Winds of Winter Predictions: Arya's Escape

[@minimumviableplayer1402]

It's interesting that the most powerful thing Syrio taught Arya was self control and not sword fighting. Those skills have been important to her throughout the story much more than using swords.

[@DavidLightbringer]

great point! totally agree

[@wisdommanari6701]

I mean according to the show fans that's why she was able to beat Brieene of F***'' ' Tarth lmao

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

And Brienne had armor, and a big fookin' sword.

[@davidjones272]

Arya is essentially the batman of westeros, she learns under a number of highly skilled and influential mentors becoming more and more deadly in order to avenge a childhood trauma.

[@teese1630]

@@wisdommanari6701 what show fans

[@TheTam0613]

That scene with Arya feeling her face being taken off and tasting that metallic taste of blood always, for me, reminds me and tells me that Bran ate Jojen paste. Arya and Bran use almost the same wording when they both taste blood.

[@laurenpaine8954]

in a book?????

[@ThePurpleBookWyrm]

Arya's is definitely one of the darkest/most tragic character arcs in the series. A child destroyed by trauma and violence, becoming a cold assassin to survive and possibly enact revenge. There's nothing cool or awesome or badass about that, despite what the show tried to make of it. Book!Arya is one of my favourite characters to read about, but I ended up hating snarky, arrogant little b*tch Show!Arya lol.

[@creggriley7247]

basically at this point...the show i'm basically just pretending it doesn't exist. i like the first 4 seasons and a few bits and pieces here or there after that...but not many. and basically all of arya's stuff after season 4 is garbage. basically every character got dumbed down to 1 dimension. so much shame D&D should hold now...they don't...because they think all the actual fans of the series are terrible.

[@ThePurpleBookWyrm]

@@creggriley7247 Yup, I feel the same way. 😅

[@ThePurpleBookWyrm]

@Niranjan Rajesh Couldn't agree more with you!

[@olenickel6013]

The show missing the point behind storylines to make them more formulaic and appealing to a TV audience (or rather: what producers who look down on TV audiences feel is more appealing to them..) is a common theme. Arya becoming awesome assassin Westeros batman (instead of being the story of coping with a traumatic childhood), Brienne being a revenge story that ends in her becoming the first female knight (instead of being the story how knighthood is nothing romantic and she is constantly making things worse in her pursuit of it), Ramsey's story basically being a Saw movie with an evil antagonist that's hypercompetent because otherwise he wouldn't be scary (instead of being a story about how being feared alone can get you only so far as a ruler)...

[@andrewcoyle2459]

Sooo true. Arya is very tragic. Further more I suspect that she is on a course of vengeance that will put her at odds with her family In some way, and ultimately consume her. Easily one of the best characters in the book

[@princeprocrastinate6485]

The Faceless Men essentially use the most advanced glamours in the world. Melisandre emphasises how important it is for Mance to wear items that belonged to Rattleshirt to keep the glamour working, as if a residual imprint of the person remains in their belongings. Well what could be better in that sense than wearing someone else's face? I think they essentially combine blood magic and glamouring when it comes to wearing a face, and that's how it works.

[@charleswaldon8362]

Fact

[@manofhonor1685]

Never thought about it like that, I think you're absolutely right.

[@serclintalot4497]

I'd say blood magic and glamouring are two completely different things. It seems to me glamouring is a "spell" that alters how others perceive you, but the blood magic the faceless men use truly changes your actual appearance. This is why the kindly man says a trained eye can see through glamours. Edit addition: The reason Mance has to wear Rattleshirt's accessories is to bolster the perception of others, if that makes sense.

[@GretchenLovesBooks]

Based on what you all are saying, I'm starting to wonder if any of Arya's 'mistakes' that she thinks she's making by killing people she's not asked to kill are 'mistakes' at all or if the FM are putting her in situations where they know she'll meet people she wants to kill in order to test her abilities and ruthlessness. Think about it, she's had her list since the Riverlands, and it wouldn't surprise me if Jaqen overheard it at some point, so he knows who is on it. She becomes Cat of the Canals and just so happens to run into a NW deserter? That's too tasty a kill for her to pass up, but the FM want to know if she's willing to go kill someone not on her list but out of a sense of Northern justice. Then, once she's killed Daeron, they upgrade her. And the next chance she gets to have an extra-judicial kill it's someone that Cersei sends to treat with the Iron Bank and Arya just so happens to have been apprenticed to the mummer's troop where he shows up? Seems like too much of a coincidence for the FM not to have orchestrated it to test her. I wonder how much of the 'no-one' ideology is real and how much is facade. Do they really want their assassins to be no one or do they specifically recruit people with that lust for revenge sometimes (perhaps not all the time) because, like magic, it's a useful tool they can exploit to accomplish their goals. Could Arya have been recruited because they expected (or were attempting to prepare for) the IT/Cersei to default on their loan?

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

Based on the origins of the FM, I can buy this. They began in the slave pits of Valyria (or, they probably began there), to avenge the slaves and give them the gift of peace (death). I like to think they still have a strong sense of justice, and don’t necessarily subscribe to only assassination for hire.

