Arya Stark
| House / Order | House Stark |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Northmen |
| Status | Alive (as of A Dance with Dragons) |
| Origin | The North; Braavos |
| Born | 289 AC, Winterfell |
| Died | |
| Weapon | Needle, a slender braavosi-style blade |
| Fate | Training as an acolyte of the Faceless Men in the House of Black and White at Braavos |
| Portrayed by | Maisie Williams |
Arya Stark is the younger daughter of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully and one of the most beloved viewpoint characters of A Song of Ice and Fire. Headstrong, fierce, and uninterested in the conventional life of a highborn lady, she becomes a wanderer through war-torn Westeros and, ultimately, an acolyte of a guild of assassins.
Separated from her family by the fall of her father, Arya survives by her wits and her growing willingness to kill, carrying a list of those who have wronged her people, which she recites like a prayer.
Background
Arya grew up at Winterfell as the wild child among the Stark daughters, scorning needlework and preferring swords, archery, and the company of the smallfolk. She is close to her half-brother Jon Snow, who gives her a slender blade she names Needle, and to her direwolf Nymeria. Where her sister Sansa dreams of knights and songs, Arya dreams of adventure.
Biography
A Game of Thrones
Arya travels to King's Landing when her father is made Hand of the King. She takes secret "dancing" lessons in the water dance from the Braavosi swordmaster Syrio Forel. When her father is arrested and executed, Syrio buys her escape, and Arya flees the capital disguised as a boy, witnessing her father's beheading from the crowd.
A Clash of Kings
Posing as an orphan boy named "Arry," Arya is taken north with Yoren's recruits for the Night's Watch. She befriends Gendry and the boy Hot Pie. Captured and held at Harrenhal, she serves the Lannisters and the Boltons as a servant. There she frees the strange assassin Jaqen H'ghar, who grants her three deaths in repayment and gives her an iron coin and the words valar morghulis. Arya engineers a bloody escape from Harrenhal.
A Storm of Swords
Arya falls in with the outlaw Brotherhood Without Banners, then is captured by Sandor Clegane, the Hound, who intends to ransom her to her family. They arrive at the Twins only in time for her to witness the slaughter of the Red Wedding, where her brother Robb and mother Catelyn are killed. Traumatized and hardened, Arya later leaves the gravely wounded Hound to die and takes ship for Braavos, using Jaqen's coin and the password.
A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons
In Braavos, Arya enters the House of Black and White, the temple of the Faceless Men, to train as one of their assassins. She must surrender her identity and possessions, hiding Needle rather than giving it up. Posing as the orphan "Cat of the Canals," she begins her education in disguise, poison, and killing. When she murders outside the order's sanction, she is struck blind as a punishment, learning to "see" without eyes; her sight is later restored.
Character
Arya is brave, loyal, and increasingly ruthless, shaped by relentless loss and violence. She clings to her Stark identity even as the Faceless Men demand she shed it, refusing to abandon Needle or her nightly list of names. Her warg bond with her lost direwolf Nymeria surfaces in her dreams, marking her as one of the Stark children touched by the old magic.
Relationships
Arya's closest bond is with her half-brother Jon Snow. Her uneasy companionship with Sandor Clegane, the Hound, evolves from hatred toward something like grudging attachment. Her friendship with Gendry is one of the few warm relationships of her wartime journey. Jaqen H'ghar sets her on the path to Braavos.
Quotes
Fear cuts deeper than swords.
Valar morghulis. ("All men must die.")
In the television series
In HBO's Game of Thrones, Arya was portrayed by Maisie Williams. Her arc broadly follows the novels through her training in Braavos, then continues beyond them: she completes her list, slays Walder Frey and his house, kills the Night King at the Battle of Winterfell, and sails west to explore the unknown. These events have not occurred in the books, where Arya remains an acolyte of the Faceless Men.