- Game of Thrones fans have ideas about what happened to Arya Stark after season 8, episode 5.
- Some think she's dead; others think she's death, personified (does she have a particular Mad Queen to kill, perhaps?).
- There's also a fan theory that Arya may die in season 8—which would be the most upsetting end for the badass character.
Spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5.
After almost getting trampled by civilians in Kings Landing and narrowly avoiding being killed by dragonfire in episode five of the last season of Game of Thrones, Arya is seen riding off on a white horse, free to choose her own destiny for the first time in her life. In addition to the obvious symbolism (she takes care of the horse of the little dead girl she tried to save, she rode in on a black horse and rode out on a white one—her soul is pure, etc. etc.), it's a kind of sudden character turn. She decides her years-long grudge against Cersei is no big thing, just like that?? So, with that in mind, fans are now speculating that there's more than meets the eye in that final scene.
According to PopSugar, one of the theories is that Arya is actually dead, and she's riding off into the afterlife. That's a theory I looooove, but unfortunately, we can see Arya in the preview of the next episode, so I don't think it's true.
There's also a fan theory that Arya is literally the bringer of death like the grim reaper—think about that Johnny Cash song, about how Death rides a pale horse:
When Arya was in the House of Black & White, she was blinded by the Faceless Man. He then drinks the poison meant to kill Arya to die for her and therefore he ultimately strips Arya of her name in a final death. She goes to reveal his true face and sees herself. Why? Because Arya has lived many times just like her brother Bran.
I mean, I guess? I'm not sold on the exact wording there, but it would tie in to Arya's training. Now that I'm thinking about it, Arya stands a better chance of killing Dany than Jon—my theory is that Dany doesn't trust anyone at this point so she'd see Jon's betrayal coming a mile away. But I'm really, really hoping that we don't end all of Game of Thrones with a tyrannical Mad Queen ruler, so I guess I like this Arya-kills-Dany theory, sort of.
Here's the final trailer:
TBH, I don't know what's about to happen. But I don't like it.
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