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bonesgadh · 5 years

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My take on Arya Stark’s ending in Game of Thrones (a.k.a why I firmly believe she is going to return to Westeros eventually)

Disclaimer: I still don’t agree with the way D&D chose to end Arya’s arc—and probably I never will. However, I wrote this very long-ass meta because I’ve been trying to find a meaning behind her ending, and in case you are still in denial as I am I hope this helps you get some closure.

Let’s begin (as I just said a very long-ass meta coming right up, I promise it’s the last one):

The last two weeks have been rough. Now that my mom™ has given up on GOT I’ve been forced to keep my theories and headcanons to myself (although I’ve shared my rants with you it’s not the same because it’s not a proper conversation with actual feedback). I’ve spent a good portion of my days thinking about how shitty the GOT finale was and how stupid it was for Arya to leave her family and her home behind just to sail into the unknown. I know there’s people out there who are pleased with her decision, saying that Arya was always a free spirit and is not meant to be bound to one place for long, and that she is destined for greatness and a life of adventures. There’re also others out there (like me) who are not happy at all because even though Arya is a free spirit, she is not a lonely wolf. She is fierce and independent but she also has strong bonds with her family and her home and there’s no way she would give that up to follow a life of uncertainty away from those she loves. Anyway, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

That said and in case you haven’t noticed, I’ll proceed to make the following statement: I’m a complete Arya Stark stan. Arya is one of my three favorite fictional characters ever and I have loved her ever since I first saw her on screen ruining her embroidery. I love how she talks, the things she says, how she thinks, how she loves and feels. I love the way Maisie Williams portrays her and speaks on her behalf in interviews and bts videos; she gets Arya in a way no one does and that’s what a good actor is supposed to do, to become its character’s custodian (like Carrie Fisher was Princess Leia’s).

I have spent years studying Arya. Profiling her, analyzing her, trying to get inside her head to understand her motivations. “What is Arya thinking in that scene? What motivates her to do what she is doing? What are the real reasons behind her actions?” I’ve used all my training as a psychologist to get to know her better, to love her more. When I study a character I like to pretend we are in therapy; I’m their therapist and they are my patients.

Now, why didn’t I support Arya’s decision to go find out what’s west of Westeros? Because for the first time since I started watching GOT I couldn’t understand why she wanted to do it. I couldn’t. Obviously because her leaving brings a sad end to the Stark rhetoric of “the lone wolf dies but the pack survives”, but also because I just didn’t get why someone who had finally embraced life would embark in such a suicide mission. I was left speechless (and yeah I know she mentioned wanting to make that trip before but she did it once and at a time of her life when she thought she was alone in the world).

As a Gendrya shipper I didn’t like her rejecting Gendry’s proposal but I understood her reasons. I knew she had something else to do, besides she had never been drawn to the life of a lady because that’s not her (even though I strongly believe changing your mind about something you said when you were a child is completely valid and it doesn’t mean you’ll become a different person but whatever). Besides it made sense after what Maisie said about Arya being torn between life and death. It hurt but I knew why she did it. That didn’t happen to me during the last episode.

Arya leaving to see what’s west of Westeros didn’t make sense to me because it seemed as if she was embracing her “no one” persona again. What makes you ‘”someone”? Your home, your family, your friends. What makes Arya Arya? Winterfell, her siblings and those she holds dear (besides her family, Gendry is the only meaningful relationship she has now that the Hound is dead). Arya choosing the life of a reckless adventurer meant giving up her home, her family and her friends. I couldn’t stop scratching my head at the thought of Arya going back to being no one because it pretty much destroyed her entire arc from at least seasons 6, 7 and 8 (her returning home after years away, reuniting with her loved ones, finally embracing life and recovering her humanity).

Arya’s decision has haunted me for two entire weeks. I couldn’t stop asking myself: “Why?” Well, after sleeping for approximately 70 hours over the last fourteen nights I think I finally have the answer:

Her choice goes beyond wanting to see what’s west of Westeros, beyond a longing for an adventure that she gets to choose for once, beyond living wild and free.

Arya is looking for the meaning of her life.

For years, Arya‘s list worked as a lifesaver. She held on to it as tightly as she could and it’s what helped her survive all the shit she went through. In “Man’s Search for Meaning” Viktor Frankl says:

Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any 'how’.

