Television Vs. Book: Why'd They Make [Spoiler] Such A [Spoiler]?

[Hecate7]

Sansa dreamed of having Tyrell sons to replace her dead brothers and even a girl who looked like Arya later dreams at the Eyrie of being little and sharing a room with Arya, and Arya is ready to beg Sansa's pardons like a proper lady early on in and later thinks Needle even represents Sansa

 

Wow, I missed that! I thought Needle represented Jon Snow to her!

 

I think if the two were reunited at this point, they would not recognize each other. I don't think Arya would even notice that Sansa looks like Cat, because of the dye job. She'd just feel uncomfortable wondering where she'd seen her before. "Alayne" would probably give her the creeps--that combination of familiar you can't place, and unfamiliar, usually is very creepy to people. Arya probably wouldn't be wearing her own face, so Sansa wouldn't know her, either.

 

I do think that the story is leading up those two meeting, but given the way this story generally goes, I wouldn't look for it to be to the benefit of either sister, nor for it to bring any emotional resolution or happiness or even a "working things out." People don't "work things out" much in this story. Mostly they get killed, lost, or disfigured.

[Avaleigh]

I thought Needle was supposed to represent everything that Arya loved and missed about her past. It's all of her siblings" even Sansa"; it's her parents and Winterfell, and maybe even Jory, Mycah, Gendry etc.

Re: my thoughts on Arya possibly feeling murderous to her own siblings--IMO she's so hellbent on becoming no one that I feel like this means she's losing her humanity and I can see this leading to a situation where she's completely unmoved upon seeing Sansa in danger or something like that. I don't actually think she and Bran will ever meet again but I can't see her being a kind of Meera for him if they did. She strikes me as a loner at this point who has completely abandoned the idea of running with a pack again. In fact I think she'd hugely resent being stuck in the cave and we'd likely have to read about how stupid she thinks everyone and everything is. Practically everyone is stupid as far as Arya is concerned and that's one of the things that frustrated me as I was reading her chapters.

Even dressed and acting as Alayne I think Arya would know instantly that it was her sister. Arya is sharp, I feel like she's being trained to pick up on stuff like this. Sansa though I agree, she'd be unlikely to recognize Arya unless Arya happened to be wearing her own face.

As far as Arya thinking that she'd act like a little lady if she were to meet Sansa again- -maybe she really does think that but it's something that's hard for me to picture. It just seems so unlikely I feel like she'd get angry all over again if she were to see Sansa living a princess-like existence. I also can't see her responding well to Sansa's relationship with Littlefinger.

[Lady S.]

Even dressed and acting as Alayne I think Arya would know instantly that it was her sister. Arya is sharp, I feel like she's being trained to pick up on stuff like this. Sansa though I agree, she'd be unlikely to recognize Arya unless Arya happened to be wearing her own face.

As far as Arya thinking that she'd act like a little lady if she were to meet Sansa again- -maybe she really does think that but it's something that's hard for me to picture. It just seems so unlikely I feel like she'd get angry all over again if she were to see Sansa living a princess-like existence. I also can't see her responding well to Sansa's relationship with Littlefinger.

Yeah, Sansa's had a dye job, not plastic surgery, I don't think she'd be impossible to recognize.

 

The proper lady thing was a line from Clash, my point was just that they'd both moved on from their last fight, which had Sansa acting the worse anyway. I don't wanna argue about Arya in Feast/Dance, but she does think even Sansa by name right after thinking Robb/Bran/Rickon and their parents, and I think the even would just apply anyway because it's weird to associate a sword with Sansa and Jon Snow even told her not to tell Sansa about it when he gave it to her. And I'll just say that I don't think Arya actually wants to be no one anymore than Bran wants to be a tree, it's a role forced on her because she has nowhere else to go and a coping mechanism because she's been through incredible trauma. She's still haunted by her dead family members in her last Dance chapter and remembers Sansa when drinking the FM potion, as for the TWoW preview,

that's probably the first ever chapter where she doesn't think of her home/family, but that's such a shift that I don't think we can judge her future based on chapter, and it's just even weirder to me to think that she'd remember annoying Lommy so clearly to avenge his murder so exactly but no longer care anything about people who actually meant something in her life as Arya of House Stark. A life she's still connected to by carrying around Needle and being watched by Bran in vivid wolf dreams.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Lady S.

[benteen]

Yeah.  Despite her training, Arya doesn't want to give up her past and I think would be happy to see her siblings again.  That being said, I don't know if she could ever be among them again.  I kind of see her being a wandering King's Justice when this is all said and done, dispensing justice when it's appropriate. 

 

I don't think Arya and Bran will ever see each other again although I can definitely see Bran contacting her through the weir-network. 

[Hecate7]

Yeah, Sansa's had a dye job, not plastic surgery, I don't think she'd be impossible to recognize.

 

The proper lady thing was a line from Clash, my point was just that they'd both moved on from their last fight, which had Sansa acting the worse anyway. I don't wanna argue about Arya in Feast/Dance, but she does think even Sansa by name right after thinking Robb/Bran/Rickon and their parents, and I think the even would just apply anyway because it's weird to associate a sword with Sansa and Jon Snow even told her not to tell Sansa about it when he gave it to her. And I'll just say that I don't think Arya actually wants to be no one anymore than Bran wants to be a tree, it's a role forced on her because she has nowhere else to go and a coping mechanism because she's been through incredible trauma. She's still haunted by her dead family members in her last Dance chapter and remembers Sansa when drinking the FM potion, as for the TWoW preview,

that's probably the first ever chapter where she doesn't think of her home/family, but that's such a shift that I don't think we can judge her future based on chapter, and it's just even weirder to me to think that she'd remember annoying Lommy so clearly to avenge his murder so exactly but no longer care anything about people who actually meant something in her life as Arya of House Stark. A life she's still connected to by carrying around Needle and being watched by Bran in vivid wolf dreams.

 

 

She cares about them as much as she does Lommy--she would be happy to kill anyone who killed them. But I don't think they really "mean" anything more than that to her. Arya is not unlike The Unsullied in that regard. She wasn't forced to kill Nymeria, but she did have to chase her away. She has not been allowed any real attachments or friendships since she was 9.

 

As for the Sansa thing, she doesn't have to have had plastic surgery--growing from age 11 to age 15 is a lot like plastic surgery! One has only to look at Sophie Turner's picture season one, and her picture in the finale, to see that it's unlikely that someone who hasn't seen her at all between point A and point B, would ever recognize her. We recognize her because we have seen her at each step in between, and we see the label, "Sophie Turner," under her picture. But if there were a label that said "Caitlin Milligan," we wouldn't go, "how odd....she looks like a brunette Sophie Turner." We'd just admire the pretty and go on with our lives.