[@sfcSpidey]

I wonder if the house of black and white will ask arya to kill Jon if people find out who he is probably by that point she might be gone but I would like to see the world react to the real son of Rheagar

[@teese1630]

@@sfcSpidey arya wont be asked to kill jon. Do you remember why the men on the boat to bravos kept introduceing themselves to arya and kept incesting she know and remember their names?

[@sfcSpidey]

Tee Se I may be wrong but is it because They are afraid of her and she might spare them if they know their names or she isn’t allowed to kill people she knows...personally i think the faceless men would care more about taking of targaryens or Valyrians however you want to put it more than uphold their code of that happens to be true but I understand you’re point too

[@teese1630]

@@sfcSpidey arya would not kill jpn anyway and the faceless man dont hate targians they let them live in westeros for 400 years after the doom

[@VenusianVirgo]

I think we also need to talk about the fact that Arya has eaten human meat while in Nymeria. And she loved it. I always thought it was interesting how when she hotpie and gendry escaped, Nymeria and her pack ended up attacking the people who were pursuing them. I believe that is why the ghost of high heart was so disgusted and frightened of Arya is because she will warg Nymeria and eat her enemies. Which is one of the things that you're not supposed to do while in your animal's.

[@ladyofthelake121]

This story quickly shaping up to be WAY different than the show.

[@georgeianta2088]

Oh I wouldn't worry about that lol

[@astrojeet]

The story in the show has been 70% different since season 5. One would think it is a completely different story. The show pretty much became bad fanfiction since season 6.

[@pinnacleproductions6275]

It’s so much better than the show and different but I still think we might see Arya kill/defeat the Nights King but in a much cooler & meaninful way of course if it does go that way. Let’s face it D&D screwed the show series by cutting it seasons short & wanting to go work on Star Wars crap. Then they quit Star Wars so it was all for nothing!

[@pinnacleproductions6275]

astrojeet I totally agree

[@stofsk]

@@pinnacleproductions6275 I'm not sure they 'quit' Star Wars at all, think something else happened there.

[@SJPace1776]

I wish the skin changing for Arya was present in the adaptation. I love her so much in the books and didn't do her justice

[@DavidLightbringer]

justice will be had in WINDS baby

[@ssa3101]

@@DavidLightbringer winds is never coming. You can quote me on that.

[@manofhonor1685]

Wym? Who needs that when you can have a badass girl power ninja assassin

[@manofhonor1685]

@@ssa3101 sour puss!

[@ssa3101]

@@manofhonor1685 you know what. After all these years of waiting maybe I am a sour puss.

[@samwaters9304]

"if you think you know how it ends" no, thank god. Season 8 was just a fevre dream..

[@darylchurch2115]

Is that a George RR Martin book reference?

[@joejackson7140]

Daryl Church a great book

[@billybobsac4421]

And season 5-6-7 were to as well

[@christopherallen8930]

I kinda think that Aria killing the nights watchman was her doing her brother jon a Stark duty. Perhaps it's Martin's way of telling us she is still Ned Starks daughter at heart.

[@AvenueEmpire]

On how the faceless men control animals. Arya learns from the waif while training, that the faceless men have access to a paste which, when spiced with basilisk blood, makes cooked meat smell savory but induces violent madness when consumed. This may have been how Jaqen manipulated the dog into killing Weese.

[@umwha]

No, the bite that killed weese was from Biter who is in the control of jaqen

[@davidryan7386]

@@umwha ooooooh! how would he have it after the black cells? I hate thinking about that lol

[@DrLesleyStevens]

Masie did an amazing job with that role for any actor let alone a child. She learned all that choreo for sword play with her non dominant hand. Blows me away everytime i watch it.

[@krakentacos]

Love these conversations that catch us up with the main characters. TWOW baby!!

[@donnie8032]

Technically that dude, Dareon, was a deserter from the Night's Watch so Arya killing him is in a sorta way just doing her duty as a Stark. Altough she wasn't with the boys when her father had to execute the deserter, but she surely must have heard of it. So she might be doing it in honor of her father, but especially for her brother, Jon Snow.

[@prathamesh5497]

That’s not Daeron. That’s Raff the sweetling…

[@agentmysterian1461]

@@prathamesh5497 raff the sweetling is the lannister guy she kills in the mercy chapter. Dareon is the deserter, she kills him in affc.

[@prathamesh5497]

@@agentmysterian1461 yeah you're right.

[@mat992]

I think the Frodo leaving comparison seems likely, and very sad. Her dying seems very likely too..perhaps her spirit warging in Nymeria. I’m constantly reminded of how well GRRM writes his characters and Arya’s journey in the books is one of my favourites to read/witness. I hope she can find happiness in some form - if not for herself than for the ones she loves that are still left standing. Giving Lady Stoneheart the gift of mercy would be beautifully dark.