When you lose whatever gives meaning to your life (your partner, your children, your parents, your job) you suffer the most serious existential crisis of them all.

Arya’s entire existence revolved around getting revenge, about avenging her family and making those who had hurt them pay. However, with her list gone, Arya has now lost the “why” Frankl talks about. Chances are she can’t stop asking herself what happens next, followed closely by:

”Who am I without my list, a list that gave meaning to my life?”

For those at Winterfell she is a hero, the slayer of the Night King, the savior of the world. For Gendry she is the woman he loves, the one he wants to marry. For Jaqen and the Faceless Men she is a girl, a girl that is no one. For those who have known her for most of her life she is a lady.

But Arya rejects all of the above. She said it herself to the Hound: she doesn’t like heroes. She doesn’t see herself as one even though she is. She rejects Gendry’s proposal because she is not interested in being a Lord’s wife (although she has feelings for him she doesn’t want to live in a man’s shadow). She rejects the identity set on her by Jaqen because she knows she’ll never be able to let go off her thirst for vengeance. She rejects being a lady because that’s not her.

It seems to me Arya is very aware of the things she is not, but she doesn’t know what she is.

In that case, who is Arya Stark? What is her?

“Who are you?” is probably the hardest question you can ask a person to answer. My guess is Arya doesn’t even know it herself. That’s why her whole plot with the Faceless Men makes sense and it’s not really about her learning cool skills, it’s more about her trying to learn who she is. Even though she knew she was Arya Stark of Winterfell what does that even mean? Strictly speaking it’s nothing else besides her name and the place where she was born. However, things with the Faceless Men would never work because if there’s one thing Arya knows is that she is not no one. She defended her right to her identity until her last day in Braavos.

I mentioned earlier three of the things that make you you are your home, your family and your friends. Let’s break them down:

Home

A crucial part of Arya’s overall arc was her constantly trying to return to Winterfell, her very long road back home. However she abandoned her quest and went to Braavos instead, and for a while she seemed to have forgotten her earlier wish. A year and a half later she told Jaqen she was going home after she decided to leave the Faceless Men, but she wasn’t planning on going back North. She only decided to head there after she heard her family had recovered Winterfell. She told Nymeria she was going home because at that moment she thought the North was her home.

But then why did she leave without saying goodbye after the Great War? Perhaps she didn’t want to worry her family by telling them what she planned to do, or maybe (and for the record I don’t agree with what I’m about to say) the months she spent there made her realize Winterfell was not her home anymore—or it didn’t quite feel like home yet—. When she and the Hound were inside the Red Keep and he told her to go home, my guess is Arya had no idea where to go. The place she believed to be home was not anymore, so where was she supposed to go? That’s why she didn’t really abandon King’s Landing after she rode away on the white horse—she only used it to leave the immediate destruction but chose to return to check on Jon, because she had nowhere else to go.

Family

Now, let’s compare Arya’s position in the finale with that of her siblings:

Jon left to live with the wildings, the people he loves and who love him in return. He is meant to be with them and maybe even lead them, Bran kind of hinted at this during their goodbye after Jon apologized for not being there for him when he needed him. I don’t remember the exact quote but if my memory doesn’t fail me he said something like “You were exactly where you were supposed to be”, and that’s what gave Jon the idea of permanently leaving with the wildings.

Sansa was crowned Queen in the North. She is officially the leader of the pack and the alfa, and her new mission is to protect and guide her people. Thanks to her the Starks recovered Winterfell, she fought for independence and the northerners love her.

Bran was elected King of the Six Kingdoms and he will help rebuilt the realm after the war’s atrocities and prevent everyone from reprising their mistakes.

Strictly speaking her siblings don’t need her right now, the three of them are relatively safe and they have all found the meaning of their lives and their place in the world. Arya, on the other hand, hasn’t. Her list gave her a meaning for years, but now that it’s gone for good she is trying to find a new one. You would think killing the Night King would give her some sense of purpose, but I honestly believe finding out you were born to save humanity would give you an even bigger existential crisis than anything else.

”Hey, but didn’t the ending already establish finding out what’s west of Westeros is the new meaning of her life?” You might ask.