 

Besides, I've seen people not recognize sisters they'd seen only months before, and in those cases the sister didn't even have a dye job or a disguise. In one case, the girl had seen her sister only hours earlier that same day. No dye job, no disguise....only very slightly dressed up, with only slightly more professional makeup than her daily wear, and her sister didn't recognize her even when their mother started laughing and the M.C said, "look closer at model 21....do you notice anything about her?" Nope. The sister did not. And don't tell me a little lip gloss and mascara is a better disguise than a complete dye job and overhaul of one's look and personal style.

 

When we see people in a context we're not used to seeing them in, often something short-circuits in the brain. Arya isn't going to assume that a six foot tall brunette is her five foot six red-haired sister, especially when the tall brunette woman walks, talks, and acts differently, and is going by a different name. Unless someone actually tells her Alayne Stone is Sansa Stark, she is unlikely to know that. Especially since "Sansa" in Arya's memory wears light blue, grey, or lavender silks, and hoods trimmed with wolf fur, and Alayne wears cheap black dresses trimmed up with feathers. In many ways, Sansa is NOT Sansa anymore, and so Arya's training probably won't help her detect Sansa underneath the Alayne disguise, should they ever meet again. Sansa might not even like lemon cakes anymore, after her experiences at the Eyrie.

 

Arya might be glad to see her siblings again, but I can't picture that lasting more than 15 minutes. The same trauma and training that allowed her to shut down her sympathy for the Hound, or kill sweet little Mercy and take her identity, would prevent her from getting too attached or feeling too much for her siblings. It's not her fault, but it's how she is now.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Hecate7

[benteen]

Yeah, I don't think Arya can be "fixed."  Maybe after many years she can find peace but that's going to be a while.

[lawless]

As long as Cersei is around, there's more to his story. As long as their two children are around, his story's not finished. As long as his paternity is dismissed as a conspiracy theory by anyone, his story isn't finished, IMO. There's plenty to do with Jaime.

I am very, very sad at the thought of Jaime dying, but I also can't argue with the notion that it seems unlikely that he'd make it out of this story alive -- though it would be nice if he had a lot of adventure and heroic deeds in fighting the White Walkers before the end, and I am hoping against hope that Martin surprises us by NOT killing him.  At any rate, regarding his future storyline, I agree that his story seems to have come to a dead end, in that he seems to have internally decided to break up with Cersei, by not responding to her Raven plea for help, and given his internal thoughts about her in the latter books. 

 

However, I am hoping that he's just been in a holding pattern while other parts of the story moved forward, kind of like Dany in Mereen.  What gives me hope?  I think Jaime may be connected to the larger White Walker storyline, and perhaps to Jon Snow and the real flaming sword.  Why do I think this?  There are several mentions in the books of Jaime and Weirwoods which we know are now connected to Bran, and which Bran has used to influence/communicate with other people, like Theon.  I mean, if Bran can't do anything but watch from the Weirwoods, then his whole story is fairly pointless, so I assume he can and will do more in the future.  Anyway, Jaime went to rescue Brienne from the bear after his dream, which took place after he went to sleep with his head on a Weirwood stump.  As we know, in the Books, after he leaves Kings Landing, he tries to get better with his left hand by fighting Illyn Payne, to whom he delivers a number of confession-like monologues.  At least one of these sessions is described as taking place in the local Godswood. Presumably, Bran heard everything he said and Jaime -- a person of significance to Bran albeit in a negative way -- has come to Bran's attention. In another scene shortly before the cliffhanger where he goes off with Brienne, he realizes winter has arrived, and Jaime hears the trees rasping and making noise.  So, I think at least three separate times there are subtle connections between Jaime and the Weirwood/Bran storyline.  Then, there is his sword, Oathkeeper, currently in Brienne's possession -- it was re-forged from the Stark family sword Ice, and the smith said that the Valyrian steel weirdly worked black and red coloring into itself while he was making it -- the red suits the Lannisters of course, so Tywin was pleased, but black and red are actually the colors of House Targaryen, of which Jon Snow may be a member.  I think that these are hints that Oathkeeper may end up being the real flaming sword that Stannis and Melisandre are pretending that Stannis has, and that it may end up with Jon Snow before it's over.  (Though of course he has the Valyerian steel sword Longclaw already in his possession from Joer Mormont, but I hope against hope that Longclaw somehow makes it way back to Jorah Mormont or other Mormonts, who valiantly fight White Walkers with it along side Jon Snow.) 

 

Anyway, I hope that the small connections between Jaime and Weirwoods are background for involving Jaime in the stuff going on in the North.  I think his storyline with Cersei is probably not complete, but I feel like Jaime's character has only turned to the path of possible redemption and heroism, but he hasn't actually realized it.  Merely breaking up with Cersei and trying to serve the Lannister's goals without actually taking up arms against House Stark or House Tully is a paltry end for his character arc.  Jaime himself admits that his finest act in life was killing Aerys and the pyromancer to save the people of Kings Landing from a horrific death, though it cost him his honor and made him an oathbreaker (the cost to his honor was also his foolish pride in refusing to tell anyone why he did what he did though).  Since then his life has been pretty meaningless and comprised of a lot of wasted potential, and entirely based upon his secret love affair with Cersei.  Ending that relationship and seeing her for what she is is an important and necessary step toward doing something meaningful and heroic in his life, but in and of itself, it's not enough to provide a satisfying end to his storyline, for me at least.  So I hope the things I mentioned above are hints about his connection to the larger storyline outside of King's Landing.  Also, I really want to see him interact with other characters, like Jon Snow and maybe even Dany and/or Barristan Selmy and Jorah Mormont, because of his history.

 

I know it's unlikely, but I WANT TO BELIEVE, you guys, I WANT TO BELIEVE!  ;)

Edited August 9, 2014 by lawless

[Avaleigh]

Damn it, Lawless, you can't just go and give me hope like that about Jaime. Siriusly. ;-p

Edited August 9, 2014 by Avaleigh

[lawless]

Heh, just re-read parts of Feast for Crows, and there was a reference to Jaime hearing the willows whispering to each other in the sequence when he figures out how to get Riverrun to surrender. Wasn't Jaime captured in the first place in the Whispering Woods? Maybe not, and maybe it's all just ambiance that will come to nothing, but so long as he's alive, I am trying to hope Jaime is actually important to the story outside of KIng's Landing. I will be really disappointed if Lady Stoneheart has him killed right off (by anyone), and I will also be very disappointed if all that's left of his story is mopping up the war in the Riverlands and returning to King's Landing to strangle Cersei as the Valonquar. I hope that isn't about him at all, contrary to the strong suggestion that it's him, and that his story involves Jon Snow and the Wall, or even an angry, dragon-riding Dany to whom he has to come clean about Mad King Aerys.