[@andrewcoyle2459]

It's almost as if Syrio was screening her for warg abilities by having her catch cats in book one. Maybe he alerted jaqen and the other faceless about her as a potential candidate for training

[@made-line7627]

That seems legit

[@Edna2u]

I still think Syrio was Jaqen

[@210SAi]

Edna2u what evidence is there for this?

[@donnie8032]

@@210SAi How did Jaqen end up in a cage of inmates being sent to the Wall? There is speculation that he was caught as Syrio and put in the dungeons, and then he was sent to the Wall as Jaqen.

[@210SAi]

Donnie Cash there’s no way anyone in the Dungeons would have foreseen that Arrya would have joined up with the prisoners being sent to the Wall. Way to many steps between being Syrio and meeting Arrya again in outside Kings Landing

[@wjhall307]

The cutting of Arya's face in the Hall of Faces was a blood magic ritual which bond her to the faces and allows her to magically use them, like the Wierwoods wear faces. Remember the Wierwood Door on the House of Black And White.

[@lanestapp2]

I think the faceless men have known about the stark children and their warging. I think The man in Winterfell who gave Bran the BlackBerry every day was Jaqen. The FM have wanted their warg skills and were working on Bran until his fall and switched to Arya and followed her to kingslanding.

[@Matteus2109]

Ooh, Preston Jacobs fan?

[@lanestapp2]

@@Matteus2109 Meh

[@Matteus2109]

@@lanestapp2 I mean, he DOES say that he's probably wrong about half the stuff he says. But... one can dream.

[@umwha]

What’s the evidence that the blackberry man was jaqen tho?

[@lanestapp2]

@@umwha There no evidence of the blackberry man at all other than that one line. But it makes the most sense to me.

[@sheilahilton356]

Thanks for bringing the story to life Quinn and LmL. This series is so much fun. Can you guys tackle Fire and Blood next. Perhaps the politics of “The Dance” ?

[@prof.cecilycogsworth3204]

Seconded!

[@AJBouc]

Awesome video!! It was very cool seeing you two together in the same room in the previous vids, but there is something great about this format as well for collaborative conversation.

[@hatuletoh]

One of the broad readings that can be made of the "ASoIF" story is the effect that war and violence has on people, especially women, and the things they do to try to cope. Although circumstances force their fates upon them to some extent, I think Arya and Sansa are contrasts in two opposite strategies women have traditionally used to ensure their own safety in dangerous times: the latter tries to work within the existing social structure to find trustworthy allies who can keep her safe, thereby using her femininity for the protection and indirect power it can command; the former rejects social convention and responds to the violence around her by learning to become proficient at it herself. That's not the common reaction for a lady from a noble house, but it has precedent in the real world in times and places where violence was endemic, such as the French countryside during the Hundred Years War, which I know was one of the historical events from which Mr. Martin drew inspiration. And credit to him for not letting readers off the hook, because it's easy for a modern person to think, why just passively try to survive when you could be actively fighting back. But there's a psychological cost to using violence, no matter how justified it may be, and we see in Arya's gradually increasing callousness and detachment one of the costs of using violence.

[@TheJaviferrol]

I always made a funny comment during Seasons 7 and 8 of show about Arya: "Wiped floors for a season and a half, then became an expert at everything". Cause every time we see her training at anything, she got her ass whooped . Also, i think you might have touched on this in a Dune video but one would think the Faceless Men are inspired from the Tleilaxu Face Dancers, right?

[@GretchenLovesBooks]

And if Syrio is Jaqen, then he's both a water dancer and a faceless man, a face(less water) dancer!

[@wills.8662]

Good hypothesis I think

[@Edna2u]

I still believe Syrio is Jaqen

[@subarnosinha8042]

She was also getting whooped in S5 and S6, and suddenly became an expert by the time S6 ended. Her survival of multiple stab wounds by swimming and running through the city was ridiculous at best.

[@pac_jon]

10:36 you ask if Arya changing her face is magic or Qyburn's pseudo-science. and there is this part on the chapter you read that answers that: "To other eyes, your nose and jaw are broken," said the waif. "One side of your face is caved in where your cheekbone shattered, and half your teeth are missing." She probed around inside her mouth with her tongue, but found no holes or broken teeth. Sorcery, she thought. I have a new face. An ugly, broken face.

[@Cobalt360Degrees]

Arya in 15 years after all the books ending up some crazy ruthless pirate captain is *super* fanficy but also, at least, sounds super fun.

[@elilastnamington9808]

The faceless men actually don’t have faces. When she saw the skull that was his face. That’s why she must become no one.

[@jaysheth1541]

I think... In the very process of training, Faceless Men learn to intuit the Will of thier God and carry out. After certain level, they are free to make their own missions as they have truly become No One - instrument of their God.... I think that's where Jaqen is. He is the embodiment of perfection as Faceless Man.. and may contact Braavos to keep them informed about his path.

