arya Stark. The whole thing is colored with the memories of Arya, bad and good. Her desire for revenge against those that destroyed her family, and her longing for a home that no longer exists are aspects that I felt strongly while reading this chapter. Perhaps since this is the last 'Arya' chapter, we must go over the identity and motivations of Arya Stark before she is cast aside. And yeah the 'the Many-Faced God can't have this' while hiding Needle in a spot to hide because she'd need it one day appears to me to be a setup for something further down the future. She's still a rather difficult servant...

[Lyanna Stark]

The magic the FM possess seems pretty low-key, so far. The only thing that strikes me as authentically supernatural is the application of a new face. All the other things that appear as magical, could very well be an application of (relatively advanced) secret knowledge. For examble, the lie detection is pure skill, nothing magic. The effect of the candles could be based on some volatile psychotropic essence. The KOM prefers the word "art" to describe what they are doing and in a later chapter he uses the same word to refer to glamor along with mummer's tricks as if they belong to the same category.

With the risk of damning myself to the Seven Hells and back again, the application of a new face and especially the lie detection reminded me strongly of Bakker's "The Darkness That Comes Before" and the introductory chapters about Kellhus and The Dûnyain, a monastic sect aiming at achieving enlightenment through the control of desirre and circumstance. (If you wonder why this could damn me so badly, well Bakker is a bit controverisal around here :P )

[ShadowCat Rivers]

@Lyanna, thanks for the link. Do you think it makes a good beach time read?

And don't worry! Defend your freedom of speach :)

[Lyanna Stark]

@Lyanna, thanks for the link. Do you think it makes a good beach time read?

And don't worry! Defend your freedom of speach :)

If you like verbose experimental fantasy with extreme misogynism mixed in then yes. :) Tbh, it's interesting for what it is trying to (but ultimately failing) to be and it's certainly not your run of the mill Tolkien rip of.

/tangent

[The Sleeper]

The first two chapters of AFFC mark a transition for Arya. The answers to the question of what makes her Arya Stark are starting to take shape and are linked to why she joins the FM, why she stays with them and what she wants to get out of them. These themes encompass her entire arc. From an in-story perspective she would appear ot have stumbled on the FM. Given her experiences, lessons ans losses it appears that it is serendipity rather than chance that has led her there.

The first Arya chapter ends with what I consider one of the most iconic Arya scenes. Finding herself questioned by the KOM, she is presented swith a dead face to kiss as a test. Rather than demonstrating fear or disgust Arya proceeds to go one step further and attempt to eat the worm, leading to the KOM's comment about her being hungry, to which she responds, yes but not for food. What is Arya hugry for? In my opinion: everything. love, life, friendship, devotion, belonging, relief, freedom, justice, revenge, blood, power. More than anything in particular being hungry is what defines her a person. She needs to strive, to aim, to sink her teeth into things.

Looking at how she is lead to that scene and how it unfolds reveals a lot about why Arya responds in the way she does to the KOM's challenge. Arriving in Braavos she demonstrates an understandable trepidation at the sight of the grand and strange city emerging from the horizon before her and a nostalgia for the Titan's Daughter as well as a reluctance to abandon her that appears at odds with short time she has spent on the ship and the random circumstances that led Arya on her. The latter two can be explained by her situation before boarding and after disembarking. In the Saltpans she was utterly lost and alone with nowhere to go and after leaving the Titan's Daughter she was bound to find herself in the exact same situation, only that the scale of the unfamiliar place she arrived in and threatened to diminish her once again. The journey appeared to have led nowhere. Meanwhile on the ship she had company, things to learn, new things to see, the possiblity of belonging and a destination.