The answer is no, it didn’t. The way I see it, Arya wanting to know what’s west of Westeros is like an item from her bucket list. A few weeks ago I found a very good post that said it would be great if Arya replaced her killing list with a “living” list full of things she wants to do. “Seeing what’s west of Westeros” definitely sounds like a bucket list item to me.

Also just take a look at each of the Stark’s endings by the time the credits roll:

Jon, Sansa and Bran’s endings are very “final”, sort to speak, while Arya’s was the most ambiguous of them all. When you get exiled you get exiled for life; if you are King or Queen you are until you die. However, a journey is, by definition, a temporary thing. Arya can’t—and won’t— spend the rest of her life travelling to nowhere. A person that has been as hurt as Arya has needs stability, something safe to hold on to, and living an errant life is the exact opposite of this.

Besides she is Sansa’s heir. Even if Sansa is young too we can’t know for sure if she’ll ever get married and have kids and therefore it’s way too risky to make their entire lineage depend on her. That’s why a King or Queen’s siblings try to have two-three children themselves, just in case they come in hand.

Goodbyes

GOT is a show that puts a lot of emphasis in goodbyes. When they wanted to close a storyline, most of the times they gave those involved a closure scene (this doesn’t include Gendrya because their final scene didn’t give them closure at all, but that’s another story). The ones I can remember now:

Daenerys never got to meet Rhaego and still she was able to say goodbye to him and Drogo during her vision.

Davos giving the wooden stag to Shireen.

Sansa telling Ramsay to his face how much she hated him and how his house would go extinct after his death right before giving him to his own dogs to eat.

I would dare to say the scene where Talisa and Robb talk about their baby right before they are murdered during the Red Wedding serves as a goodbye between them.

Theon and Yara’s final scene from 8x01.

Jaime and Brienne’s conversation before he left for King’s Landing.

Obviously the Hound and Arya’s moment at the Red Keep when he encourages her to save herself.

Tyrion thanking Jaime for being kind to him before helping him escape

I was pissed we didn’t see Arya saying goodbye to Sansa. They wasted a good two minutes on Tyrion rearranging furniture but they didn’t give us the Stark sisters wishing each other good fortune? I call bullshit. Nevertheless I now believe it was probably a good thing we didn’t (if you are a Gendrya shipper this applies to them as well).

The reason why we saw Sansa, Arya and Bran saying goodbye to Jon was because it was meant to be the last time the three Starks would see their half brother/cousin. However we didn’t see Sansa, Arya and Bran saying goodbye to each other because they will definitely reunite in the future. Theirs is not a permanent goodbye while the one with Jon was, and that’s why they showed it during the episode (besides Arya’s exact words were: “I’m not going back North” but she didn’t say she would never return. The way I see it she meant: “At this moment I don’t intend to go North.”)

Some parting thoughts

I don’t know if what I wrote makes any sense and no matter how much I try to understand it, I’ll never agree with D&D’s decision of sending Arya away and giving her that ending. However, because I think I know her I want to believe she chose to embark on her little suicide mission because she needs to clear her mind and gain some perspective about what she wants to do with her life. I’ve seen some people refer to it as her taking a gap year before college, others say she just went on sabbatical, I personally like to call it a Rumspringa-like trip around the world.

As I mentioned in a previous meta, sometimes we forget Arya is still a very young woman because she is such a badass. She is only 18 years old and she has her whole life ahead of her. She will use her journey to see what’s west of Westeros—which apparently is Asshai in the books’ canon—to discover who she is, instead of what she is not. A recurring theme in Arya’s arc has been her being forced to repress her own identity (pretending to be Arry instead of Arya; pretending to be a boy instead of a girl; pretending to be a mason’s daughter instead of a Lord’s; pretending to be no one just to be accepted into the House of Black and White; pretending to not being scared about potentially dying). But now, she’ll get to construct her identity at her own pace, without being constantly afraid of everything being taken away from her.

She will arrive at Asshai and discover the known world is round, but she’ll decide to travel across Essos instead of simply turning back. She’ll visit Qarth, catch a glimpse of the Red Waste, go to Dragon’s Bay and stay at the cities Dany was in. She’ll sneak a peak of the Dothraki Sea and Vaes Dothrak, and then she’ll sail for the Valyrian Peninsula. She’ll go to the Red Temple of Volantis and the red priests and priestesses are going to be delighted to meet the person who ended the Long Night. She’ll travel north to Myr, Pentos and Braavos and finally, after a year or two of backpacking through Essos she’ll reaffirm Winterfell/Westeros is her home, and she’ll be ready to return to her family and loved ones as a healed new woman *If you are not a Gendrya shipper you can stop reading right now* First she’ll go to Winterfell to catch up with Sansa, then she’ll go to King’s Landing to say hi to Bran and finally she’ll make her way to Storm’s End.

