"all of her brothers are slain, apart from bran, jon and rickon" wat that means only one brother is slain.

I've always found it telling that a lot of Arya's aliases are related to her old life - even when she's trying to become "no one" Arry, Nan, Nymeria, Cat (like Catelyn), etc.

In order for Arya to become a faceless assassin, she must give up all her previous identities. She must become no one. She shall become...REEK.

I still believe Arya's fate was foreshadowed: "'You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.' Arya didn’t think it was funny. " If we take Needle to mean her sword Needle, then sewing means killing... and frozen may mean dead, or just cold/broken-hearted.

Bet she kills the Night King in the Godswood with the Catspaw’s dagger.

Arya's Harenhall chapters were so fucked up. I love how she escaped when she killed that guard. It's been a while but I believe she whispers Valar Morghulis as she kills him and she didn't even know it meant All Men Must Die. Fucking epic.

If Arya were real she would need YEARS and YEARS of therapy

It's really unfortunate that the show never touched on the Jon and Arya's warg powers. Especially when it seems like their powers are pretty important to the characters.

King Jonathan Starkaryen the First. Fantastic

It scares the shit out of me how this might end up happening in the series cuz its so believable.

It would be bittersweet, heartbreaking & breathtaking all at the same time if Arya’s last chapter was simply titled … “Nymeria”

"…Arya as a wolf, running with her pack across the snow." I'm crying in a fetal position thinking about that ending.

I freak out a little too much when I see a new Alt-Shift X Game of Thrones video in my subscriptions.

in many years of youtube, i have never seen anyone making videos like you do, from the perfect narrating to the incredible editing, knowledge .. i dont even know what to say, i just appreciate the fact i can watch stuff like this for free .. mindblowing. thank you

Didn’t GRRM say he’d never kill Arya because his wife threatened to leave him if he did ??

There is a very odd connection between Arya and Catelyn. Arya is the only child of Catelyn she never has contact to on screen. Arya constantly thinks about her mother during her time in the riverlands (Because a lot of people keep telling her they are going to deliver her to Catelyn). Catelyn barely thinks about Arya (because she subconcouisly accepts that shes dead). Lady Stoneheart only exists to punish those who have destroyed her family, a lot like Arya's only real motivation is her list of names. Arya associates a lot with cats and Catelyns nickname is Cat. Its not a very strong connection but its definatly there. A great way for Arya to grow and overcome some of her very bad coping mechanisms is witnessing what is left of her mother being everything Arya wishes to be, a unstopable and cruel force of vengance itself, and realizing its not worth living like that. That would be a bittersweet way for her character arc to end.

Considering how Arya has dark hair and grey eyes, she must have looked a bit like Sandor's little sister who was killed by Gregor (if the rumors are true). Maybe that's why he was so protective over her. My heart broke when I realised that... :(

When you have to explain to your girlfriend that you're tearing up because you watched a GoT fan theory video on youtube...

I wish they would have shown Arya's wolf dreams in the show.

What the fuck is a Lommy?

What if the view of Nymeria is more symbolic. Arya sees Nymeria leading a pack of wolves. What if that's what happens with Arya? She ends up leading her own pack of "Wolves," meaning she becomes head of House Stark.

You had me at King Jonathon Starkgaryen I.. Hilarious!

She's a bit like Beric Dondarrion in that everytime she takes a new name she loses a bit of herself.

There's another aspect to her story which is about the desire for revenge. Every character who pursues revenge in the story usually gets punished for it. Arya gets a great example of what living with the desire for revenge is manifest in the Hound. A nice story arc would be her learning to let go. But it's AOIAF so who knows.

Many on KZfaq try, but few succeed at crafting thought-provoking ASOIAF videos as you have done. Thanks!

