Tonight, a podcast meets to work through “The Broken Man”. Leading into next week, there are things that must be discussed.
After the cut you’ll find three questions we’ve asked ourselves, and will be disputing as the show records. Most of the season is gone, but the mysteries haven’t lifted. Let’s get into this.
Listen to “The Broken Man” here.
What do you believe?
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
That’s it. Let us know what and why in the comments below! Make sure to listen for your thoughts, theories, and input once this episode is released.
Battle of the Bastards
Question 1: probably back to King’s Landing.
Question 2: that’s not Arya. She behaves nothing like Arya, and she’s using her right hand to handle the money bags. Arya is left handed.
In response to question 3: I’m thinking they’ll want to rid themselves of the dangling Blackfish plot thread and will kill him off instead of having him escape. There’s been too much of that going around in Season 6 as it is, but there you are.
1. The Hound will go after the three members of Brotherhood without Banners for revenge on the killing of Brother Ray.
2. I think there is a reason for Jaquen to have given so many chances to Arya–indeed for them having met in the first place. Maybe he is or is somehow connected to Sirio Forel? I think Jaquen set up the Waif–not the other way around. He knew Arya would not kill without a reason… There is just more to this story, but we don’t know what it is!!!
3. Brienne is Jamie’s moral compass… or at least she will remind him of what is the honorable thing to do… Or maybe Jamie will find out about Cersei and Lancel…
My continuing question and not regarding these is that– how will Jon being “dead”come into play knowing that white walkers can animate the dead. I hadn’t heard this theory before but I believe at some point, Jon will do the work of the white walkers.
1. The Hound will go on a type of revenge/answer seeking adventure concerning his new group.
2. I don’t have any theories. I think the theory that Arya is trying to fake her death to get away is cool but I don’t think that is what the show is doing.
3. I think that Brienne and Jaime will leave on bad terms and she will try to get the Blackfish to safety. Then when Walder is celebrating their victory that party will crash and everyone will die Red Wedding style.
2) Arya was recently trained to fight completely blind, and just recovered Needle. No way she was just hanging out there and let Waif roll up on her unless she wanted to be caught. I like the theory that Lady Crane helped her to stage it and fitted her w blood packs/padding, and she’s lying in wait for Waif at the end of the trail of blood w the pointy end ready for action.
1.The Hound will want revenge and will go after the Brotherhood. CleganeBowl is stupid and won’t happen.
2. No theories. Arya is wounded, but will recover. She’ll get chased by the Waif again but this time she’ll win and kill the Waif. Episode 8 will end with Arya going back to Westeros.
3.Brienne will attempt to bring peace to the Blackfish and to Jaime but they will both refuse. Jaime will storm the Castle but Brienne and the Blackfish will escape Riverrun although Jaime takes the Castle.
I remember seeing spoilers during filming of
Is this the week we see it on screen?
The Hound has to be staying in the Riverlands for now at least, he needs to take his pound of flesh for the death of Septon Ray, but after that… I think King’s Landing and the CleganeBowl may be too convenient? I think if it happens this may be too soon? Maybe he just becomes s farmer for the rest of his days, or a grave-digger?
With regard to the second question, I am lost in the Arya speculation, in watching the show I’m not often lost but as it stands this makes absolutely no sense to me. If it is Arya, why so brazen? Where’s Needle? It was clear she was ready or getting ready for an inevitable fight, time shall tell on this one. It’s good to have some surprises!
And over to Riverrun, the Blackfish’s plot armour has become rusty, where as Jaime’s is newly polished. From the promotional material it seems the Lannisters have something to celebrate, at the twins. Which to me raises the question; aren’t the Twins further north than Riverrun, surely on lifting the siege a surplus army would be disbanded or sent back to King’s Landing by their commander (Jaime) who has some serious motive for having a large, experienced army at his back if he needs it. Why would he waste time going north and being feasted by someone he has shown disdain for, he has done him a favour, why would he also endulge his famous hospitality? UNLESS, he has found new motive in travelling north? This is simply a stop on the road and Frey is forced to host/feast them due to the service they have done him. Remembering forgotten oaths perhaps, duty or honour takes him north. Let’s all pray for a more book like Jaime being maintained!!
1. Sandor will get vengeance for Brother Ray and the peaceful group but that isn’t his purpose. I don’t think for one second he will be going south to Kings Landing. I believe he will be slightly directionless, not sure what to do at first. When he left KL after the Blackwater battle, he was seeking a survival. Now he is seeking a purpose. I can’t imagine they brought him back just to slaughter the BwB, who I assume are now without a leader and running rogue. He will have to come back into the fold in some capacity. I definitely think he will run into Arya again early in season 7, as she returns from Braavos. If the Starks regain WF, I can see them finding out and hightailing it north.
The dead are coming. How bad ass would a dream team of Jon, Sandor, Tormund, Davos and Brienne be, leading the fight against the WW? The Hound is gone and Sandor Clegane is back!
1. The Hound will go and wreck the Brotherhood without Banners as revenge
2. It’s pretty straightforward. The Waif stabbed Arya. Arya will probably be helped by Lady Crane.
3. I think the Lannisters will take the castle. I think Brienne and Jaime will fight. She might want him to help Sansa and fulfill his oath, but he can’t and won’t leave the siege. More evidence will appear to show you that Torriene is the superior ship.
1. I think the Hound will kill the first group of the Brotherhood that he sees to get revenge for his groups murder. Something will get him moving towards Kings Landing, I believe.
2. I’m not sure what our girl Arya has cooked up. It seems odd that she’s out in the open, knowing she is being hunted by the Faceless Men. I believe she is most likely faking her death in some way.
3. I believe that Brienne will get Blackfish and the Tully army out of the castle and on their way to Sansa. What happens to Bfish there is up in the air. I think Brienne will encounter the Brotherhood and Lady Stoneheart at some point, leading her to betray Jamie and deliver him to Lady S.
Yes… forgot about the players. Lady Crane will help.
Hey Guys! Love the podcast and am so excited to finally be able to discuss some theories with people that love the world of this series as much as I do.
1) I am SO confused with how they played out the slaughter of the commune. This is so insanely out of character for the Brotherhood without Banners and there’s zero explanation other than Walder Frey mumbling that “They’ve been causing trouble”. This act of mass murder not only contradicts how the Brotherhood carries themselves in the books but in the show as well! In Season 3 when they captured Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie the show made a point that this gang was fighting for mostly self-righteous reasons – very a la Robin Hood. Now – the Hound actually dueled Beric and theoretically killed him which was how we got introduced into the Lord of Light’s resurrection technique. So the Hound HAS to run into both Beric and Thoros again and I imagine – will be demanding some answers as to why his crew was murdered. How this will play out I have no idea. We do see the Hound swing the axe in the preview for the next episode – perhaps to cut some rope where Beric or Thoros may be hanging? Hence why the brotherhood might have gone rogue? I don’t think the Hound will be our introduction to LSH though – I think they will keep that intro for Brienne and Pod. But the Hound has to find a reason to go to Kings Landing – perhaps the Brotherhood will remind him that his has unfinished business with his brother and enlist him to go and fight on their behalf? I am HYPE though for whatever happens.
2) There’s definitely something fishy about Arya’s sequence. This doesn’t seem like “her”. I’m definitely not a fan of the Bravosi Fight Club theory and I’m not 100% confident that it wasn’t Arya at all. She is however wearing her House of Black and White garb in the preview for “No One” and of doing some parkour around the alleyways with the Waif hot on her heels. This leads me to believe that Arya has pulled some sort of trick and the Waif is MAD AF but why the paranoid walk after she jumps out of the river? Evidence in the preview leads me to believe that Arya has something up her sleeve that enables her to either make a very quick recovery or pull a big switcheroo. I do think that Jaquen has more of a chance of being involved rather than Lady Crane. And the fact that Needle is missing is a BIG clue.
3) I think the Riverunn sequence is going to work out pretty simply. Brienne will help the Blackfish escape and ultimately betray Jamie. The details are a little murky but expect to see the Blackfish go for a little swim down the river with Brienne and Pod in tow – and THEN we’ll meet LSH.
More speculating than actual concrete theories (sorry) – can’t wait for the podcast!
What is dead may never die!
Dorian,
Oooohhh good point with Arya being left handed! Nice!
And maybe the Blackfish will escape with Brienne and Pod but doesn’t necessarily survive.
Love it!
1. I agree Sandor will initially seek revenge on the Brotherhood. After that, I can’t see him going to KL on his own – however a septon may talk him into it? I hope he doesn’t meet up with Brienne and try to take revenge on her too …. that would be so sad to lose one of them.
2. I agree that this may not be Arya, but whoever it is is clearly unnerved by what happened. Interestingly on Thronecast (a recap show from the UK which we get here in Australia) Militos Yeromelov (who plays Syrio Forel), when asked by the host “so Syrio clearly knows the House of Black & White quite well” answered “Yes”. Then got a look of horror on his face … quickly said “No” and then started backpedalling furiously. I think there’s potentially a lot of face changing going on here.
3. I think Jaime may try to mirror the books and talk Edmure into surrendering, and letting the Blackfish escape. This won’t help Jon & Sansa much without the Tully army, but maybe the Blackfish can round up some Tully bannerman who have gone home (Pipers, Brackens, Blackwoods, etc). As per 1 with Sandor & Brienne, I would hate to see Brienne & Jamie come to blows. I think if he gets the surrender, Jamie will head back to KL to be with Cersei.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
Dorian,
I agree, Arya didn’t seem like Arya. All 5 times I watched it (and it’s only Wednesday! ) I was struck by how she walked, moved and carried herself was just like the waif. I have NO real idea what’s going on there, just noticed it each time. CAN’T WAIT to find out!
1. Immediately to kill Lem and exact revenge on Thoros and the BwB remnants. Longer term, Arya perhaps? I hope to see a return to Westeros in the area of RR/The Twins and a possible reunion.
2. Two possibilities. fArya was in the fight and real Arya will now take out the Waif. Real Arya was in the fight and miraculously survived to fight the Waif yet again. I lean toward the former. Who says that the FM cannot do more than just don facial masks. Yes, that may be all the Waif and Arya can at this point. But when Arya first came to the HoBW the doorman who turned into Jacqen to me appeared to requrie more than just a face – they were two different actors.
Who the fArya could have been? A couple of ideas have been suggested. I’m not smart enough to know who. Or the wound could have just looked worse than it was. Arya does have thick plot armor.
3. RR falls. But it not the same as in the books. Fighting is involved and either the BF dies or it is unclear. For some reason Brienne and Pod have to escape via boat as opposed to on horse. But RR falls. The Frey and some Lannisters celebrate. I don’t think Jamie will be there. I hope to see WF choke on his laughter before the season ends.
1. The show is gathering warriors, generals and armorers needed for the WW conflict. Since Sandor is loose, he will wind up a fighter in coming battles, after he exacts revenge to start his blood flowing and connect with his next cohorts.
2. When they start getting this goofy with Arya, it is useless to guess any next steps. I hope she winds up with Nymeria ripping out Frey throats.
3. Edmure is Lord of Riverrun; Blackfish is the castellan. Jaime will explain to Edmure that he surrenders the castle or all die. The castle is turned over to Freys. I hope the Blackfish and Brienne escape, because they are needed to fight the WWs.
1. Hound kills BwB people. Either meets LSH or goes to KL for CleganeBowl. Or potentially does neither of those things and does something else that’s not fan service. Who knows?
2. Arya confuses me. If it is Arya, what happened to needle, her clothes, all those things. But if it’s a FM, why didn’t he/she pull off Arya’s face after washing up. For all we know, Arya could be the Waif trying to bait out Arya and the Waif who was the old lady is actually Jaqen who attacks Arya and wants to blame the Waif. Or maybe Jaqen wants to kill the Waif, knew that the Waif was disguised as Arya, and ‘revealed’ himself as the Waif to mindf*uck the sh*t out of both the Waif and the audience.
What I’m saying is, we have no idea and anything is possible. We will have to wait to find out.
3. Somewhere in the trailer for next episode there was a shot of Blackfish and Brienne somewhere dark. I think that Jamie’s threats about killing every Tully to get back to Cersei will be talking to Edmure. I think first Brienne arrives, talks to Jamie and Blackfish, Jamie pulls a book-Jamie and lets edmure go, but instead of Blackfish swimming out to who-knows-where, Brienne will help him escape.