And Gendrya will get the soft epilogue they were denied in the final episode.

#meta #Arya Stark #game of thrones #gendrya #gendrya positivity

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littlemissendlessdreamer · 7 years

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THOUGHTS ON RIVERDALE

I don’t fully remember reading Archie comics back then, all I’ve got are bits and pieces of my memories from my childhood. Archie comics debuted back in 1939 and is still popular until today. During the early 2000’s, my cousins, who were teenagers that time are obsessed with the comics and I, as a four-year old child would enjoy conversations with them about Archie comics even though I don’t really understand half of what’s happening in the comics. I would just enjoy looking at the pictures and one things for sure, I am in love with the characters Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge.

Anyway, I’m not here to reminisce about my childhood and how I barely remember reading (or looking) at Archie comics. I am here to discuss about the awesome new show based on the Archie comics’ characters, Riverdale.

Warning: May contain spoilers to those who haven’t watched Riverdale yet…and major feels and fangirling that caused this blog post to be somewhat informal (?)

Riverdale premiered last January 26, 2017. The show is a mystery, teen drama that revolves around the lives of Archie Andrews, a teenage boy who’s trying to balance his love for music and football; Betty Cooper, the town’s girl next door and Archie’s best friend; Veronica Lodge, the rich new girl who moved from New York to Riverdale because of her father’s imprisonment and Jughead Jones, the resident emo kid who’s currently trying to write a novel and helping Betty Cooper solve the mystery Jason Blossom’s murder.

The series also follows the lives of Hermione Lodge, Veronica’s mother; Fred Andrews, Archie’s father and the other Riverdale residents, the Blossoms, the Coopers, Josie and the Pussycats and FP, Jughead’s alcoholic father.

The Show’s Pacing

The pacing of the show is kinda fast. Betty and Archie’s friendship wasn’t explored that much. Betty was head over heels for her best friend Archie, she’s been in love with him since they were young and when Archie admitted that he doesn’t return the feeling, Betty was so broken-hearted and now it’s hard to believe that she’s over Archie already in just a short period of time and now currently dating Jughead. I get that some people say that she got over it but I wish the writers showed how she’s trying to heal from being rejected. Don’t worry I’m not against Bughead because I’m a major bughead shipper but I wish we could have seen more of Betty and Archie fixing their relationship after that confession on the night of the dance. I really hope that we would see more of Betty and Archie acting like they’re really best friends.

Another thing that I felt was really rushed was Valarchie, Archie and Valerie’s relationship. Archie got over Ms. Grundy so fast which is so weird, and this got me thinking that wow, Riverdale residents are a pro in moving on. I was expecting him to be single and loveless for a few episodes after Ms. Grundy’s departure but I was surprised to see the writers just throw another love interest for Archie. Valerie’s talented, though the actress playing her should show more facial expression but I think it’s kind of part of Val’s character, chill and casual. She’s a great love interest for Archie, but I think it would have been better to see them grow and develop into friends first rather than just spending one episode together and then they suddenly kiss and then become a ‘thing’, then we don’t get to see Valerie in the next two episodes and when we do, she’s casually walking the street in the middle of winter and breaking things off with Archie when he arrived to join her.

Some pieces weren’t thoroughly explored either, the writers would bring it up and then suddenly it’s not talked about or it just disappears in the next few episodes. Though I think it is part of the story line to give the viewers the whole mysterious atmosphere and vibe of the show.

I read a lot of comments from other people saying that Riverdale needs to slow down, and yes I agree but if you look at it, they only have thirteen episodes to fit all the story line and I guess they didn’t want to us to wait until season 2 to find out who killed Jason Blossom. But yeah, maybe some side story should have been introduced on the show’s second season

The Storyline

The plot of the show is definitely different from the comics. The show is dark, mysterious and exciting.

