Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3: Does Arya Stark's scene explain an important prophecy?

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Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers from  Game of Thrones season 8 episode 3

As the epic Battle of Winterfell came to a jaw-dropping end with Arya Stark stabbing the Night King with her Valyrian steel catspaw dagger, theories surrounding Arya’s existence in the storyline galore the Internet. The third and the longest episode of Game of Thrones season 8 had a bevy of moments — of fear, of despair, of hope, of anticipation and also of death. But what definitely swooped past all of these were the final 15 minutes of the 1 hour-18 minutes-long episode: the Arya-Night King-Bran encounter.

ولله اريا لو اقول كل المدح ما اعطي الشخصيه الرهيبه ذي حقها

وش ذا المسلسل الأسطوري #AryaStark pic.twitter.com/jdwy4m95qi

— فهد🇸🇦 (@amvsv) April 29, 2019

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While GoT fans can’t contain their joy over the fact that the Night King’s death comes at the hands of one of the most unexpected (not at all doubting her potential) among all the warriors fighting the war, there are reports that suggest that Arya was always destined to kill the Night King. As per Time, it is quite probable that Arya is an incarnation of Azor Ahai.

Azor Ahai is a legendary figure in the faith of R’hllor (Lord of Light) in Essos, who, thousands of years ago, had forged a flaming sword named ‘Lightbringer’ to defeat the god of darkness and death. His triumph over the Great Other (as the god of death is addressed to among the followers of the R’hollor religion) came at a huge price: Azor Ahai had to sacrifice his loving wife Nissa Nissa by plunging the Lightbringer through her heart. It is believed, since then, that he would come back again.

The prophecy reads: “There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.”

For the longest time, throughout the series, there have been speculations surrounding the identity of Azor Ahai. The Red Woman, aka Melisandre has time and again talked about the promised saviour who would bring an end to the Long Night. While previously, there were theories that hinted at either Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen or Jaime Lannister being this prophesied hero, the latest Game of Thrones episode strongly points the compass towards Arya Stark being the legendary Azor Ahai.

The thread of this Arya Stark-being-Azor Ahai theory could be traced back to GoT season 3 when Melisandre had informed Arya that they would meet again. In fact, the red priestess had also told the Stark girl that she would shut brown, green and blue eyes in the future.

And as every minute detail in George RR Martin’s fantasy tale is taken care of by the showrunners, DB Weiss and David Benioff, these two women indeed meet again, this time at Winterfell. In the latest episode, we see Melisandre arriving at Winterfell right before the war and she casts a spell and provides flames for all the Dothraki arakhs. Then she is seen exchanging a long glance with Arya who is perched on top of the walls along with Sansa, Ser Davos and the archers. They meet again after Arya and the Hound escape the wight army and take refuge in a hall at Winterfell. In the process we see Beric Dondarrion sacrificing his life in order to protect Arya from the wights.

It is there when the red priestess tells Arya that Dondarrion had served his purpose — the very purpose for which the Lord of Light had resurrected him from death multiple times in the past. Melisandre reiterates that Arya would “shut many eyes” — “brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes” to which Arya seems to take special attention and she understands the hidden meaning. As the wight army approaches near banging the hall’s door, Melisandre asks her: “What do we say to the God of Death?” Arya responds as Syrio Forel had taught her to: “Not today” and she races away from the room.

All these hints and possibilities lurking around and the Night King shattered into pieces in the Godswood (the same place where Bran gives the Valyrian steel dagger to Arya) makes for a fantastic blend of myth and reality in the realm of Game of Thrones. With these fan theories and three more episodes in the pipeline, it will be quite a  journey for both Arya and the millions of GoT fans who are waiting with bated breaths to see what happens next.