This is the only one where I have a proper theory, and I think it may actually be viable. But then again, doesn’t everyone think their theories are viable.
Let me know what you guys think.
I think Arya has to have a plan. She was so badass when she turned off the light and went to bed. If she let herself so easily be caught off guard, that’s disappointing. Maybe she wants them to think she’s dead so she can safely leave/live out her life?
More generally, I am frustrated by the “one step forward, two steps back” character development. Arya can sense attacks without her sight but so easily gets taken down? Sansa has been learning for years from Littlefinger how to manipulate people, but she can’t persuade men to fight for the Starks? Theon speaks on his sister’s behalf as himself, but he looks so damaged his sister has to tell him to slit his wrists?
Get it together!
What is dead may never die.
1. I think he’ll go seek revenge on the Bwob or whoever killed off his new “friends”.
I don’t believe he knows exactly “where he’s going.” But after he gets his revenge the Gods will show him why they have let him live this long with a mission.
Cleganebowl hype!
2. I think the “Arya” we saw get stabbed by the waif was really Jaqen in disguise. The waif was not suppose to allow Arya to suffer and thus she failed her test and is not worthy of becoming a FM.
I’m hoping that when Arya eventually returns to Westeros (does anyone actually believe they’ll kill her off?) that it is not the last we see of Jaqen. He’s been one of my favorite 3 characters since his first appearance! Tom Wlaschiha is marvelous!
3. I wish I would get around to reading the books already.. I’ve kind of thought to just wait out until the show as a whole wraps up and then I can read the books as a whole new kind of story.
Unfortunately, even with the arrival of Brienne, I believe the Lannister army will retake Riverrun and the BF will be a casualty. (The clip in the trailer before the season started of Walder Fray toasting with Lannister soldiers almost confirms this.)
Perhaps Brienne can persuade Jamie to help defeat Ramsay, convincing him that Ramsay might be too much of a loose cannon to control the North? As well as informing him of the real war to come against the WW?
Writing that last paragraph out in words makes it sound much more farfetched than I intended. And I don’t even remember if Brienne has been informed of the WW threat.
Sunday can’t get here soon enough!
1. The Hound will take revenge on the BwB and this will lead him to be there to do some good, by preventing brienne and Pod being killed when they are caught by the BwB. I think in the books it’s having Jaimie’s Lannister sword that marks Brienne as an enemy of the people but the Hound knows Brienne was a protector of the Starks.
2. All is not as it seems with arya. A girl has skills – I am expecting a nice twist here that shows she’s ok and all this faceless man training has been for a bigger purpose back in westeros
3. Rather than how LS in the books sets Jaimie and Brienne up against each other (friends turned foes) the Riverrun siege offers the same character conflict in its place? I’d like to see Brienne and the Blackfish flee together and head northwards to join the Starks at Winterfell.
3
Question 1) I believe that The Hound is obviously going to go after the Brotherhood. He had resigned himself to living out this new life that he found and trying to bury the man that he was. after rematching the episode I think that The Hound cannot deny who he is. However you have to fight to protect yourself in this story. Since The Hound had previous run ins with the Brotherhood I think he knows this isn’t the same as the last time. So, is this mirroring the storyline from the book and is there a new leadership in the Brotherhood.
Question 2) I really feel that it was Arya that got stabbed. I wonder is like other speculate that Lady Crane will help her heal. Here is a new thought, maybe this is a test by Jaquen for Arya. I mean he knows that she has a latent humanity with setting him free from the fire and when she had the chance to leave with him after Harrenhall she stayed with her friends. I think he knew what she was going to do. But, if you are a faceless man have to be injured they aren’t impervious to harm so maybe this is her test to see how she seeks to heal and maybe in the end her true test was to kill the Waif from the very beginning.
Question 3) I feel bad for Jamie, I feel that he was the real Broken Man in this episode. He’s lost the Kingsguard, his son is a weak puppet and he has been banished from the only person he has loved. Then being addressed right away as Kingslayer and then being told he isn’t up to measure. I think that its all going to lead him make a decision that book readers won’t see coming.
1-they obviously didnt bring him back to avenge the death of a one off character (awesome as he was) by killing people we havent thought about for 3 seasons..Arya is coming back to Westeros and he will be a part of whatever happens with her
2-There was something just..off.. about her in that first scene but then they showed the Waif’s face as the one that stabbed her and she was really more..Ayra..in the final scene so I dont have a clue. I am actually REALLY interested in seeing how all this ends up in next episode..lol
3-Yeah, the Lannister/Freys will retake Riverrun ..Jamie and Brienne will be on opposite sides and Brienne,Pod and maybe Blackfish escape which will mirror AFoC
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
We love the Hound at our house. And I loved seeing the dramatic yet subtle change in him in Broken Man. Pre-commune-Hound would have just shrugged over the bodies, gathered up supplies for himself from their pockets and been on his way without surprise or remorse. How many times did he talk about being out for himself, loving killing and every man being a murderer etc? A lot. He said it so much it almost seemed like his Arya list-a truth he clung to so he wouldn’t have to think about the things he’d done and had done to him.
The fact that he was listening to Ian’s character-communicating with him in statements that weren’t defiant absolutes-that he smiled…that was huge.
I’m inclined to believe he went to confront BWB-who I’m very disappointed in. If the commune was full of Freys I could understand it…but no. Beric must be gone and Thoros must be drunk, because that is not how you protect your community.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
Someone is “acting” as Arya Stark. It very possibly is Arya, but she’s still acting the way the Waif perceives her. Entitled. Unprepared. An easy mark. I’m not sure if it’s a trap, a false trail or a FM test for the Waif–but Arya hasn’t been that relaxed and unprepared for an attack since she was with Yoren heading for Castle Black.
Also I’m hoping for a bigger FM reveal. I don’t think everything is what it seems with them when it comes to Arya either.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I want the answer to be yes-but I’m afraid it’s no and it’s all because Jaime still seems to be trapped in Cersei’s web. But Brienne has such a strong affect on him that, even if their conversation doesn’t go well, I think it’ll put something into his mind and hopefully get him to course correct soon. (Tarth gaze intensifies) I want them back on the same side.
And sadly-the more I think about it, I think the show might kill Blackfish instead of having him go with Brienne to Winterfell. He knows way too much about LF since he watched him grow up and would have good advice for Sansa, so that can’t happen right? (I’d be so happy if that happened)
Big Hazza A,
Also I should have mentioned that despite how everyone fells like Arya needs to kill Walder Frey and re-embrace her Stark Identity and meet up with Sandor etc, at some point we need to acknowledge that Arya doesn’t have to be the one to do those things. Arya doesn’t have plot armour like Dany, Jon or Jamie. She could be killed with no impact on the greater story. Although it would be a waste of two seasons of storytelling and doesn’t seem like it is going to happen… this is Game of Thrones. Anything is possible
Why would it matter if Edmure surrenders the castle? Blackish is already defying him.
1. Hound gets vengeance on BWB but it doesn’t bring him peace. He heads north searching for a purpose, perhaps seeking Arya or headed for the Night’s Watch.
2. I have a hard time believing that was actually Arya who got stabbed, but I’m not sure who it was, I’m leaning towards Jaqen. In any case, I believe Arya will escape Braavos and head for Westeros. I hope she lands anywhere north of King’s Landing.
3. I have no idea what’s coming… But I hope (secret wish) Brienne is somehow able to convince Jamie to turn on the Frey’s and take the Twins instead of Riverrun. Maybe Bronn and Podrick tell him about Cercei and Lancel, and he finally becomes more like book Jamie, and decides to quit doing Cercei’s bidding.
The hound will go after the bwb to come full circle to his revenge against them for season 3 and esp last ep
Whatever happens w arya will be genuinely shocking. What’s her lsh theory? I know who lsh is but haven’t heard this theory. Arya grabs coins back real quickly but didn’t have needle with her. And where was she in the prev ep after she got needle? Were assuming it’s the house of b&w but wouldn’t she be insane to go back there?
Brienne and Jamie will build buzz for next season. Blackfish will escape to prevent brienne from having to fight Jamie. To add excitement the bwb plot will be mixed in
I’m most excited for the mountains helmet to get knocked off. I wonder what he smells like? Like when he walks past you.
Sandor will seek out the BWB and take to most of them with his axe.
Who the hell knows what’s happening with Arya and the faceless men.
Brieanne will convince the Blackfish to yield River Run to Jamie, and head north with his army to Sansa’s aid. And in return, after the north is reclaimed, they will repay the Tully’s loyalty by marching south to take out the Frays
1. I think the Hound will go after the BwB but instead will be convinced to join their cause. He was after all chosen by the God of Light for a reason. He will have a role to play in the war. I have a feeling that he will hook up with these BwB men and kill Walder Frey (maybe in the 10th episode).
2. The whole Braavos-situation is a test for Arya and the waif. Jacquen is testing them both and Arya will come out victorious. The test will end with her killing the waif and she will graduate from the Academy of Faceless Men with Magna cum Laude.
3. Brienne will convince Blackfish to join the war in the north and will help him escape the castle on a boat. They may or may not escape with a few Tully soldiers. Jaime will convince Edmure to pledge allegiance to the Lannisters and Freys and will put him on the board of directors seat at Riverrun. The CEO will still be Walder Frey. In the 10th episode, Walder Frey will celebrate retaking Riverrun with the Lannisters, but the party will turn sour and he will be killed off by BwB and the Hound.
Sandor join the BwB? He’s seen in the preview next week swinging his axe at someone. Probably one of the BwB.
1. Sandor (not “The Hound”. Like Arya, his killing will be morally justified.) takes his revenge on the raiders, who may not even be the BWB. If they are, he may meet LS and even discuss his support of her daughters. But somehow (perhaps the High Sparrow had talent scouts out searching for a champion and they recognized The Hound) he quickly ends up in KL to fight for the faith against Gregor. Of course, he is not fighting for the faith at all. His revenge against his unspeakably cruel brother and the evil Lannisters are his motivation…and he will prevail.
2. I’ve been saying for days that Arya set it all up and–like Margaery– is ACTING. The theme of the mummers, impersonating others, using props, rewriting the story etc makes this likely and possible. Ultimately, she’ll defeat the Waif and sail for Westeros, hopefully arriving in the Riverlands by Episode 10 and leading a guerrilla band against the Freys and Lannisters, preferably in conjunction with Nymeria. She is NOT No One–she is Some One, someone very special. Not to mention a STARK.
3. Brienne, to whom Jaime gave OathKEEPER, will reignite Jaime’s conscience. He will figure out a way for the castle to honourably surrender (perhaps finagling for Edmure to acquire it) so that Blackfish, Brienne, and most of the Tully men can go fight with the Starks. Jaime will return to KL in time for…who knows what. Tommen’s death? The destruction of the Sparrow and his followers? Cersei’s death?
By the way, has anyone realised that if Yara is really a lesbian, that she too cannot produce an heir. I applaud the show giving her sexual fluidity, but I suspect that like Oberyn and Ellaria, she likes both oysters and eels…if you take my meaning.
How do we know his helmet will get knocked off?
She’s bisexual.
1. Hound eats every one of BwB’s chickens.
2. I subscribe to Jaqen = stabbed Arya, as test of Waif and her wanting Arya to suffer.
3. In the most tin of tinfoils, I guess that Jaimie convinces Edmure to surrender promising amnesty for his men. Freys break bargain and wipe them out. Not sure if BF survives but Edmure dies and Jamie is livid, as yet another black mark on his honor. He sets up celebration with Walder and orders Bronn and his men to go Red Wedding as payback for that insult, and for breaking similar trust with Cat and Starks, besides, and since he couldn’t fulfill his oath regarding the girls. He kills Walder himself.
1. Sandor will seek out the BWB to exact revenge on the individuals who killed the hippies, then take over as the new leader of the outlaws. He’ll apply the lessons learned in the commune by bringing the BWB back to their mission of protecting the smallfolk – and ultimately to the original purpose of the group, which was to bring down the Mountain. Thus we will get Cleganebowl, but not as a battle between champions in Cersei’s trial.
2. I doubt that was really Arya. I think it was Jaquen testing the Waif. Two other possibilities are the Lady-Crane-Assisted-Mummer’s-Assassination theory that others have mentioned; or the idea that maybe, in drinking poison and passing the first test en route to becoming “No One,” Arya somehow gave herself some level of protection against mortality – a sort of Faceless Man answer to health insurance. It would be a nice parallel with Jon, and something further over which the two of them could bond when they’re eventually reunited.