ETA Jaime's last POV in Feast for Crows involved the noisy trees. His last POV in Dance with Dragons is resolving the dispute among Lords in Raventree, one of whose House sigil is a White Tree with ravens flying off it. He then goes to Pennytree, named for a oak tree, ancient with roots deep in the ground, to which a hundred or so copper pennies are nailed.

All these trees have to mean something , don 't they?!

Edited August 10, 2014 by lawless

[benteen]

I don't think Jaime will make it out of the series alive although I think there's a chance he could end up as the 1,000th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.  But I can see that as a fate for either him, Theon, Jorah, or even Stannis.

[Avaleigh]

My guess is that Jorah is the man with a lock on becoming the thousandth LC.

I like the idea of Theon making it to the Wall and being of use but I think he's marked for death *maybe* even in TWoW.

When I first read the books around the time HBO announced that they'd be adapting the series, I remember reading a comment from a poster (I think) over at Westeros who said that they basically imagine Jaime having a sacrificial moment where he's basically like. "Hey guys, keep on going and make sure you get out--I've got this one." It's a comment that stuck with me so I'm hoping that if Jaime does die at the end that he'll at least go out in a blaze of glory.

I'm not fond of the idea of him killing Cersei if he's going to kill her for fucking other men. If it's about protecting people in KL or Casterly Rock that I'd be fine with, but if it's just about Lancel and the Kettleblacks I'll be most disappointed. A separate issue is that I think Jaime being Cersei's killer is easily the least surprising option and for that reason alone I'd prefer for it to turn out to be some other character.

[Oscirus]

She strikes me as a loner at this point who has completely abandoned the idea of running with a pack again.

 

On the tv show, I'd disagree. The main reason that she's going to the island is that she has no place else to go. As far as she knows,  her parents, Bran and Rickon are dead, her sister's trapped on King's landing, Snow is too far away and Bendry and Hot Pie have been sold to parts unknown. 

 

As for the Sansa thing, she doesn't have to have had plastic surgery--growing from age 11 to age 15 is a lot like plastic surgery! One has only to look at Sophie Turner's picture season one, and her picture in the finale, to see that it's unlikely that someone who hasn't seen her at all between point A and point B, would ever recognize her. We recognize her because we have seen her at each step in between, and we see the label, "Sophie Turner," under her picture. But if there were a label that said "Caitlin Milligan," we wouldn't go, "how odd....she looks like a brunette Sophie Turner." We'd just admire the pretty and go on with our lives.

 

I don't think it's been four years since they've seen each other on the show and even if it was, she has the same facial features, as she did when she was younger.  They've been around one another for ten years, I'm pretty sure that they'd know how the other person looks even if they aged up.

 

I'm not fond of the idea of him killing Cersei if he's going to kill her for fucking other men.

 

 

If someone killed her by choking her out then that's someone who's mad at her. I doubt it would be any other motive other then revenge.  Which is why I find it hard to believe Cersei's killer is anybody other then Tyrion. I mean yea, he's the obvious choice, but that also makes him the perfect candidate. A rather clever way of  hiding the killer in plain sight. It would make for the perfect Greek tragedy to have  Cersei make the prophecy come true through her own actions every step of the way.

 

I'm still uneasy about Jamie. Maybe I went to far with my Jamie replaces everything Kevan on the show, but I still don't see him lasting too much longer. He might survive season five but if he makes it past season six then I will be shocked.

[benteen]

I suspect if Jaime kills Cersei (which I think will happen) it'll be to stop her from burning down King's Landing.

[Holmbo]

I do feel like Jaime's story isn't finished. But that might just be my expectation of a typical redemption story. I feel he's yet to do something that really shows that he's a better person than he was in the start of the story. Saving Brienne from the bear was a good thing but no proof imo. Two handed Jaime would have risked his life without blinking to save someone he cared about. Him not going back to try to help Cersei similarly does not show he's a better person. Maybe I'm just expecting some big symbolic moment though that we wont get. There's lots of smaller moments where he does the right thing and shows his growth.

I suppose my expectation for a big moment goes back to Avaleigh's comment about Jaimes I've-got-this-one ending. But really it all depends on what kind of story we expect Jaime's to be. I always think of it as a redeemed hero's tale. But what if it's actually a grow to be a leader story. Maybe his story is about raising to ones full potential and taking on responsibility in order to try to right things. Kinda like how I expect Sansa's story arch to be. In that case I could see Jaime ending up as lord of Casterly Rock. He forsakes his holy wow as a kingsguard in order to take up power that he never wanted because it's the right thing to do. It would be a redemption of another sort. To give up the idea of being a knight and a warrior and dying valiantly in battle. This theory came to me as I was writing this comment so I haven't thought it through but I really like the idea of it.

[lawless]

I suppose my expectation for a big moment goes back to Avaleigh's comment about Jaimes I've-got-this-one ending. But really it all depends on what kind of story we expect Jaime's to be. I always think of it as a redeemed hero's tale. But what if it's actually a grow to be a leader story. Maybe his story is about raising to ones full potential and taking on responsibility in order to try to right things. Kinda like how I expect Sansa's story arch to be. In that case I could see Jaime ending up as lord of Casterly Rock. He forsakes his holy wow as a kingsguard in order to take up power that he never wanted because it's the right thing to do. It would be a redemption of another sort. To give up the idea of being a knight and a warrior and dying valiantly in battle.

This is my secret hope for the guy!  He's been maimed, and even though he practices all the time with Illyn Payne, Martin makes clear that he's only getting marginally better.  I don't have the sense he will ever return to anything like his old skill, which limits heroic death in battle options.  Also, suggestive of a different path, while out in the Riverlands, he's forced to use his head more and be a leader, for perhaps the first time, and there was a sequence in which he thought about how much he liked it.  He was comfortable with the men, gave the younger ones advice, some of them spontaneously offered him part of a hare, and so on.  The men like him, and he likes leading them.  He gave advice to the Freys about how to handle the small folk to get them to go against the Dondarion gang -- he counseled that instead of a forceful crackdown, to follow Arthur Dayne's example and treat them well enough and respectfully to make them love you.  Much more the Ned Stark approach than the Tywin Lannister approach.  I would love it if he were part of the larger story of the fight against the White Walkers, but not necessarily as a warrior as I expect Jon Snow will be and as I kind of hope Jorah Mormont will be (not likely, that).  It would be strangely fitting to do something major to protect the people of Westeros, particularly without their knowledge or awareness. 

