Arya’s New Weapon on ‘Game of Thrones’ Is Going to Be a “Showstopper”

• During the season premiere of Game of Thrones (opens in new tab)' eighth and final season, Arya Stark commissioned a new weapon of her own design from Gendry.
• In a sketch of the weapon Arya gives Gendry, we can see that it's two-sided, with a dragonglass blade on one side.
• It's not clear what the other half of the weapon will be yet, but Game of Thrones weapons master Tommy Dunne called it "a showstopper," according to Vanity Fair (opens in new tab).

This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 1, "Winterfell."

Game of Thrones returned (opens in new tab) tonight for the long (long, long) awaited premiere of its eighth and final season (opens in new tab). Like many Thrones season premieres, the episode spent a lot of its time setting the stage for the action that will make up the bulk of the season. We checked in on things in King's Landing (opens in new tab) and at what's left of The Wall (opens in new tab), but most of the episode took place in Winterfell.

While most of the characters on the series were busy obsessing over Jon and Daenerys (opens in new tab) (should they get married? Why did he bend the knee? What's the best way to break the news that they're blood relatives? Etc.), Arya Stark (opens in new tab) had her eyes on the prize, as usual.

In one very brief, but clearly important scene, Arya reconnected with her old crush/possible OTP, Gendry (opens in new tab), who is stationed in Winterfell and putting his master blacksmithing skills to use overseeing the creation of dragonglass weapons for the battle against the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead. In between flirtatious comments and knowing looks, Arya commissioned a new weapon of her own design. Here's what we know about said weapon and why it's going to be important as we barrel forward toward the Game of Thrones (opens in new tab) finale.

What is the weapon that Arya asked Gendry to make for her?

The weapon in question is unlike anything we've ever seen on the show (opens in new tab) before and, presumably, unlike anything anyone in Westeros is carrying. Why? Well, Arya had to ask Gendry if he could make her design, which tells us that it's something very unique, since Gendry is skilled AF in the weapons-making department and Arya knows it (opens in new tab).

We only get a brief glimpse at Arya's design in the episode, but thanks to the glory of screen captures, we can take a closer look/obsess endlessly now:

Here's what we know from the picture: It's a two-sided weapon with a dragonglass blade (opens in new tab) on one end. Exactly what's on the other end isn't clear, but it is clear from the drawing that the two pieces of the weapon can come apart, making it incredibly versatile, especially in the hands of a skilled fighter like Arya.

Why does Arya's new weapon have a dragonglass blade?

It makes sense that Arya would want to make sure that one end of the weapon has a dragonglass blade. Dragonglass is one of just two things known to kill the undead (the other being fire). Since the Army of the Dead is marching on Winterfell (opens in new tab), like, right now, incorporating dragonglass into the weapon is a no-brainer.

Will the other half of Arya's new weapon be Valyrian steel?

The other half of Arya's weapon isn't totally clear yet, but it could go a number of ways. First, it's possible that Gendry will suggest using her Valyrian (opens in new tab) steel dagger. Valyrian steel is a rare commodity in Westeros and finding someone who knows how to work with it is even more rare. Gendry's old blacksmithing master, Tobho Mott, is one of the only characters we've met who knows how to work with the magical steel and it's plausible that he passed that knowledge down to Gendry.

Since Valyrian steel is the only thing known to kill White Walkers (opens in new tab), using it on the other side of this weapon would leave Arya equipped to fight both of the main supernatural forces descending on Winterfell.

Will Arya's new weapon be a staff?

It's also possible that Arya's new weapon (opens in new tab) will be much longer than it appears in the drawing—or that the middle section that appears to split the weapon in two actually lengthens it into a full staff. This theory is backed up by the trailers for Thrones' final season, which show Arya spinning in battle while wielding a fairly long weapon:

Considering the significant amount of time Arya spent training with a staff during her time with the Faceless Men (opens in new tab) in Braavos (and how good she was with it), it would make sense that she would want to incorporate that into her ideal weapon.

What do we know for sure about Arya's new weapon?

The only thing we know for certain about Arya's new weapon is that it's going to be, in the words of Game of Thrones weapons master Tommy Dunne, "a showstopper."

Speaking to Vanity Fair (opens in new tab) for its "Still Watching" podcast, Dunne said, "There is one creation in Season 8 that is absolutely phenomenal. It’ll be a showstopper. That was great to finish. It was great to make, great to design it that it was about to be reverse-engineered and made into two different items."

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