3. Riverrun will be surrendered, but if we take Blackfish at his word (“As long as I’m still standing, the war is not over”), we have to assume that he’ll need a new liege for whom to fight. He clearly isn’t on Edmure’s side. That leaves Rickon and Sansa as the next-in-line for his loyalty. I think he and Brienne and Pod escape north. I haven’t gotten much further than that on Riverlands speculation, except I’m sure that there will be some reckoning between Jaime and Brienne, and I hope it steers Jaime away from Cersei. And of course, I’m also certain that the Freys are soon to face some serious karmic payback for their misdeeds.
First, I do not buy that the three goons that killed Brother Ray and his flock belonged to the Brotherhood Without Banners. As I understand BwB are folks who have renounced fighting for anyone but the small folk. The Hound may end up persuading the BwB to take up arms against marauders like the trio. The Hound and the Stark daughters have a bond. I see him connecting with Arya and joining Sansa and the resurgent Starks.
Second, Arya is most likely on her way back to Westeros as she is likely to survive the latest challenge from the Faceless Men. I suspect she will hook-up with the Greyjoys first.
Third, Brienne will be the catalyst that will force Jaime to change sides, kill the Freys and head off to Winterfell where i expect that he will be the first Lannister to get a clue about the White Walkers.
Personally reckon BF escapes North to be with Sansa
Although he is a bit of a legacy of Wo5K
I think it’s Edmure who gets killed, paving the way for Sansa to claim rulership of Riverrun
Something is odd about Arya, but i can’t see showrunners having it not Arya. Am really hoping she bumps into Syrio unlikely though that is
“Inly one thing we say to death. Not today” really rings as a warning to any assassin who may have been sent to kill First Sealord of Braavos
In reference to the brotherhood without banners return…
“You prey on the weak, the brotherhood will hunt you down.”
That was their motto before She Who Must Not Be Named became their leader. Their current savagery can only be explained by new leadership… & I’m not saying Lord Voldemort ladies & gentlemen.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
Hound will go kill the three dudes,then challenge thoros of myr and kill him.thats all he will do this season,for coming seasons he will take the leadership of BWB.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
Arya and waif are the same person.she is playing the game of faces, when she said the greeting Valar Dohaeris in season 5 in the start when she asked Jaquen she wants to be no one a split in her personality was created since she was conflicted sub consciously, Waif is just a mental interpretation of herself.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
Brienne will try unsucessfully as the black fish loses the castle.. however she is there to bump into someone…(LSH/Arya are my two best guesses)
1.) Sandor is a straight forward dude. I say he goes after those guys. Who he runs into on the way or after will be interesting.
2.) My theory on Arya is that in an earlier episode during her training they showed her with certain concoctions in the House of B&W while she was still blind and she smiled when she smelled them. I have a feeling that whatever those were are what helped her with that brutal stabbing last episode.
Areo died from a lesser stab wound this season and without a fight. Roose died from a lesser wound and without a fight. Arya took 3-5 vicious thrusts and still head-butted the waif and jumped off a bridge and held her breath long enough that the waif thought she was dead and then swam to safety? I have to imagine that they have to justify how she did that just based on other stabbings this season alone or it won’t feel earned by the showrunners.
3.) My theory on Jaime is that he will have to go back to being Jaime after he was with Brienne and before reuniting with Cersei. Otherwise, what’s the point? If he doesn’t, he’s just the incestuous dude that pushed an innocent child out of a window. If he doesn’t, will anyone be rooting for Jaime against the Blackfish? It was Jaime’s father that killed Robb and Cat. Jaime’s just going to punish the family member’s of the murdered?
Brienne will let Jaime know what she thinks about it. The Blackfish did that very thing and Jaime didn’t seem to care which is a shame. Hopefully he comes around. if not, I will not mourn his passing at the hands of Arya, The Blackfish or Brienne.
1. Maybe the Hound is how D&D will bring in the LSH plot line. If it does happen like in the books. Since I’m thinking he’s going to look for the BWB. Although I really am liking the idea of Arya possibly being LSH.
2. I think the Arya we saw really was her. She might have seemed different because she was purposefully acting as someone else to get what she wanted, a ride home. Her look of fear in the end was her realizing anyone could be a FM and out to get her. There is some other purpose to the FM plot line that will be really important for her future storyline in Westeros, but how exactly it’s to come about, I have no idea. (And when she comes back, Gendry will reach the same harbor at the same time as she does and Planetos will bend the knee! Arya, Needle, and any faces she brought with her plus Gendry and his huge hulk arms! Nothing can stop them now!)
3. There will be fighting. Brienne will spare Jaimie. Just barely. Hopefully Blackfish doesn’t die. Or at least not in a stupid that says “we have too many characters, let’s get ride of some.” Battle strategy is not my strong suit. (Never was good at divination either.)
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
I think the Hound will go find the BWB and learn who their new leader is. I’m almost 80% sure that it’s gonna be LSH and I have no idea what the Hound will do with this knowledge.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
About Arya and the waif, I really would say that the Fight Club theory is the farthest from being the truth. The stabbing scene was way too confusing, every bit of it, the abscence of Needle, Arya’s cockiness, her throwing and picking up the money with her right hand, her recklesness, her not dying, her paranoia after emerging from the water… None of it adds up, so I am really in the dark here, but I would say that Arya having split personality manifesting on a hatefull bitch only her and we can see is not the kind of storytelling the show has given us in 5 seasons. Maybe Jaqen has a role in this and is helping Arya after all, for some reason only he knows and will reveal next episode, by taking the hit by the waif and then punishing her for not killing him (Arya) swiftly like he ordered. Maybe Lady Crane did help Arya put up a farse to lure the waif and fake dying for her to be able to escape, but that theory is a little farfetched given that Arya couldn’t be so sure that the waif would stab her in the gut instead of just cutting her throat. It’s all very confusing to me. LSH, however, seems very likely to me. I think she will be one of the cliffhangers we will get, maybe she will meet with Brienne and Pod, much like in the books, and this will complicate things with Jaime. Although it seems like Brienne will be escaping with the Blackfish and head back north.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I don’t think things will unfold like the books here, it has changed in every other storyline, so it’s not likely that it will go down just like what GRRM wrote in this particular sub-plot. Brienne should be able to help Jaime snap out of his Cersei hypnosis once again and be the decent fella we came to know while he was far from Cersei back in season 3.
1- I think the Hound will use his newfound piety to “give the gift” to some outlaws/BwB mooks. Only he won’t be doing it with a little vial of poison. And it won’t be gentle.
2- Ayra will live and theWaif will die. Her survival can be explained by one of the many theories floating around. I don’t think which one matters much. Hopefully they just go with a simple convincing one. Then I think she’s westward bound. Or less likely off east where she can meet Tyrion and tell him how much she enjoyed him killing Joffrey in the play.
3- Jamie will establish himself as a competent strategist/leader, probably by making a deal with Edmure to let him live and restore him to Riverrun in exchange for him bending the knee to the crown and probably becoming subservient to the Freys as well. Blackfish will escape and may take a small force with him. Jamie will not break with Cersei yet as I think they are saving it for a dramatic break of some sort down the line.
Jack Bauer 24,
To see what he looks like under there and expose what he is. Bc it will be shocking
LOVE the podcast – look forward to both episodes all week. Can’t wait to hear the discussion. My theories below:
1. The Hound will become the leader of BwB. He will go to them first in search of revenge. They are operating without any solid leadership, and hopefully some of them are still more of the “good guys” we knew from before. The Hound will put them in their place and lead the group. It seems like a great role to equip him with – it gives him power and plot potential, while fitting into the type of thing his character may do.
2. Arya was not stabbed – someone else was. My best guess is that Jaqen impersonated her, but I’m not as sure about that. I cannot believe it was Arya for all of the blatant reasons everyone has discussed (brazen attitude, lack of needle, inattention, etc.). I love the idea of Lady Crane helping her, but realistically, Arya could not have known where the Waif would stab her. She’s smarter than the Arya we saw in EP7. I think the blood trail will lead the Waif to the real Arya.
3. BF will lose Riverrun. Frey needs to win before he suffers a final loss (hopefully in the form of Arya killing him), but I don’t think the show has the time to invest in a huge fighting scene right before EP9. The fighting, if any, will be limited. I’m hopeful that BF takes his army to the North, with Brienne promising they will retake RR alongside him after reclaiming WF. Long shot, but that’s my hope.
As is probably evident from my rampant and idealistic speculation, I’m not a book reader, so I have no idea how the actual story plays out ?
What does LSH have anything to do with Arya’s arc? What theories are there?
1) Hound will find and confront Thoros.
2) The actress who wanted Lady Crane killed would want to leave the troupe after being outed. She would have access to all the troupe silver and would want a boat to Westeros with a cabin. Right before Arya went blind, “Jaqen” drank the potion and she started pulling different faces off him, the last being her own showing she doesn’t actually have to be dead for someone to wear her face. While blind and training, she is shown working with powders and potions. Arya could have found a way to make the young actress unknowingly look like her.
3) Brienne will smuggle out the Blackfish to help in the real war.
ICE DRAGON,
Arya = Waif just blew my mind.
I think it would piss some people off, and I can’t decide if I buy it, but that’s an awesome theory! Really interesting to think about.
1. If Sandor goes to Riverrun, he’ll find out about Sansa and Cersei. He could go North to help Sansa, or he could go south to fight UnGregor. Or he could go off on his own and start smiting some Brothers. He might hang around the Riverlands long enough to help Arya kill some Freys. idk. Sandor is a wild card.
2. I think Arya got stabbed, will be healed by Crane (maybe with Jaqen’s help) and head off to Westeros as part of the troupe.
3. Nothing romantic happens between Brienne and Jaime. Brienne is pledged to Sansa (and Tormund!!!!) and must return North. Jaime is still in love with Cersei. I think plot calls for Cersei to be isolated at King’s Landing, which means Jaime stays in the Riverlands, unable to help her. I think
Obviously this is in the novels, but the show Jaime is in love with Cersei, which would make this especially tragic for all concerned.
1. Sandor definitely will go after BWB, but He’s not the man he used to be (assuming that near-death experience and spending time with people like Ray, to see a world without violence affected him), So his quest will be more about Justice than revenge. and I believe somehow he will find himself in the bigger picture. I am not sure how Claganbowl can happen, but Hound’s story will be important in any way.
2. I really liked one theory about Arya being Jaqen testing Waif, but still I don’t think it’s the case. even if she was really weird, talking weird and walking like Arya had never walked in her life, but I still think it was her. before the last episode I was sure that by the end of season Arya would head for North, but now I’m not as sure..
3. I hope they won’t give this story less imporotance because there is less time left. Why would Jaime let Brienne see BF if he knew that Brienne wanted to take him North? He would not deliberately let Blackfish go, right? The man is threat and he knows it. So Brienne may not say everything that she intends to do. I think Blackfish will escape with her. and maybe beeing at 100% opposed sides with Brienne, will affect Jaime
somehow. I hope someone will
point the redemption road to him.
I know it’s not the place
for this but I wonder if Jon and Sansa sent ravens to Howland Reed asking for help? it’s possible right? even though castle moves. but if they did, wouldn’t they answered the call?
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
First off, to bash in the heads of those three Brothers, followed by eating all the chicken.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
Arya will bump into Sam Tarly and, after listening to his sad story, will slit his father’s throat, followed by poking his eyes out for good measure. Happy dances will spontaneously erupt across Horn Hill and Sam’s brother will chuckle inanely.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
Lady Olenna will dramatically interrupt the Battle of the Bastards when she suddenly appears in the midst of combat riding atop her first boyfriend, Balerion the Black Dread.
Remember kids, valar morghulis responsibly.
1. Clegane kills off the rogue elements of BwB who revolted. Then, he becomes new leader.
2. I can’t see how GOT would get away with Arya bleeding from multiple gut wounds at end of episode 7 to parkouring off a building in episode 8. So, it either has to be a blood packet/armor and Arya is faking it to draw the Waif out, or it had to be an imposter. My money is on former.
3. Riverrun has to fall for the plotlines to advance. How cool would it be if Jamie decided to bring peace to the Riverlands by betraying the Freys at the Twins and going all Red Wedding in reverse on them. Peace/stability is actually more important to Tommen than one castle and the Freys are too unpopular to ever really hold the Riverlands.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence? The Hound will go after that yellow cloak, probably the BWB.