 

I hope he has some such role to play, but like you, I hope he manages against all odds to end up alive and the Lord of Casterly Rock -- not because he wants the power, like Tywin and even Tyrion, but because he finally accepts responsibilities that he always ran from before.  Also, I hope the poor guy has sex with someone other than his crazy, vicious sister at least once in his life.  Jeez.  Maybe on the Show, the ladies of Dorne will get him a little drunk and seduce him or something.  Not realistic while he's still all wrapped up with Cersei I guess, but couldn't the audience get a little bit of an actually hot sex scene with Jaime, instead of all the awful Bran-throwing, Sept-raping stuff? 

 

Anyway, regarding Sansa and Arya, I think they would not recognize each other immediately necessarily, but that Arya would recognize Sansa pretty quickly if she got a good look at her.  However, I have little desire to see such a reunion.  Don't know why, but it just doesn't seem like it would move the story forward much, given where they are now. 

[John Potts]

I wonder if Jamie might die in saving King's Landing from someone (Victarion? Danny and her dragons?) when it was actually somebody else who was primarily responsible. It would be a sort of poetic justice - this time, he (undeservedly) gets the credit instead of the blame.

 

Of course, getting killed by Lady Stoneheart would also be a form of Poetic Justice too, since Catelyn Stark saved his life by freeing him - this time it goes the other way.

[Advance35]

Anyway, regarding Sansa and Arya, I think they would not recognize each other immediately necessarily, but that Arya would recognize Sansa pretty quickly if she got a good look at her.  However, I have little desire to see such a reunion.  Don't know why, but it just doesn't seem like it would move the story forward much, given where they are now.

 

This is my outlook on such a reunion.  I just see know point to it.  Both have moved on and both have far more pressing issues to deal with, I could see one finding out the other is alive and being happy with that while going on about her business but that's about it.  Everything else would be a massive detour and bring what I consider a compelling character arc (Sansa's) to a screeching halt.

 

In regards to Stonehart, that has a real chance of being a JTS moment for me.   There is know way Jaimie should be able to get out of that, yet I have know doubt he does since D&D chose not to use her.   And if she isn't going to have a major influence on the cast of characters that I'm glad they did nix her.

[Holmbo]

In regards to Stonehart, that has a real chance of being a JTS moment for me.   There is know way Jaimie should be able to get out of that, yet I have know doubt he does since D&D chose not to use her.   And if she isn't going to have a major influence on the cast of characters that I'm glad they did nix her.

 

If SH is not in it's still possible that her story line will be and that someone else will fill her role from the show. Like perhaps Blackfish. This would work unless Cat being their leader is somehow important to their plot. Like that Brienne swore a wow to her will affect the resolution to that story. Of course it could be that their plot is not important. It just seem to me that they are needed to stir some stuff up in the Riverlands if nothing else.

[SeanC]

As for the Sansa thing, she doesn't have to have had plastic surgery--growing from age 11 to age 15 is a lot like plastic surgery! One has only to look at Sophie Turner's picture season one, and her picture in the finale, to see that it's unlikely that someone who hasn't seen her at all between point A and point B, would ever recognize her. We recognize her because we have seen her at each step in between, and we see the label, "Sophie Turner," under her picture. But if there were a label that said "Caitlin Milligan," we wouldn't go, "how odd....she looks like a brunette Sophie Turner." We'd just admire the pretty and go on with our lives.

Yohn Royce at least half-recognized Sansa despite having known her for (at most) a few weeks when she was 9.  GRRM has not been positioned the "Alayne" disguise as something that would fool someone who actually knew her.  For that matter, Sansa in the books has aged from about 12 to 13ish since Arya last saw her.

[Winnief]

 

If SH is not in it's still possible that her story line will be and that someone else will fill her role from the show. Like perhaps Blackfish. This would work unless Cat being their leader is somehow important to their plot. Like that Brienne swore a wow to her will affect the resolution to that story. Of course it could be that their plot is not important. It just seem to me that they are needed to stir some stuff up in the Riverlands if nothing else.

 

I think that since they didn't include LSH, it's because she's not integral to events in the Riverlands.  You can just as easily have the Brotherhood, (or other local citizens,) killing Frey's left and right to get the point across without her-and it could be the Frey's ultimate downfall comes about from other unrelated factors.  I must admit I'd kinda like to see the Frey's meeting their doom thanks to all the other people they managed to piss off with the RW-and personally I cannot wait for Frey pie.  

 

I do hope to see the Blackfish again next season-his barbs with Jaime were a bright spot in AFFC that I'll miss, but it's not impossible for Jaime and Blackfish to meet up again eventually somehow.  Personally, I suspect he will next turn up in the Vale and would love to see him with Sansa-it would be great for her to finally have an adult she can trust, who would play father figure, and after the deaths of so many of their kin, they'd find each other a comfort.  He especially would be pleased by her resemblance to Cat and the Tully line.

 

I'm in the camp that wants to see Jaime go up North beyond the Wall-I think his interactions with Jon in particular would be just fascinating especially after the Big Reveal, and oh god I NEED to see everyone's reactions to that.  I'm sorry I won't see Tywin's reaction to that-almost as sorry that I never got to see Tywin's reaction to dragons and White Walkers.  I especially would have LOVED to see the old bastard try to deal with the latter; good luck handling that problem via backalley deals and Castamere style brutality!  I could see Jaime on the other hand, welcoming a chance to lay down his life fighting something like that.  It would finally be a cause he could fight for and die for that he could truly believe in.  And seeing Jaime honoring the NW would only re-iterate his character growth from the beginning when he was openly sneering at those who took the black.

 

Don't know if Sansa/Arya will ever be re-united but I feel pretty sure Sansa/Jon will-and that should be a curious meeting especially after the Big Reveal and if other parties like Blackfish or Jaime Lannister/Brienne are there.  An irony is that while the last few years of horror convinced Sansa there were no true Knights in the world, Jon has actually been quietly growing into the role of exactly the kind of romantic hero from the songs.  It might help restore just a shred of hope in humanity for her-and honestly for us viewers/readers as well.  I think at this point we're due.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Winnief

[benteen]

I'd definitely like to see Jaime meet up with Jon.  I loved the scene they wrote between the two of them in episode two of the first season.  While I see Jaime possibly ending up as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, I can't help but feel it will happen after the Others threat is resolved.  If the Watch will still exist at all at that point.

