Who’s still on Arya’s kill list from Game of Thrones? HBO’s fantasy drama returns for season 8 on April 14, finally revealing who (if anyone) will sit on the Iron Throne and who won’t make it through to the end. Theories on who will survive both the White Walkers and George R.R. Martin abound, but there are a few things that may make some deaths a little more likely than others. Things like having their name on a to-kill list held by one of the most impressive assassins in the series right now: Arya Stark.
Arya started life on Game of Thrones as a rebellious tomboy, more interested in learning how to fight with a sword than dance and embroider. By season 7, though, all that had changed, and Arya has become a stone cold killer. She was trained with a sword by a Braavosi master, who also taught her the basics of sneaking unseen. From there, she learned from The Hound as he dragged her all over the country trying to ransom her, before she fled to Braavos and the House of Black and White, training under the Faceless Men to become a master assassin.
Along the way, Arya’s lost a lot of those close to her. Driven by thoughts of revenge, she has kept a list of all the people who have wronged her that she intends to kill… and she’s making some impressive progress so far. As we enter the final season of Game Of Thrones, here’s everyone on Arya’s to-kill list, who is left, who she killed herself, and who had their name struck off thanks to someone else doing the dirty work.
- This Page: Game of Thrones Characters On Arya’s Kill List Already Dead Page 2: Game of Thrones Characters On Arya’s Kill List Still Alive
Game of Thrones Characters On Arya’s List Already Dead (But Not Killed By Arya)
Three names were struck from Arya’s kill list thanks to other people, although there’s little doubt that she would have preferred to do the deed herself. Joffrey Baratheon was one of the first names to make the list for sentencing Ned Stark to death (when he was promised mercy) and having him beheaded. It was this event that launched Arya’s list of doomed men to begin with, although she soon started adding plenty of other names. Joffrey, of course, was poisoned at his own wedding - a plot by Olenna Tyrell to prevent her daughter from having to actually be married to the little royal psychopath.
Joffrey’s grandfather, Tywin Lannister, also made the list for his hand in killing Arya’s family members. Tywin orchestrated the Red Wedding where Robb and Catelyn Stark were murdered, almost before Arya’s eyes (she was just outside the castle walls at the time, about to be reunited with her family). The patriarch of the Lannister family was ultimately killed by his own son, Tyrion; shot through the heart with a crossbow while on the privvy.
Finally, Thoros of Myr was added to Arya’s list for his crimes of allowing the Hound to leave the Brotherhood Without Banners, and for his part in selling Gendry to Melisandre, rather than allowing him to remain with the Brotherhood. Thoros, however, is now dead - frozen to death on a mission North of the Wall with Jon Snow, and his body burnt.
Game of Thrones Characters On Arya’s List She Killed
The list continues to shrink, with Arya happily dispatching no fewer than four of her targets over the past few Game of Thrones seasons. This is, of course, in addition to the other men that she has killed along the way, but that didn’t warrant a spot on her list first.
Polliver, the man who initially stole Needle from her and killed her friend Lommy, was the first of the men on her list that Arya was able to do away with. Traveling with the Hound, the two found a group of Lannister soldiers at an Inn and attacked the Hound. Terrible idea, of course, because he killed most of them, leaving a couple for Arya. One of these is Polliver; Arya took her sword back and then slowly stabbed him through the throat with it - exactly the same way that he killed her friend Lommy. This is definitely the moment that audiences started to see just how brutal and deliberate Arya’s kills can be.
Rorge must be the person who has the dubious honor of the shortest possible time on Arya’s list - he is only on it for a few moments before she strikes him down. Initially, Arya met Rorge as a prisoner being taken to the Night’s Watch, who then became a Lannister soldier at Harrenhal. From the start, Rorge was threatening to Arya (or Arry, as she was going by then), threatening to ‘f**k her bloody’. When the Hound and Arya run into Rorge some time later, Arya remembers him, but tells the Hound that Rorge isn’t on her list because she doesn’t know his name. The Hound then asks him his name, and as soon as Rorge gives it, Arya puts him on the list… and then stabs him through the heart a second later.
Next up was, Meryn Trant. This vicious Lannister soldier and Knight of the Kingsguard was the one to kill Arya’s swordmaster, Syrio Forel, back in Game of Thrones season 1. Arya crossed paths with him again in Braavos, while she was training with the Faceless Men. He visited a brothel and, just in case anyone was under the impression that he was just a dutiful soldier who killed Syrio because it was his job, Ser Meryn reveals that his personal tastes are for extremely young girls, and that he enjoys beating and abusing them. Arya is able to use this, and her training, to get alone with him… at which point, she gouges out his eyes and then repeatedly stabs him to death.
Finally, Arya uses her Faceless Man training again, to take out the odious Walder Frey. The man who hosted the Red Wedding and killed Robb and Catelyn Stark was a high priority on Arya’s list, and this kill shows how cunning she has started to become in recent seasons. Not content to simply slip in and kill him, Arya killed his sons, turned them into a pie, and then fed the pie to him… before finally slitting his throat.