2. The Arya we see throwing bags of money around and the Arya we see get stabbed in the gut by the Waif in FM disguise, are NOT the same Arya we saw reclaim Needle and hide out in the darkness. ReasonS: 1) Where was Needle? 2) Where did she get that money/the new duds? 3) Arya’s smarter than to be out like that in public, unarmed. I just think something’s fishy. It’s either Jaqen screwing with the Waif or Arya made a preplan with the help of someone else (Lady Crane?). Or maybe she just got stabbed bunch, shit, who knows.
3. I haven’t read 4 or 5 all the way through in a couple of years. I barely remember that subplot. I think Brienne and Pod will escape from RR unscathed, back up North. Or, maybe they’ll get captured by
1) Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
May be far-fetched, but I think the Hound will fight BWB and then link up with Sam and Gilly on their way back from Horn’s Hill. Who else has the strength to wield Heartsbane effectively, and how cool would it be to see the hound smiting The Others/The Mountain? Sam and Gilly may need the Hound if they are getting chased by Tarly soldiers.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
Definitely Waif Confusion/Jaquen as there was no needle, can’t really see a LSH connection as you need the her face to be stored. The body would be pretty rotted now if they left that part out of the story for that long.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
Jamie will be attacking Riverrun and will either just let the Brienne go or the blackfish will escape/let Pod and Brienne escape. Don’t really see a two big battles in consecutive episodes (B-O-B).
1. Brother Sandor will go after Lemoncloak and his band of thugs. We get some axe scene in the preview and I’m guessing that’s their neck. After that, I can’t imagine him going back to Kings Landing for the hype-bowl everyone wants to see. Doesn’t make sense. There will be no trial by combat for Cersie. She chooses violence and there will be a lot of dead bodies. I imagine he’ll go back and rebuild the sept and start his own flock. He’ll be first digging graves and become No One. It would be awesome if he makes the Speech
2. Arya is working with Lady Crane. She’s anticipated that the Waif will be after her. That was theater blood. Chase scene to Needle where Arya is hiding it and the Waif gets the pointy end. She rides to Westeros as No One.
3. It might happen like the book. Riverrun will fall, but Brienne and Pod will help the Blackfish escape to Winterfell for Bastardbowl. Edmure will still be a sulking hostage.
I really would like to see the Freys die. But I’m guessing Walder will get Needled next season, along with the Mountain and Cersie.
Dorian,
The left hand part is interesting because its well known that Maisie learned to sword fight with her left hand to match the book. It’s not just an innocuous detail, but something she focused on. I’m just not sure if throwing money with your off hand is necessarily significant.
THIS.
Jack Bauer 24,
There is a theory that BwB murdered those innocent people to flush out the Hound to their spot. It seemed quite obvious that the three of them recognized the hound and wanted to recruit him. They couldn’t do that with Septon Ray feeding him all the 7 Gods bullshit. Not sure if it will happen this way. My personal opinion is that this BwB is a breakaway from the real BwB (Dondarion et al). Maybe the hound will o after the 3 who murdered Ray and meet up with the real BwB (led by Thoros). They will gang up n kill the pretenders n then be on their way to make some Frey Pies
3 – I’ve been waiting for the Jaime/Brienne reunion since she left King’s Landing and now that it’s happening I’m very nervous about it all going to hell – simply because I’ve been let down by the show one too many times when it comes to Jaime’s narrative arc since season 3 ended.
That said, the preview is clearly setting up a hostile situation – he’s devoted to Cersei, Brienne talks about fighting him – and I simply believe against all odds that they’re misleading us and it’s really going to be a big turning point for Jaime’s character. There’s a reason why his oath to Catelyn was mentioned last episode. There’s a reason he had this longing look on his face as they were sailing past Tarth last season.
And it doesn’t make dramatic sense to bring Jaime – who so far has been portrayed as being on a rather narrow path all about the Lannister cause – into a situation where he’s faced not only with a person he looks up to and genuinely trusts and loves but also the greater perspective of the war in the North and the threat beyond the wall AND his oath and chance at honour, without it affecting him and leading to a new dynamic and purpose in his narrative.
Basically, if the writers manage to continue to screw up Jaime’s narrative and character development yet again as they reach the umpteenth potential turning point for him in two years I might just give up on the show.
(Can you imagine if Jaime Lannister bent the knee to Sansa Stark though…?! I might just die. There’s a 1% chance this might happen and I’m clinging to it.)
1. He’ll seek revenge on the brotherhood. I doubt he’ll go to King’s Landing this season. Maybe he meets a certain lady in the riverlands.
2. Though I like the Yaqen is Arya theory – mostly because it would excuse her out of character behaviour – I do think it was just Arya. Or, maybe not? I’m doubting again.
3. I think Brienne will serve sort of the same function as Edmure. She’ll convince the Blackfish to leave Riverrun (and march North), while Jaime takes the castle. I’m upset that their reunion comes at a time when Jaime us still loyal to Cersei, but perhaps Brienne Is able to change that.
1. The Hound stopped killing for others at the Blackwater, and stopped killing for himself when he lost to Brienne. After his experiences at the commune, he now has a cause to kill for. And I dont think it’s for as straightforward a goal as revenge. After his experiences, Sandor may have more compassion for the common folk, and may be closer morally to what the Bw/oB used to be. I don’t think Cleganebowl is in the works as it would be too much fan service, but he may be tapped if the HS thinks the mountain can’t be beat in a one-on-one and proclaims Cersei’s crimes serious enough for a
With the church/state alliance in KL and the Red Priests supporting Dany, the power struggle in Westeros will soon turn into a holy war, especially if the Brotherhood is openly attacking churches.
2. Many pointed out that Arya was acting un-Aryaish, but I thought it was a deliberate move on her part to try to draw out the Waif in public. Her behavior (northern hairstyle, flaunting cash to return to Westeros, noble bearing) seem intended to make people (who don’t know her) think she is Arya (a Northern noblewoman of the right age, been missing a while, last seen in the company of a Bravossi, wants to return to Westeros just as her sibs are trying to retake winterfell, and definatly not training to be an assassin) to get the rumor mill spinning. But if it’s not Arya, who is it? Some patsy wearing her face? Too many variables. The theory that the FM we call Jaquen was posing as Arya to test the Waif is the only explanation that makes sense as he seems to be able to change body types as well as faces, but this is anticlimatic.
I think it really was Arya who was stabbed. Crane may help her. She may go to the house of black and white and request the gift, proving to the Faceless that she is truly worthy and the Waif is not. Even Syrio coming out of nowhere is likely.
But my own pet theory is that the Waif has been training to pose as Arya while Arya was training. They will fight, wearing the same clothes, and Arya will deliver a matching gut wound. The fight will go out of view, behind a wall. After a short pause, we will see Maise next to the feet of a corpse in the same clothes and alot of blood. She will head to Westeros, and who will be behind the face will remain a mystery…
3. I hope it does resolve the same way in the books
kells,
Maybe Samwell will help out against the WW with his newly found Valerian steel sword. There’s got to be a reason behind that.
2. I think it was Arya and it is as straightforward as it has seemed.
3. As much as I would like for RR to follow the books, I feel as if this storyline is just a loose end to the writers. I hope BF goes with Brienne but I’m thinking that he likely decides to stay and fight to the death, after sending Brienne and Pod away on the boat.
1. The Hound will obviously go after the brotherhood and kill them all. But Cleganbowl Hype is just that Hype..it won’t happen..there is just no time and no set up for it. Why would the hound want to fight the mountain?….Cleganbowl NOT happening.
2. As much as people find that scene with Arya strange, I honestly don’t see it. We know starks attract sharp objects to their guts n necks( Ned, Cat, Rob, Rob’s wife, Jon and now Arya..Oh and yes Bran also attracted a certain valyrian dagger ) I mean that has to be Arya. Of course I don’t believe she is going to die. Maybe she won’t even be able to kill the Waif but will escape with the acting troupe.
3. Riverrun is going to be taken by Jaime and his men, remember in one of the trailers there appears to be something of a celebration in the Frey hall. I think that’s a victory celebration.
Bonus: Is Jon even interested in winning?….I think he has truly portrayed what he said about being tired of fighting. He just seems off. The dude just wants to go somewhere and make a small garden, plant some crops and drink ale. But Sansa just won’t let him.
Sandor Clegane is not going back to KL, no way. He has no desire to have anything to do with the Lannisters ever again. Cleganebowl isn’t happening – sorry. He’ll either reconnect with Arya when she arrives back in Westeros or head North to Sansa.
Arya – no clue. I’m in agreement that Arya who was stabbed wasn’t truly Arya but beyond that, no idea. It wasn’t a pouch of fake blood though, the shock and fear on her face was real. We know she lives, hopefully she gets back to Westeros before the end of the season and sticks some Freys with the pointy end.
Blackfish will appear dead/lost but will pop up again either at Winterfell or the battle against the WW. Jamie will struggle with his conscience but return to Cersei, he’s weak where she’s concerned. There is no LSH (hopefully, character made me really angry in the books, Catelyn was an unsympathetic character to start with), Brienne returns to Sansa, hopefully in time to help her army defeat Ramsay.
2. Arya already beat the waif– what we saw was her plan come to fruition. Arya was acting strange because that was actually the waif buying passage to westeros, disguised as arya — her plan is to take arya’s identity, perhaps to fulfill whatever mission the FM had in mind for arya in the first place. This is consistent with Jaquen’s strange and persistent interest in Arya — they want her, or barring that, her face and identity — for some specific reason. This also explains why ‘arya’ was walking around so confidently and unconcerned for her safety– waif, standing on the bridge disguised as arya, assumed that she was the hunter and was going to go finish a hiding Arya off before leaving town, and was thus surprised to be on the receiving end! It also explains the lack of needle, the sudden money, going out in the middle of the day with no disguise, the shock and panic and surprise at being attacked when she should have known full well some kind of attack was coming, and the wherewithal and training to manage to fight back and escape.
Arya saw this coming. The episode teaser says she “makes a plan.” In this plan, she had already stolen some faces to use — we know she can do this, she got in trouble for doing it before. One was the old woman’s face, which she used to sneak up on and stab the waif, who was wearing arya’s face so easy to locate and follow. The other face that Arya stole is the waif’s, which she was wearing beneath the old woman face (we have seen that several can be worn at a time). Arya stabbed the waif, and now plans to take over the waif’s identity to go tell jaquen the job is done (otherwise he will send more assassins after her forever) or try to get the drop on him. This explains why we see her running and jumping so well next episode– she’s not injured, she’s just fleeing from someone sans her waif disguise. Perhaps from jaquen?
We have been assuming the FM can only use faces they have harvested from the dead, but that’s never been stated. Maybe they can make anyone’s face.
Or, maybe Arya got stabbed and this was all just crappy writing. Hell, I don’t know.
1) *Hound*
Defo going to reek havoc upon the brotherhood – was that Lem Lemoncloak in the middle matches his description from the books – can see the Hound wiping them out Oldboy style – hopefully a re-unite with Arya is on the cards somewhere down the line.
2)*Arya*
Agree with Syrio Forel on Thronecast – UK version – think the Waif made a mistake – JH told her to not let her suffer and she done the exact opposite. think the Waif will die to appease the many faced god and Arya will be on her way back to Westeros by season end – albeit with some cool new scars
3)*Riverrun*
Think the Blackfish will escape. Hope that Brienne comes out of it alrite but can see some casualties happening here. Not my favourite storyline but very cool nonetheless.
1. No idea. Maybe find the three guys and slay them all with the rest of their pack? He seems to have no other goal now, and I wonder what he’ll do next.
2. That was so not Arya. No sword, strange clothes, walking in the open and not suspicious at all when a strange old woman walks to her. Come on, that has to be Jaqen in disguise, making a test for the Waif.
3. Wild thoughts: how cool would it be if Jaime used his army to help Brienne and Sansa take Winterfell? I know this won’t happen but come on, people stopped dying in GoT, maybe we can as well get a happy ending? Brienne kills Jaime, Mel brings him back to life, his watch is ended, J+B can marry, have kids, and live happily ever after, how sweet.