Of interest also, is how she deals with her trepidation. First and foremost, are the series of little internal peptalks, reminders and chidings she gives herself. They are nothing new, she has been using them to steel herself ever since her escape from the Red Keep and before that, when she got lost beneath it. Syrio's little catchprases have been used in this manner, refferences to her family, memories from her youth and so on. They are reminiscent of her mother telling constantly herself to be strong, to carry the course. Like her mother's Arya's little mental checks often give off fear, despair and frequent appearances of guilt. As her mother often did, she uses her anger and stubborness (Cat:I will show these Northmen how strong a Tully of Riverrun can be, Arya: I will not be afraid of a stupid statue) to push through. This type of thinking and constantly trying to keep herself focused and control her behavior has led, I believe, to Arya having developed an ability to repress which is rather terrifying for her age.

As she enters the HoB&W everything in there, including the KOM and the Waif sneaking up on her are placing her in a high state of alert. Her guises being exposed leaves no defences and nothing to hide behind. The admission that she has nowhere else to go, leaves no room for escape. When the KOM presents his challenge, it is as real an Arya as one can get that tries to eat the worm, primed and ready.

Arya has been exposed to much actual hunger during the course of her, This is the first time it has been menitoned in a figurative way. This is the same girl, however, who wanted to go on a boar hunt, but also wanted in the gossip her sister was having with her friends. The girl who wanted to fight in the yard with the boys, who went exploring during her travel to King's Landing. The girl who jumped at the opportunity to train wiht a sword and devoted to it almost obsessivly, who wondered if she could raise castles and be the lord of a holdfast and be the high septon. The girl Jaqen offered three deaths to and who extorted a hundred, instead. The girl who wanted to learn how to shoot arrows, thought she could be an outlaw and fought to keep Gendry and Hotpie by her side. The girl who dreams of being a direwolf followed by a giant pack. This is Arya's hunger.

Becoming no-one is both running from things and running towards them. Throughout the course of her arc Arya has been escaping, starting from when she was storming off when she was upset. Ultimately she ran out of places to go. The sacrifices the KOM is asking for are in a sense no sacrifices at all, but merely the next logical step to her development as a character, to escape from herself. Indeed she has a lot to ecape from and most of all the hole where her heart used to be.

This is only one side of the coin, however. Arya's hunger far from being sated during her travels has only grown, much like Nymeria released into the wild. In many ways her journey has made her ready for the FM.

Arya has a deep and abiding need to belong, to be included. Out of all the groups she has encountered the only one so far that is giving her a chance to belong, to be trully one of them are the FM. They are setting her challenges, difficult ones, but with them the chance to progress and to learn. She shares their meals, their chores, she learns about them and their skills. This is something Arya has only experienced with Syrio so far. Even in Winterfel there were parts of life she was excluded from by her sex alone.

Arya as a highborn lady has been expected to conform to certain behavior, had her life planned out for her and was very much excluded from many apsects of life she wanted to experience. Changing her face, chosing her own identity removes all these constraints and has the potential to open possiblities she could only dream about before. Becoming no-one represents a chance at freedom.

And of course the FM offer her a chance at power. Arya has spent most of her arc being the most powerless kind of person in the series. A lost orphan at the mercy of pretty much anyone that came along, Her identity instead of conferring protection presented danger and loss of agency. Indeed, when she was recognized she was relegated to a mere hostage. Eventually, even her identity was lost to her. Her feelings of helplessness are hardly confined to herself becoming a victim. Her entire family was lost to her and she was able to do nothing about it. She also witnessed people behaving in the most appalling ways and getting away with it. The only one who alleviated that feling was Jaqen. Having a friend like Jaqen is not enough. After all Jaqen left. Here she is, however, at the place they make Jaqens.

Arya in many ways is the best FM candidate. She is almost completely desensitized to death and violence. The worldview she grew up with has been demolished, she is used to assuming different guises, she has very strong convictions and has developed remarkable strength of character. In many ways she is the worst FM candidate and for some of the same reasons.