I have to admit, I didn't consider this ending. It definitely works, really interesting. 1000 bits *****

In the show, they just made her kill the night king lmao

I have not read the books, just seen the show 5 times now (lol). But judging from this video, Arya in the show seems so under-developed compared to the one in the books. So many important things are left out :o

You are a legend, this makes sense I can't believe youtubers slag you off, there more to you than meets the eye, I hope Arya's wish will come true. I really do

As a book reader, this ending would be amazing. As a show watcher this ending would be terrible.

Starkgaryen, has a nice sound to it

"when the snow falls and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives" just means "everyone needs to stick together cause winter is coming"

I almost cried watching this. Holy shit.

Well, i am going to start reading the books.

I *REALLY* hope Arya won't be killed off. I know, I know, it's game of thrones but I love this character. ;-;

I think this might be my favourite GoT theory because it actually makes sense.

The last line of "maybe we'll see Arya in Nymeria running with her pack across the snow"...really beautiful and I hope it happens. Great break down of Arya and bringing it back to the fact that she's truly just a hurt and broken little girl desperately looking for a family. There's too much of the cheering for "bad-ass" Arya fetishism out there making her character seem pretty flat. But there's so much more to her that you illustrate here. Thanks for another great video.

What the fuck's a lommy?

Amazing stuff man, great video! Love all the research and knowledge you have put in to this! Pure class.

The Night Wolf theory is actually pretty cool. It would definately put the end back at the beginning, with the Starks finding their wolves.

Amazing video as always. Keep up the good work man!

Interesting - it would put a nice twist on the warging prologue, which pushes us hard to conclude that we're being given this information to prepare us for Jon's resurrection - but I see Jon walking out of the funeral pyre to parallel Dany - so your Arya solution would give an alternate explanation for the prologue.

I'm surprised there was so little mention of Sansa in this video, especially considering her initial role as Arya's foil as well as the way their stories have paralleled each other. Rather than going to assassinate Jon, I think it's much more likely that Arya's going to hear something about either Sansa (once she's finally revealed by Littlefinger), or Catelyn/Lady Stoneheart. My current theory is that she's going to fail in becoming No One and she'll be forced to leave the faceless men and return to Westeros. There she'll reunite with Nymeria as well as Sansa, at which point I think both of them are going to have to deal with what's left of their mother, all of which will happen post- Sansa being revealed to be Sansa and not Alayne. Rather than becoming a wolf herself, I think it's far more likely that Arya will have to reconcile with her pack, starting with Sansa, the sibling she's had the most conflict with in the past. Both of them have expressed that they miss the other, and wish they hadn't treated each other so badly in their POVs. Becoming a wolf feels almost like a regression in Arya's character development, and I'd much rather see her grow past her grief than succumb to it.

Why did I tear up at the end? I think arya warging into nymeria is the best thing that could happen to her.

This video is so well done: thoughtful, well-narrated, and insightful with excellent editing and using of material from both the show and books. Great job. Thanks for putting it together.

I love that part about Arya becoming Nymeria. I think it would make a great ending to the series. What if in the epilogue Arya (as Nymeria) comes across a lone gravedigger, who bends down and scratches her ear?

Arya has always been my favorite character on the show - she's so fearless and strong despite having arguably the most tragic storyline.... i love her! Thanks for the video!

