You Win Or You Die: Ranking the 99 Game of Thrones Deaths

Image credit: HBO/Helen Sloan

Polliver

While on her way to the Wall in Season 2, Arya encounters a new name on her list. Lannister men-at-arms apprehend the prospective Night’s Watch recruits in search of Gendry, one of Robert Baratheon’s known bastards. Joffrey, the freshly crowned king of Westeros, has demanded all his father’s bastards be killed so he may reign unchallenged. Enter Polliver.

Arya endures Polliver during her stay at Harrenhal as Tywin Lannister’s cupbearer. She adds his name to her hit list for a number of reasons: He stole her sword, Needle, killed her friend Lommy, and beat an old woman who had the audacity to ask for a bit of bread. It just goes to show that the Lannisters don’t bother with extensive background checks. Pop into a Lannister job fair some time and you’ll be hired on the spot, no questions asked.

In Season 4, Arya meets Polliver again, just long enough to cross his name off her list. She repeats his words to Lommy, and those he spoke to her when he took her sword. She then drives that sword into his throat, and that’s another notch in Arya’s belt.

Ultimately, Polliver serves as another step in Arya’s road to vengeance and home. She loses herself to her mission, but there is always a purpose behind her kills. Polliver’s savage mistreatment of others would have been enough for Arya to dislike him in any other circumstances. He just happened to catch her amid her rebellious stage, when it’s common for teens to commit multiple homicides to avenge themselves and their loved ones.