[@melledevries4685]

16:52 I think Arya's twisted sense of justice might be a corruption of the notion that "the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword". Ned Stark was a very just man, perhaps to a fault, and Jon and Robb aspire to be much like him in this regard. For them, "the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword" means that you need to be considerate when passing judgement, as you yourself will need to enact it afterwards. For Arya, it means that she can kill whoever she pleases; She's sentencing people to death _and_ killing them as she pleases. Perhaps GRRM included this parallel intentionally.

[@kjones5052]

These Winds of Winter conversations are lit!! Keep it up Quinn and Lucifer!!

[@TheJaviferrol]

Ill start watching in a few minutes but (and i dont know if this is coincidence or deliberate) i appreciate how the order of the videos fits with Danaerys prophecy about "going East to end up West"

[@DavidLightbringer]

;)

[@danielleodom678]

Loving these collaborations Quinn and Dave! Thanks for looking ahead at TWOW!

[@DavidLightbringer]

good news... we have a few more coming :)

[@danielleodom678]

@@DavidLightbringer I'm excited! It's great listening to these at work when I'm working at my microscope. :)

[@jsizemore1449]

Hell yea, loving the content guys this is the kind of content i can listen to over an over again while im workn

[@Nuklz1981]

You guys don't think The Faceless Men , a worldwide assassin organization ,would teach fighting skills? I think George just didn't cover too much of that simply because it's too obvious. I think they would teach her every combat technique outside of the Knightly Art's. Lots of unarmed and light weapon martial techniques. Love and respect Quinn and LmL. Well done guys

[@sabrinakrisb4672]

Love the connection between Arya and the Bene Gesserit. I never picked up on that! Im always thinking about where George might be referencing Dune. Ive always wondered if were ever going to see some form of sand worm. Maybe Dorne threatened Aegon with some kind of sand worm threat in the beginning?

[@princeprocrastinate6485]

If Arya does go AWOL on the Faceless Men, her story will end not with her sailing west but with the Faceless Men catching up to her, perhaps it will even be Jaqen, and at that point she will accept her fate because she has achieved her goals of revenge and is ready to embrace death. This is the ending I've imagined for Arya, if indeed she goes rogue that is.

[@mat992]

That’s interesting and fits nicely

[@210SAi]

Great theory but I really like Arya’s journey. It be a shame if she ended up dead. She deserves a better life for all the crap she’s been through

[@princeprocrastinate6485]

@@210SAi She does deserve a peaceful life after all the hardship, but people rarely get what they deserve in this story, same in real life.

[@VeeringBT]

Agree completely. I think this is exactly how Arya’s story will end. It’s likely the FM brought an end to the Valyrian empire, there’s no way Arya could escape them. But it’s testament to how great a character she is that she will almost certainly continue this trend of going rogue, balancing their wishes with her own so long as it suits her. She will complete her list and in the end the FM will kill her for it, giving her the gift of mercy

[@sjvermazen]

Sounds like that assassin anime “Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom” where the main character fulfills his last promise and allows the people chasing him to kill him.

[@benjaminguilbert7885]

Nice video thx. Just one thought to add: Arya might be the one carrying the Sword Dawn to Winterfell as her father once remarked that, if left to her own device, she would find a morning star.

[@docinsano2747]

Arya will probably die at the end. Her story is all about death, there will be no cheesy sail the world ending for her. She is too damaged and too far gone to come back. She may survive inside her wolf for a while though.

[@whitneymohrhauser8753]

I think so too. Arya will be infamous like that of a boogeyman. The kind of story that mothers' tell their children to make them behave.

[@docinsano2747]

@@whitneymohrhauser8753 You better behave or she might jump through your window and snatch you out of your bed little one. All claws and fur and teeth, they say she likes to take the faces of small children to bring them to her dark death god hoping that he will give her a glimpse of her family once more.

[@sabrinakrisb4672]

I think she's going to warg into Nymeria permanently after dying

[@manofhonor1685]

I dunno, just the fact that her wolf's name is Nymeria has to mean something. The direwolves names have all been so significant to their arcs so far. I dont know what nymeria could mean for Arya other than sailing. But I know the name of a direwolf isnt a whole lot to go on.

[@docinsano2747]

@@manofhonor1685 she also burned some ships, i dont really put much thought into wolf names spelling Stark children Destiny. I see it more like a general description of their charachters.

[@Rakonax]

the ideas of march, is a brilliant title.

[@arbiterskiss6692]

I hope Arya learns more about the history of the Faceless Men. We don't need to learn the details of the Doom of Valyria, but going out of the mines and spreading to Braavos would be good to know.

[@Gandalf-The-Green]

You guys, this is the best ASOIAF content I have seen in years. You make me remember the time when I binge read all the novels back in 2013. There is nothing like a chili cooking on the wood stove, a bottle of wine and these books.

[@eric2500]

What is creeeeepy about this scene is not just the murder but the dual consciusness she (Arya) knows she is killing the man, but also she (Mercy) is shocked at all the blood. She's not acting - she's actually both Mercy and Arya at that moment.