[Hecate7]

Yohn Royce at least half-recognized Sansa despite having known her for (at most) a few weeks when she was 9.  GRRM has not been positioned the "Alayne" disguise as something that would fool someone who actually knew her.  For that matter, Sansa in the books has aged from about 12 to 13ish since Arya last saw her.

Then what do you think the point of the disguise really is?

 

You do know Arya won't run into Sansa next week--it could be another 5 years.

[Avaleigh]

I don't think the disguise is for the benefit of Arya. I think the main point of the disguise is to have a reason for why the Lannisters and Brienne haven't been able to find Sansa so far and why no other people in the Vale have picked up on it yet.

Plus, I'd honestly question the competency of Arya's FM training if she isn't able to see through a false name and dye job. I understand the argument that that people can sometimes be fooled by simple disguises, but in Arya's case it just wouldn't make any sense to me that she wouldn't be able to recognize Sansa with Sansa in the Alayne disguise. Arya is sharp and picks up on subtle details and she's being trained to notice things that the average person wouldn't notice.

Even if five or six years were to pass I still think Arya would recognize her. In addition to her disguise being minimal there's also the fact that she looks just like their mother.

As a comparison IMO Arya would/will recognize LS if she happened to come across her and she looks practically nothing like the old Catelyn. Sansa in her current look though, I think even other characters would recognize her as well if they had enough time to really look. I think Tyrion would at any rate.

[Oscirus]

In the first season on the show, the Starks relationships that were set up were Jon and Arya (who unknowingly set her on the path to becoming a killer by giving her the sword) and Sansa and Arya (sisters with a love/hate relationship).  I see these two relationships being explored further in future seasons (probably not in the next season though).  Truth be told, I want to see Sansa and Arya meet. Not for any storyline reasons. but, because those two really need a break. As far as they know their family's slaughtered, they can at least meet one another and see how far they've come.

 

Also I just thought about this as typing but somehow, Tyrion managed to get into important relationships with the same Starks as Arya (the Jon relationship is more implied but still) yet those two have never crossed paths. Nothing of importance to say about that, just something strange I noticed.

[Hecate7]

My point wasn't that a simple disguise is that effective, but rather, that the mind plays tricks, and Arya's being set up beautifully to fall for a classic.

 

I have actually seen people not recognize their own sisters, in real life. One was a game show contestant, and the other was a hostess working at a restaurant. On the game show, it took the contestant, (whose mind was on winning the game show and NOT on the sister she'd seen that very afternoon) a full 5 minutes to recognize her own sister, and that was with the Emcee saying, "do you notice anything about Model 21?" She didn't. Even when invited to look closer, look closer, look closer, she still didn't connect "model 21" with her own sister, with whom she'd just had lunch and dinner.

 

"Model 21" didn't get her hair dyed or put on a major disguise or anything. She had on a professional makeup job and her hair was styled nicely, but she tended to dress well and wear makeup in daily life anyway--it's not like her sister had never seen her looking like that before. Her brain just simply refused to make a connection between "Model 21" and her sister. These were grown women, not growing girls whose faces and bodies change yearly.

 

 

The other case I know of, was of a woman at work at her restaurant job. Her sister walked in, and she seated her like any other customer. They talked for about 5 minutes, joking about this and that, and it completely failed to occur to the hostess that the woman she was waiting on was her sister. They had not been separated for years, as Arya and Sansa have been. Only a few months early Hostess had sung at her sister's wedding. Her sister had not gained or lost weight, gotten her hair cut or colored, or changed her makeup style in any way. She had a dot on her forehead--that's the only thing that was different, and you'd have thought that would have made her easier, not harder, to recognize, given how few auburn-haired caucasians are running around in saris with dots on their forehead, and how recent the wedding was.

 

It's not that the disguise is so great, it's that these women were living in "worlds"--restaurant, game show, work---in which their sisters did not exist, and so their brains didn't register the sister. Sansa's disguise is way better than a little hairspray or a dot on her forehead, and Arya is in that "at work" mindset all the time.

 

It is interesting that Tyrion and Arya are both closer to the same Starks.

 

I don't think Arya would recognize Lady Stoneheart unless someone said, "here's your mother, Arya." Arya's mother is dead. She knows this for a fact. Lady Stoneheart looks nothing like Catelyn. I don't think she'd connect Lady Stoneheart with Catelyn on sight. I don't think just being in the same family guarantees recognition. In a recent experiment, 100% of subjects did not recognize their families, when their families were dressed as homeless people and sitting on the street. One man even walked past his wife of 34 years, (happily married, had breakfast together that morning,) and he didn't recognize her and walked on past without answering. http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardhjames/would-you-notice-your-own-family-if-they-were-homeless

Edited August 12, 2014 by Hecate7

[lawless]

My guess is that Jorah is the man with a lock on becoming the thousandth LC.

This would be great, because I am so afraid he's going to die in Slaver's Bay, and I have become attached.  More to Show Jorah, but still.  Plus he so badly wanted to go home.

 

Hecate7, those stories are crazy, but it's true that it's hard to recognize people without context sometimes.  I still think Arya would figure out it's Sansa with a little time, if she got a good look at her, but that's partly because of her supersecret ninja assassin training.  However, I have no yearn for this at this place in the story, unless Sansa recognizes Arya, they both decide Cersei has to go, and Sansa sends Arya off to assassinate her.  That would be fine.  She could take Tyrion's shape, and strangle her, and then reunite with Nymeria, or something.

 

I'm on the team of Sansa Stark, Queen in the North!  But I also very much want Jaime to make it.  And get some sexy times, on the Show.  I also favor Tommen and his kittens, but I fear they are doomed.

[magdalene]

My wish for Jaime is that he lives to old age and becomes somewhat of a wise leader figure. Who influences rash young people in a positive way or something like it. That would be more interesting and less cliche to me than Jaime getting killed by Lady Stoneheart or Dany's dragons, or dying in some heroic stunt.

 

Of course I dream and GRM laughs at notions like this.

[Winnief]

One factor in whether the Stark sisters would ever recognize each other again might be the fact they both have a certain degree of warging ability-and that Bran has been sending psychic communications to both.  