Well, some people think that Arya, seeing the horror her mother has become, will give “Mercy” to LSH, killing her, ending that cycle of revenge and violence (not before Walder Frey ends up dead as well, of course.) This is for the books, of course, since I think there’s no LSH in the show.
1 Clear foreshadowing in the lines “its got plans for Sandor Clegane” and “there’s a reason you’re still here” and “the gods aren’t done with you yet”. Sandor will get involved in the battle against the WW. Maybe he meets Brienne and she tells him about Sansa.
2 There’s been lots of interesting theories and the show can be surprising and subtle. But it can also be very clunky (see the journey of Jorah and Daario for example) and i worry it is just the latter.
3 I think it will play out a bit like the books with Brienne, Pod, Blackfish and some men floating away at night. I think Sansa particularly wants Blackfish as an advisor since she has doubts about Davos.
1. I don’t believe we have seen the last of the BWB, but wonder whether they will show up in Brienne’s storyline or in Clegane’s. I also wonder whether we will see the Hound’s helmet again, even if it was shown much less in the show than in the book. Did he even have it with him while travelling with Arya?
2. Arya? I have no clue. But somehow I also have a sense that it will not be as complex as we think. Arya will rid herself of the Waif, and maybe go back to the house of Black and White. I like to think she will somehow take a few faces along to be able to disguise herself. And then she goes back by boat, either with the actors, or with the captain she asked to prepare to get ready.
3. Riverrun? My bet: Through Brienne, A deal is secured to let the Blackfish & his fighting men go to join JonSaVos’s Bastard Bowl. Edmure is reinstalled as the lord of Riverrun, pledging fealty to house Frey. One of the Frey’s goes missing and is captured by the BWB. Difficult how the Brienne Jaime interaction plays out – will she make him doubt his allegiance to Cersei? Jaime’s much more loyal to Cersei here than in the books – I am really not sure what the endgame is and where Jaime will head.
Dorian,
I read what you said and you’re right- araya is left handed. However in reality the actress is right handed and has admitted she does some scenes right handed. (Example just before she goes blind and takes off jaquens many faces after he drinks the poison meant for her. ) #GOTdedication
My dream though it probably won’t happen is that Brienne knocks some sense into Jamie along the lines of a) why are you propping up Frey and b) the north needs to be stabilised because c) all sorts of shit is about to hit the fan. Maybe give Jamie a purpose. I would love to see Jamie go north with his troops to help Jon and Sansa especially because in the books Jamie thinks a bit about Rhaegar and his children. If Jamie was to find out there was a living child of Rhaegar’s that would be interesting.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
ans: step 1 kill those dudes who killed Ray and his followers ….
step 2) eat chicken
step 3) head towards bravos to be a sellsword but meet someone from your past …..and change your mind
step 4) eat chicken
step 5) do something epic for/with her( arya)
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
ans: some are logical most are not ….I know very little about lsh so no comment on it
…
but my own theory on arya ‘ s situation is that …
it was arya that was stabbed ….badly injured ….arya faints and fall ….next day we see waif spotting arya …she gives her chase ….finally waif catches arya …and almost kills her ….turns out it wasn’t arya who she almost killed …it was “”no one””” …….arya wakes up in the ship she is heading towards westeros while waif looks towards the ship sailing towards the sunshine …..While she does that …that “no one stabs waif in the back. …
1. To murder the Brotherhood without Banners.
2. I think people give too much thought to it. Arya was stabbed. The Waif didn’t finish her off. Arya will survive and kill the Waif.
3. No. Brienne convinces Blackfish to escape with her to the North.
1. The Hound will get his revenge by killing the BWOB. Hopefully there’s some explanation as to why they committed a pointless massacre. Then he has nowhere to go and he is in the Riverlands area, so he will run into Ayra, after she’s bumped off Walder Frey, and help her travel north to find her family.
2. Too much mystery surrounding Ayra so I’ve really no idea but she has help from somewhere. Things are not what they seem. Once out of Westeros, she will head for the Riverlands looking to cross off Walder Frey from her list.
3. Jaime has had Edmure cleaned up so I think he’s going to try and use the political pawn that he has. BF doesn’t care if Edmure gets executed so as Edmure is the lord of House Tully, maybe Jaime will try and use that in some way. The trailers give away that BF does lose the castle, so I suspect he will be killed off, but I hope not.
1. The Hound will get his revenge by killing the BWOB. Hopefully there’s some explanation as to why they committed a pointless massacre. Then he has nowhere to go and he is in the Riverlands area, so he will run into Ayra, after she’s bumped off Walder Frey, and help her travel north to find her family.
2. Too much mystery surrounding Ayra so I’ve really no idea but she has help from somewhere. Things are not what they seem. Once out of Westeros, she will head for the Riverlands looking to cross off Walder Frey from her list.
3. Jaime has had Edmure cleaned up so I think he’s going to try and use the political pawn that he has. BF doesn’t care if Edmure gets executed so as Edmure is the lord of House Tully, maybe Jaime will try and use that in some way. The trailers give away that BF does lose the castle, so I suspect he will be killed off, but I hope not.
1: Hound is going after BwB, but I don’t think they did the killing.
2: Not Arya. Jaquen testing Waif (we saw close up of the waif twisting knife). Arya lives. Melissandre told her they would see each other again.
3: Brienne helps BF escape and sends him North to Sansa.
I have to say I think people are reading waaaaay too much into this Arya thing. Maisie is right handed in real life and learned to sword fight with her left hand in order to be more like Arya – the throwing the bag of coins with her right hand is definitely not for a viewer to think that it isn’t even her.
Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised this weekend but I think it was either just badly done and she’ll manage to recover or she has pig’s blood etc. ready for it have been a fake. Definitely don’t think it wasn’t Arya actually being Arya though.
The walk of pain through the town has me convinced that she’s just badly hurt but not so much that she can’t recover – nothing to do with someone else wearing her face (which isn’t possible as she’s not dead).
1. The Hound will take up the original cause of the BwB, which is defending the defenseless. This may cause him to go against the actual BwB if the actions of some of their (former?) members are valid evidence. It will also be a full character arc for Sandor, who very recently felt it was better for the powerful to take from them, because they weren’t going to survive anyway.
2. That wasn’t Arya. Jaquen has, from the very beginning, been recruiting and training Arya to be an assassin.. not a mindless tool of the Faceless God. It was the Waif who failed the test. Someone used the same “magic” that was seen when Arya was pulling off face after face until her own was seen, and took the stabby-stabs for her.
3. Brienne convinces Jaime to let her talk to the Blackfish. She tells him of the events at Winterfell, and he agrees to hand over Riverrun so that what remains of the Tully army can go help the Starks. They sneak out under cover of darkness, and the Freys/Lannisters find only commoners inside when they take over.
While I agree that LSH is looking more likely than ever, there is still the issue of a casting call for Lachlan, the leader of a group of renegades who on the people they swore to protect (clearly the brotherhood). That seems to imply the brotherhood has a new male leader whose values are different from Berics (or it could be a recast Beric). Anyway, there would be no apparant room for LSH as a leader, if they already have one. People seem to be forgetting this?
I really have no clue but here it goes:
1. The Hound will seek out the BWB and get revenge for the murders of Ian McShane and his commune. He will not head to KL for Cleganebowl. I want him to step away from a life of violence entirely but I suspect that there is another purpose for his return.
2. The speculation about Arya is quite creative. Still, I think that it was Arya and that she was stabbed. And when the Waif comes looking for Arya again, she will be introduced to Needle. Hopefully, this story line gets simplified. Arya needs to get back to Westeros fast.
3. The events at Riverrun have to get resolved quickly but I’m not sure how that occurs. The Blackfish still has a role to play in this story. (Edmure, not so much). I love that he will meet Brienne because she is Jaime’s conscience. The Blackfish reminded Jaime – and us – that he promised Cat that he would return her daughters. Brienne will remind Jaime of it as well. Honor and oath breaking will smack Jaime in the face, again. I want unity between Brienne and the Blackfish. That would be amazing. Time for Jaime to do the right thing.
1. Sandor Clegane will kill a few BwB, before Thoros make him some kind of offer.. or show him some kind of revelation that stops him.. don’t know what though.
2. I love this one, either Arya totally underestimated Jaqen.. you have to understand, she didn’t see the Waif get the go ahead from Jaqen. Arya may think that Jaqen won’t have her killed. So she genuinely let her guard down.
Or she’ll do a Kaiser Soze, and stumble through the streets, a direct continuation of the last episode… but then her faces goes from paranoid and scared.. to bad ass and emotionless as she pulls a blood bag from under her tunic, dumps it in the river and smears blood on the wall as a trail.. all while playing the brilliant Needle retrieving/HoBaW music…. YES!!!!
3. Brienne and Jaime will argue over whats to be done.. Jaime will profess his love of Cersei, Brienne will profess her love of him.. leaving Jaime saddened.. Then Brienne will try and get the Blackfish out. Jaime will know this is what she would try and do and will have Bronn follow her. Then have the Blackfish captured.. then Brienne will convince him to let them go with some small force to help Sansa and fulfill his Oath to Catelyn… This not only gets Riverrun but leaves him as a Oathkeeper.
OK I love this – make it happen!!!
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
He will avenge his friends, and then meet someone (Jaime with the advice of Brienne?) who will take him to King’s Landing.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
The Waif will kill Arya and then we’ll discover that The Waif doesn’t exist, she’s a dual personality of Arya (a la Fight Club). She’s no one.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
Brienne will convince the Blackfish to flee Riverrun and rally the North to help Sansa.
I’m late, but regarding #3 there is still one loose end. The Freys don’t know Ramsay killed Walda yet but when they find out… ? It could be the info that brings them back to the Twins.
Stark Raven’ Rad,
Lesbians can bear children.
Daeryssa,
I know, I got excited while writing it!!
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
He’s off to hack some Brotherhood, then realizes that those three (and possibly others with them, since 3 men could not have slaughtered a whole group of people) are Brotherwood deserters or something.
I do think though that eventually he’ll join forces with Sansa et al; I could very well picture him finding a cause in fighting for the Stark sisters.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
Exactly. Recent Arya speculation knows NO BOUNDS. Who knows. My immediate thought was that there was something fishy in that scene (the clothes, absence of needle, money, carelessly walking around, plus the hand thing stated by others – that I haven’t noticed though), and I also found very fishy her walk in the middle of the market with no one doing anything than take a glance, and I do hope Jaquen has not really put a price on her head, but I have no idea. I am very much looking forward to see what happens, although I don’t think that either way we’ll get to see a lot more of Tom Wlaschiha.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
Well, no idea how it unfolds in the books. So…
I just hope that Jaime’s line from the preview (the one about killing Tullys etc) was used to mislead us; I mean that this is his initial reaction to Brienne, but that then somehow that changes and decides to be an honourable man for a change.
Before the season begun I was thinking that he will most likely die this season, but now I think that he and the Lannister soldiers could prove handy in the end (not regarding Winterfell, but the WW). Maybe it is Cersei who will leave us this year after all.
1. The hound will get revenge and become the leader of the rest of the BwB. He will then run into Brienne who will tell him about Sansa and the battle for Winterfell. Add the Hound and the BwB to the army?
2. Arya will kill the waif, Jaqan will find her and heal her and release her to go back to Westeros.
3. Brienne will negotiate a compromise with Jamie. Jamie will fulfill his oath to Catelyn and send the Lannister army up North to help Sansa and Blackfish will surrender Riverrun to Edmure’s control and take his army North as well.
Could “no one” refer to the Jon Snow reveal? I will leave that with you…
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
I think initially, he is heading after Lem Lemoncloak and the BWB. After that I’m not sure..depends on how much he took Brother Ray’s words to heart.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
I’m not sure about this because there are so many possibilities and so much speculation. Arya hid with Needle, so why be out wandering around taking in the sites of Braavos with no Needle…THAT did not jive at all, BUT if she wanted to let them THINK they had managed to kill her it would make sense because they will no longer be after her. Do I think it was Arya that was stabbed? Yes (tentatively). My unsullied husband thinks it was Arya and she did it to draw out the Waif and convince them of this theory, but I honestly don’t know and IT’S GREAT NOT TO KNOW….lol
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I believe from the sneak peek at the upcoming episode he will let her go to the Blackfish and give him Sansa’s letter for help, but I’m not sure the Blackfish will be that anxious to sneak his troops out the back door and give his home again. I think Brienne will confront Jaime about his “oath” to Cat to keep the girls safe, but Jaime will be torn because of Cersei and his duty to Tommen and KL. In the end, I hope he will let the Blackfish and House Tully go to Winterfell, but don’t think we will see it happen.