[@devanyehansen2162]

15:20 So this whole segment makes me think of something a skinchanger said his master told him in a prologue, about what taking the skins of various animals does to the skinchanger. Cat skin changers turn vain and cruel and vicious according to that guy, so I'm curious to see how that corresponds to Arya's character development around this time when she first skinchanges a cat.

[@magicalnoname]

Pfft or maybe a cat hating master wrote that so I wouldn't take such opinions seriously

[@sgauden02]

It sounds to me like the Faceless Men know full well what Arya's game is, and they actually WANT her to go through with it because it plays perfectly into their own agenda.

[@beaver6d9]

It's been probably 6 weeks since I finished ADWD for the first time and these vids are keeping my internal asoiaf flame burning. Now that I've caught up on all the main and side books, I feel more and more like the show let us down. I recognize how obvious that is to long time book readers, but I basically watched 70 eps in 15 days to catch the last three eps live, so I was somewhat blinded by my enthusiasm at the time. I had plenty of issues with it but didn't quite get the hate. I totally do now.

[@davidjones272]

The book ending will be very similar, Martin explicitly told the show runners where and how it ends and the final book was originally going to be titled "a time for wolves". Obviously the books are way more complicated and won't rush to a conclusion in the same way.

[@210SAi]

David Jones I highly doubt GRRM ends the same way. There’s so much more going on in the books that’s not even touched on in the series. D&D didn’t get much of anything in my opinion. GRRM was probably extremely cryptic in how would end and D&D just went with they assumed he was insinuated

[@wjhall307]

Everything that has happened to Arya has been part of the Faceless Men's plan to defeat the abomination of the Army of the Dead. Arya will play a major part in brining the Gift to the Army of the Dead. Maybe even using her warg abilities to short circuit the hive mind that animates them.

[@bubbleburster2813]

you say "the kindly man was caught off guard here", but with all the detail about learning to control their faces, maybe he was just feigning surprise.

[@DavidLightbringer]

could be - certainly they are capable of using deception to shape Arya's perceptions of things

[@treehouse318]

i missed you guys for a few days taking care of some family stuff. now i'm snuggling under a blanket, with the rain on the roof, listening to y'all. thanks for being a part of my relaxing time!🌌

[@joshhoffman5233]

I like how extrajudicial here means the faceless men are regular judicial 😁

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I think you could safely call them semi-legitimate non-state actors.

[@joshhoffman5233]

Fuzzy Dunlop nothing wrong with that description technically speaking. Legitimacy at what though? Execution? “Some say power comes from the gods.”

[@lastjohns9717]

I think they going to give her identity back and maybe say; 'if cannot be no one, then be Arya of house Stark.' Then they'll give her a coin and send her on her way, thereby giving her a yearning to be no one. After all you can't be no one when everyone knows you.

[@brodieward9874]

Arya's chapters always make me sad. I worry for her more than i do for most people in the real world.

[@serclintalot4497]

I'd argue donning someone else's face is blood magic, not surgery. The kindly man says it'll hurt, yet Arya describes no pain. Arya says the blood is flowing over her eyes. She definitely would have felt (and thought about) the pain of such a cut. She certainly doesn't say anything that would imply the kindly man removed Arya's face! It seems to me the pain the kindly man spoke of is that of living the Ugly Girl's memories. Arya specifically says she expected the knife to be cold, but it was warm- this again doesn't seem consistent with her face being cut. "Salt and copper" definitely refers to blood, so blood is needed for this procedure. So, I land on blood magic. Remember, the FM originated in Valryia so it's more than possible.

[@InterestedAmerican]

I suspect the slice to Arya that causes blood to run down her face has a blood magic connection. Arya's blood runs over her face, then mingles with the face applied to her, giving both the realism the symbolism of her and the mask becoming one - it being her blood now running through the face giving it life. and the blood magic lets the residual personality and knowledge from the person now become a part of Arya. On Arya killing the Oath breaking Watchman, Arya's sense of honor and justice is only matched by that of her father. Arya breaking from the Faceless Men has been something I've pondered. GRRM writes about choices characters make and the consequences that result from that choice. We know that Azor Ahai seems directed at both Daenerys and Jon Snow (Aegon Stark Targaryen). But Is there a prophecy directed at Arya? There are clues that there is a Weirwood tree deep in the bowels of the temple of the faceless, similar to the one within Casterly Rock. She will travel West of Westeros either for the reason LML says, or to evade the Faceless Men. But I think she could destroy them if she had to with her warging.

[@Edna2u]

Be careful. You are mixing book and show when you talk about Jon. The show merged Aegon and Jon. I think Aegon in the book is Rhaegar and Lyanna's child. So Aegon is impersonating his older brother. I also think Jon is Eddard's son with Sheara Sea Star.

[@MsEnglishtea]

Thank you Quinn for this wonderful video. It's like therapy for me. I always enjoy watching you or Lady Gray from Gray Area videos.

[@jaysheth1541]

Best of the best storylines awaiting in Books further... ✨👌

[@bassanimation]

Loving the new videos, guys. There's so much story left to tell. You guys keep me excited for what's to hopefully come from GRRM.

