Winterfell is dark and full of terrors.
Much like the Long Night, you know what’s coming next.
“A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell and I’m going home” – Arya to Jaqen.
After being beaten, battered, bruised and blinded, Arya Stark refused to acknowledge that a girl is ‘no one’ as she completed her training with the Faceless Men. Since that fateful afternoon when she watched her father being executed from the base of the King Baelor statue, Arya’s journey in Game of Thrones has been visceral and brutal.
Despite the fact that she has learned to become an expert killer that’s cold and remorseless, one thing is worth remembering. She’s still a Stark.
In fact, Arya failed her training with the Faceless Men. She failed to remove traces of her identity by keeping Needle. She failed in her assignment to kill the actress out of pity and she failed to kill ‘The Thin Man’ after Meryn Trant appeared on her radar.
As cold as she may appear, Arya still hasn’t completely transformed into some Game of Thrones-esque version of the Terminator.
As cold as she appears, Arya’s still a Stark and will always be one. In fact, it’s arguable that she takes after her father in more ways than any of her siblings do. Right now, Ned Stark’s words to her about how she should treat her only sister sound more important than ever.
“Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm,” Ned said.
Here’s the full passage below.
Right now, we’re led to believe Arya is angry at Sansa following the reveal of that infamous raven scroll.
Creator D.B Weiss has said that “Arya is a real physical danger to her (Sansa). Going into the final episode, I think Sansa is bringing with her a real fear about the idea that Arya might really want to murder her. It’s a fear that Littlefinger expertly stokes.”
This being said, Arya’s accusations against her sister don’t exactly stand up.
After all, she also spent time fraternising with the enemy . Somehow, we don’t see Arya’s heart being fully twisted towards killing her only sister.
Also, Littlefinger also spotted Arya while she was a cup holder for Tywin Lannister.
If he gets the slightest clue of Arya’s present mindset, he can instantly defeat her in this twisted game of faces that she’s playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lp9F_P0dwA&t
Clip via –Â V DeWitt
Also, it’s worth noting that Arya sort of ‘played down’ the trauma which Sansa endured after seeing their father decapitated at the end of the first season.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, Sansa was so upset that The Mountain had to restrain her. Arya would know this.
Clip via –Â OwlWhite87
If Arya is indeed playing the game of faces with her sister, why did she point the Catspaw blade towards herself during that very threatening conversation? Could this be Arya’s way of showing her trust to Sansa, but maybe at the same time telling her who the real danger is?
Sansa has many skills in the game of thrones, but getting her hands dirty isn’t one of them and even if she was to defy Littlefinger and harm him, how can she keep the support of the Knights of the Vale?
If only she knew an expert killer that can also impersonate other people and take their identity? You can see where this is going.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Littlefinger asked Sansa to use Brienne as protection in the event that Arya sister strikes out and become consumed with vengeance – it’s more likely that Lord Baelish wanted to drive a wedge between the Stark sisters and divide them further.
What did Sansa do? The Lady of Winterfell decided to send Brienne away to King’s Landing. She’s not listening to Littelfinger’s advice and that’s telling.
Ultimately, we’re led to believe that things are incredibly tense at Winterfell, but there are signs that the biggest schemer in Westeros is about to fall into a trap.
After all, a girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell and she IS home.