 

Sometimes I think if Sansa ever does get North, Rickon might confuse her in his mind with his memories of Cat and think of her as 'mother.' I like the idea of Sansa Queen of the North, but Sansa Lady of Riverrun is perfectly plausible as well, Sansa Lady of Casterly Rock, Sansa Lady of the Vale, or even Sansa Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.  

 

In an ideal world, Arya would survive and be the next Master of Whispers, (ever her time as Mercy mimics Varys's training with the mummer's troupe,) but in Martin's world I'm afraid she'll die at the end, because Martin is a mean old bastard like that.  

 

Sadly, Tommen and Ser Pounce are both goners for sure as is Myrcella which is tragic since they're both nice kids who can't help having Cersei for a mother.  Again ideally they'd live out their lives at CR or join the Faith of the Seven but that ain't Martin's world.  

[Hecate7]

I also favor Tommen and his kittens. Maybe the kittens will go hide. GRRM usually finds a way to spare the cats, as do most good horror writers.

 

I don't think Arya can assume someone's shape unless that person is dead, and if I were going to take a shape that would make Cersei let me in, it wouldn't be Tyrion's. I suppose if you're routing for Jaime to die, maybe he'll end up at the shrine and kill himself, and she can take his shape. I don't think a meeting with Sansa is necessary for either Arya or Sansa to think Cersei needs to go. She's on both of their lists.

 

Arya does look like she's on a similar path to that of Varys. That would be kind of cool. Arya will not die. That is the one thing we do know for sure. That's one reason I expect her to kill at least one family member.  I think she'd know Jon Snow, Rickon is too far away, Bran is becoming a tree, Robb's already dead, and Catelyn is a zombie. That's why I'm betting on Sansa to be the next Stark casualty, and for it to be at Arya's hands, because Arya isn't going to die, and SOMETHING has to happen to her to shake her out of this "hate everyone, kill everyone" fog she's in. If she were to blindly kill someone she thought she was avenging, maybe it would open her eyes and jolt her out of her impending facelessness. I can't think of much else that would.

[Winnief]

 

Arya does look like she's on a similar path to that of Varys. That would be kind of cool. Arya will not die. That is the one thing we do know for sure. That's one reason I expect her to kill at least one family member.  I think she'd know Jon Snow, Rickon is too far away, Bran is becoming a tree, Robb's already dead, and Catelyn is a zombie. That's why I'm betting on Sansa to be the next Stark casualty, and for it to be at Arya's hands, because Arya isn't going to die, and SOMETHING has to happen to her to shake her out of this "hate everyone, kill everyone" fog she's in. If she were to blindly kill someone she thought she was avenging, maybe it would open her eyes and jolt her out of her impending facelessness. I can't think of much else that would.

 

I see it being more likely that Arya might be sent to kill Sansa but wake up at the last minute and not do it-the reason I'd anticipate the happier outcome in a series famous for NEVER giving us happier outcomes is not my optimistic nature or affection for Sansa so much as the fact that Martin is clearly building Sansa up for something BIG in the future and thus has no plans to kill her off because she's going to be a part of rebuilding Westeros after all this is over.  

 

Though, personally my theory is that Arya is sent to kill Qyborn, (since his activities would be seen as blasphemy by the House of the Undying,) since she among the FM ranks has personal experience with the hidden passageways in the Red Keep and would thus be ideal for the mission.  And of course that gets her back to KL and reminds who her REAL enemies are.

[Avaleigh]

I think Arya will eventually kill Lady Stoneheart.

I think LS could have the power to snap Arya out of this 24/7 hatefest that she's been wallowing in especially if she sees and/or learns that LS is executing innocent people in addition to those who hurt her family. That she is making it a point to kill those who cross her path even a kid like Pod*--my hope is that Arya will get a glimpse of what she could become and will decide that there is a better, stronger, and more honorable way.

*I'm guessing that Pod isn't dead but the fact that she would have killed this kid, squire or not, told me all I need to know about how monstrous her character is on the inside as well as out.

[Holmbo]

 Martin is clearly building Sansa up for something BIG in the future and thus has no plans to kill her off because she's going to be a part of rebuilding Westeros after all this is over.  

So you think that the society will still be going after the story climax? I'm interested what people think about this because I've seen so many people speculate that the story will just end with Westeros being destroyed. I don't think this. I get the feeling that GRRM really likes this world and the characters he has built up and that he want to imagine the society and it's structure to go on after the books are finished. I think some of the characters will survive to restore the order, but not without traumas of course.

My wish for Jaime is that he lives to old age and becomes somewhat of a wise leader figure. Who influences rash young people in a positive way or something like it. That would be more interesting and less cliche to me than Jaime getting killed by Lady Stoneheart or Dany's dragons, or dying in some heroic stunt.

 

Of course I dream and GRM laughs at notions like this.

I think that could potentially happen. But if it does I don't think GRRM would let him be a person at peace with himself. His advice would probably be  Don't do things like I did because then you'll end up having to kill your sister/lover and see all your children get killed. Or something like it.

[Avaleigh]

I'm torn between the idea of the seven kingdoms in the end being unified under a rootworthy couple/alliance or the seven kingdoms being recognized as seven (8? Fewer?) kingdoms that are independent of the crown.

[ElizaD]

My wish for Jaime is that he lives to old age and becomes somewhat of a wise leader figure. Who influences rash young people in a positive way or something like it. That would be more interesting and less cliche to me than Jaime getting killed by Lady Stoneheart or Dany's dragons, or dying in some heroic stunt.

 

I hope Jaime dies for his crimes, which sadly is among the least likely options (random violent death or suicide after strangling Cersei seem like the best bets to me). Sometimes life sucks and even those who deserve second chances don't get them, as ASOIAF constantly reminds the readers. Jaime didn't give a damn when he was ruining the lives of innocents for the sake of his own pleasure or wish for revenge. Now that he's taken some baby steps to behaving differently (but still focusing on his own wish to feel honorable, rather than on the suffering he caused to others), he should learn that there are consequences to his actions and he can't fix everything by giving a fancy sword to a good woman. His partial change of heart doesn't mean that his crimes have been wiped out or that he's entitled to a life atoning in the little ways he feels are appropriate. Jaime already had his chance to see his victims' reputations wrecked with lies and taunt their surviving relatives; if he gets a long life and the return of his own precious honor on top of all that, it'll be unjust even by GRRM standards.

 

So you think that the society will still be going after the story climax? I'm interested what people think about this because I've seen so many people speculate that the story will just end with Westeros being destroyed. I don't think this. I get the feeling that GRRM really likes this world and the characters he has built up and that he want to imagine the society and it's structure to go on after the books are finished. I think some of the characters will survive to restore the order, but not without traumas of course.