One way Sandor may go to King’s Landing:
-Cersei chooses violence, the Mountain slaughters several sparrows.
-Word gets around “the Clegane in the kingsguard” killed them
-People think the Mountain died fighting Oberyn, so by the time the story spreads it’s wrong and everyone assumes Sandor is responsible.
-Sandor hears and goes to KL
I have an issue with some of the current Arya theories. It has been implied that the faces are only those of the dead, though I don’t know that that has been confirmed at all. If it is true, how could Waif or Jacquen being wearing Arya’s face?
Marty,
That theory might make sense for the ‘Sandsnakes’ who really want the mountain dead. The Hound? not so much.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
So going out of episode 7, we’re led to believe, that the Hound is taking up the hunt of The Brotherhood Without Banners. Only it doesn’t seem like the way of BWB to obliberate a camp of unarmed women and children. Even though being denied a share in some scarce food resource. It just beats me, but maybe BWB just gained some levels in jerkitude since last time we saw them (or some new, very unsentimental leader)
Nevertheless, the Hound has to options. Go blood Hound or go Gravedigger. New Hound vs old Hound.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
At first after the episode ended, I was just really pissed. Pissed at the shabby writing, that got Arya stabbed with a potentially deadly wound. Everything about this scene seemed SO out of character with the Arya, GRRM/the show writers spent five books/five and a half season to establish. Also it is SO out of line with the outtro of episode 6, in wich she was armed and ready – totally aware of her extreme danger, trying to play every card, that she had left (darkness, Needle, secrecy).
Now what on earth would animate her to suddenly be strutting about in the city openly, almost yelling her intentions of going to Westeros, yelling her time of leaving, being extremely dandy about her somehow-gotten gold and having made a perfect Ned-do but leaving Needle in her hole. And next thing, standing dreamely on an open street, oblivious to her danger and totally not expecting any old lady to be the Waif in disguise moving in for the (slow) kill.
The Arya we have been introduced to for the first 56 episodes tend to show all the complete opposite virtues. She is cautious and distrusting towards most if not all strangers (and she has every reason to be so). She is dexterous, quick and has eyes on her back. She sticks first and asks later, and she sticks with the pointy end. She is skilled and very prone to hide her true identity (which she also has every reason to do). She seems to be unsentimental, to be very good at playing her own strenghts and her opponents weaknesses. At least always she makes sure, that she has the advantage of the sudden usage of extreme violence.
Last about the situation at hand. If anything she knows, that the streets of Braavos has ears, and that those are the ears of the Faceless Men (she’s been one herself). She knows that the assassins of The Temple of Black and White are unmatched at deception and swift killing. She probably knows that it’s the Waif after her, and she knows that the Waif overmatches her in most skills.
So there she is, sitting in her hole, pointy end out. I would suggest, that she starts thinking, that maybe her aces of darkness, secrecy and pointy end aren’t so good cards after all. Waif is likely to know or expect her position, to be armed with a pointy end herself, and most likely she’s been trained in fighting in darkness as well.
So what are Waifs weaknesses? First, she’s kinda arrogant. Also she’s for reasons best known to herself rather sadistic towards Arya.
And the pattern of Aryas Braavos-killings (as I remember) is to wait for her victim to feel secure and putting their guards down before striking.
So she’s generally looking to play the Waifs arrogance. Making her certain of her victory, so she would put her guards down. And then Arya would counter strike.
So I kind of like the theory in that Arya plays herself as bait for Waif and lures her into believe her victory certain. Lots of ppl have laid out the body-armour-and-pigs-intestines-plan, which also plays back to the theatre stuff. Then Arya would turn out to be perfectly fine and have the surprise-advantage, when Waif shows up for the final kill (or at any other time, given that Waif just is leaving Arya to die of her wounds).
This plan has the one obvious flaw of what if Waif just cuts her throat. Arya could have some reason to be sure, that Waif would have her suffer and thus not giving her a swift death. Seems like a gamble though…
What I specially like about this theory is, that it is totally true to Aryas character and her development.
The theory about Jaqen posing as Arya is a fun twist but kinda leaves Arya passive in her hole, which would be unsatisfying.
Arya being actually stabbed and then quickly healed would be a very unnessasary plot development and incoherent to the character completely. It would be very, very bad writing.
#MyastoneandhermuleskillRamsay2016
Sandy,
Remember last season after killing Trant before Arya went blind there was a seen with Jaqan fake dying and she took off all those faces he wore including her own face!
People are still calling him Jaqen?
That is not Jaqen H’gar and it’s not the same person Arya met back in season two. The person who trains Arya is The Kindly Man from the books. The face he was wearing when Arya came to The House of Black and White was that of a black skinned older man, and the characteristics of the kindly man resembles those of that guy, stoic and serious.
Jaqen from season two was none of those things. He was a bit flamboyant, nonchelant and careless. His reasons for wanting Arya to be a faceless man was so she could learn their skills and go back and kill the names of her list, he even told her that. Season 2-Jaqen did not follow the code of the Faceless Men too carefully, while The Kindly Man is very strict regarding the code.
I think it’s important to point out, that these are two different people. The Kindly Man in s5 e2: ‘A man is not Jaqen H’gar.’ That does not only mean that the original Jaqen is dead and all that. It means, that the personalities of those two are different.
Of course it’s an interpretation, but I think it’s pretty obvious that the first Jaqen (from season 2) is somewhere else in the world.
Damphairintheshowplease!,
Except Tom Wlaschiha has given interviews indicating he is the same Faceless Man Arya met before. When he says he is not Jaqen, he means he is No One, like all Faceless people.
Damphairintheshowplease!,
I don’t know… Weren’t those three casting calls all together, Flynn and Lachlan etc. Theres only been three new people so maybe Lachlan was Lem Lemoncloak (the leader of the three on their horses) leaving a nice cosy spot for LSH still??? I can dream!
With the Arya stuff she doesn’t have needle, she knew the face the Waif chose, etc etc. But then logically that’s fairly naff. Surely a better use of decoy show wise would be her dying then the real deal appearing later.
Also Blood packs!? c’mon. A group of merciless face changing assassins are after you and you assume they will stab your belly!? I’d be in full plate with the visor down refusing food and drink! Also that knife looked fairly long… And lastly, and most importantly, these people are fully trained at spotting deception and Arya hasn’t finished her training yet. Surely the Waif would see through a decoy? And she’d have to have sliced off her own face!!!
I have given more thought about STONE COLD SANDOR CLEGANE and we know GRRM said they cut LSH from the show and D&D said so as well. BUT (and nothing is said till after the BUT!) Those associated with the show have proven to be as manipulative with the truth as any career politician in the real world.
So in analyzing LSH in that light I believe they will do with Sandor what they have with other characters and combine the HOUND with LSH. Yes The Hound will take the place of LSH combine the two characters in to one. I see him in the next EP doing some wholesale killing of BWB members and taking over the BWB.
It makes sense in a Hollywood kind of way. Sandor knew what the Frey’s did and that would give us the Frey Killings. It would also place him in a position he could hear of the upcoming Bastards Bowl “Presented by Capitol One” and he and the BWB could go to help but arrives late and finds the Boltons in full retreat. But in the retreat the HOUND finds Ramsey and kills him.
Upon killing him he would go with proof of Ramsey’s death to the Northern army where he is taken to be killed but Sansa remembering his kindness along with the BIG BITCH remembering his protection to Arya testifies to him and he is spared.
NO CLEGANE BOWL, I really don’t think it will happen. Certainly not this season but its possible I mean the “Little Finger Jet Pack Company LLC” has apparently made packs big enough to take Iron Born ships to Volantis.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
I believe the Hound, after seeking revenge on the BWB for not only what they did to Ray but for capturing him and making him fight Beric, will turn around and aid them in getting ultimate revenge on the Freys. Whether or not this includes LSH will remain to be seen, but I think the Hound and perhaps Arya (if she reaches the Riverlands in time) might combine to bring the Freys to justice. It would be most interesting if he could meet up with Brienne too.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
I think that the person the Waif stabbed was indeed Arya ( because of the way she handed over the sacks of coins to the ship’s captain which was very Arya-like) and that she was aided by Lady Crane, who showed her how to pad her clothing and to use fake blood to fool the Waif into believing that she had really stabbed her. After this I think she will make her escape because Jaqen and the Waif will think she is dead and will not be likely to follow her. I’d love to see her go to the Riverlands to try and get revenge on Walder Frey. She did, after all, see the mummers’ play where the Red Wedding took place as a reminder that she was also there when her mother and Robb were killed.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
There could be some of what transpires in the books regarding the Riverrun storyline, but I believed the Blackfish when he said he would go into siege mode for two years. That would take him out of future events. I like this idea better than the storyline in the books that has him disappear by diving into the water. In the show that might appear to be too silly and melodramatic. I think that Brienne, after meeting Jaime again and seeing what an asshole he is, will regard him in a new light, as her enemy. Perhaps she will meet up with the Hound again. That should be interesting. He may be able to convince her that he has changed. She may meet up with LSH like in the books and both of them (with the Hound) could take revenge on the Freys. They may eventually be joined by Arya too. Brienne can give LSH and Arya the news that Sansa is safe and also relay information about Littlefinger that would surely be of interest to LSH. I can see this entire storyline coming together quite nicely if something along the lines I have envisioned were to take place. However, perhaps it’s a bit too pat and not exciting enough for the show, so I’m sure something much more dramatic and violent will actually happen.
Whatever it is, I can’t wait for it all to unfold.
TomTully,
Yeah I’m pretty sure Lachlan was a code name for Lem on the casting notice. He fits the description. Plus one of the other names was Flynn, and we know that Ricky Champ (the guy on the right in the photo of the three of them) is playing Flynn.
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
D&D know that everyone expects Cleganebowl, so probably this is an attempt to make us doubt it, like they did with JS resurrection, they knew everyone was expecting it so they made it seem like it will happen, then no, and then surprise us by yes.
Sandor will go to get revenge, and then somehow will end up in KL, why to bring him back if not for the C-bowl? What bothers me is the behavior of the BwB. This was not some stealing or occasional rape, this was no banditry, it was mass murdering, killing an entire village is very psycho even by that fictional age standards. Even the mountain never did that.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
We saw Arya getting needle and blowing out the candle. Since she learned how to fight blind this seemed like her preparing for the Waif. But then next chapter she is without needle and clearly drawing attention.
While I like the Waif Club theory, as it would explain why no one cared that a blind girl was being beaten, why the Waif magically disappeared, and why everyone was looking curiously at a stabbed Arya yet it was more puzzled than horrified.
But I don’t think that’s the case. Arya was drawing attention, she wanted the Waif to attack her and she is faking being injured. Although that is ridiculous since she couldn’t have known where the Waif was going to stab her, I think that’s a plothole.
But we already know that she will be doing some Assasin’s Creed roof jumping, so obviously she is not bleeding out her guts.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I think it will unfold very similar.
Sue the Fury,
Really? I didn’t know. How did he indicate it? Theyr’e just so different. Maybe he’s simply in trainee-mode and that’s why he is so serious.
Sue the Fury,
idk about the interviews, but the Braavos dude has no name. It’s convenient to refer to him as Jaqen, assuming both are “no one.”
1/ Hound
He will axe some brotherhood skulls…
I am not fan of Cleganebowl… BUT for those who are fans => the only way to see it this season would be Jamie and the hound meeting in Rivelands. Jamie brings the Hound with him. They meet Cersei and the mountain somewhere (not necessarily at king’s landing) => Cleganebowl + Valonqar on the same episode.
[/ spoiler]If “Valonqar” happens, it means that Cersei finished her character’s arc => So Tommen is dead. High sparrow is dead. Some Tyrells are dead. Even Lady Olena (Qyburn’s birds could send her Cersei’s regards) [/ spoiler]
2/ Arya
Most of us are assuming that the season will end with Arya leaving Braavos mastering some killer-ninja talents.
During the last staff-fight against the waif we saw that Arya was not on top of the game. And she does not have free access to the faces.
We have a 3 episodes left, and she will be busy solving ugly-gut-wounds-waif-chase during with the next one. Meaning you are left with episode 9 and 10 to see her finishing her training and leaving Braavos.
