Arya Stark is Dead

 While the same assumption has been made by others in Reddit, and there’s a couple of videos on YouTube I’ve seen pop-up on a few channels I follow, they never went into the detail I present here and it’s not highly believed. One of the very interesting things of Game of Thrones it’s its foreshadowing, and how seemingly meaningless phrases or interactions are little clues to a bigger reveal that can be traced back in retrospect.

One of the big complains of the fans was that the whole story arch of Arya didn’t make much sense, but it would actually be a masterpiece IF the connections I made are true and the general public was deceived. Since we have such few episode left it’s hard to tell if this big revelation would even happen if it was originally true (assuming it is) and it may be left for something for the books. Bur who knows, maybe they did have a major inconsistency on the plot line and I’m trying to salvage it by seeing patterns that didn’t exist. But it would be hilarious that one of the most beloved characters had been dead for seasons and hardly anyone noticed.

Last year when watching episode eight of season six titled “no one.” When I finished watching it I was in shock since I was under the impression that Arya Stark had just been murdered. I go online to view the reactions of the fans and I can’t seem to find anyone who believes in it. The top “Game of Thrones” critics on YouTube who do complex analysis of the show claim that this was the worst episode in the shows history due to its many plot holes. There is one article I found that mentions this theory, but doesn’t give an explanation as to why it’s possible: https://www.wired.com/2016/06/crazy-game-thrones-theory-ill-bet-right/

I’ll go one to give reasons as to why it only makes sense that Arya has been killed.

Some of the critics claimed that the conversation with Jaqen and Arya at the end made no sense:

Also, how can Arya be walking around after the battle with the waif despite her many wounds?

• Why the she go back to the temple of black and white?

• Why does she mount the face of the Waif on the wall?

• Why does Jaqen tell her she’s “no one,” but smiles when she says she’s Arya and walks away without a care in the world?

 The critics on Youtube that I’ve seen so far have said that Game of Thrones dropped the ball. There are many plot holes and none of it makes sense. My belief is that they didn’t. The Waif killed Arya and is wearing her face and I’ll attempt to prove it.

 If you go back and rewatch the “training” of Arya you’ll realize that Arya opens up to the Waif and reveals everything about her. In this scene Arya tells her not only her childhood, but also her deepest secrets and motives for her kill list:

If you read the books it goes into a bit more detail as to how being a faceless man is much deeper than simply acting. It reminded me the testimonies from undercover cops. After years of playing a role you start to believe that’s who you are, develop really emotional attachments to people, but yet retain the knowledge that you’re pretending in order to carry out a mission. But it is also said in the books that the faceless men use acting techniques when impersonating someone. Wouldn’t you want to study the person you’re trying to impersonate, specially when you’re looking to fool those who new them?

“Years of prayer and sacrifice and study are required to work a proper glamor.”  “Years?” she said, dismayed.  “If it were easy all men would do it. You must walk before you run. Why use a spell, where mummer’s tricks will serve?” (FFC Arya II)

So we know for a fact the faceless men use acting techniques when impersonating someone. If you look at the video again, you must ask why the hell would the Waif be wanting Arya to tell her such private information about her past, her list, her motives. The Waif presses on to understand Aryas psychology and attempts to uncover her motives along with her past histories with key characters. Based on the information provided by Arya to the Waif, the Waif could realistically “roleplay Arya.”

Now, lets look at the next scene. The Waif tells Arya “You’ll never be one of us, Lady Stark” to which Jaquen tells Arya that the “she [Waif] has a point.” They both agree that Arya will never be a faceless man, she failed all her tests and didn’t complete the necessary training.

https://youtu.be/Q2cGsQwE2CU?t=10m48s

Whole clip, start at min 10:30:

Jaqen then walks Arya to the room with all the faces, and he tells Arya a little about the history of the faceless men. He says that the faces on the wall are the original faces of past faceless men before they started wearing other faces. “These were the faces they wore in life, when they were not wearing others” Jaqen explains.

Let me repeat. The faces on the wall are the original faces the faceless men were born with, which were put in the wall when they started taking the faces of others aka became “no one.” This is the big key to everything.

 They can’t wear their original face and that of another at the same time, they must first become “no one” (Arya became blind from wearing a face when not being “no one”for some reason). But it’s stated very clear that the faces on the wall are the original faces of the faceless men, which were placed on the wall when they were wearing the faces of others.

Therefore we have now a completely logical explanation for the face of the Waif in the wall:

Why did Arya return to the temple of black and white? Why did Arya lay the face of the Waif into the wall? Why the Jaqen congratulate Arya for becoming “no one”? What happened to her wounds? None of this makes sense if it’s Arya who we expect to have won the fight.

The Waif returned to the House of Black and White with the face of Arya to be added to their collections. The Waifs face would ONLY be on the wall if the Waif became “no one.” That’s the only reason. The Waif lived with Arya, learned how she moves, thinks, motivates her and her personal history before Arya moved to the House of Black and White. The Waif says she wants to know everything about Arya Stark. In this context, the whole plot makes perfect sense.

 In the other hand, based on the information provided by the show, it makes complete sense that the face of the Waif is hanging in the wall because the Waif is now wearing the face of another. Why did Jaqen tell “Arya” she’s finally become “no one.”? It’s the Waif he’s talking to (who was also in training) who has placed her original face in the wall because she’s now wearing the face of Arya Stark. This is exactly what would have happened if a trainee became “no one.”

The Waif knows all of Aryas deepest motivations, secrets and past, and therefore would realistically “play the role of Arya Stark.” Based on information provided by the show, we have an explanation as to why why Waifs original face is in the wall, and why Jaqen congratulated “Arya” into being “no one.”