Arya Stark has always been one of my favourite characters. She’s a feisty, tomboy who doesn’t play by everyone else’s rules. She’s a fucking hero. A girl who is much more comfortable with a sword in her hand than a sewing needle. Like a much better and medieval version of the girl I was growing up. So, yeah, an Arya Stark fan. I’ve been willing her on through her entire storyline. Those early days with Syrio, her time with Yoren, the Harrenhal situation, travelling with Sandor Clegane and even the most boring ninja apprenticeship in the history of ninja apprenticeships. Yeah, not since Dany failed to do a fucking thing for five books have we had such an underwhelming story. Arya’s time in Braavos was time-consuming, fucking boring and completely pointless in terms of moving her story along.

Well after about 3 seasons of hoping we all got our deepest desire and Arya finally got the balls to stand up to Jaqhen. She reclaimed her name and vowed to go back to Winterfell where she belongs. It was a fucking empowering moment that took far too long to come to pass. Of course, as we now know, she had a little pit stop along the way to cross another name off her kill list. Now as gratifying as it was to see Walder Frey finally get his comeuppance it does make me concerned about Arya’s fate. I mean she’s now gone further down a path that she really can’t get off. She’s giving out her own form of justice instead of the kind that her father honoured.

I guess part of my concern comes down to the fact that the TV show has diverged so far away from the books. Now I’m not one of those book fans that wants to complain about the fact that HBO isn’t sticking to the books. There’s a lot that I don’t mind the producers changing or adding. Really the only thing that I am missing enough to get angry about is Lady Stoneheart. She is the missing piece that was going to get revenge for the Starks. Along with the Brotherhood Without Banners, she was taking out everyone involved in the Red Wedding in her fucking brutal zombie way.

So when the show’s runners made the fucking stupid decision not to bring undead Catelyn back they had to come up with a new way to kill off the people behind the death of Robb Stark. That’s obviously where Arya comes in which, in terms of her general bad assery, is fine. However, it’s taking her down a very dark road that isn’t fitting for a member of the most honourable family in Westeros. This isn’t what Ned would have wanted for her.

Also, what life is there left for her? She can’t exactly go back to a normal life after she’s finished, ca she? She’s seen so many things and carried out some fucking gruesome tasks. She’s not the little girl she was when Ned was beheaded. We all ready had reason to worry about Arya’s fate when Eddard admitted she had inherited his sibling’s feisty nature.

You have a wildness in you, child. ‘the wolf blood,’ my father used to call it. Lyanna had a touch of it, and my brother Brandon more than a touch. It brought them both to an early grave. (A Game of Thrones)

Eddard worries about his daughter’s “wildness” and even suggests that she will die young. Arya is walking down a path of death so should we be worried about her safety? After all, “the lone wolf dies but the pack survives”. Even if she somehow manages to get back to her family what will they do with her? I can’t imagine either Sansa, Jon or Bran feeling too happy about the sheer number of people Arya has gone out of her way to kill. The fact that it was bloody revenge that kept her going over the years instead of the hope of getting home.

Let’s not forget the other female figure in the book who favours a more violent retribution for her enemies. Cersei Lannister has gone further down the batshit crazy road as time moves on and, provided the TV show is sticking to the major book moments, blows up the Citadel and half of King’s Landing’s movers and shakers. She hates Margaery and the High Sparrow and the obvious solution to her problem is to kill a fuck-load of people. The more people Arya crosses off her list the less Stark like she becomes.

The Lannisters had taken everything: father, friends, home, hope, courage. (A Clash of Kings)

The things that have transpired have taken so much from Arya and it’s already started to take away her identity. Even if she took back her name, she’s hardly following in her father’s footsteps. Ned wanted to avoid bloodshed and would only have killed for honourable reasons. We need Lady Stoneheart to come in and prevent Arya from following up with her threats. Only Zombie Cat can save Arya’s soul at this point.