[@briceslorene8760]

In depth look at a book series that I feel in love with through a show and have my own thoughts on now books wise

[@Chris-oph]

Hey Quinn- i would totally pay money to listen to you narrate the next book. Maybe a patron idea? I don't know who will be the reader since Roy decrease died.

[@deidjpeidj]

Arya is very powerful and I believe the loss of her eyesight was key to unlocking her magical abilities, like Bran's fall and coma, Jojen's bout with greywater fever, or even Patchface drowning. So IMO her blindness was both a reward and punishment; the FM punished her to show her she needs to curb her inner identity as Arya by blinding her earlier than she would have been normally. However, she is rewarded for carrying out justice to the deserter by being bound closer to her first men heritage/ Stark lineage and becoming a full blown skinchanger vs. just a warg. She has always had some kinship to cats ever since AGOT so it makes sense she ends up skinchanging into one. I wonder if Varamyr's teacher's words are any sort of foreshadowing for Arya, "Other beasts were best left alone, the hunter had declared. Cats were vain and cruel, always ready to turn on you." Quinn's comment about Arya being manipulative to achieve her kills could be hinted at with her affinity to cruel cats. I hope though that Arya remembers her empathy and strong sense of justice, no matter what happens. I think she will leave Westeros but would love to see her act as a Visenya figure to Sansa's Rhaenys as they help Bran rule.

[@joshhoffman5233]

I do think I know how the story ends: with us debating how it ends and no DoS to tell us we’re right or wrong lol. First book series in history where the internet fandom collectively decides on alternate endings and decides which ones they like best?

[@DavidLightbringer]

Gods preserve is if so

[@joshhoffman5233]

Lucifer means Lightbringer lol seven save us

[@dustin628]

The faceless men sent her though knowing Raff would be there. They knew and wanted her to kill him. He was there on Lannister orders to do something (I forget) and so she messes up the Lannisters plans as well.

[@jcrb8894]

Loving this series. Great work!!

[@FunctionR]

Thanks for making these videos. This content has rekindled my love for ASOIAF after the disaster of GoT season 8.

[@Peanutjoepap24]

I am loving these, guys. Always excited to check my subs every day.

[@robbypalmer5095]

You should really do a video with Preston Jacobs. Especially with his Jon Snow predictions and theories.

[@monkeyboy4311]

When Jaqen & Arya first met, she gave him the names to be killed. When they meet again, he will give her a name to be killed...

[@wills.8662]

And if Jaqen names Jon Snow?

[@monkeyboy4311]

@@wills.8662 Great question! I highly doubt she would, but Valar Morghulis.

[@temptationofmemories]

@@monkeyboy4311 The faceless men can't kill someone they already know, though. That's why the ship captain who brought her to Bravos kept telling her to remember his name so she couldn't later kill him

[@210SAi]

Will S. Why would the FM need to kill Jon?

[@temptationofmemories]

@@210SAi Remember, while the Faceless men likely pursue their owns goals for a thus far unknown purpose, they can be asked by someone else to assassinate Jon and be paid to kill him. So, while I think it is unlikely for them to do so, it is possible. What will absolutely not happen is them having Arya do it. A Faceless man can't kill somebody that they know personally for some reason.

[@FarrellMcGovern]

It sounds a bit like the Tleilaxu Face Dancers...

[@joshhoffman5233]

So when arya got the new face on... why did she feel no difference when she touched it? That’s not a mistake in the books since it isn’t in GOT lol. That may have been a glamour

[@DavidLightbringer]

think that's jus the FM tech. She feels the new face get pulled on, then it softens and bonds to her face. It's clear what happens. Kindly man says it will be like her own face... seems like magic is involved

[@joshhoffman5233]

Lucifer means Lightbringer I thought “like your own face” just meant it was really good tech. I think they also say as real and solid as your old face. As in it’s actually a different face but it’s done so well it may as well be your real face. She specifically thinks her face feels the same as her old face, as in the shapes of the features. I don’t see why that should be. That part doesn’t bother you?

[@dalesmith7250]

@@joshhoffman5233 The kindly man also tells her to master her face and practice using the muscles in her face every day. Perhaps Arya being able to control the muscles in her face along with the magic involved in actually wearing a face both contribute to the ability of a Faceless Man to change their face so quickly and effectively. She has visions once they put the face on her so it seems pretty clearly magical.

[@joshhoffman5233]

Dale Smith that was def some magic/telekinetic memories. You’re right her exercises may have played into how they did that. I wonder if it was a glamour spell instead of glamour surgery.

[@dalesmith7250]

Joshua Hoffman I think it was a combination of a few things. It seemed like maybe it could have had small elements of blood magic mixed with mummery (the actual wearing of the face). It seems like her natural facial expressions would “mold” the new face into her own actual face shape (explaining why she thought it felt the same), but her ability to control her face muscles more aptly than most would make it look different in concert with wearing an actual face that isn’t hers. Sprinkle some other magic on top and voila, Faceless Arya. I don’t think it is purely glamour though. There are mentions in the book about people like Melisandre and even the First Sword of Braavos being able to “see through” glamours, So I think the Faceless Men need to have something more in their arsenal than a simple glamour to be as effective as they have been for so long.