 

If Westeros was destroyed, what would be the point of the fight against the Others? (I admit that I would feel I'd been wasting my time if the series ended with total ruin.) It'll survive, though not necessarily as one kingdom ruled by one king/queen, but it looks like the survivors will be psychologically damaged, joyless messes. That might disappoint those hoping for "rocks fall, everyone dies" but it's still going to be the promised bittersweet ending with maybe 95% bitter and 5% sweet.

 

The North, the Iron Islands and Dorne are the most obvious candidates for restored independence due to cultural/religious differences. The Vale could also make it on its own, maybe absorbing (part of) the Riverlands.

[BookEater]

Though, personally my theory is that Arya is sent to kill Qyborn, (since his activities would be seen as blasphemy by the House of the Undying,) since she among the FM ranks has personal experience with the hidden passageways in the Red Keep and would thus be ideal for the mission.  And of course that gets her back to KL and reminds who her REAL enemies are.

 

 

I would love for this to happen, Qyburn really is a vile man who deserves just as much hate as the bigger villains in the series. He's gotten away with awful things so far just because he has Cersei's patronage. So if it gets Arya back in Westeros and removes him from the board, I'm all for a FM hit being put out on him.

 

 

So you think that the society will still be going after the story climax? I'm interested what people think about this because I've seen so many people speculate that the story will just end with Westeros being destroyed. I don't think this. I get the feeling that GRRM really likes this world and the characters he has built up and that he want to imagine the society and it's structure to go on after the books are finished. I think some of the characters will survive to restore the order, but not without traumas of course.

 

I don't know if Westeros will remain as a whole or revert back to it's individual kingdoms, but it's my headcannon that Westeros will have it's own Peasant's Revolt. The WW's would be equivalent to the Black Death and kill a large proportion of the smallfolk, and because of TWotFK's and then a long winter having taken it's toll, the whole kingdom would be like a tinderbox ready to explode. Imagine what would happen when whoever ends up in charge asks for taxes to repair the damage done by all the wars, there's only so much people can take before they say no more.

I actually think the BWB would flourish in that situation, Thoros playing the part of John Ball and maybe Gendry as Wat Tyler.

[Winnief]

 

I think Arya will eventually kill Lady Stoneheart.

 

I like the theory that Brienne kills LSH with Oathkeeper and that Oathkeeper is destined to become Lightbringer, myself.

 

 

If Westeros was destroyed, what would be the point of the fight against the Others? (I admit that I would feel I'd been wasting my time if the series ended with total ruin.) It'll survive, though not necessarily as one kingdom ruled by one king/queen, but it looks like the survivors will be psychologically damaged, joyless messes. That might disappoint those hoping for "rocks fall, everyone dies" but it's still going to be the promised bittersweet ending with maybe 95% bitter and 5% sweet.

 

That's how I see it playing out too.

[SeanC]

Then what do you think the point of the disguise really is?

It's to keep people who have never met Sansa from associating Baelish's illegitimate daughter with a missing redheaded fugitive.  It's never for a moment been suggested that anyone who actually knows her would be fooled by it, as the Royce example shows.

 

I see it being more likely that Arya might be sent to kill Sansa but wake up at the last minute and not do it-the reason I'd anticipate the happier outcome in a series famous for NEVER giving us happier outcomes is not my optimistic nature or affection for Sansa so much as the fact that Martin is clearly building Sansa up for something BIG in the future and thus has no plans to kill her off because she's going to be a part of rebuilding Westeros after all this is over.  

 

Though, personally my theory is that Arya is sent to kill Qyborn, (since his activities would be seen as blasphemy by the House of the Undying,) since she among the FM ranks has personal experience with the hidden passageways in the Red Keep and would thus be ideal for the mission.  And of course that gets her back to KL and reminds who her REAL enemies are.

Arya can't be sent to kill Sansa or Qyburn, for the same reason: she knows them (she knew Qyburn at Harrenhal).

[Avaleigh]

My guess is that if Arya ends up killing or attempting to kill a member of her family it'll be because she's gone rogue and is simply using her training to do as she pleases.

Excellent point about Royce nearly recognizing Sansa even though he hasn't spent nearly as much time with her as Arya has. Arya seems to constantly have the pain of her past on her mind and Sansa is very much apart of that so I don't agree that it would be a situation that is similar to the game show example where Arya simply wouldn't have her sister on her mind because of Sansa being in a place where Arya isn't expecting to see her. Arya's pain is what drives her and it's always on her mind. I can't for a second believe that Arya wouldn't instantly know that she was looking at one of the two members of her family that she knows to be alive. Her FM training where she's supposed to always keep an eye out for any detail that she can work to the advantage of their cause means IMO that no detail would be too small and the spotting of people's identities is a huge part of what it means to be a FM. Recognizing Sansa in the Alayne disguise is something that she should be capable of and IMO the FM training is what would make all of the difference.

I also feel that Jon would immediately recognize in her Alayne disguise. He'd do a double take, sure, but he'd know. Cersei though...maybe I can see this being an example where she'd be dismissive of Alayne as nothing more than a bastard rather than spotting the reality of the girl's identity. I can't think of many other characters though who would be so easily fooled unless of course we're talking about characters like Royce who were barely acquainted with Sansa.

[Winnief]

 

I also feel that Jon would immediately recognize in her Alayne disguise. He'd do a double take, sure, but he'd know.

 

Same here.  I also think Blackfish would know her.  He's never even met Sansa but even with her hair dyed, the resemblance to Cat wouldn't escape him.  Also on the show Brienne and Pod have both seen Sansa firsthand as well, so there's no way they're not gonna recognize her.  Really one way or another on the show, someone in the Vale is going to figure out who "Alayne" is, next season which I think is yet another reason on the show they already had her reveal her identity to the Lords Declarent because this isn't gonna be some grand secret that gets hidden for very long just like they didn't bother with the notion that 'everyone' knows Bran and Rickon are dead but really they're alive.  On the show, words out there are living Stark boys, (even if it hasn't made it to Cersei yet,) and I for one suspect Rickon and Osha are with the Umbers right now, with word out to other Northern lords and everyone just biding their time to return a Stark to Winterfell.  I doubt they'd ever bother with Skagos which really is a smart move-frankly I thought it was a mistake on Martin's part, (though I do like the notion of unicorns!) and the idea of Wex knowing where they were going,  much less being able to communicate it to Manderly was laughable.  Better to just wrap that one up sooner rather than later and have Rickon ready to return and be the new Paramount Lord right after the Battle of Winterfell.  