Here's my hot take: This is not a "bittersweet" ending. What lesson does this proposed arc for Arya tell us? It tells us that people can be so fundamentally broken that they can only die to escape their trauma. This is a dark ending, not bittersweet. Your argument for this theory turns on the idea that Arya *cannot return* to being a functioning person after all the trauma she's experienced; that has a parallel in Frodo leaving for the Undying Lands at the end of LOTR, but it's an awfully pessimistic view for people with PTSD/trauma. GRRM spends a lot of effort in ASOIAF to directly play on our expectations from LOTR and subvert them. How about this different interpretation, that focuses on different elements of her story? [Obviously, SPOILERS.] Arya is not obsessed with "pack" *literally,* but with *family.* Nymeria and her wolf pack are foreshadowing, a symbol, rather than Arya's literal fate. Nymeria - Arya - is gathering strength, gathering friends, improving her skills as a leader. Arya would be a great leader: She has real empathy and connection with the smallfolk, she suffers the same traumas as the Riverlands smallfolk during the War of the Five Kings, and she is decisive, intelligent, brave. Her arc honestly lacks subtlety in how it tells us what a good leader she is - the name of her direwolf is foreshadowing of her future as a leader of her people. Arya goes into a period of hiding and darkness and isolation because *she believes she has no alternatives.* (It's also a symbolic arc used in something called the Heroine's Journey, which Arya's arc traces very closely.) She chooses to stay with the Faceless Men because she believes she has *nowhere else to go.* She believes her entire family is dead: she witnessed the Red Wedding; last she heard, her younger brothers were burnt to death during the sack of Winterfell; she believes Sansa may be dead, according to gossip in taverns. She knows Jon is still alive at the Wall, but feels powerless to reach him, because she has no money and no one is sailing North on stormy autumn seas. Arya may leave the Faceless Men if she hears that Jon has been killed and reborn, if she hears that Sansa is ruling the Vale with Harry Hardyng, if Bran calls her home through a wolf dream, if the Faceless Men plan to kill Jon and she serves during that meeting and hears, or if her latest kill in TWOW as Mercy gets her kicked out of the Faceless Men. Regardless of the impetus, she won't be able to give up her identity fully and will eventually leave. I argue that she reason she leaves will have to do with love of her living family. When she returns to Westeros, the first thing she'll do is reunite with Nymeria. Her wolf dreams are very intense, and she'll feel more herself and more safe with her wolf. Nymeria is in the Riverlands, which is also where the Brotherhood is -- chances are, she'll run into them, recognize LSH, and give her the gift of "mercy." Harwin and Gendry will recognize her and be glad to be rid of the violence of LSH, so the Brotherhood may serve Arya instead (especially if Brienne is there and not dead), in parallel to Nymeria and her wolf pack. The merciful death of LSH will be bittersweet. Arya will provide her mother with an end to suffering, and Arya will get closure on her mother's death. She'll also see a demonstration of what blind hatred and vengeance gets you, and may give up on that and instead seek to reconnect with surviving family members. Remember, Arya's list is not just hate -- it's a scared, lost, grieving little girl trying to feel some measure of control over the chaotic and cruel world that she experiences. When she starts to feel love and support from friends in the Brotherhood and gets catharsis through LSH's end, she may be able to start to heal. Now, here's the last bittersweet part of this theory: Arya reunites with Jon and they both fight in the War for the Dawn. The living win the War, but Jon and Daenerys both die in the fight, and the seven kingdoms fracture into seven again (and *no one gets the iron throne*). Imagine how bittersweet this would be: Winterfell is a husk of what it once was but it's slowly being rebuilt; very few members of the Stark family are alive, but they're together; and Arya got to reunite with Jon (one of the only things she has wanted, for years) only to almost immediately watch him die, and yet she goes on living. She doesn't have to end up a highborn lady. What if she just lives out a modest life as an herbalist/frontierswoman/craftsman with someone she loves (i.e. Gendry)? Suffering a lot of loss but getting to start to heal from deep trauma is bittersweet. Being irredeemable and dying is not bittersweet.

this was a beautiful essay on Arya's identity crisis...i have new respect for her character now

Your videos help me so much keep up with game of thrones I'd have been well lost if it wasn't for them :')

"Jonathan Starkgaryen I" -ASX

Man, I read the books and I honestly find your theories and how you narrate them more compelling and fun. Good job!

I've always thought Arya would die in the end, I never saw her growing up and having a normal / happy life. This video convinced me even more! Totally see this happening.

why can't we analyse GoT for English in school rather than Shakespeare...

Gosh, this video made me cry. I love Arya so much, I relate to Arya so much, I don't want her to die!

