You don’t have to make a character too cool for her to be adored.
While there are still plenty of Arya Stark fans out there, the balance has definitely shifted over the years. Many viewers who admired Arya’s dedication to becoming a fighter in the early seasons turned their backs on her by the end.
And it’s not like Arya grew up and got worse. She just got cooler over the years, almost too cool to be believable.
The story of a young girl separated from her family and forced to survive the way Arya did could not leave anyone indifferent.
Whichever side you were on, you probably had your own moments of rooting for Arya in moments of imminent danger.
She was always meant to be brave and, as shown in an iconic dialogue between her and Tywin Lannister, very smart. With the help of the Hound and all the time throughout the seasons, Arya would definitely become a much better fighter.
However, young Stark swinging her dagger against Brienne of Tarth with the huge sword in her hands and over 20 years of experience behind her back just didn’t seem realistic at all.
Just as it was almost offensively unbelievable to see Arya as the one who killed the Night King.
This twist caused a lot of controversy among fans who couldn’t believe that the greatest threat to humanity could be so easily destroyed by a teenage girl, and not even her older brother, who had been training for decades longer.
No matter how hurtful this glorification of a perfectly cool original character was to Game of Thrones, the same showrunners did not seem to learn their lesson and went on to make even bigger changes to the original characters of House of The Dragon.
Both Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen were heavily criticized for being too powerful in season 1. What’s great is that there’s still time to fix all the mistakes before Season 2 airs, as there’s no release date set yet.
Stay tuned for news and behind-the-scenes updates!