[@jonhauge-evaldsson783]

Thank You guys! You are awesome!

[@rianbeegles3349]

It was pretty much confirmed in a Arya POV that Jaqen used Basilisk Venom to turn Weese's dog against him. It's likely what will happen to Ramsay in the books as it makes more sense for Arya to kill him to get justice for her family and Jeyne. And Nymeria wasn't an explorer. She was the leader of thousands of refugees. She was looking for a safe haven for her people. I'm not sure how that even translates to being similar to Arya's ending on the show. Nymeria didn't go sailing for the hell of it. Now if Arya's ending does involve getting on a ship, I don't believe for a second it will be anything like the show gave us - which was basically her suicide wrapped in a faux-happy bow after Arya choosing life. It didn't make sense in any context. And as for Arya choosing life, that right there is one of two things in Arya's arc in S8, I believe comes directly from GRRM - the other being Gendrya. I believe Arya's arc after the HOBAW is about her reclaiming her identity, and how her identity this time around will give her power and agency and give her the option of deciding to embrace life. She's going to choose life which entails actually living in it and doing her duty to the people. She's going to continue to struggle because she's been traumatized - beaten, abused, sexually assaulted, and forced to watch unimaginable torment all while being a slave, a child soldier - but that doesn't mean she's going to be too broken to function. She's going to have an important role in the end, because she won't be too broken to function.

[@Mar_s-vy6js]

God your videos are amazing I mean for real I don't normally watch a 30min KZbin video but you guys make it easy😂👏👏👏

[@pixylips]

Nymeria wasn’t an explorer she was looking for a home. I don’t think she will take to the seas.

[@viperswhip]

Arya also made sure the insurance guy bad before she agreed to kill him. She teased out the details from the Kindly Man. So far, she hasn't killed anyone innocent.

[@ntobekososibo2042]

mad appreciation for the sound design in this episode.

[@bronhaller]

Arya the Vigilante... I suspect that the Kindly Man knew that the punishment for desertion is death, so she was technically just doing her job as a FM; however, it is unclear whether or not the FM do jobs without payment (which is what the Daeron and Raff jobs were) so it could be that either it was wrong to do a "job" without payment, or it could be that the God(s) instructions override the need for payment.

[@craftsonic745]

15:30... Its also a symbolism that Starks kill deserters of the Night's Watch.

[@made-line7627]

I guess we can't be *too* surprised that Arya took it upon herself to be Daeron's judge, jury and executioner, when Ned beheading a Night's Watch deserter is basically the first chapter in the entire story (or the second, if you discount the prologue as a prologue). At least she's sticking to her Northern roots, but I do find it very irritating when she kills him, as irritating as *he* is.

[@applewagon253]

“Powshins and poders” was a glorious mishap by LML 👌

[@DavidLightbringer]

I'm a potter okay

[@OcculticaMedia]

I love these videos Quinn! Just puttin it out there

[@made-line7627]

I saw someone leaving a comment on you guys tackling Fire & Blood soon (which would be...pretty sweet), and if you do, can you please delve into how the Targaryen fam bam were able to just take and move-into the "Westernmost trading post of the Valyrian Empire", Dragonstone, and just live there for generations? They just took the island, took the citadel, and just said "Dibs on that room!"? Surely there were other dragonlord families living there (as opposed to just ordinary Valyrians, I guess). They would kind of have to be, as you'd probs need a dragon or two to get there and back to the main Empire so easily. I don't know. It just goads my gristle. Why were they just allowed to move in and take Dragonstone?!

[@c.w.8200]

I don't think she's going to be so damaged. She has positive relationships and people she cares about and who care about her, she considers Gendry and Hot Pie her friends, she experiences remorse like a healthy person, I mean sure, there's some trauma but in her pov chapters she experiences lots of healthy, normal feelings. Boys and men are expected to kill people to survive or simply to do their day job in this world. Arya kills people for practical reasons, to take out who she considers "bad people" and in the case of the deserter probably also to reafirm her identity as a Stark, as Ned's daughter, Ned kills deserters. I think she's going to divert from becoming a mere revenge bot, maybe after being confronted with Lady Stoneheart. Why would she be so much more damaged than a squire who's going into the killing business very young? Because she's a girl?

[@Kian30398]

I'm a bit late to this comment lol but trauma is still a real aspect of a lot of characters and experiencing what Arya(and also Sansa for that matter) experienced throughout their childhoods would not lead to an undamaged adult y'know? I don't think that she's going to be mentally destroyed by the end but she's not going to be an emotionless murderbot like in the show y'know?

[@littleladyd1]

What do you know of the Merry Pranksters & the acid tests?!?! Lol do you know the Wizard? Too funny! Did ya hear about Porto?!?! Bahahaha

[@kimberlygl36]

Great series love ya both , thank you both so much

[@adrianreinstein1154]

I’m totally digging these vids!!! Thanks guys!!!