Damn. That was depressing. Hope Arya hooks up with her living siblings like Jon, Rickon, Bran and Sansa. Hope that becomes her pack instead. It would break my heart to see my girl Arya die and warg into a Direwolf instead of finally being with her family. Despite what she's done, she still deserves to be reunited with her family.

Absolutely love that shot at 5:37. So much feeling and great character development to both George and the show!

When the hound killed Mica he did it on the orders of the douchebag Joffrey.... he didnt do it maliciously and didnt toprture him. I think he is the Anti-hero of the GOT series, He leaves King asshat when he cant take it anymore and tries to rescue Sansa by bringing her with him (if he was a badguy he would have 1. raped her or 2. just ignored her while she was about to get raped by the rioters or just ignored he when he left. He also helped Arya get her sword back and killed the ones who killed her friend. And the fact that he still protected Arya even when he would get nothing for his trouble just makes him a badass. I believe the Hound was one of the major influences of Arya`s life and she will never forget what he taught her.

Extremely addictive channel. Ive watched every video you have on game of thrones and i agree with just about everything you have in the videos. You must have been a psychology major, you're very good at breaking down the psychological processing of people in the show. All around great channel, 10/10.

So poetic, yet so human!! Loved this video

You cant believe how happy i was when i saw that you uploaded another video, amazing as always thank you !

Arya is the best. Struggling through AFfC atm but Arya's chapters are the only ones that really get me excited when I see them in this book. Shame they're so rare :/

I love how concise and unbiased these videos are, truly amazing

I LOVE how you handle Aryas character/storyline. She is arguably my favorite character. It seems like so many people don't get just how much trauma she has experienced. That's nearly ALL she has experienced. I do fear she won't survive, ultimately. The idea of her becoming nymeria is about the best we could hope for, though it is also problematic, considering the erosion of soul that happens while in an animal. It's sort of hard to imagine the faceless men giving her a pass, too. I mean, the many faced good gets it's due, ala iron bank. I like the idea of Arya about to die trying to kill Gregor or cersei, and Jamie stepping in sacrificing himself to kill cersei and save Arya, satisfying his oath to cat and brienne, and the Valonqar theory. Great videos, yours are top notch.

As long as Nymeria lives Arya will always be a Stark and not No One.

Absolutely insightful and riveting analysis. Your research is ridiculously extensive and I thank you for it. Have a like.

I think this is one of your best videos. I've been watching a lot of your stuff lately and I'm really enjoying it. Great work. Seriously. Your theories aren't all fringe and fluff and "but what if" - They have good logic and you connect everything quite well without making it drag on and on and making us forget everything just to bring it back in a flurry of confusion. Keep it up!

This is your best ASOIAF video IMO. They're all very good

Your videos are quite likely the greatest analysis of GOT of any. Truly magnificent and sublime. You are worth whatever you make from KZfaq and then some.

I really, really, wish for Arya and Jon to see each other again.. Even if they don't live with each other, I wanted them to know they were alive and well - Jon is dead, for now. Their's is one of the relationships I really enjoyed. Even away, they love each other so deeply! Goddamn it please make it happen ;-;

Can't wait for The Winds of Winter. This is video is 7 years old but still good content...

I hope this still happens in the books

This is my favorite video by you. I love the theory and all your hard work. Thank you. George's mind is such a beautiful thing.

Great analysis, and the editing is outstanding. Thanks.

Thanks for these! I've seen all the episodes and I'm reading the first book. These videos help me to remember all the things that happened and all the people I had already forgotten about! :)

Thank you so much for your video. It was a huge help to me as a fan of the show. I look forward to watching you other videos. Well done!

Arya/Hound reunion. Make it happen, Gurm.

I love that idea for the bittersweet ending. Fabulous deduction skills! You're a veritable Sherlock Holmes mate. Your videos are all so cool and amazingly fantastical but they're still logical and it just is so exciting! Keep doing this! Oh maybe do another of these Arya ones but incorporating what we now know of Arya after S06

I love your videos, especially this one, because it is exactly how I wanted Atya's storyline to end, sad but beautiful. Keep it up bro :D

Wow, these videos are so beautiful and thoughtful... (besides from being on point, which makes me feel like I'm watching spoilers).