And we have this scene in episode 7… so off-character and off-context, that it seemed almost suicidal.
There are 3 main theories :
+ Arya is faking it and she is not wounded. Well, the last seconds when she is walking through the market seem to show the contrary.
+ Jaqen is the one stabbed on the bridge. The last walk stills seem contradictory
+ The sort-of-fight-club theory, where the bridge stabbing is a dream. This one seems like crackpot BUT it solves all our issues : training, face skill, wounds, leaving without being chased by faceless men !
Some may not like it, but if this theory is the correct one. Consider that Arya scenes of season 5 and 6 went a step beyond Fight club. They introduce Jaqen in the equation. Compared to Fight club, GoT included a 3rd character who is aware about the split-personality and plays along.
You may find all Arya scenes season 5 and 6 on youtube… Just rewatch them with the above assumption.
Not once characters other than Jaqen and Arya are considering the presence of the waif !!
I want this meme to die. I want it stabbed in the belly and liver, bleed out, flayed and burned on a cross.
D & D stated in that recent interview events do not take place all at the same time. If they followed actual linear time for each subplot, it would kill the storytelling momentum.
Back on topic:
1 – After taking care of Lemoncloak, the Hound will most likely cross paths again with Arya, Brienne and Pod with the BWB.
2 – I have no idea with Arya. I do think that Lady Crane will play a role in her eventually escape from Braavos.
3 – I’m afraid the BF will betray Brienne and Pod and send them right to the BWB. As for Jaime, no idea, but I’m convinced his destiny is tied to his twin, and he won’t go with Brienne.
Flora Linden,
I agree 110%. People brought back from dead is OK but timeline issues and everyone is up in arms. Ridiculous.
A question for those who think Arya used theatrical tricks to pretend to be stabbed..
How did she know the Waif would stab her in the stomach, and not stab her in the back, the heart, or slice her throat.. which is generally what a killer would do in a public place to keep her from crying out?
My theory on Arya: I think those wounds are real and also fatal. I think “Arya” was drawing attention on purpose in order to get attacked. I don’t think it’s possible Arya will die before returning to Westeros. Therefore, if all above is correct, it was not Arya in that scene but someone else pretending to be her. I think most likely it was Jaquen. We know from 05×10 that he can wear Arya’s face even if she is not dead. He always helped her. Maybe he knows something about her we don’t know yet, something like an important role she will play in the future. He trained her, but not for being a “regular” faceless woman. He sent her to that particular mission with the theater troupe because he knew that would push her to be Arya Stark again, and to return to Westeros. So now he helps her to escape and to fake her own death by sacrificing himself. He has to die in her place because a life is due to the God of Many Faces. When the Waif reminded him that he promised to let her kill Arya, he paused for a second and then said “don’t let her suffer”….because he knows he will die in her place and of course he wants a quick and painless death!
One could argue: why he escaped while getting stabbed if he wants to die? Maybe that was not the plan, but the Waif went too far with twisting the knife and inflicting pain, so he reacted and jumped in the canal. He knows the wounds are fatal, so mission accomplished in any case. It is also possible that jumping in the canal was part of the plan, to avoid the Waif finding out his real identity. That would also explain why he decided to stop on a bridge to get attacked. I don’t think Arya is even aware of him doing this. So I expect in the next episode to be revealed that Jaquen is dying or already dead from the stab wounds, while Arya is fine. However something will go wrong and the Waif will spot Arya before she leaves Braavos, so we will see the chasing from the trailer, and the Waif will get Needle’s pointy end.
P.S. this is my first post, although I have been reading (and enjoying quite a lot!) this website and all your comments for over one year…Arya is my favorite character so a theory about her survival seemed a good occasion for my first post!
1. There is no “bowl” with the Hound and brother. He won’t become a killing machine. He has no interest in KL. He follows the three and takes them out for what they did. After that, there are options, but most likely is an Arya meet up and they both go North. (PLEASE for the love of all the Gods, NO Sandor/Arya shipping)
2. I agree with most here. There are just too many questions to really know with certainty what will happen or what really happened. The sum of it all is that Arya will leave Braavos, heading back to Westeros. We can play this game again when that happens.
3. There is no Jaime/Brienne that is going to happen. Something pivotal happens, Brienne, Pod and Blackfish escape. RiverRun falls back to Freys. Jaime who has declared his undying love for Cersie no matter what, heads back to KL (yes, I know contrary to the books but sets up a certain prediction from the book to have him in KL)
Last. PLEASE again, for the love of all the Gods, stop with the Brienne and Tormund thing. What a horror to put on Brienne, a virgin who may be a warrior, but has a tender woman’s heart (her words, not mine). Don’t you want her to have a loving first experience rather than a savage one? Geesh. I get this is GoT’s and most likely her first will be savage, but not at Tormunds hands, it would be rape. Remember Jaime basically lost his hand ensuring that Brienne wouldn’t be touched. He thought she deserved better, why don’t you?
Fricken hilarious! I spit coffee all over my laptop reading this!
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
He’ll go to get vengeance on the Brotherhood without banners. After that I don’t honestly know, but it could be he’ll hear word of either Stark girl and head that way. It would be nice if someone tells Sansa what LF has done so she has a good reason to kill him…
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
The only one that makes sense to me is “Jaquen” wearing Arya’s face was testing the Waif, and found her lacking. I think we will see that, indeed, Arya has been hiding in the dark waiting for the Waif. She will eventually realize she’s not coming and try to figure out what’s going on – then we’ll find out what happened. The LSH face thing makes no sense to me but I’m hoping she’s not in the series in any form.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I think Jaime is still on redemption train but he can’t be expected to abandon his duty to king and family completely (in fact I would consider that immoral). I think RR siege will end similar to the books except that Brienne will be the emotional driving force behind Jaime’s use of Edmure. Blackfish will “escape” with Jaime’s consent and go with Brienne to help Sansa out. There’s an outside chance that some of his men go too. I don’t believe Jaime goes with Brienne at this point, but the two of them will part on good terms. Possible something else happens and they meet again later.
Didn’t read anyone else yet…
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
I do think the hound will want to face his brother for some sort of life closure.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. (Jaquen / Waif confusion, LSH, etc) What do you make of the theories? What are your theories?
I think it was a test for the Waif as much as Arya. They have shown they will sacrifice faceless men to make a point…so maybe it wasn’t Arya…but Arya would never do that so she cant stay as a faceless man. If it was Arya then I guess Lady Crane will help her…and disguise her.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I cant see the blackfish or Jamie dying yet…and sieging the castle will be fruitless for 2 years so I cant see that starting either…but its not like nothing will happen. Brienne might try to make something happen and could possibly be in trouble. Bronn might be saving Pod from potential danger. Maybe the Vale knights can stop in to fight on their way to the North?
I just read that Maisie said that “Arya is in the trailer more times than people have realised, because they don’t realise it’s her”. I wonder if this is true.
1. In the preview it looks like a bearded guy grabs Pod from behind, and I’m wondering if it is the Hound. He would recognize Pod and might try to get information out of him, but was he anywhere close enough to Riverrun for that to happen? If so, from there maybe his actions depend on if he’s going to be more vengeful for the past or more focused on fighting for the good as it seemed Ray had influenced him somewhat in that direction. Maybe his last act of revenge will be to find and kill the men who killed Ray and his followers.
2. I’m beginning to think that it wasn’t really Arya who got stabbed. Maybe the Faceless Man posed as Arya to test the Waif because he pretty much knew she hated Arya in a very someone-like way. Imagine the Waif’s shock to see the real Arya and the ensuing pursuit, hopefully ending with Needle gutting the Waif. Maybe the Faceless Man dies.
3. I don’t know. Haven’t read the books. The whole Riverrun story is somewhat confusing to me. What needs to happen is that Brienne convinces Jaime to not waste his army fighting there and to bring it North for the BastardBowl. But will there be time for them to get there?
Sue the Fury,
Interesting. Sue, what percentage change do you give for LSH in s6?
Damphairintheahowplease!,
Not playing that game, sorry! 🙂
Dornish wine merchant,
Welcome to WotW Dornish Wine Merchant , have fun and see you around more, I hope. *passes some Arbor Gold*
I love ya, I really do. This made me want to use the pom poms. So easy to bait people on the boards, wish it didn’t happen as often as it does.
Just as an aside I’d like to discuss my theory on Mel’s absence. In a previous episode she has shown she can change her appearance and I think she was missing last week because she’s in Winterfell looking like someone else and causing problems.
That would be very cool! Although she’d of been lucky that the Waif didn’t slit her throat!
1. Where will the Hound go, following another section of his life being devastated by violence?
Sandor needs to interact with another character to stay relevant. As much as the character is liked by fans of the show, it makes little sense to reintroduce him only to begin new plotlines this late in the game.
I expect him to cross paths with the folks down at Riverrun before long; and that’s shaping up to be quite a diverse group, so who knows where he’ll end up.
2. Recent Arya speculation knows no bounds. What are your theories?
A lot of the speculation rests on the premise that the Faceless Men can take faces without the original owner being dead and in their halls. We saw a glimpse of that last season, when Arya became blind and the ‘Jaqen’ that had committed suicide was seen to be wearing her face under a pile of other faces. The show doesn’t really have a tradition of filming things the characters think they see, so for now I’ll assume that was real.
Was another Faceless Man protecting Arya? If so, why? Aren’t they supposed to be No One? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I’m curious how this is resolved.
3. Will drama at Riverrun unfold as we’ve come to know in the books? How does Brienne’s presence work into the drama with Jaime?
I don’t read the books and thus don’t have any idea how it will play out. I just can’t see them spending a lot of time on this, though. It seems like such a sideshow to the main events. I thus expect it’ll be dealt with fairly quickly – but I have no idea how.
1. As far as this season, BwB and possibly becoming intertwined with another character arc (e.g. Brienne, Jamie, Blackfish, Arya, etc.) – but the arc won’t be developed this season and will definitely not involve being in KL.
2. I think the girl who became No One is reverting back to Arya, especially after having her mind overwhelmed with dreams of Westeros. This led to weakness and naivete and ultimately getting stabbed. Now, I do think Lady Crane will intervene to staunch the wound or possibly met beforehand and provided fake blood/torso protection but I think Occam’s Razor is at play here.
3. I’m going with No. I think Jamie wants to initially route the Tullys even if it takes “two years” but ultimately after parleying with Brienne, he makes a deal (because he has seen the evidence that Freys are hot garbage and that Tullys are the more reputable and that starting anew with them on tokens of goodwill is better in the long run) with the Blackfish that he and Edmure are to leave Riverrun and march on the Twins. A raven will be sent to the Twins indicating something quite different and Walder Frey will be taken with his pants down. Lothar and Black Walder and a few other Freys get slain by the Lannister army.
A few bonus ones that have been eating at me.
4. What will Randyll Tary do? Will Sam ever study at the Citadel?
I didn’t understand the timing of Sam stealing Heartsbane. He should’ve gone by himself to study while Gilly and Sam were relatively safe at Horn Hill and THEN upon completion of studies come back and steal sword and run away with Gilly. Sam just increased his babysitting duties (in a place that doesn’t allow women no less!) and put a price on his own head. My guess is that Randyll chasing Sam is the replacement for the book!Oldtown.
5. Can Bran revisit the Tower of Joy sequence while on the run? Is that still included in his downloaded files? Or does he have to plug back into a weirwood somewhere to get new/deeper footage? I’m curious where Bran will be geographically at the end of this season – especially since his arm has been touched by the Night’s King and I think that will have something to do with a structure coming down.
JCDavis,
Thank you JCDavis…a cask of vintage Arbor Gold is on your way.
BTW, I am with you on Sandor’s path…I don’t believe in Clegane Bowl.
I am less with you on Tormund…he maybe a bit rough around the edges, but deep down is a gentleman, he wouldn’t mistreat Brienne! Well in any case she would chop his head of if he did. Having saying that, I think the Tormund-Brienne scenes were there just for comedy value, and there will be no romance, unfortunately for all the shippers.
I’m not sure about #1 and #3, but, regarding #2/Arya, I think I personally like the theory that Arya is the Waif. I know some people aren’t fans of the Westerosi Fight Club twist, but it would make more sense/have more consistency when looking back through the plot in hindsight, and simply just has more logical setup than other theories I’ve seen. The definition of “waif” (courtesy of Wikipedia) is “a living creature removed, by hardship, loss or other helpless circumstance, from its original surroundings.” If that doesn’t exactly describe Arya’s situation throughout the first four seasons I don’t know what does. What it means for her future I have no idea, but it could mean a graduation of sorts would be coming, maybe meaning that she is prepared to carry out the many-faced god’s will back in Westeros.
