Game of Thrones season 8: 5 last-minute Arya Stark predictions

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark. Photo: Helen Sloan/Courtesy of HBO

Arya will probably die

Though it’s painful to contemplate, it’s extremely possible that Arya’s not going to make it out of season 8 alive. Part of the reason her death seems so likely is simply that it’s difficult to imagine a future for Arya after all this war and carnage. (Or maybe, more correctly, one that doesn’t involve war and death.) Once the White Walkers are defeated and Cersei Lannister is (presumably) dead, what does life look like for Arya? Is being her sister’s right hand enough for her, whether Sansa is Queen in the North or simply in charge of Winterfell?

There are also other signs that Arya might meet a sad end. For a while now, Game of Thrones has been leaning into the idea that the younger Stark daughter is possibly dangerously unbalanced. She’s leaned extra hard into the idea of vengeance, and few major characters have racked up as high a body count on their own. She’s an incredibly effective assassin and fighter, but on some level, it feels as though she’s forgotten how to be a person. Or never really learned how to be one, since she’s grown up with blood and death.

Season 8 certainly seems to be building toward a tragic ending for Arya, but what we don’t yet know is how this will all come about. Will she die at the hand of a White Walker? Will she get her long-desired face off with Cersei only to fall victim to the Mountain or one of the Lion Queen’s other minions? Or will she remember how to show mercy in the end, only to find out its too late for her?

Game of Thrones returns for its final season on Sunday, April 14 on HBO.