[benteen]

I always thought Arya would be sent to kill Dany.  Dany has a weakness for children and the FM would use that against her.  Arya would have to take on another face because Barristan has seen her.

[Hecate7]

I see it being more likely that Arya might be sent to kill Sansa but wake up at the last minute and not do it-the reason I'd anticipate the happier outcome in a series famous for NEVER giving us happier outcomes is not my optimistic nature or affection for Sansa so much as the fact that Martin is clearly building Sansa up for something BIG in the future and thus has no plans to kill her off because she's going to be a part of rebuilding Westeros after all this is over.  

 

Assuming it's ever over. Sansa's job might just be to be sacrificed so Arya wakes up.

 

I actually have a great deal of affection for Sansa, and I do think she's being built up for something--to be sacrificed for Arya on some level, just as her wolf died so Arya's might live. Yes, I know Lady wasn't offered in exchange for Nymeria, but she was TAKEN because Nymeria could not be found. I anticipate a similar fate for the girls on some level--Sansa will eventually die so that Arya can live, but neither girl will be aware of the nature of the exchange, or that it is even happening, any more than their wolves understood what was happening.

 

The rebuilding of Westeros is probably going to fall to people who aren't even born yet---possibly Tyrion's namesake, Gilly's son, and little Trebuchet Tully, will rebuild, along with immortal Bran.

I always thought Arya would be sent to kill Dany.  Dany has a weakness for children and the FM would use that against her.  Arya would have to take on another face because Barristan has seen her.

I've always thought that either Dany or Tyrion would die at Arya's hands. The one person I am 100% certain Arya will NOT kill, is Cersei, because Cersei is on her list. I think she'll get to kill a lot of nobodies who are on her list, but people like Joffrey and Cersei aren't in the cards for her, I don't believe.

 

Arya probably won't be a child anymore by that time, but you don't have to be a child to wear the face of one, so no worries.

[Avaleigh]

I wonder why the FM would want Dany gone though especially considering her attitude towards slavery. Unless someone hired them for the job and I can't think who that would be. Not that there aren't plenty of people who want Dany dead but I'm not sure how many of them have the means to hire a FM at present. Very odd that Robert or Tywin never hired one ages ago for this very purpose. It also seems like something show Joffrey would have wanted to do.

OTOH I definitely feel like Arya will become a part of Dany's court and I'm guessing that she'll end up traveling back to Westeros with Dany and her people whenever that finally happens.

This makes me wonder what Arya would make of Dany and whether or not she'd form a positive impression. My first thought was that she wouldn't be particularly impressed but I also think that she'd be inclined to compare her with Cersei the only other queen she's seen in action, and if that's the case she might see Dany as a good potential ruler of Westeros.

[Hecate7]

Perhaps lots of people have hired FM assassins, but they keep failing. It would explain a few things. I just don't see Arya getting mixed up in politics or greater questions of the world, or anything else beyond just killing people, and adding to her list. She's a very simple girl, even if she is quite bright.

[cambridgeguy]

 

Very odd that Robert or Tywin never hired one ages ago for this very purpose. It also seems like something show Joffrey would have wanted to do.

This is mentioned in the books after Ned resigns - hiring a FM is exorbitantly expensive, to the point where it'd be cheaper to hire an entire army. 

 

That's a useful catch in general, otherwise lots of lords would be experiencing mysterious accidents.  Heck, Doran would have hired one to assassinate Tywin and watched the Lannisters fall apart if it was a feasible option.

[KatWay]

 

This is mentioned in the books after Ned resigns - hiring a FM is exorbitantly expensive, to the point where it'd be cheaper to hire an entire army.

Yeah, this is also why I don't buy the theory that Arya will be sent to kill Sansa. I mean, who would pay a Faceless Man to kill Sansa when there would be a lot cheaper options. Not to mention she knows her, which would also be against the rules and they wouldn't send Arya after her. And then who on earth would pay a FM to kill random Alayne Stone, Littlefinger's bastard niece?

[Skeeter22]

The FM really have a terrible business model.

I just don't buy Arya assassinating one of the major players because I don't think Arya will ever become a full-fledged FM. She hasn't been able to become no one and she doesn't have the self control to keep herself from killing Arya' s enemies. It's possible that she'll keep hiding these things from the FM, but it'll be bad storytelling. A magical death cult getting taken advantage of by an 11 year-old seems really stupid to me. Of course, Dany's acquisition of the unsullied required her opponent to have the business acumen of a 3 year-old, so it is possible.

I really do think that Arya will abandon the FM and head back to Westeros, either with Dany or on her own. I don't think the FM would send her to Westeros on a mission. I can't imagine Arya killing Sansa because she either doesn't recognize her or she's still angry over childish squabbling. Ditto for Jeyne Poole.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Skeeter22

[ElizaD]

I wonder why the FM would want Dany gone though especially considering her attitude towards slavery.

 

Don't the Braavosi distrust dragons? I don't remember the Eastern stuff as well as Westerosi history, but I think Braavos was founded by slaves who escaped Valyria and though Dany talks liberation, she's still a Targaryen who's already compromised with slavers and has dragon nukes that will outlive her and might end up being controlled by more power hungry conquerors.

 

I hope Arya decides to return to KL after she hears that Cersei has regained power and remembers that her name is on her list.

[kcbuckeye2]

I wish I had something insightful to add to this discussion, but...

 

little Trebuchet Tully

 

 

This made me giggle.

[benteen]

Don't the Braavosi distrust dragons? I don't remember the Eastern stuff as well as Westerosi history, but I think Braavos was founded by slaves who escaped Valyria and though Dany talks liberation, she's still a Targaryen who's already compromised with slavers and has dragon nukes that will outlive her and might end up being controlled by more power hungry conquerors.

 

I hope Arya decides to return to KL after she hears that Cersei has regained power and remembers that her name is on her list.

 

Yep.  The Braavosi hate dragons.

 

I don't see Arya joining the FM either.  She'll take what she learned and moved on.  Though is she still allowed to leave the FM at this point?

[Winnief]

 

I don't see Arya joining the FM either.  She'll take what she learned and moved on.  Though is she still allowed to leave the FM at this point?

 

This is Arya we're talking about-whether she's 'allowed' to do something or not has nothing to do with it, even if leaving the FM eventually brings about her death.  

 

Another popular theory is that the delegation from the Red Keep to Braavos may end up with Arya joining them for the return journey somehow.