Her prayer is quoted quite often in her latest chapter. It stands as very problematic part of her character for the readers. I do not have the same view. It is also the most contradictory reason for her joining hte FM. It is the very thing that made her join and that pushes her through. It is also the very thing she has to give up in order to achieve her goal. To me her deisre fo revenge is tied to the things she has been deprived, family. power, self-respest etc, which is supported by the fact that she wants to exact her vengeance herself and that many of the people in it deprived her of her power. It also stands as a condemantion of acts those people commited and as a pledge to remember those hurt and to set things right. Yet to gain the power she needs to do those things she must let go of the meaning this has for her. The reason her prayer is mentioned so often represents her struggle to hold on to it.

Then there is Needle and the scene where she hides it. The sword she was given near the beginning of her arc. She has hardly ever used it in fights and not once as a waterdancer. In fact she has spent most of her time without it. Still, it seems an integral part of her character. it is the one thing she has with her form Winterfel, it is the focus of her training with Syrio, which demonstrated that her peculiarities were not mere childishness but her legitimate character as she applied to her training with devotion, even though it did more ot turn her into a weapon rather than teaching her to use one. It is her symbol of her power and her legacy. As losing it signified the loss of her courage, coming across it again singifies reuniting with herself, when everything seemed lost.

Like so many things about Arya, the scene she put Needle away, can be read in two ways. After being challenged by the KOM, her first decision is not to give in. After struggling her with the hole inside her, she decides at first no to leave the HoB&W. Upon her arrival at at the docks she examines her options realizing, she has none and gives up, clinging to a last bit of hope and faith in destiny, and stahses Needle away.

On the other hand, this scene marks a break in the pattern of running away, from the person that has challenged her and from her own choices. Someone mentioned Needle as her comfy blancket, which I think is very apt. She dismisses it as a blancket, putting it aside for now, opting to stand on her own two feet, moving on but not discarding where she came from or who she is.

I think both are true.

There is one phrase in the current chapter that I think is also very descriptive of Arya's character as well as of her arc and her future struggles. When she is learning Braavosi with the Waif she thinks to herself that she is "too stupid to learn and too stupid to give up". It simultaneously denotes her strength of character, her trials of trying to get home and failing and her perhaps the contradictions she is facing with the FM. She just won't stop.

ETA: much needed editing.

[Where is Rickon]

Great summary and analysis.

When I was reading this chapter for the first time I was absolutely sure that Arya was running away from the HoBaW. Even when she started getting rid of her possessions, I was thinking that she would realize that she can’t throw away Needle and decide to depart from FM. She decided to go back, but keep a big part of who she is in a safe place. I found it very touching when she talked to Needle, just like to a friend.

This is chapter where Arya starts playing the lying game. One of my goals for this re-read is to see how good she got in it by the end of DWD.

Here is what I noticed on this reread. Arya asks KOM about Jaqen H’ghar when she arrives to the HoBaW. His response:

“I do not know this name.”

Yet she asks him again about Jaqen in this chapter. This time:

“Who?” he said, all innocence.

“Jaqen H’ghar. He gave me the iron coin.”

“I know no one by this name, child.”

Did he just confirm that he knows Jaqen? Why did Arya ask about Jaqen again? Did she not believe his first answer?

[Lyanna Stark]

Did he just confirm that he knows Jaqen? Why did Arya ask about Jaqen again? Did she not believe his first answer?

Nice catch! It seems to be inferred from the text that the KOM is indeed aware of Jaqen's identity, if we assume that Arya is correct and tat the KOM works in the same way as Varys: he does not tell outright lies, he just twists the truth.

[The Sleeper]

Did he just confirm that he knows Jaqen? Why did Arya ask about Jaqen again? Did she not believe his first answer?

I've always assumed that was a given. He is playing coy, trying to get Arya to coax everything out of him.

[Where is Rickon]

I've always assumed that was a given. He is playing coy, trying to get Arya to coax everything out of him.

I mistrusted him from the very beginning. The neat thing is, as Lyanna Stark pointed, that he is not even lying.

[Old-Growth]

Hm.... I prefer the simpler explanation that the KM does not know what alias this particular agent of the House had adopted. To be sure, it would seem that this sort of word play is not beyond our author.