I used to absolutely love the storyline of Arya Stark, her list and the hope of her one day crossing off the names on that list. While she is certainly doing that now (eg. Walder Frey), I find the way she is doing it is super unbelievable and rushed.
Let's go back to last season where we saw in episode 8, Arya leaving Braavos to head back home. In a matter of 2 episodes, we see Arya already at the Twins killing Walder Frey. Not sure if many viewers know this but the Twins is on the west side of Westeros, meaning it would have taken a really long time for her to get there. Instead, we don't get to see any part of that journey so we are left to assume she got there unscathed. It all felt so rushed. Okay, I accepted that and moved on.
Shift to this episode and right away, we see Arya murder a room full of Freys with poisoned wine. Okay, again, let's assume she was able to poison the wine without getting noticed or running into any trouble while doing so. Now she's left the Twins and is making her way down to King's Landing to kill Cersei? Surely, she would have caught wind somewhere that Jon and Sansa had retaken Winterfell since everyone else knows but instead she's unaware and is heading south. She runs into a group of Lannister men and again, nobody touches her! I'm sorry, but in the world of George RR Martin, Lannister men are not good men. They would have wasted little time seizing her, questioning her, and probably attempting to rape her. The country is still at war. How does a teenage girl riding alone with a sword not look suspicious? I don't believe this moment for a second. But I guess since Ed Sheeran was with them, there wasn't a bad bone in their bodies...
In the first 5 seasons, character's actions always had consequences and that is what made the show so great. Our favourite characters would get killed because of stupid mistakes (Ned Stark, Robb Stark). Even when the hated characters were killed, we were never fully satisfied. Joffrey died but Tyrion was imprisoned. Arya killed Meryn Trant but got her eyesight taken away. We may yet see Arya pay the consequences for these actions but right now, it is too easy for her. I don't believe she is a highly skilled assassin. She failed at the 2 assassinations she was assigned in Braavos and all we saw her get good at was fighting with a bow staff. Somehow, she is invincible right now.
I hope George RR Martin finished his books soon so we can really see what happens with Arya Stark.
Let's go back to last season where we saw in episode 8, Arya leaving Braavos to head back home. In a matter of 2 episodes, we see Arya already at the Twins killing Walder Frey. Not sure if many viewers know this but the Twins is on the west side of Westeros, meaning it would have taken a really long time for her to get there. Instead, we don't get to see any part of that journey so we are left to assume she got there unscathed. It all felt so rushed. Okay, I accepted that and moved on.
Shift to this episode and right away, we see Arya murder a room full of Freys with poisoned wine. Okay, again, let's assume she was able to poison the wine without getting noticed or running into any trouble while doing so. Now she's left the Twins and is making her way down to King's Landing to kill Cersei? Surely, she would have caught wind somewhere that Jon and Sansa had retaken Winterfell since everyone else knows but instead she's unaware and is heading south. She runs into a group of Lannister men and again, nobody touches her! I'm sorry, but in the world of George RR Martin, Lannister men are not good men. They would have wasted little time seizing her, questioning her, and probably attempting to rape her. The country is still at war. How does a teenage girl riding alone with a sword not look suspicious? I don't believe this moment for a second. But I guess since Ed Sheeran was with them, there wasn't a bad bone in their bodies...
In the first 5 seasons, character's actions always had consequences and that is what made the show so great. Our favourite characters would get killed because of stupid mistakes (Ned Stark, Robb Stark). Even when the hated characters were killed, we were never fully satisfied. Joffrey died but Tyrion was imprisoned. Arya killed Meryn Trant but got her eyesight taken away. We may yet see Arya pay the consequences for these actions but right now, it is too easy for her. I don't believe she is a highly skilled assassin. She failed at the 2 assassinations she was assigned in Braavos and all we saw her get good at was fighting with a bow staff. Somehow, she is invincible right now.
I hope George RR Martin finished his books soon so we can really see what happens with Arya Stark.