Jaqen disguised as Arya could be an interesting twist, moreso than Arya just being careless and not having needle with her for plot convenience, although both of those explanations would mean that Jaqen or Arya would have predicted the Waif’s actions, somehow knowing that she would attack in the way that she did. Jaqen has maybe shown a bit of a soft spot for Arya but I don’t feel like that is sufficient setup for him to pretend to be her in order to test the Waif, on top of predicting what the Waif would do. Plus, if that were the case, I feel like the episode would have ended with Arya jumping off the bridge, beginning the next episode revealing it to have been Jaqen. Why would Jaqen surface and walk paranoid through the streets?
Clearly Arya won’t manage to simply escape Braavos. That would have made Arya’s time in Braavos pretty pointless. Arya must come out of it changed in some way, but how does that position her regarding to the coming war between the living and the dead? That is much more difficult to see at this point.
1- Hound will get sweet “rewenga” on that lame brotherhood.
2- Arya, back in Westeros and with LSH face and Nymeria´s wolf pack.
3- How the hell does Brienne gets through Bolton lands plus the Twins ( but most importantly BOLTON LANDS) to get to Riverlands beats me.. Its that thing we have to forgive …still… so many ppl suffered so much to get to point A to point B, even Brienne in the books.. anyway …once in Riverlands she will convince the Blackfish that fighting Ramseys army is more important than to defend Riverrund, and magically Tullys army will escape through a tunnel and will arrive simultaneusly with the Vale on time to the battle of the bastards .
1/
Sandor will follow the trail and hope he finds the lemon cloak trio and give them a taste of chicken justice. Afterwards, he might find the fork of the Trident and run into Brienne and Podrick in a boat with the Blackfish.
2/
It cannot be the real Arya who was stabbed. First, her money from begging was barely enough to keep her fed. Any extra would attract attention from thieves and she was not rolled over or raped in her sleep in a alleyway seen as an easy mark since she was blind. Did Lady Crane give her a Westerosi outfit? No, Lady Crane was persuading Arya to join the troupe and become one of them and see the world. That would contradict the reason Arya would book passage in a cabin all to herself and pompously demand the ship leaves a day early. The mummer’s troupe was already a ticket out of Braavos.
1. Make-up pig blood and intestines kit – mummer’s don’t do that; they use props make of red cloth. Also assumes an assassin won’t target her back, her chest or her neck. Down the neck through the aorta is a common execution method for dirk-like objects for easy kills. Garrotes or wire are common tools too. After jumping into the canals and losing her cloak, the blood kit would have been washed out and Arya would not be bleeding out on the street after as we see.
2. ** Arya has no wounds on her face ** from all the abuse she took from the Waif in training. This conclusively trumps that the Arya we see is a fake. Only Jaqen/Kindly Man has the magic to use live faces; no other faceless men have this skill and must use skinned faces. Why do we see Arya stumble through the streets? To through us a red herring. If Arya really has a deep abdominal wound, she would be in no condition to parkour (run & jump fences) through the streets of Braavos. The Waif assumed Arya was finished and walked off. In GoT, always check the body! If there’s no head you can fairly assume the character is EoL.
3/
Brienne will try to convince Jaime to take Blackfish north to save Sansa, which reminds him of his oath to Lady Catelyn to protect her children. Jaime allows her the chance to persuade Blackfish to sneak out of the castle under the cloak of darkness to avoid detection with some of his most trusted and highly ranked men. The cover story would be that Brynden took the Black is heading to the Wall. Meanwhile Jaime will convince Edmure to renounce the Tully family name and titles effectively ending the bloodline and with the power of the King, declare Edmure as a Frey, allowing him to keep lordship of Riverrun. This allows Jaime to thread the needle of not using violence to resolve the siege, keeping his vow to Catelyn by not spilling Tully to Stark blood. Then Jaime will ride to the Twins to inform Walder Frey that the conflict has been resolved and attend a feast. Perhaps Walder might be angry that Edmure is not dead, and Blackfish was exiled to the Wall. Maybe Walder gets angrier from news of Walda’s poisoning along with the death of Roose Bolton by Stannis’ leftover spies. Maybe Walder smart-mouths and hints at Jaime about the Red Wedding that Tywin and Roose plotted could be his fate as well. Jaime might snap back by proving his power by going full “Castamere” on all the disgusting Frey bloodlines at the Twins, and then names Edmure lord of both the Twins and Riverrun.
Dornish wine merchant,
And the next morning, when Arya needs to get out of dodge after killing the,waif, her ship has already been arranged by Jaq’en…
Richard Vallejo,
In the battle to come, Arya the Trained will make Ramsey’s “20 good men” look like a clown troupe.
3. Riverrun stuff:
It will be similar to the books with a few tweaks. Brienne will remind Jaime of his honour. Brienne will be reminded of how much she cares for Jaime (and doesn’t actually want to fight against him). Brienne will go to speak to the Blackfish, give him the message from Sansa, and try to get him to surrender peacefully so that his forces might be allowed to go North. He will refuse. Brienne will not think very much of him for this.
Meanwhile, Jaime will realize he needs to deal with this peacefully so he will threaten Edmure with violence in order to seek out a non-violent outcome. Edmure will yield the castle. Blackfish will help Brienne and Pod escape out the back way out of courtesy, but will not go with them. Before he lets them go, he will vow some kind of revenge against Jaime. Once the castle is yielded, there will be no sign of Blackfish.
With the Tully army disbanded and Blackfish, Brienne and Pod nowhere in sight, Jaime will decide he needs to head North to Sansa’s aid with some of his men instead of returning to KL. Not sure what happens to Brienne, but it likely involves her also having a change of heart and turning South again (possibly because she thinks Jaime is in danger). Either that or they all meet up at the Twins for what looks like a party about to go wrong.
1. To find The Brotherhood…and eat every fucking chicken in the room.
2. The thing I like most about the Arya arc at this point is that I have no idea at all. I like that, when things aren’t semi-predictable, and there’s plenty of ways to produce shock/surprise.
3. Horrible gut feeling, hope I’m wrong, but, I think Brienne is going to kill Blackfish, thinking that doing that will endear her to Jaime, or free up his (Blackfish’s) troops to go north, or something else that’ll never happen.
I hope I’m completely wrong. I hope she convinces Blackfish and his men to sneak out of Riverrun under cover of darkness, go to Twins, infiltrate the fortress and then, in episode 10, massacre every last Lannister and Frey we saw laughing and happy in the trailer. I really do.
Character history being what it is (only GoT character with worse judgement than Sansa), I’m preparing for the worst.
I definitely think your gut feeling is right. It’s hard to be sure without seeing next week’s episode, but I think it’s being foreshadowed a bit. I won’t actually mind if she does, however.
Before the infamous fight, Sandor told Brienne while looking at Oathkeeper, “Valyrian steel. Always wanted some valyrian steel.”
Wouldn’t it be a sweet turn of events if he was given Heartsbane to help in the northern fight?
We don’t know for sure that it was the BwB that attacked the commune although it looks that way. Sander will find out and go after the culprits.
I think Arya has set a trap for the Waif and will kill her. I can’t see Jaquen killing her. He owes her his life. He will give her some kind of gift to help her and let her go.
Jaime doesn’t want a long siege and he won’t want to fight Brienne. He will get Edmure to convince the Blackfish and his men to surrender. Brienne, Blackfish and Pod will leave RR and head north. Jaime heads back to KL and arrives after Cersei has made a mess of things. Tommen is dead so Jaime and Cersei decide on suicide pact. How many times have they said that only the two of them matter? They blow the wildfyre, Jaime kills Cersei so she won’t burn and then he burns and they go out the same way they were born. Together
lt,
I agree with most of what you say but
** Arya has no wounds on her face **
She does, freeze frame to when it is showing the Waif twist the knife in her. They are there. There are four. One on the chin. One hear the eyebrow and two on the forehead. Not easy to see in every shot. Also, when she comes out of the water, they are there in some shots but not others (when she immediately comes out of the water they are not on her face).
I still do not think that was her but I’m only about 55 – 60% convinced it is not her.
kit_hepburn,
And what of her vow to another Tully … wouldn’t killing Cat’s uncle would create quite the conflict for Brienne?
I do agree that there will be fighting and the BF may die (which I will deeply mourn) … but Brienne and Pod in that boat in the trailer did not look like they were taking a leisurely boat ride. Where were their horses? Did they have to escape the castle through one of the gates into the river as opposed to on the land? To avoid said Jamie Lannister? I guess we will find out Sunday.
Sandor said that Hate kept him alive, but who was he hating so much? His brother, certainly, but that’s an old hate, and probably wouldn’t have the power in it to keep his blood pumping when death was imminent. Who then? Brienne? Arya? They would be foremost in his mind.
He’s had the small happiness of being known among people as hard-working Sandor. I don’t think he’ll go anywhere near KL. He hated that place, the politics and all the people who would remember him still and only as the Hound. Plus, there’s a price on his head for deserting Joffrey. Cleganebowl won’t happen. He will track down the three fake BWB men and quickly dispatch them. He may hear that Starks are rallying support further North, and head that way, with the intent of having words with Arya for leaving him the way she did. I don’t care if hate is the fuel that propels him in her direction. If they reunite, they’ll realize what they meant to each other. I don’t mean in a romantic way, ewww, I mean in the friendly way, now seasoned by more experience on Arya’s part.
I would love, love to hear his take on wildings and White Walkers. Thinking of him in that battle, doing some good, as his dead friend Ray would have wanted, is very satisfying.
On the question of what’s with Arya, I think the answer was hidden in plain sight. While the theories about Jaqen taking her place to draw the Waif and the theories that she somehow devised a costume of rags and fake blood are interesting, that’s not what I think happened. We saw from the beginning at the HoBaW, that magical waters were used. We saw blind Arya getting trained to recognize ingredients for potions by smell and be able to mix them properly by instinct. That was the only unusual part of her training, and it was shown only for a second. But she was taught potions. Otherwise, her training seemed only to be getting hit by that damned pole.
But I think there were healing potions; we saw her blindness get healed instantly. I think there’s a magic potion for healing. This is a fantasy, after all.
Although, I must admit, I don’t know who that was making a deal with the Westerosi for the ticket. Everything about her seemed different, she was more brazen, and real Arya only had the one bag of silver, that she threw into the bay before she hid Needle. The one buying the ticket had two big bags.
Don’t know for sure, but I do think healing potions have something to do with it. And then she gets out of Bravos and heads home, Finally.
Don’t know how Riverrun played out in the books. But I think that Jaime discovering Brienne to be there will be very annoying to him. She said in the preview that if he were to attack the Blackfish, she would be obliged to fight him. He wouldn’t like that one bit, especially in his “King in the Making” mode. Yep, I think that’s been working on his mind. He’d be particularly irritated that she would fight him with the Valyrian sword he gave her when he was feeling far more benevolent toward her. Not that she wouldn’t be able to give his conscience a shove. She will. It will knock him off kilter a bit – he’ll be irritated about that, too. In the end, he will let her live, and she will go speak with the Blackfish. After that, I have no idea.
I hope she is able to somehow get Blackfish to take his men to Sansa’s aid. It will be very interesting to see how she works her way around these two very proud, very obstinate men.
Well… yeah. That’s kind of the point. Drama, subverting expectations (and her vow to Sansa at the beginning of the season), showing that situations aren’t just black and white, etc. Brienne says to Jaime in the preview that honour will compel her to fight on the Tully side if he attacks the castle. But what if honour isn’t the only thing that compels her in general? I’m pretty sure what they are foreshadowing is Jaime making a decision that makes him more honourable (why do you suppose they had Blackfish remind him of his dishonourable status AND his vow regarding Sansa/Arya?), and Brienne making a decision that will make her less so. Don’t know for sure, will have to watch. But yeah, I think that’s what is being set up.
Darkrobin,
Look at Arya’s face when she bargains with the ship captain; her chin scrape is not there not is her wounded cheek as far as I can tell from FHD video freeze frame.
Also note that the assassin old lady hands change from wrinkly liver spots to a young girls in scene cuts and close up…