The Characters (and cast)

I love Lili Reinhart but I’m still skeptical about her playing Betty. I don’t know, I feel like they could have casted a more fitted actress to play Betty? (Don’t hate me!) I hope I get use to her and accept her soon because Bughead and Sprousehart are life.

Is it me or does Cheryl Blossom looks like Lydia Martin from Teen Wolf sometimes?

I like Cheryl actually, I believe she’s only cold-hearted and mean because of her environment, she may be mean, spoiled and a bitch (sometimes) but I know deep down she’s just a helpless and confused girl who just wants to be accepted like everyone does to her brother, Jason.

I would also like more screen time for Kevin, Reggie, Ethel and Josie and the pussycats.

Ships

As always, in any fandom, ship wars are inevitable but what’s funny in the Riverdale fandom is that everyone seems to be shipping everyone with everyone.

If anyone would ask me what ship I support most, I think I already stated it above, BUGHEAD. Jughead acts all tough and emotionless in front of everybody but when he’s with Betty, he becomes sweet and soft. I think he only shows that side of him to Betty which is cute.

To be honest, I don’t know who to ship Veronica with—my best choice is Reggie or Archie but this season I want to see Veronica be an independent, fierce and strong girl before going into a relationship but a part of me say that it wouldn’t be bad if she’s stays single. I feel like no guy can handle her toughness.

Though we only got see Jason Blossom and Polly Cooper’s relationship through flashbacks, their forbidden love story makes me sober. Their love story is torn out from Romeo and Juliet and it’s sad that Jason won’t see his twin babies grow (Major Finnick Odair feels).

I have a feeling that he would have been a great father and a caring, loving husband to Polly. I know their plan of raising their own family at such a young age is crazy but I can imagine Jason being happy and cute as he plays with his twins.

It would be too basic if Archie ends up with Veronica but I never see them as a couple, I think it would be better if they’re just really good friends. Though it would be really fun to see Archie get jealous of Bughead but I hope he’s won’t tear up Bughead. I just want Archie to realize that he had his chance with Betty but he turned her down. Valarchie’s nice and I like it though it need more development because their relationship seems flat? Archie and Grundy’s relationship made me cringe,

so yeah, Valarchie...or Varchie (?). I also have thoughts about Archie and Cheryl but it would be nice if their relationship becomes platonic in the end with Archie always looking out for Cheryl like what Jason does.

Soundtrack

I’m the kind of person who notices not just the output we see on the screen. I also pay attention and wonder how a masterpiece has been created—how was it written, how did they film this scene, and how the hell do the musical scorers find such amazing soundtrack!

Yes, I’m the kind of person who notices the music on the background and would instantly fall in love with song. Riverdale’s soundtrack is something new and timely. Some songs contains electro pop, I’m not usually a fan of electro pop, I only listen to few but they way the musical scorers used these songs in Riverdale was very fitting.

The soundtrack also contains original songs from the show, songs performed by Josie and the Pussycats and Archie Andrews’ melodic acoustic songs.

Scream + PLL = Riverdale

Riverdale is being compared to MTV’s Scream and Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars. I agree that it has elements similar to Scream and Pretty Little Liars but I believe that Riverdale is unique and beautiful in its own way.

Who’s the Killer?

Basically, I have no idea. I am not certain but I have a few guesses.

It could be Hal Cooper because of his hatred for the Blossoms. Maybe when he found out that his daughter Polly is pregnant with Jason Blossom’s child, it was enough to make his blood boil and loathe the Blossoms even more and kill the red-headed boy who ruined his daughter’s life.

It could be FP, Jughead’s father. I know his somehow involved with the murder, maybe he was paid by Hal Cooper to kill Jason? Or for another reason maybe?

I’m curious about Ms. Grundy though, I mean why would the writers bring her character to Riverdale if she’s not somehow involved? I don’t know if her story isn’t over and we’ll see her in Riverdale again soon enough.

It could also be someone no one suspects because that’s how the killers are usually revealed in this kind of genre or it’s someone we don’t know yet but I hope it’s not gonna be a big let down.

Anyway, Riverdale is addicting. I know some people disagree with me saying that it’s not anything like the comics and the characters seems off and somewhat different from their comic counterpart and the whole show is losing its essence and became too dark, but if you look at Riverdale as just Riverdale, a teen drama television series, it’s actually a really good show.

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