[@groovemedium]

"The Melly Pranksters" just earned you a sub.

[@MissSeaShell]

I would pay to get all of asoiaf read by Quinn's ideas!!! 😭😭😭😭 I love the way he reads it so much, and the background music and stuff makes it even better. I need more Arya content! Can you just read every Arya chapter for me?! 🥺 Pretty please?! 🥺🥺🥺

[@Thebabybadass101]

Been watching this every morning lol

[@eric2500]

The idea of Arya warging the BAD CAT in KL is my current favorite theory for killing Cersei.

[@cbob213]

So on the point of Arya being recruited because of her skin changing abilities. Who recruited her first??? Syrio. Where was Syrio from? He was the First Sword of Bravos. Seems like he was protecting the Sea Lord of Bravos. Where do we think Danny grew up??? Same place. So Syrio is around Danny while she is in Bravos. Then seemingly leaves, and goes to Kingslanding. Where he starts to "train" Arya. Teaching her things that help her survive until she meets Jaqen H'ghar... Doesn't seem like a coincidence at all. But I never hear anyone talk about it. Syrio also gets Arya to chase Cats....

[@made-line7627]

Joaquin Phoenix?

[@cbob213]

@@made-line7627 Auto correct, stream of consciousness typing. I mostly listen to the Audio books over and over, and always fuck up the spelling. I have started leisurely reading the books for this very reason....

[@seamuscallaghan8851]

There are no lemon trees in Braavos.

[@cbob213]

@@seamuscallaghan8851 except at the Sea Lords Palace? Gardens? Many have speculated that's what's going on. Or she grew up in Dorne. I guess we will have to wait and see

[@TheTam0613]

@@cbob213 I was going to say the same thing. There are gardens in the estate of the Sealord of Bravos.

[@thisguy8106]

I think GRRM is doing a great job at setting Arya up for a harsh realization of "Eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind"...

[@tris2947]

The fact she knows about that artery and to slice it when a dude is “bothered”... That alone is what made me fall for her.

[@christopherallen8930]

I kinda think that Aria Stark had her face cut off. The symbolism is just so spot on. The name "Faceless Men" seems so literal to me. Also goes with the sacrifice theme.

[@tabulldog2743]

Pure Nightmare Scenario that I read on Reddit one time: Arya truly loses herself, and devotes herself fully to the Faceless Men, completing her training.The new Faceless Man gets assigned to travel to the Wall in Westeros. Her mission? Deliver the gift of death to the new Lord Commander. Arya arrives at the end of the world, prepares to kill the LC, but discovers he's Jon Snow and hesitates. He (or perhaps his new brothers) kills this strange attacker. "Jon, who do you suppose that was?" "Probably No One."

[@210SAi]

tabulldog27 can’t picture Stark’s taking out their own family.

[@zac-1]

You should do a video with Robert from in deep geek

[@Drunkgnom3]

Haven’t watched the full video yet so not sure if they mentioned it, but just had a thought that she might be able to use her warg abilities to help her perform the face attaching surgery/spell without needing to rely on her own eyes.

[@mommiesaurus]

Eye of the wolf and the cream of the crop.

[@williambarnes7315]

Love this series of videos. Might Arya take Raff's face etc, and head back to Westeros that way?

[@laurahill9643]

The Night's Watch dude doesn't really bother me, because she's a Stark. Deserters must die. The Sweetlings though.... dude. That was rough.

[@wisdommanari6701]

But she's not a Lord. The right of Pit and Gallows belongs to the Lord. Remember the other man was held for Ned?

[@DavidLightbringer]

I mean Raff was a child rapist so... there's no question he deserve to die, but it's definitely rough watching a twelve-year-old carry out the justice

[@pawemarsza9515]

@@wisdommanari6701 remember that Ned was MURDERED? God, remember that EVERY MEMBER OF HER FAMILY WAS MURDERED (except Sansa, who is useless and Cersei's pet at that)? Who is Lord of Winterfell now? Who is about to make justice? No one. Only Arya. So she does it

[@luciamota1249]

@@pawemarsza9515 No. That means that all desertors must be sent to... Roose Bolton. Like it or not he's by now the Lord of WF and Guardian of the North. That title is what gives people the right and duty to kill desertors. Arya had no right to kill him, not even if we assume that any Stark can do it (which is not true) since she was already claiming to be NO ONE.

[@varanasiwalks1451]

in the last 6000 years only one KZbinr has internalised the difference between "to use" and "to utilise", that they are not always interchangable.

[@robertmccune.]

Loving the new content !

[@cosmohella8879]

Great video!

[@dustin628]

Lml KILLS me when he says that Jaquen is using glamours! Some FM have to, but Jaquen, and arya, are special and can change their faces at will. Quinn had it right. Remember, the first Seaford of bravos got is job by calling a cat a cat. The cat was glamored and his eyes were sharp enough to see through the glamor. Only a few FM like jaquen and arya can disguise themselves completely.