This article contains SPOILERS for both HBO’s Game of Thrones and George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels.
Alothappened in the Season 6 finale of HBO’sGame of Thronesthat is still being talked about, analyzed, and compared to the book series. While it’s impossible to please everyone, this season did an excellent job when it came to fan service and advancing the plot to its inevitable conclusion. Unfortunately, with only a handful of episodes left–as wasrecently confirmedby showrunnersDavid BenioffandD.B. Weiss–there probably isn’t time to wrap everything up in a satisfying wayandinclude every nook and cranny from the books.
So it’s with a heavy heart that I’m coming to the realization that Lady Stoneheart will probably never make an appearance on the show. I thought that, perhaps, the necessary pieces of the puzzle were aligning foran appearance by the character in Season 7, but an emerging fan theory is starting to look more likely. (I’ll assume you’ve noticed ourspoilerwarning and are continuing to read of your own accord.) Basically, the theory goes that the show’s version of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) will be a bit of a stand-in for the fan-favorite character, Lady Stoneheart.
Image via HBO[/caption]
For the uninitiated, Lady Stoneheart is actually the resurrected Catelyn Stark, who was brought back to life after her violent and bloody death at the Red Wedding. In the books, she was dead about three days before shuffling her ill-fitting mortal coil back on, but in the TV show she’s been dead much longer. Unless someone revived her along the way and we just haven’t seen it yet, Catelyn Stark is likely long gone. Arya, however, has recently gone through some dramatic transformations of her own, ones that seem to parallel those of Lady Stoneheart, suggesting that Arya’s arc is a sort of merging of the two. Let’s get into it.
Catelyn Stark was infamously killed at the Red Wedding by Black Walder, who slits her throat. After a day and a half, her naked body is then dumped into the Green Fork river.
Though Arya never technically died, she’s been reborn in water a number of times: She’s sailed back and forth across the Braavosi sea and survived drinking from the well of the House of Black and White to regain her sight. After being brutally and repeatedly stabbed by the Waif, Arya jumps into the river to escape.
Resurrection
Catelyn’s body is pulled ashore by Nymeria, Arya’s Direwolf, who has been roaming the Riverlands as the alpha in a pack of wolves and wild dogs. There, she’s revived by Beric Dondarrion, who performs the “last kiss,” essentially exchanging his life for hers. However, it’s not a complete revival as Catelyn still retains unhealed wounds and the appearance of a water-logged corpse.
Now that last bit is what really drives home the idea that Arya might be a stand-in for Lady Stoneheart. She’s got a few names left on her list, which still includes Cersei Lannister, Ilyn Payne, Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane, Sandor “the Hound” Clegane (though he’s probably forgiven by Arya at this point), Melisandre, Beric Dondarrion, and Thoros of Myr. Conveniently, these folks are all split into only two groups, with Cersei, Ilyn and Gregor in King’s Landing, and the rest hanging around the Riverlands before heading north to fight the White Walkers; Melisandre is currently headed south from Winterfell and is rapidly running out of allies.
With the Hound and the Brotherhood without Banners having been established more recently as “good” characters in this world, and owing to the fact that Lady Stoneheart was their leader in the books, it’s likely that Arya will be focusing her newfound assassin skills on taking out Cersei, Ilyn, and Gregor. (Arya vs Gregor would be a helluva thing to see…) If theGame of Thronesshowrunners want to be particularly cheeky, they could even find a way for Arya to wear her dead mother’s face as she exacts her revenge, thus completing the Lady Stoneheart crossover.
