Summary
The many stories of the different characters that are featured inGame of Thronestake place across many years, each of them featuring hugely significant moments in their journeys across various episodes. This goes double for characters like Arya Stark, who has one of the longest and most complicated character arcs out of anyone in the show.
Starting as the young daughter of Eddard Stark, coming with him to King’s Landing only to watch him die, Arya is one of the few characters inGame of Throneswho achieves practically everything she wanted for herself at the beginning of the series. Along the way,she had many amazing episodesthat featured prominent portions of her adventures.
8Facing Down Tywin
Episode 2x07
Arya’s early episodes were defined by her defiant nature. Despite her young age, Arya was adamant that she would never become the sort of lady her father wanted her to be,taking up sword fighting instead. But no episode in her early seasons showcases how brave she really was, standing in the face of those older than her, than when she faced down Tywin Lannister himself.
To be fair, he didn’t know who she was, but even so, Arya didn’t let the precarious position she found herself in stop her from staring Tywin down and telling him about the dangerous foe he faced in Robb Stark. Though these two wouldn’t see each other again, this was a fantastic interaction, one which proved just how strong Arya was destined to become.
7Killing Polliver
Episode 4x01
Arya kills many people during her journey inGame of Thrones. But the first, despite its seeming insignificance, was a major moment for her. While journeying with the Hound, Arya begins reciting her list of names she wishes to kill. For his stealing of her sword Needle, and killing of her friend, Lommy, Polliver was a part of her list.
When she and the Hound ran back into him, with some other King’s Men in a pub, a fight broke out and Arya took the opportunity to exact revenge and kill him, saving The Hound in the process. This was one of the most significant parts of her adventures with Sandor Clegane.
6Leaving The Hound To Die
Episode 4x10
The Hound and Arya were never destined to stick together forever, and by the end of Season 4, their journey was at an end. After running into Brienne of Tarth, the Hound was left at death’s door. Arya chose this moment to move on with her journey, making the first of several choices towards choosing her destiny, which made for many of her most significant moments in the show.
Interestingly, despite having put The Hound on her list of those she wished to kill, Arya refused to put him out of his misery when he begged her to kill him. Instead, she frustrated him by stealing his money and leaving him in pain. Even when goaded to kill him, Arya didn’t, showing she had already matured quite a bit by this point.
5Choosing To Return Home
Episode 6x08
There weren’t a lot of individually significant moments or episodes for Arya throughout her training with the Faceless Men in Braavos. She was once again, like with the Hound, trapped by others. Though she arrived willingly and submitted to their training, she eventually had to stand up for herself, utilizing all the skills they taught her, to take a form of vengeance on the waif who treated her so cruelly.
After that, just when Jaqen H’ghar finally proclaimed that she had successfully become “no one,” she took her destiny into her own hands, refusing once more to become what somebody expected of her. She proclaimed herself Arya Stark of Winterfell and began her journeyhome to Westeros.
4Killing All The Freys
Episode 6x10
One of the biggest shocks in the history ofGame of Thronescame at the end of the sixth season. With so much going on across Westeros, few expected the Freys that had betrayed Robb and Catelyn Stark at the Red Wedding to make a reappearance. Even more shocking, however, was the sudden death of the entire male side of the familyat the hands of Arya.
As the Frey clan gathers around old Walder, unsuspecting of any danger, Arya finds it easy with her new skills to infiltrate them, kill Walder, take his face, and use it to poison the rest of his family. Ending the Frey line of males in return for the ruinous attack on her family was the perfect way for Arya to show that she was now the fully evolved version of herself, a merciless assassin who loves her family beyond anything else.
3The Fight With Brienne
Episode 7x04
A subtly great moment that has become a classic, Arya had another opportunity after arriving at Winterfell and reuniting with her family to showcase her skills. The irony of this moment was that Brienne was a trailblazer in her own right, and had been confounding the expectations of others for years, but met her match when she underestimated the skills of Arya.
A simple sparring session between the two showed the cold-blooded nature of Arya as a fighter. Punctuated by Sansa watching as Littlefinger attempted and failed to turn the sisters against each other, this short scene was one of the most memorable of Arya’s entire tenure onGame of Thrones.
2Killing The Night King
Episode 8x03
The greatest achievement of Arya, or any other character in the history of Westeros, was being the one to end the Night King. The Long Night was the greatest threat that humankind ever saw in that world, and only Arya had the skills and wherewithal to keep her focus on the Night King himself, tracking him until he was alone with Bran, and killing the monster who haddestroyed the area beyond the Wall.
The veteran nature of Arya’s skills by this point was in full show as she stayed calm enough to catch the Night King off-guard with her knife drop. This moment was also representative of what Arya always wanted to be able to do - gain the skills to defend her family.
1Setting Her Own Course
Episode 8x06
Arya didn’t get another major moment after killing The Night King. She reunited with The Hound and set about getting her revenge on Cersei, but abandoned this plan in time. The most significant moment left for Arya was when she chose her own ending, something so few characters inGame of Thronesgot the chance to do.
This was perfect for Arya. While Bran and Sansa took high positions of power out of duty, and Jon was forced to return to the Wall, she was left with the freedom to choose her path, which was always going to be the perfect ending for her.Refusing Gendry’s offer of marriageand setting off to see new parts of the world was everything fans could ever have imagined seeing her do.
