Bit weird, but okay
Words by Jadie Troy-Pryde
Arya spent two seasons of Game of Thrones training as a Faceless Man. She suffered many beatings at the hands of the Waif, she was forced to navigate her way around town as a blind orphan, and she became very skilled at the Bravosian facelift. Her time with Jaqen H'ghar was tough, but when she slunk out of The House of Black and White refusing to be No One we all cheered and whooped and anticipated what the tiny assassin had up her sleeve.
Since her return to Winterfell, Arya has been significantly less badass. Sure, she had a pretty good sword-off with Brienne of Tarth, but other than that she's spent a lot of time bickering with sour-faced Sansa - and not much else. It's hardly convincing that the girl who single handedly murdered every last Fray is now spending her days freaking out her sister, rather than putting that Valerian steel dagger to good use (ahem, looking at you Littlefinger).
So when Arya and Sansa finally had it out in this week's episode of Game of Thrones, naturally we analysed every last moment. In particular, we want to know whose faces Arya is now carrying around in an inconspicuous satchel. Sansa came across Arya's disguises and was outraged because a) she's Sansa and b) you'd probably feel a bit weird if you found a bag of faces in your sister's room too.
But the one question on everyone's lips (other than how heavy Arya's flesh-filled handbag must weigh) is whose faces is she carrying around?
One was instantly recognisable as Walder Frey, the man on her infamous hit list who was responsible for the death of her mother, brother and pregnant sister-in-law.
The second, however, has divided fans. While some argued that the face resembled Ser Meryn Trant, the former Kingsguard of Robert Baratheon, others claimed that it wasn't possible considering that Arya savagely turned his eyes to mush with her tiny dagger, and the face in the bag was flawless.
Could it be the face of Lothar Frey, or Black Walder, the sons of Walder who were part of the Red Wedding murders?
Reddit threaders have also suggested that it could just be a stranger that Arya met on her way back to Westeros. Valid, though not as exciting.
But a more pressing issue is the fact that Littlefinger appears to have successfully turned Sansa and Arya against each other. Some have theorised that socially awkward Bran didn't hug Sansa when they reunited because he has seen something terrible that she does in the future, and they also reckon that when Arya gave the Catspaw Dagger to her older sister, she was warning Sansa to protect herself from her. What?!
Producer D. B. Weiss told Entertainment Weekly: 'How much of Arya is Arya Stark of Winterfell and how much is the Faceless Men? Sansa has undergone her training, for good or for ill, under Littlefinger’s supervision. So how much of that Machiavellian quality has rubbed off on her?'
We literally don't know. Here's to hoping we get some answers next week.