Turns out she's actually the prince that was promised. Great Stuff

I love these videos they are so nicely edited. Great job :D

You, Secrets of the Citadel and In Deep Geek are the only ones keeping me alive between seasons (less so after 7) and book releases.

This video gave me goosebumps. That ending would be amazing, and probably cement Arya's as the best plotline in the books.

You made me appreciate her soo much and i loved the video good work !!!

"what the fucks a lommy"

Astounded by the level of research on this video! I am in awe! Thank you.

all i know is that when i read the last words of the series ill probably die a little bit

You've created a very believable and convincing possible ending for Arya. By the old Gods I hope that you're wrong. Watching this really made me think and feel how much I want Arya to be reunited with her family. In the latest episode, "The Door" Arya shows that she still has strong feelings for her family whilst watching the mummers play of the events of season one. I felt that she was holding back in that scene, I think and feel that seeing Jon and Sansa reunited and knowing that they're both fighting for their home she would join their pack! Sansa's direwolf, Lady maybe long dead but Sansa has become a Lady and has teeth of her own now. Bran has to head towards the wall, is the only safe place known to him and Meera and I hope that he will be reunited with Jon and Sansa too. Something has to trigger her feelings into becoming Arya Stark again, maybe it will be news that Jon Snow and Sansa Stark have reunited and are building an army to retake Winterfell and the North. When Arya goes back to Westeros she will have become herself again, she hid needle for a reason, she's going to want to take that back with her. Alternatively she may through it into the sea if she does become "no one"... I hope that the bitter sweet ending will be something else... I have a bad feeling about that... Personally I already feel bitter after the recent loss of Summer, Hodor and possibly the last of The Children of the Forest...

Wow. I literally got a bit misty-eyed watching this.

Most of us fell in love with the show and not reading the books so we're lost about most things in the show. After watching these videos I never realize how much things I've missed and important details. This open my eyes, I really need to watch over the season and analysis it better. Thanks for the information!

Mr Alt, your game of thrones videos have to be among the best written and most thought provoking of the heap. And you sure point out how the Starks really have a horrible time of it, i cant think of a more unlucky house in the story...Ned, Catelyn, robb, everybody Arya knows all murdered, she goes on the run and has to deal with these very horrible situations, yet she's just a child. All the violence, murder, cold, hunger, terror she undergoes, yet somehow she survives, she is a tragic figure whose only deliverance is probably going to be death (and rebirth). She is one of the characters you desperately hope something good will happen for - but somehow you know this just isn't in the cards for her story arc...A lot of other people may have guessed her end game by now, since maybe the only release for her will happen when she dies and gets warged into Nymeria, leading the huge pack of wolves in the riverlands - and perhaps she will only find peace A huge dire wolf, munching on the dead flesh of all her enemies - was her prayer of enemies she wants dead turn out to actually just be the "shopping list" lol

I love your videos, only one problem...about the end. Martin said Arya is the only character he wont kill. He promised his wife he wouldnt.

Woah, this video was unusually heavy, even from you. :'( Liked. Favorited. Subscribed again.

I had tears in my eyes by the end of this - well done, it certainly is bittersweet :)

Excellent video, I'd LOVE to see this updated!

I believe Arya will reunite with Jon snow when she is sent to kill him, however I think I'm the end she will willingly have Jon thrust his blade through her heart and receive the gift of death from him. Thus fulfilling the lightbringer part of the azor ahai prophecy by being the sacrifice of a love one that is needed, and will live out her days as nymeria with her pack but also returning to visit Jon every so often.

I love the use of SPECIAL from Fallout :) Great vid as always!

You've done a lot of analysis. I'm impressed; subbed.

This series is so valuable for understanding this series! Great stuff!