‘Game of Thrones’: Arya Stark Faced Down the Night King and Said “Not Today”

Many of our favorite heroes fell on tonight’s Game of Thrones, but one death scene was cause for rejoicing. Just when it seemed that it was check mate, game over for our beloved characters, one fan favorite leapt out of nowhere to defeat the Night King. It wasn’t Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, or even my pet favorite theory for the Night Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister.

**MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES**

It was Arya Motherfucking Stark.

Arya Stark defeated the Night King and instantly saved not only Bran “Three-Eyed Raven” Stark, but Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Daenerys Targaryen, Brienne of Tarth, Tyrion Lannister, and you better believe it, Podrick Payne. How did Arya Stark kill the Night King? By stabbing the Night King with her Valyrian steel dagger in the same place — by a Heart Tree in the middle of a Godswood — that the Children of the Forest made the Night King. (The Inside the Episode feature that ran after the episode confirms this bit of lore.)

Arya’s victory isn’t just a sensational bit of fan service. Instead, it reframes the entire series as the arc of a hero we’ve maybe been ignoring. In fact, from the very first episode of Game of Thrones, “Winter is Coming,” Arya’s arc to heroism has been traced. We just weren’t paying attention to her beyond her quirky “fighting girl” storyline.

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From almost the beginning of the Battle of Winterfell, everything the heroes counted on saving them failed. First the Dothraki were easily defeated. Then Jon and Dany’s dragons were incapacitated thanks to an awful snow storm. From there, it got worse and worse. Daenerys learned first hand that dragon fire can’t kill White Walkers, and oh yes, the dead of Winterfell rose from their crypts to massacre the women and children below.

In the middle of the episode, though, was a spectacular horror sequence wherein Arya Stark was trapped with zombified wights in the Winterfell library. After squeezing out of that jam, she was beset with wights charging her from all sides. Eventually it fell to Lord Beric Dondarrion to sacrifice himself to save her. Once he did, Arya and the Hound met with Melisandre, who explained that protecting Arya was the purpose in Beric’s life. That is why he was resurrected. Then, echoing Arya’s first teacher, Melisandre sends the young warrior on her way…to what destiny? Arya knew.

Yes, as the show followed Jon’s inability to fight his way through the chaos of Winterfell, thus leaving Bran’s fate up in the air until the last minute, Arya was stealthily making her way to the kill point. She ran at the Night King who choked her, but then used her ample abilities to catch the Valyrian steel dagger in her lower hand to take the Night King out.

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The hero of GAME OF THRONES is and always has been Arya Stark.

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It was a glorious moment that was rife with dramatic irony — Bran was saved with the dagger meant to kill him — but that again reframed the entire show. While we were focused on the Targaryen heirs to be our heroes, it was the younger sister of a noble house, sneaking around in the shadows, ever the outcast, whose journey to heroism we were really watching.

The hero of Game of Thrones is and always has been Arya Stark.

Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 4 premieres Sunday, May 5, 2019 on HBO.

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