Page 2 of 2: Game of Thrones Characters On Arya’s Kill List Still Alive
Game of Thrones Characters Arya Has Taken Off Her Kill List
Three names appear to have been taken off the list at this point, although they aren’t actually dead. Melisandre and Beric Dondarrion were added to Arya’s list after the Brotherhood sold Gendry to Melisandre, while Ilyn Payne was added at the beginning, for being the man who actually did the dirty work of beheading Ned Stark. All three are alive, yet when Arya was speaking to the Waif in Braavos, she gave only three names still on her list: Cersei, The Mountain, and Walder Frey (who she hadn’t yet killed).
So why are these three no longer on the list? It’s possible that Arya, despite being so vengeance-driven, is willing to forgive certain people: Ser Ilyn Payne, after all, was simply doing his job as the King’s executioner - and Arya may have come to realize that he is not to blame for the orders that he received; Melisandre, despite her crimes, did bring Jon Snow back from the dead; and Beric has become her “half-brother’s” ally. It’s possible that Arya has decided that this is sufficient to strike them from her list entirely, having changed her mind about their intentions.
However, given that Arya would have had no way of knowing what Melisandre and Beric were up to when she was speaking with the Waif, it seems unlikely she would have decided to forgive them at that point. It’s possible that Arya dropped the names for more story-practical reasons; unlike most of the others on the list, Melisandre and Beric are allies, and have a part to play in the upcoming war. Having Arya out for their blood would make things unnecessarily complicated in the final season. And the actor who played Ilyn Payne, Wilko Johnson, left the show after being diagnosed with cancer. It’s possible that he would return for a final scene, but it looks likely that the character was written off the show and the kill list. Although Johnson is now cancer-free, there are no reports that he will be returning for the final season.
Game of Thrones Characters On Arya’s Kill List Who Are Still Alive
All of this means that at the start of Game of Thrones season 8, there are three names left on Arya’s list - and she is probably under the impression that there are only two.
The Hound made his way onto the list for killing the butcher’s boy, Arya’s friend, in Game of Thrones season 1. However, the last that Arya saw of the Hound, he was horribly wounded, lying alone on a hillside, begging her to kill him. She didn’t, but not out of mercy. Cold-hearted killer that she is, Arya thought he would suffer more if she left him to die from his wounds. However, Sandor Clegane didn’t actually die. He was rescued by Septon Ray and nursed back to health, before ending up traveling with the Brotherhood, headed North and then Beyond The Wall. At some point, Arya is likely to find out that the Hound is not dead, but it’s not clear what her reaction will be. Arya and The Hound developed something approaching a friendship while traveling together, and at this point, she may decide to simply leave him alive to fight on Jon’s side, rather than killing an ally. As she has had plenty of opportunities to try and kill him and hasn’t, the chances are that the Hound won’t die at Arya’s hand.
The Hound’s brother, The Mountain, is also something of an oddity on Arya’s list, as he is already sort-of dead. Put on her list for torturing people at Harrenhal, the Mountain has since returned to King’s Landing, been stabbed almost to death with a poisoned spear in his duel with Oberyn Martell, and “saved” by Qyburn, to become a zombie-like Queensguard. Arya still definitely has the Mountain in her sights, but it’s not clear whether or not she would be capable of killing him; between his sheer size and whatever was done to him, Gregor Clegane may be nigh unkillable… and Arya may have bigger fish to fry, anyway.
Which brings us to Cersei Lannister, Arya’s number one priority. Before finding out that her family was back at Winterfell, Arya was on her way to King’s Landing to kill Cersei, and it’s doubtful that she’s going to give up on her quest any time soon. It makes sense, then, for Arya to aim for Cersei next (with a willingness to take out The Mountain should the opportunity present itself).
Has Arya Given Up On Her Kill List?
Of course, all this is moot if Arya is no longer concerned with her list in Game of Thrones season 8. Down to only two names (as far as she is aware), and back with her family at Winterfell, it’s possible that she will accept the Mountain’s undead state as enough death for her, forgive the Hound, and kill Cersei - tying up loose ends without having to actually tick off every name that has ever appeared on her list throughout the show.
It’s worth noting that she admitted to the existence of her list to Sansa when they first reunite, and then laughs - perhaps showing that she has grown to a point where she is more concerned with keeping her family safe than with a revenge list. She also kills Littlefinger without making any mention of her “list”, suggesting that she has ditched the recitation of names in favor of simply killing anyone who threatens her family. This would make sense for Game of Thrones as a series; it means fewer loose ends to tie up, and would show real growth for Arya (more than simply growing into a frighteningly capable assassin).
We’ll have to wait and see if Arya mentions her list again in Game of Thrones season 8, and how she reacts to the Hound, Melisandre, and Beric Dondarrian when she sees them again (as she will presumably do, given that they are all fighting on the same side at this point). At this point, the one person that will surely still be in Arya’s crosshairs whether she keeps to the list or abandons it for a more flexible killing approach is Cersei Lannister.
Update: Here’s what happened to everyone on Arya’s kill list after Game of Thrones season 8’s ending.
